Road Trip Food?

[Cosmic Commando]

The family and I (DW, DS4, and DD2) have a looong drive ahead of us from Buffalo to the World in October. What kind of pre-packaged things do you road trippers bring in the car? Any foods that won't make a huge mess with the kids? Any food you like to make at home that keeps well in the car?

 

[BiggerTigger]

Whatever you call it, Gorp, Trail mix, or mishmash, it's simple, easy, and great boost for traveling. Mix typically what you like, the basis we use are pretzel sticks, dry roasted peanuts, raisins, and m&ms. Toss together and place in baggies.
Other versions use dried fruit as well.

 

[Predsfan75]

Combos are the go to for us, though the new PopTart mini crisp are our new fave, not the healthiest though! :animwink:

 

[Susan Savia]

We keep a container in the car full of pretzels, chips, conbos, fritos, etc. We carry a cooler with makings for sandwiches that we assemble in our room on our stopover in SC on the way. Saves the trouble of hunting for a place to eat and one less meal were spending money on.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Not good for little ones but my guys all require beef jerky. For littler ones I'd think goldfish crackers, chex mix, animal crackers, or pretzels. If you have a cooler with you, you can bring grapes, too.

 

[Sweet Melissa]

We usually make a road trip to Disneyland whenever we go to visit my hometown in northern California. We used to be all about turkey jerky and Combos, but then we realized that salty foods aren't our favorite thing for long trips. Now we take dried fruits, naan bread and freeze dried edamame along with our usual beverages of choice (cranberry juice for me, iced tea for him, bottled water for both of us).

 

[jlevis]

We (2 adults) pack the usual chips (Pringles), Doritos and crackers. We have a cooler that runs on the AC plug in the Cherokee We stash pop and perishable snack stuff in there like cheese, grapes, apples (I like them cold) .

 

[pixargal]

Cheese in a can is always fun. We also bring peanut butter in individual size containers. The kids can dunk apple slices, pretzels, celery sticks, etc into the peanut butter or cheese. Add some raisins, mini M&Ms or chocolate chips. That should keep them entertained for a while.

 

[beckyj3266]

We (me, DH, DD2, DD4) make the long drive from Utica, NY. We pack cold cuts & macaroni salad in a cooler for a picnic at a rest stop along the way. Some other essentials we pack are: cheez-it mix, cheese, pretzels, grapes, green pepper strips, apple slices, Disney shaped fruit snacks, organic veggie chips, goldfish crackers, Gerber veggie puffs, peanut butter crackers, twizzlers, water & V-8 Fusion. We pack a lot of snacks because we also bring a few into the park with us in case the kids get the munchies between meals. Another essential for us with our little girls, a little training potty. We keep it in the back of the van just in case we are too far from a rest stop when they decide they have to go "now". Have fun on your trip!

 

[pixiesteno]

I would suggest making some sandwiches, try peanut butter and honey, and cutting them into quarters for the children; much easier for their little hands to manage. They don't have to be refridgerated and the honey will absorb into the bread and not make a gloppy mess like jam. Cheese sticks travel well, raisins, apples, bananas, gold fish crackers, oatmeal or peanut butter cookies, pineapple cookies. Anything that you prepare fresh yourselves will be much better than store bought junk food. We take our travel mugs and big jugs of water. Juice in small bottles with a twist cap rather than juice boxes which can leak. A supply of left over bags from grocery shopping to put trash in so you can throw it out when you make pit stops. This will keep the vehicle neat and odor free. I would also suggest several wet wash clothes in a ziplock baggie for when things get messier than a wet wipe can handle. We also have several mesh folding travel hampers that work well when you have to change clothing on a little one. Then you have it for the hotel room so dirty clothes aren't lying on the floor. You can find them for under 5 bucks. Safe travels

 

[sbkline]

We normally bring two coolers with drinks and snacks. One of the coolers is actually for stuff that needs to be kept cold, and the other cooler is just used as a storage container for things that don't need to be kept cold.

