Packing food for Christmas travelling to cut costs

[talk2ham.1]

What should I pack in a cooler for a 17 - 20 hour drive so we don't have to stop at restaurants along the way?

I hate paying on-the-road prices to eat out on a long trip. But I don't want to just pack snacky, starchy foods either. Other than sandwiches that is. We will definitely have lunch meat sandwiches as an option for lunch. Breakfast? I could do an oatmeal bar, fruit, and muffins probably. But I was hoping for something else for dinners. What packs well and doesn't need to be heated to taste good? Also, what about veggies? Any ideas?

[lmk123]

When we recently traveled (8 hr drive) for Thanksgiving I decided to pack food to save money. Vons had 15 pound turkeys for $4.88 apiece that week, so I dethawed and roasted it the day before we left. Then I sliced it thin and we ate turkey sandwiches all the way. :) I got rolls, packed mustard & mayo and it was yummy! It put us in the holiday mood, too.

HTH!

Oh and I picked up Walgreen's deal on 6-packs of Gatorade for drinks.

[CoffeeMom]

Would you be able to pack a small lunch box with a cold pack? They don't take up much room at all and you could fill it up with carrot sticks and celery sticks, and string cheese. Peanut butter with celery sticks or on crackers would be easy, too. If everyone likes tuna they have those flavored pouches with that don't need to be heated, and also they have canned chicken salad that might be good.

Good luck! I'll keep thinking and let you know if I can find anything lol

[talk2ham.1]

Thanks! Those are some good ideas. My husband says we might not have to worry about dinner since we should get to our family's place by mid-afternoon. So, I'll probably pack something just in case traffic is bad or potty stops are more frequent than we planned. But I won't worry about a whole dinner.

The roast turkey sounds really tasty. And the cold veggies with Peanut Butter is a good idea too. (Maybe a little messy for the little ones, but we'll make it work.) Thanks all!

[amy s]

awesome ideas... I was just coming to post for the same thing!!!!
What about more ideas (for teenagers)????
I am just dreading the "but there's a Mcdonald's mom ...right there....."

[talk2ham.1]

Hey, how about cold sliced ham, cold veggies and dip, and some applesauce? None of that has to be heated to taste good. And it is a full, well rounded meal that we could eat at any rest stop. I could have it all packaged individually in little plastic containers for each person without having the hassle of dishing it out . . . Sounds better than lunchmeat sandwiches for lunch too. Less carbs. Less cost since a whole ham is generally cheaper than lunchmeat per lb. And I'll freeze the extra ham for after vacation.

[puakinikini]

My kids love yogurt and cottage cheese and I always take these in the small packages when we travel (in the cooler of course). To avoid the "there is a McD's right there" with my 11 yo I make sure to have some special treats that he does not get all the time - we limit his access to junk food. But on trips we take along chips, cookies (homemade) and some candy.

[pyxiwulf]

for our 10 christmas drive I always pack frozen pizzas (the super cheap thin ones), cook @ home, wrap them in foil and then either place on the floor boards under the heater vents. My BIL puts the food on the engine, but I am NOT getting out of the car twice in a row that quickly in upstate NY if I don't have to.

[XUfan]

There might be some ideas in this thread that you can use: http://www.hotcouponworld.com/forums...k-lunches.html

[taxchyk]

When my family travels, we generally bring water, juice a couple of sodas (for comic relief), grapes, baby carrots, celery, little squares of cheese, other fruits or vegies cheap that week, popcorn depending on the car, hot water in a thermos for tea, cocoa, instant coffee. The rest we improvise- leftovers from fridge, contents of deli section of fridge. pb, jam. bread, etc. HTH