Meals That Travel Well

[Crusader]

11. Hard alcohol if she can fly with it.

Wait, why hard alcohol? Is there any nutritional reason for it?

[Scott 2]

Beer displaces too much food.

I use the alcohol as something to look forward to. I bring a high quality whisky and use the time alone in my hotel room to savor it. Similar with some good dark chocolate. I am as introverted as they come and love my solitude. However, sitting alone in a hotel room night after night is dreary. Living off granola and protein powder doesn't help. Other small pleasures need to be planned into the trip, or I'll give up and spend my way happy. Going out to eat is typically as simple as walking downstairs. Will power runs out.

If I find myself wanting a drink, having something from home also avoids a cascade of other spending. One drink might be $3, but then you are out and already spending money. It becomes much easier to order food as well. If you go the frugal route and hit a store, a snack isn't too expensive, but buying in small quantities can be a problem. For me personally - if my only option was a 6 pack and I know the unfinished beer is getting left behind... that usually culminates in a pizza delivery as well.

IMO the hotel time is really about damage control. Make some small concessions to avoid a budgetary or nutritional blow out. Outside of being expensive, eating out every meal becomes very uncomfortable.

[Crusader]

Ah, ok, the assumption is that you are an alcohol drinker.

[Alphaville]

Ah, ok, the assumption is that you are an alcohol drinker.

on the road constantly?—if you’re not, you’ll soon become one

[Crusader]

Haha, fair enough, I just see that as more of a personal preference than a "nutrition/food requirement".

[Scott 2]

The alcohol itself is personal preference, sure. But finding a flight attendant who doesn't drink...

[Laura Ingalls]

Fresh Salad Container Serving Cup Shaker with Dressing Container Fork Food Storage Bonus Recipes, Use This Bowl for Picnic, Lunch to Go, Made with Plastic Bottle - Eat Healthy -(Set of 2) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UTY1OQQ/re ... xFb4654PGS

This would be handy for someone who likes the “big salad”

[Colibri]

I would look into backpacking cooking book.

Recipes/meals that are lightweight, require little cooking ( as long as you can boil water ) and no refrigeration. Many recipes don't require dehydrating food yourself.

[guitarplayer]

Cooking in the microwave is a thing. Get a microwave cookbook and bring the ingredients. Insofar they're vegan meals, the ingredients, vegetables, etc. would certainly last a week outside the fridge. So google "vegan microwave meals"...

This is very true, recently I and DW have become quite skilled at it. Some examples:

1. Get a plate with high sides and fill it up with about a cup of water, then put 2-4 potatoes opposite from each other leaning against the high side of the plate. Microwave on 'high' for 7-12 min, depending on the size of potatoes. They come out delicious.
2. Rice cooks in a microwave much like in a pot, just find a microwave proof dish, add rice and water in a 1:2 proportion (for white rice), tamari/salt/pepper and oil if desired, and put on high for about 20min. Brown rice will take more time and water. No lid required, the microwave will turn into a bit of a steam room.
3. stew kind of food will cook much like in a pot, it is a good idea to stir it every so often, perhaps 10min.
4. pour some hot water in a bowl, add a tea spoon of vinegar and pop in raw eggs. poke the yolk with a knife or else it might explode. Put on high for a minute. Then check every few seconds until it gets as desired.

[Jin+Guice]

Thanks for all of the input everyone... the situation turned out to be less difficult (more access to leftovers and the ability to cook on a stove during days off) than I had initially thought. The initial solution was a coconut milk based curry (thai style green curry), which froze and kept really well. Jacob mentioned microwave cooking... I did some light internet research and it's possible to cook pasta and rice (not just instant) in a microwave. I haven't tested this so I'm not sure how much worse it is than stove cooked. The solution I came up with was pre-cooking Indian food and a bunch of pasta sauces that would all be able to be frozen and then bringing dry pasta or rice and cooking it in the microwave. That hasn't been necessary so far though, so it remains a theory.

[sidra1968]

Sounds like you may not need any ideas anymore, but for anyone else out there who may...my frugal friend and I found a pretty easy way to even bring food to all the countries we've visited for 2 weeks at a time (China, Egypt, Peru, etc). Vaccuum sealed Dinty Moores! No need to refrigerate, and we even eat them cold sometimes (like at Macchu Pichu), but most hotels have microwaves somewhere. Variety! Pastas, chicken and dumplings, turkey and stuffing, beef and mashed potatoes, spaghetti, chicken and fried rice. They probably have a lot of sodium, but they are also like only 300 calories and hence feed you but you feel "light" still after one of these and an apple or granola bar.

We also bring the obvious things like vaccuum packed "meat stick"s/sausage), the $1 tuna packets on ritz with some squeezie cheese are our "tuna melts", puddings, granola bars, Goober grape half peanut butter/half jelly and bagels..also, the appplesauce single servings can be rough just have to wrap them in a towel.
Be prepared to be stopped by foreign TSA/security guys at the x-ray machine, they have NO idea what the Dinty Moores are and laughed at the mashed potatoes in China, seemed to have no idea what it as..makes for some good stories everywhere.."what's this?" ...me- "I bring my own food, I'm cheap and if I wasn't couldn't be here visiting your beautiful country!", usually gets a laugh or a "good for you"


it's truly a win/win..because we do not get sick from new bacteria/foods/ and actually lose weight, don't feel bogged down after heavy restaurant meals and can explore more..so much walking on these trips anyway. We have even saved some fellow travelers' health once they get sick (many do)..we've had 3 am knocks asking for our puddings for someone's wife because she was ill and wasn't going to eat the street food anymore

We usually still get to experience some neat foreign restaurants with tours we've booked that include lunch, and many of the resorts included (Gate 1 is who we use when we use a company for places like Egypt), the breakfasts are included and we just stick to things like croissants IF we are afraid to fall ill from the food, it happens to the other travelers sometimes and then they don't think we're "silly" anymore.

Over 28 years we figure we have saved thousands, enough for another trip easily. I even do it on US roadtrips (easier with a cooler for these trips - sandwiches, cheese), with maybe a fast food dollar menu thrown in here and there. Just did a full month roadtrip, 2 people around half the US, and maaaybe spent $90 on food other than what we brought or bought at the grocery store, and that's being generous.

Hope this helps someone!!