Sarah asked, “Have your eating/meal planning habits changed much now that you are living on the road?“

Tim at his usual evening post - washing dishes

Yes. A bit. We still eat in more than we eat out. We still prefer simple, nutritious meals – not made with cans or boxes. We still eat fruit like nobody’s business.

That being said, we don’t always have the availability of high-quality grocery stores, the luxury of time, or the convenience of a large kitchen working area. Plus, we don’t have a dishwasher (which makes clean-up longer).

We do, however, have a refrigerator, a small freezer, a stovetop, a microwave, and an oven – not to mention a full set of pots & pans and a set of glass bowls w/ plastic lids for storing leftovers.

These are some tricks of the trade we’ve picked up over the past 6 months. They work equally well for most any kind of travel.

1. Ask a local. In the beginning, we just typed “grocery” in our GPS and navigated to the nearest place. Big mistake. Now we find a local and ask for recommendations.

2. Pack a picnic. It’s so nice to eat outdoors, isn’t it? The girls love to be out in the wild and, if they spill crumbs, Tim doesn’t get stressed out. ;) We like to pack at least two big reusable plastic water bottles (easy to carry and refill throughout the day), sandwich fixin’s, chips, fresh fruit, and lots of wipes for easy clean-up.

3. Use a Crock-Pot. We love ours. Favorite recipes include Chicken W/ Black Beans & Cream Cheese and Zesty Slow Cooker Chicken Barbecue.

4. Use other speciality kitchen appliances. We make regular use of our breadmaker & our blender (fruit smoothies!).

5. Buy a Rotisserie Chicken at the grocery store. We like to shred the meat on a big salad. Then, we use the leftovers for chicken quesadillas.

6. Grill. Tim’s especially good at making sweet corn. He has it down to an art.

7. Eat vegetables, rice, beans, and/or noodles. They’re (1) good for you, (2) inexpensive, and (3) kids usually love them. Speaking of which, we’d like to start eating even more vegetarian meals in the coming months.

You might be wondering about all of the products in blue font? They’re made with plastic components…and we would have a rough time eating healthy without them.

What are your top tips for eating healthfully when you travel? Also – Do you have any good vegetarian recipes to share?

I am participating in a compensated program by Plastics Make it Possible® in partnership with the American Chemistry Council and Ogilvy PR.