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July 22, 2004
Prairie Fare: Dashboard Dining Tips for Family Vacations
My family will be embarking on our first, possibly annual, cross-country family trip this summer. We’ll see how this trip goes before deciding if it becomes a summer routine. With three children, ages 9, 6 and 1, in the confines of a van eight or more hours a day, this could become fodder for a reality show. Who knows? We may become the new “Griswald family” of “Vacation” movie fame. We’re already setting some rules. For example, tempting as it is, no one, including me, can say “are we there yet?” All this togetherness may prompt the need for a larger vehicle next time. Any time you leave the routine of home, with its somewhat regular schedule and meal-times, nutrition can be affected. With plenty of windshield time, we certainly will encounter fast food restaurants, convenience stores and hotel vending machines, with numerous food options to grab and go. While there are healthy food options at these places, there are many more tempting high-fat, high-sodium or highly sweetened options. Convenience store items can be more costly, too. Grocery stores have a much larger selection of food products, often at a more reasonable price. It might be worth a side trip to a grocery store when our rations run low. We’ll aim for nutrient-dense foods over empty calorie foods. Since we’ll be doing a bit of “dashboard dining” along the way, I’m starting to gather ideas for my “van pantry.” I’m also trying to be conscious of the mess factors associated with eating in a vehicle. I aim to avoid sticky upholstery and carpet. I’ll start with an ice-filled cooler with 100 percent fruit juice, small cartons of flavored and plain milk, string cheese, tubes of yogurt, a package of baby carrots, low-fat deli meat (like ham or turkey) and other perishables. We’ll have a thermos filled with ice water. I’ll pack a box with single serving containers of applesauce and dried fruits, whole grain crackers and single serving cereal boxes. Graham cracker sticks are the baby’s favorite, so they’ll go in the box, too. Packets of nuts and seeds are portable, nutritious snacks. Plain tortillas with peanut butter are another “kid favorite” in our house, so I’ll add a package of those. I’ll be spreading the peanut butter. Apples, bananas and my son’s favorite, green grapes, are portable snacks for the road. A paring knife, small cutting board and colander to clean and cut up fruit and some disposable spoons and forks will come in handy, too. I’m realistic about the mess factor. I’ll be packing paper towels and moist towelettes for wiping hands, windows and backs of seats. It probably would be a good idea to throw in the mini-vacuum, too. Here’s a snack mix that’s easy to make at home or on the road. If you don’t want to measure, just mix equal size “handfuls” into a sealable plastic bag and shake gently.
Source:
Julie Garden-Robinson, (701) 231-7187, jgardenr@ndsuext.nodak.edu |
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North Dakota State University |
