Saturday, July 27, 2013

Eating well on the road!

I just got back from a nearly two week trip to San Diego to visit family and attend a 5 day life coach training at the Life Purpose Institute.  It was a fabulous trip and an amazing training, but I realized that traveling is an extremely hard time to keep up with developed healthy eating habits.  When I'm feeding myself, I do pretty well, but it's so easy to make exceptions when traveling and dining out.  I can't say I did stellar at this - I definitely consumed way too much sugar, coffee and ice cream.  I did, however, do some things before and during my trip that made it easier not to stray too far.

Prepare

Before my trip, I went on a dehydrating frenzy!

One thing that is a life saver for me to have on hand when traveling (or other times in general) is jerky.  The easiest way for me to do this is this Ground Beef Jerky recipe.  I usually use a jerky gun, but I couldn't find part of it, so I just patted it town thinly on the trays and broke apart when dry.  They turned out even better because they were so thin they weren't too tough for my son!  Next time I use the gun, I'll pat them down a bit as well.  I brought some of this with me on another trip when I was easing out of the Autoimmune Paleo protocol.  It was a lifesaver when I ended up at a party that was serving a vegetarian burrito bar, so the only protein was in grains and beans.  I pulled some jerky out and crumbled on top of a taco salad, and it worked like a charm!

I also love to have some good trail mix on hand, though I try to go easy on the nuts and dried fruit.  I dried apples and strawberries and added to unsweetened coconut flakes, cashews and sunflower seeds.  If I'd been really vigilant, I wold have soaked and dried my nuts and seeds.

I wanted something sweet to have on hand to curb my sweet cravings.  I also wanted to use up some grounds I had left from making Choffy and Coconut Milk.  I made these:

Chocolate Banana Dehydrator Cookies

Chocolate Banana Dehydrator Cookies
Grounds from 4 cups Choffy (about 8 T)
Grounds from 4 cups Coconut Milk (about 2 cups)
4 bananas
4 T sunflower seed butter

Spoon onto fruit leather sheets and dehydrate until firm.

Other things I packed included baby carrots, a bar of dark chocolate and some chili spiced mangoes.  Larabars and fruit leathers can also be useful, but I figured the trail mix was enough.

Not sure where my clothes fit!
Once arrived

Both of my aunts that I stayed with were kind enough to pick up some groceries for me, and since I had access to a fridge and cooking devices, I had them get a few staples that covered quite a few breakfasts and dinners, as well as a lunch or two.

The firs thing my son requested was almond butter and apples, and we had that almost every night!

For breakfast I had eggs most days, either hard boiled or with spinach (and occasionally cheese).

Lunch was harder when out and about, but some organic turkey wraps and carrots worked nicely.  I just wrapped some spinach and cheese with the turkey.

During my training, I had pretty much the same dinner every night.  My aunt thought I might want more variety, but I got enough from my lunches and snacks.  I had her get me a rotisserie chicken and some spinach.  Topped it off with some sliced almonds and craisins along with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  A couple of those days I also paired it with some of her home made gazpacho!

The little guy trying his first gazpacho!

All in all, though I didn't eat as well as I should have on this trip, I would have fared much worse without a little preparation.  I think next time, I might buy myself a portable blender so that I can make myself some smoothies!  That might help curb the sweet, creamy and caffeinated cravings I get when I travel!