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900 miles in one day and NO junk food? Heres how.
- Sep 7, 2009 at 8:20 PM
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My best friend is flying on on Monday and we are (me, her, and the kids) going on a month long vacation to my parents house in Washington. I am so excited, because the two of us - although we have been friends since we were 8 and call eachother sisters - have never been on a roadtrip together! I love to travel, but with travel comes some extra planning because I don't like to feed my kids junk food, and its hard to cook from scratch going 70 mph down the freeway. I have to prepare everything ahead of time, and it has to be able to survive in the cooler at least 18 hours if its a "cold" type item.
So with that in mind, I think I have come up with a menu that will satisfy both the kids, and me.. and still stay in the healthy arena I would like to be.
We're leaving the house at 2am, with the goal of the kids sleeping until at least 7ish. When they wake up they will be greeted with:
Breakfast
Peanut butter (its fresh ground, only peanuts), homemade organic raspberry jam, on whole grain bread. Apple slices. And if they complain about still being hungry, some organic yogurt cups.
Snack items
I will pack yogurt cups, sliced apples and strawberries, and bananas. A few 1% milk cheese sticks will be tossed in. I am going to make "teddy grahams" by taking my graham cracker recipe and cutting it into cute shapes instead of squares. I'm also trying out some cheese cracker recipes.. but I havent found anything yet that rivals goldfish.. so I MIGHT just give in and buy a pack.
As a special treat, I'll make a batch of my homemade granola bars which are more like cookies or candy than health food, but they don't contain any corn syrup and are grains, and have only 1/2 cup honey/sugar. They also have great nuts and fruit, so I like them.
Lunch
Pasta salad using whole grain pasta (bowties I think), feta cheese and kalamataolives, green peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, some roasted red pepper maybe... I'm also going to pack some sliced roasted turkey breast and mustard with some nice bread so we can make sammies if we want, or just snack on it.
We will be home by dinner time, so no worries on that! I am looking forward to proving that it CAN be done.. we can go that far without eating chips, candy bars, or fast food. Its not for everyone.. but my friend has lost alot of weight by being responsible and healthy.. and I am on my way to really maintaining a healthier way of life.. so I am really excited to do this trip without eating food that in the end makes us feel worse and even more tired. Wish us luck! Its a LONG drive.. but hopefully by eating low fat, whole grains, and avoiding tons of sugar we can get through it easier.
Comments:
Bellingham area, thats where we moved from two years ago- I miss it so much!
Tried a cracker recipe that was pretty good...
1 cup flour (I used wheat)
1 cup corn meal (it called for instant polenta.. same thing)
1.5 tsp sea salt (any salt would work)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp paprika (for color more than anything else)
1/2 tsp ground black pepper (optional)
1 cup grated cheese (I made sharp cheddar [goooood!] and parmesan [not as good])
2 1/2 tbsp butter
and 3/4 cups buttermilk (I didnt have buttermilk so I made the fake kind by adding lemon juice to the milk and letting it sit a few minutes)
preheat oven to 375, toss all ingredients into your food processor and using the dough blade, pulse about 20 times in short bursts to bring the dough together. Wrap in plastic wrap and let sit in the fridge about 20 minutes until cold. Cut into fourths and roll out as thin as you can (it will be a BIT sticky so use some flour on your roller/work surface), but into shapes (I used an acorn shape cookie cutter) bake on parchment paper until edges start browning. I love salt so before baking I sprinkled some extra on my crackers!
they were delish! Alot of work for crackers but they tasted so wholesome and fresh.. they didnt taste greasy or like maccaroni and cheese in a cracker form, lol.
Granola Bars/Granola.
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp butter
1/2 cup sesame seeds
1 cup dried fruit (cranberries, apricots, papaya, mango, raisins.. whatever you like)
1 cup nuts (walnuts, almonds, macadamias, peanuts...)
1/4 cup flax seeds
4 cups puffed wheat cereal
1 cup rolled oats
Combine sugar, honey, butter, vanilla, and 1 tsp salt (optional) in a sauce pan and set on medium. Basically, you want to melt the sugar and get it all combined.. but dont let it boil and burn.
