Aisha's Tips for Road Trip Food

This is my friend Aisha. She was part of my masters class at IU.
























Here we are volunteering for the Obama rally two year ago.



As I scrolled through pictures to include in this post I realized that Aisha and I have spent a lot of time eating together.
























It's only right that she should make a little appearance on this blog.


























Yesterday she sent me an email with her own tips for eating while traveling, something she thought a lot about while on the road as an assistant to Lang Lang. With her permission I've decided to post her tips, some of which overlap with my post from yesterday. I'm not so into beef jerky, but hey, different strokes for different folks. I'm probably not the only one taking a trip this summer, so maybe one of you gentle readers will also find these helpful. Thanks, Aisha!

"Your question about road food was something I thought about a LOT when I was out with LL, especially because those 4 course meals at 5*+ restaurants made me fat (I know, I have such a rough life). Things that LL and I found really useful:

1. Fruit, always - it's a really good way to hydrate and feel like you're eating.

2. Beef jerky with seasonings. LL always ate this in the morning with a cup of tea and swears this is where he gets all his energy from.

3. Lara bars... they're vegan, they have like 3 ingredients, and they're realllly filling. Sometimes regular granola bars leave you hungry after 20 seconds.

4. Lattes over regular coffee.... especially because coffee makes you feel dehydrated, and the (soy) milk keeps you fuller.

5. Dried fruit and nuts. They keep really well.

6. Sabra makes these hummus and pretzel snack packs that are amazing - I don't know that it would work well driving, but they're super portable and delicious. Jif has individual serving sizes of peanut butter, too.

7. High-fiber or multi-grain instant hot cereal packets. Find paper cup, add hot water (from whatever roadside gas station that serves hot coffee), eat with a spoon.

8. Emer-gen-c packets to go with the water. You're not eating like you normally do, so you might not get all the vitamins you need, making you feel sluggish. Just try to only mix it with cold water or they're not as palatable.

9. Never underestimate the morale-boosting qualities of a hot meal at the end of the day. Pack light and graze through the day, but after a long day on the road, having a proper meal at a restaurant (even if it's Village Inn or something silly like that) just makes you less cranky."

Thanks for the tips! If anyone else has tips for road trip foods or eating well while traveling, send them my way at soundslikecanada at gmail dot com!