Out of the Lunch Box
With holiday traveling comes the need to feed the troops when there is still 5 hours remaining on drive to Granny's or Aunt Mable's. Today I'm going to share some of my tactics for keeping the masses fed without stopping at a fast food place for $1 hamburgers, or worse.
We've saved thousands by bringing our own food on various travels and adventures. I'm sure you all have too. This idea probably isn't too out of the box, but maybe how I keep sandwiches from going soggy and how I make it simpler is. I'm recycling a bit of my sandwich song and dance from another post on frugal travel. Desperate women do desperate things... I'm packing to go home tomorrow after a month of being away and we know what a lovely chore packing is, right? ho! ho! ho! 
How do we prep for a trip to save time and money when it comes to food? For lunch and supper, sandwiches are king. That's not much of a surprise. Add a couple bags of pretzels or chips and homemade cookies, cut up vegetables with dip, fruit and nuts with a thermos of real lemonade, (yes, even in winter) and a man can survive quite well anywhere. Add a large stash of napkins, cups, plates, a gallon or two of water and you should be good to go. Oh! Don't forget several garbage bags. We use plastic grocery bags, one for each row of seats and a couple extra to throw out at gas stops.
To keep sandwiches from going nasty, I only put homemade Miracle Whip (mayo or mustard) and meat on the bread, put them together and place them back in the bread bag they came from. Most times I will usually splurge and purchase some type of sale priced lunch meat for a trip, but I also use leftover roasts and poultry. I also often purchase several loaves of bread too. It’s easier to pack and more uniform.
For the other fixings, I do all the veggie prep work at home. I wash and dry the lettuce and put it in its own Ziploc. I peel and slice cucumbers and place them in their own bag. I do the same for tomatoes and any other sandwich fixings we will use. Sticking them in separate bags after they are prepared makes things so easy on the road. Customize-ability is great too. When it comes time to eat, I pull out a sandwich, open it up and fill it as per my "customer's" order. When you make sandwiches this way, they are always fresh.
Occasionally I'll pack a couple peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. To keep PBJ from going squishy, lightly coat BOTH slices of bread with peanut butter and then apply the jelly in the middle. The PB coating keeps the jelly from soaking into the bread and making a mess.
When I want to bring chicken or egg salad for filling, I make the filling ahead of time at home, put it in a bag or container and then apply it to the bread at meal time. I add the vegetables too.
I'll be honest, I used to groan when Rich wanted me to pack food when we traveled. Getting into the groove of it when you are used to grabbing something on the road, can be hard. After almost 14 years of schlepping sandwiches, I'm used to it. It's second nature and no long ominous. It's as much part of the trip as making sure you don't forget to pack your undies.
In the long run, bringing your own food takes less time than waiting for your meal at a restaurant and you can eat it in the car on the fly if need be, but you have be smart and prepare ahead of time. The time it takes to prep before you leave is worth every second of it when you realize you're going to hear one less, "Are we there yet?" in the car, 12 hours later, 3 or 18 or 294 "NOs" later. Some things are so worth it!
Happy Holidays Frugal Hackers! I'll see you next year. 
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7 Responses to “Out of the Lunch Box”
December 19th, 2007 at 8:26 am
Janel,
We often did sandwiches when our family was smaller but now we like to do wraps when we’re on the road. I find that they are even easier to assemble (esp. when you’re feeding 10 people!) and people usually expect less toppings – meat and cheese are fine w/o spread, and veggies make a nice extra but aren’t necessary. This cuts down prep time, since we can grab the fixin’s at a grocery store before or even during the trip.
Also, with lots of little kids, we find that wraps are far less messy. Fillings are safely wrapped inside and they don’t tend to slide apart the sandwiches can in small hands. Tortillas don’t crumble like bread, and no mayo means no grease smeared on the seats, floors, windows…
December 19th, 2007 at 9:11 am
I’ve developed a roster of “trip food” that is only prepared when we’ll be on the road. By now, the kids actually look forward to it because it’s special: I put together a little “bento” for each child, with cheese slices cut with a cookie cutter (stars, moons, whatnot) and whole wheat crackers, apple slices treated with a bit of lemon juice, lime or lemon water in a sport bottle, red licorice, a Herskey kiss and another small container of carrot sticks. I keep another bag in the trunk with some home-popped popcorn, bottles of diluted juice and maybe some homemade granola bars as well. This is useful in case we’re delayed and I need more food but it’s also nice as a treat if things are going well.
December 19th, 2007 at 9:54 am
We love to pack our food for trips and one way that I make it more special is buying things that we don’t typically have at home to prepare with. Having “special” snacks makes them beg less for food on the road because they already have lots of snacks in the car.
Great post!
December 19th, 2007 at 10:06 am
With a large family, we too, pack our own food when traveling. Like you, we pack sandwich makings. The children like salami & cream cheese rolls too. We usually pack a special salad as well. A little harder to eat in the car, but good for the inactivity of traveling. Apples, grapes and bananas are usual fruits we take.
Some special treats we usually take that we don’t usually purchase are string cheese, gogurts and pretzels. A special snack the children like is animal crackers used as a spoon for little applesauce cups (something REALLY special because traveling is the only time I buy these).
For the first morning of travel we will make egg burritos and wrap them individually in foil to heat before we leave and then eat on the road. Other on-the-road quick breakfasts that we take are homemade banana/pumpkin/zucchini bread or muffins, yogurts & granola, & bagels & cream cheese.
We always have water bottles on hand and usually a gallon of oj with cups for drinks.
Since husband is a coffee addict, he pays the children a quarter commission for each new Starbucks they spot on the road before he does. This helps them to pay attention to where they are geographically while traveling and helps them to keep their minds of finding something instead of getting somewhere : ) Less “Are we there yet’s.” My husband’s frugal tip for Starbucks is that he purchases just a coffee and adds cream rather than paying for the high priced fancier coffees.
Oh yes. I can’t forget the ziplocs and paper towels. Ziplocs are mandatory traveling supplies – good for trash, containing leftover food and especially good for containing the spewing due to the flubug that rears its ugly head right after we get on the road : ) Or does this just happen to OUR family?
Laralee
http:/www.PlymouthRockRanch.com
Recording the Faithfulness and Provision of God for Future Generations
December 19th, 2007 at 1:31 pm
I grew up bringing a cooler along on all family trips (we took a major trip to the east coast every 2-5 years, plus shorter trips that were only an entire days drive a few times a year). I’m so used to it that I was horrified at the idea of stopping for fast food on trips when my DH suggests it. But I’ve converted him! And we have more spending money for other things when we pack food from home.
We now usually make the s’whiches at home so DH can pull them out of the cooler while he’s driving. But growing up, we usually brought all the fixings and made them at rest stops. It really helps break up the trip and makes sure you get a rest. It also helps to have the stuff along (loaf of bread, mustard, mayo, etc) because then we have it for making more the second day or for the trip back.
December 19th, 2007 at 10:49 pm
I am so with you on bagging sandwich ingredients separately, and putting PB on both pieces of bread. Great tips!
December 20th, 2007 at 2:49 pm
[...] by poetloverrebelspy A follow-up to yesterday’s piece, I was inspired by Janel writing at Frugal Hacks about packing food for the road. [A little plug here: I recently joined Frugal Hacks, and if you [...]
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