Cheap & Easy Meals on the Road

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Cheap & Easy Meals on the Road

Submitted by: Mike Sepos 07/30/2009 11:53 AM

We travel often and with 7 children, a stop at McDonalds can cost well over $30. So with a little preparation, we eat meals on the go for significantly less.

Our favorite is Ham and Cheese on Rolls, We pack a small cooler with ham, cheese slices and squeeze mayo and some juice boxes. With a bag of yeasty rolls from Sams. We find these types of sandwiches the easiest to prepare while driving.

We have enough for everyone to eat until they are full, we don't have to take the time to stop and wait for the food and we can eat on our schedule too. best of all, we can usually eat for $10-15 depending mostly on how good of meat we buy.

Homepage photo credit: Crystl

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Comments:

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We do this too-- it saves us time and money because we don't have to stop as frequently for food. cut up veggies, fruit, and sandwiches keep the crew happy. also the night before a drive we fill drink bottles halfway full with water and put them in the freezer, at water and drink mixes like iced tea and lemonade the next day and you've got drinks that double as ice for your cooler.

Posted by thriftymommy on July 30, 2009 5:05 PM

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We do this as well. We also bake our own bread, french and pumpernickel and make our own turkey breast and corned beef for sandwiches. Some pickles in a separate plastic bag or a small plastic container and a separate little container with some homemade desert or fresh fruit... yum!

Posted by anonymous on July 31, 2009 9:02 PM

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We eat tuna salad. You can either splurge and buy the tuna packed in individual serving pouches are divide up a can between several ziplock baggies. Squirt some mayo and pickle relish in the baggie and instant tuna salad. We eat it straight from the pouch or you could put it on bread. Great for the side of the road - but can get stinky in the car when four people are eating tuna.

Posted by Wanda on August 03, 2009 3:35 PM

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When my family is going on a longer trip, we do pack meals from home, but by day three, cooler is getting warm and empty! Many small mom and pop type motels have microwaves and a small fridge, so I go to a local grocery store where I buy pre-packaged salads and already cooked chicken strips to make salads. Or buy pre-cooked barbeque chicken from the grocery deli. I also buy cut-up fruit, also rolls and deli meat to make our own subs. It is more expensive then packing from home, but still cheaper then a restaurant.

I refill our water bottles and repack the cooler with ice from the ice machine. I have a small George Foreman electric grill that I have cooked chicken on and then microwaved rice to make chicken and rice. My family has stayed in camping cabins at campgrounds. There is electric, but no kitchen. I bring my Foreman grill and a toaster, if we are staying long enough, I bring my small microwave!

Posted by anonymous on August 06, 2009 7:16 AM

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I do the same thing.I am a stay at home mom of four and I do what I can to help my husband not to spend unneccesary money. I will make sandwiches. Maybe PB&J (the kids favorite) or leftovers from the day before and turn it into a sandwich.(maybe meatloaf,chicken and chop it up and make chicken salad or beef and make quick and easy sloppy joes)Large bag of chips then is divided into zip lock sandwich bags.(the kids have their own individual bag And not name brand zip lock)Recycled water bottles I place in the freezer the night before and use that as my cooling system for the sandwiches.Baggies of fruits and veggies. The kids really do enjoy the system I have going on. Sometimes my 4 year old will pull out the bread and other things to get our lunch started for the road before I'm even in the kitchen.Let them know how lucky we are that we don't have to spend so much money on getting food that we are not even sure we will like. We don't have to wait in long lines and our food is always readily available whenevr we are ready to eat.I don't know anyone who like s to hear "It'll be 5 minutes for the fries and 10 minutes for the nuggets.

Posted by Jacque W on September 04, 2009 8:09 PM

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These tips are great. Thank you!!!

Posted by anonymous on September 21, 2009 8:56 PM

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In addition to being frugal, I like to know exactly what I'm eating so that I can watch my calories and figure. Only by preparing in advance do I find that I can be successful.

I have discovered flatout light wraps (1 point on Weight Watchers) and they taste great! I use hummus instead of mayo, lean turkey or chicken, along with lowfat cheese. Wrap it with some sprouts and tomato for a hearty, quick, lowfat, low calorie, portable meal. For those of you on Weight Watchers, this wrap is roughly 5 points.

I'm traveling on business this week and will definitely take one along for the two hour car ride.

Posted by Kim_Mango on November 17, 2009 7:45 PM

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Great ideas. My husband and I have always LOVED to travel, and in the past money was a bit harder to come by. Here are some easy ideas you can do in any hotel...because we watch what we eat today pretty close we have even used some of these ideas in 5 star hotels. It's not always about the money.
Breakfast: this may be provided, but if not, bring oatmeal packets and use the hot water from the coffee pot (wash your own dishes, the maids shouldn't have to in this case).
This recipe is good and can be put in ziplocks for each person, each day:
1/2 cup oatmeal (we use reg., but you can use quick even easir)
2 T dried milk
2-4 T nuts of choice
2-4 T dried fruit
1 T ground flax
sugar to taste
Add boiling water and stir, let sit for awhile.

Dried chicken soup, with hot water from the coffee pot.

Look at recipes for hikers...a lot just need hot water added.

Posted by Michelle on December 08, 2009 9:09 PM

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