In the cold cooler, we keep canned drinks. In past years, two different kinds of soda, but this time, we put canned lemonade and fruit punch, as well as bottled water. We also put cheese, lunch meat and pudding cups which don't necessarily need to be refrigerated, but the other cooler is normally too full with the other stuff.

In the other cooler, we put snack cake type things, such as Susie Q's, Twinkies, or any other Hostess/Little Debbie treats we decide to bring that particular trip. We also get cans of Pringles to put in that cooler.

 

[Nemo14]

We normally bring two coolers with drinks and snacks. One of the coolers is actually for stuff that needs to be kept cold, and the other cooler is just used as a storage container for things that don't need to be kept cold.

In the cold cooler, we keep canned drinks. In past years, two different kinds of soda, but this time, we put canned lemonade and fruit punch, as well as bottled water. We also put cheese, lunch meat and pudding cups which don't necessarily need to be refrigerated, but the other cooler is normally too full with the other stuff.

In the other cooler, we put snack cake type things, such as Susie Q's, Twinkies, or any other Hostess/Little Debbie treats we decide to bring that particular trip. We also get cans of Pringles to put in that cooler.

under lock and key!

 

[sbkline]

under lock and key! :d

:roflol::roflol::roflol:

 

[mp2bill]

Pretzels and Chip Ahoys or Oreos.

 

[bigorangeandy]

That's a long drive with little ones (long with older ones also). I always like animal crackers, and my kids like fruit smiles (or some other gummy snack). We like to bring lots of drinks with us so we save some money when we make pit stops. I also like fig newton's but if they dry out they can be a bit messy with the outsides flaking off. We tend to buy some Goofy's Candy Company snacks for the trip home, usually the ones that remind me of sweet tarts.

 

[Tinkerbell 8]

We bring a cooler with either lunch meat/cheese, or we stop at wawa and order a few hoagies and ask them to cut them into smaller pieces. We also bring some fruit like grapes, blueberries, straberries, so we don't have fruit skins laying around the car. We also bring some gallons of ice tea, lemonade, etc and fill up our cups throughout the trip. We also bring doritos, pringles, goldfish, pretzles, etc. The only thing we ever buy during the ride down is coffee cause we drive from Philly straight through.

 

[lbrad]

GREAT ideas!!!
We have used all of these tips for our drive to the world.

We also pack Go-gurt ...haven't seen that one mentioned yet

 

[beckyj3266]

I forgot to mention breakfast foods. We leave in the evening & drive all night. That way the kids sleep until Virginia & the drive doesn't seem as painfully long for them. We aren't big breakfast eaters, so I usually make some mini muffins (just right for their little hands) for the ride. These are great for mornings at Disney, too. We take a few muffins, string cheese, grapes, & juice in the car. The kids eat in the car while we drive from room to park, and then finish up in the stroller as we go through the security check. Then we are ready to see the attractions & don't have to waste time & money in a restaurant. Enjoy your trip!

 

[mjmyers10]

We usually stop at the last Wawa in VA to pick up some ice tea. Another good snack/meal for kids are Uncrustables. They can be found in the frozen aisle. The night before you leave, just take the box out of the freezer and they will be perfect for a mid morning snack or lunch. When we drove down last month, we also had jerky and cold cut sandwiches. Bite sized snacks that don't make a mess are the perfect thing. Avoid anything chocolate covered since it might melt in the kids hands.

 

[jlandis44]

Someone else mentioned Combos, and I agree with that. We drive from MD and I just pack a small cooler with 2 drinks for each of us, and a few snacks. Nothing with chocolate, and nothing too salty. We've had bagels, combos, unsalted nuts, fruit snacks, and protein bars. We usually try to stop for food at places that aren't chains, or that aren't local to our area...our favorite places to stop are Ralph's BBQ in Weldon, NC...and any Steak and Shake, since we don't have them here in MD!