WHAT KIND OF FOOD WHEN TRAVELING

A client of mine is going on a hiking trip in the Grand Canyon.  We were talking about food to carry that won’t spoil, that will hold you up on the trip in the desert and especially when there is no way to cook.

Seven years ago, my husband and I drove across the country for nines. We had to be creative and pack food that does not need cooking and would be easy to eat while driving nine hours without stopping, or taking a shourt break.  We both love hummus and rice cakes. But since driving can be dehydrating, we decided to prepare some crudites to munch on in the car – carrot sticks, celery, and rinsed romaine salad – they all are refreshing, hydrating, and don’t spoil easily.  We also love apples and pears.  Personnally, I like to eat the apples sliced. Bananas were also handy as well as avocado on a car trip, or for hiking.

I love the energy and nutrients I get from Japanese Brown Rice balls with Umeboshi Plums wrapped in toasted Nori. The plums make the rice balls last for a few days without spoiling. I read once that during the war in Asia, these kinds of rice balls were given to the soldiers to feed on and get energy and nutrients.

In natural food stores, we found dehydrated split pea soup with carrots, onions and light spices. All we had to do was add hot water and chopped parsley, and it became a delicious soup.  To make it satisfying, we added some bread in it.  It was yummy. I had chopped some parsley and stored it in a small container to garnish the soup with and get some leafy greens.

Another handy ingredient is roasted sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds; almonds in small quantities is also fine. Organic high cocoa content chocolate is nice to have as well. We had two hot water thermos that we filled every morning from the hotel. We took easy oatmeal and muesli that we would soak in hot water to make it a light and warm breakfast.

This way, we had a combination of grain, protein, vegetables, sea vegetables, fruits, warm drinks and soups, along with nuts, seeds and sweets to cheer us up when tired and sleepy. Power bars are an option, but my husband and I are not so fond of these foods, but it can work for a lot of people – light, and easy to carry and eat. I found some Organic Green SuperFood ones with Berry (goji and akai) – sugar and gluten free.  Anther one is Pure Organic Apple Cinnamon Bar with walnuts. Our favrite traveling power bar is “Kelp Krunch” with sesame seeds, brown rice syrup and kelp. I order them from a company in CA.