Meanwhile, toast your oats and nuts on a baking sheet and then toss in a large bowl with your cereal, flax, and dried fruit.
Line a 9x13" pyrex with wax paper, pour sugar mixture over cereal mixture, mix well, pour into pyrex. Squish down using your hands when it has cooled, or using the back of a spoon. Let cool, cut into bars.
To make granola: cut the sugar and honey down by half. Prepare as above. When cooled, break into small chunks, add another 1/2 cup dried fruit, 1/4 cup flax, 1 cup oats. Should fill two gallon sized ziplock bags.
Some of our favorite combos are dried apricot, dried mango, macadamia nut, and some white chocolate chips thrown in. Another favorite is pistachio cranberry; dried apricot almond and cranberry; raisin and peanut... you can do just about anything. if you add chocolate chips, be aware they will melt a bit.. but you could press some into the top as well.
As I said I treat these more like candy than health food, but they are better than store bought ones to me!
Graham Cracker Recipe (from Smitten Kitten)
Makes 10 4 x 4.5-inch graham crackers or 48 2-inch squares (I roll them out and cut them into fun shapes for the kids - like teddy grahams.)
2 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons (375 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour (a swap of 1/2 cup with whole wheat flour or 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour works well here, too)
1 cup (176 grams) dark brown sugar, lightly packed
1 teaspoon (6 grams) baking soda
3/4 teaspoon kosher or coarse sea salt (4 grams)
7 tablespoons (3 1/2 ounces or 100 grams) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes and frozen
1/3 cup (114 grams) mild-flavored honey, such as clover
5 tablespoons (77 grams) milk, full-fat is best
2 tablespoons (27 grams) pure vanilla extract
Topping (optional)
3 tablespoons (43 grams) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon (5 grams) ground cinnamon
Make the dough: Combine the flour, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade or in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Pulse or mix on low to incorporate. Add the butter and pulse on and off on and off, or mix on low, until the mixture is the consistency of a coarse meal.
[Alternately, if you don't have a food processor or electric mixer, you can cut the ingredients together with a pastry blender. Just make sure they're very well incorporated.]
In a small bowl, whisk together the honey, milk, and vanilla extract. Add to the flour mixture and pulse on and off a few times or mix on low until the dough barely comes together. It will be very soft and sticky. Lay out a large piece of plastic wrap and dust it lightly with flour, then turn the dough out onto it and pat it into a rectangle about 1-inch thick. Wrap it, then chill it until firm, about 2 hours or overnight. Meanwhile, prepare the topping, if using, by combining the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and setting aside.
Roll out the crackers: Divide the dough in half and return one half to the refrigerator. Sift an even layer of flour onto the work surface and roll the dough into a long rectangle about 1/8 inch thick. The dough will be sticky, so flour as necessary. Trim the edges of the rectangle to 4 inches wide. Working with the shorter side of the rectangle parallel to the work surface, cut the strip every 4 1/2 inches to make 4 crackers. [This makes a traditional graham cracker shape. I rebelled and made mine into 2-inch fluted squares with one of these.]
Place the crackers on one or two parchment-lined baking sheets and sprinkle with the topping. Chill until firm, about 30 to 45 minutes in the fridge or 15 to 20 minutes in the freezer. Repeat with the second batch of dough. Finally, gather any scraps together into a ball, chill until firm, and re-roll.
Adjust the oven rack to the upper and lower positions and preheat the oven to 350°F.
Decorate the crackers: Mark a vertical line down the middle of each cracker, being careful not to cut through the dough (again, this is for the traditional cracker shape). Using a toothpick or skewer (I like to use the blunt end of a wooden skewer for more dramatic dots), prick the dough to form two dotted rows about 1/2 inch for each side of the dividing line.
Bake for 15 to 25 minutes, until browned and slightly firm to the touch, rotating the sheets halfway through to ensure even baking. [The baking time range is long because the original recipe calls for 25 minutes, but my oven runs hot. Be safe, check them sooner. Nobody likes a burnt cracker!]
Good Luck! Have fun!
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