What foods can I take on a trip that don't need refrigeration or cooking/heating?!


Question: What foods can I take on a trip that don't need refrigeration or cooking/heating?
I am going on a trip next month and due to financial concerns (transportation is free and the hotel is already paid for, cheap and non-refundable) we want to be able to eat in our room and take lunch with us each day.

We're going for 6 days and it's me, my husband and our 14 month old.

Our 14 month old is easy since she's still eating baby food (she has no teeth yet so she's still not comfortable eating really chunky stuff). We just bought enough jars to feed her for the 6 days and we'll take those with us (safer than assuming we'll have access to affordable, suitable food for her there).

What I need are some suggestions for my husband and I. I figured peanut butter sandwiches and apples. Juice boxes and maybe tetra milk boxes. Granola bars or cereal bars.

Those things are all just fine but peanut butter sandwiches for a week, 2 meals a day (we get continental breakfast - and yes, if there are extras, I will take an extra danish or muffin) will get pretty boring.

Can anyone suggest some other things that we can eat that will taste good (lol) and keep for a few days?

Thanks!

Answers:

You may have more amenities than you think and you should check and utilize any that you have! Call and ask if you have access to ice, and if so bring your cooler for short term refrigeration. Ask if there are coffee makers in your room, if not, bring your own coffee maker from home. Coffeemaker gives you access not just to coffee, but hot water (run it through without coffee in it) that you can use to rehydrate foods and cook instant items: ramen, cup of soup, hot chocolate, hot tea, instant potato flakes, stovetop stuffing, minute rice, couscous, instant variety hot cereal, hot water to dilute condensed canned soup. You should also ask if there is microwave access in the hotel lobby...if so you can nuke lots of things, most notably you might enjoy popcorn, warming your soup, baking a potato, etc. If not, you can use hot water from your coffeemaker as a water bath to warm things, even if you don't add water TO the food.

You can store some things in a cooler with ice. If you don't want items to get water logged, zipper bag them, or put your food in a mixing bowl or plastic ware floating in the ice. Things like butter, liquid coffee creamer, cheese slices, miracle whip (I wouldn't do that with mayo), ketchup, bottled salad dressing, mustard, all will be fine for 3-4 days refrigeration. You can bring boiled eggs if you ice them for the trip and keep them iced down while you are gone. Add ice to your cooler before bed each night, and just before you leave the room each morning.

You can have some perishable items, just shop for a small amount of these things daily at a local grocery store. Pay close attention to quantities and manage your leftovers carefully. This gives you access to deli meats and cheeses, milk, yogurt, and such. Shop on your way back to the hotel, eat, store leftovers and they are the next thing on the menu!

You may not love them cold ordinarily but you can indeed eat canned beans, soup, and pasta without cooking or heating it. Of course if there is a mic in the lobby...they would be fine. But even cold, it depends how sick you are of peanut butter at the time. It might start looking pretty good! You can also get refried beans, bean dip, jar queso, jar salsa...all for use with chips and crackers. If you can't finish in one sitting, dedicate yourself to eating leftovers over a day or two.

Cold cereal is an excellent food in situations like this, even the kiddie cereals with some sugar. Compared to other sweets, cereal is lower in sugar and fat, and is most always whole grain and enriched with vitamins. You can bring powdered or shelf stable milk to have a proper bowl, of your can eat out of hand as a snack.

You can purchase many fresh fruits and veg that are pretty easy to deal with on the road. Fresh carrots, bananas, oranges, apples, pears, celery, grape tomatoes, cucumbers, radishes, lettuce, bags of salad, broccoli crowns, cauliflower. If your food requires washing, peeling, slicing, etc...don't do that at home. Bring a small setup (peeler, paring knife, small cutting board or even a plastic pocket folder (such as to hold papers) to serve as a cutting board, and do it as needed. Your food will stay fresher if you prep it as needed rather than bringing it ready to eat. You can use bottled coleslaw dressing to make a fresh cabbage or broccoli slaw. All these items do fine on the counter or in your cooler.

You can also get packets or cans of tuna fish, chicken, ham, turkey, etc for some diffferent kinds of protein. Mix up with some miracle whip, some dill relish...you can also bring some sardines, vienna sausages, spray cheese, cheese and cracker snacks. For sandwiches, you might enjoy different kinds of bread, such as tortilla, even rice cakes or snack crackers.

For the baby, you have baby food figured out, also it may be that she can eat small finger foods that you are eating. Cheerios, applesauce, mashed up fruits, bits of meat and cheese, hot cereal.

This isn't a great diet even in the best of circumstances. I would be on multi-vitamin and maybe some fiber supplements, before during and a couple weeks after your trip. And make sure you do as well as you can while you are gone, to eat healthy.



Bread, crackers, beef jerky, cookies, tortilla/potato chips, packaged (not frozen) waffles, jam, pickles, oranges, bananas, dried fruit (raisins, cranberries, pineapple, dates, prunes), nuts



Request a mini fridge in your room. Most hotels will accommodate. Tell them that your small child has certain dietary requirements. I did this when I traveled to save some money. I went to the market and got bagels and cream cheese, cold cuts and cheese etc.



You can bring chips, cookies, drinks, anything that doesn't go rotten if not refrigerated.



Packs of Pop tarts - i brought these camping with me, i though 2 boxes wasn't enough but 1 was fine! They're brilliant.
Packs of cereal bars - they're really cheap and yummy.
Cereal - can be eaten dry or with milk. Anything goes, cheerios, or Krave. Something sweet or nutritious..
Packs of nuts
Baked beans/Tinned spaghetti/Tinned meatballs etc.
Take bags of crisps - crisp sandwiches?
I don't know what it's called, but you can get like pre-baked bread from the store in boxes. Then you just butter it and have it for breakfast.
You can buy muffins.
Pot noodles
Beans on toast
Fruit

Buy pre-made sandwiches and pasta meals for the first day or two, then make things yourself for the rest.
Take tortilla wraps and spread jam over it (so yummy) Or add sultanas to buttered bread or toast.
Tinned soups and bread/rolls




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