Frugal Fridays: Meals and Snacks for Travelling (and games too!)

Lord willing, we plan to do a little travelling this upcoming week. As with any trip we take, my mind always goes to: "What are we going to eat?" In an effort to save money while going from place to place, we always try to bring along meals and snacks. Depending on the length of the trip, sometimes we manage to bring along ALL the meals and snacks. However other times we are only able to bring along SOME of the meals and snacks ... but that's ok! Something is certainly better than nothing. Subway with the 'five dollar footlongs' or Taco Bell with the dollar burritos sure come in handy for times when we are not able to bring all the meals.

We have a joke that I will not get too much in to, but we have a name we call our little 'travelling restaurant' and anyone who travels with us more than once in a while knows this said 'restaurant' will always have some sort of snack or meal or both planned for the road. I was thinking how this would be fun for a family with younger children - it would really give them something fun to do and responsibility too. Let them help plan the meals and snacks, pack the plates, cups, forks, spoons, etc. Don't forget extra napkins and a few bags for trash!! They could even make up a menu with 'prices'. Maybe surprise treats could be given 'here and there' to keep things interesting in a long ride?

On a side note ... we keep a box of 'car games' in the game closet that is ready to grab when we need to go. This box includes one-player games and puzzles (we like the ones from Thinkfun like brick by brick, shape by shape, etc.)

and magnetic games like travel checkers and backgammon. We also include educational cards - such as a pack of cards with animals on the front and information about that animal on the back or famous buildings on the front with info on the back. My daughter likes to quiz us, so she has a few quiz-type decks of cards on hand. We had a bible trivia game with all the questions on little cards. We found we all enjoyed answering the questions but could care less about playing the game, so I threw out the game board and put the cards in a zip baggie to keep in our 'car game' box. We did the same thing with a trivia game about the United States. We hardly ever played the game but we sure do like answering the questions! These kinds of things are really fun on car rides. And I cannot end this section without mentioning our all time favourite car trip game: one person draws one thing on a piece of paper and hands it to the next person. That person then draws something else and hands it to the next person. The paper gets passed around the car to each person and each person adds something to the picture. With different ages and personalities, it is so fun to watch the picture and the story come to life!! We have a lot of fond memories with this game.

Ok, back to meals and snacks ...

Before we go on a trip we always try to visit the discount stores to see what they have that travels easy. A few in our area will have granola-type bars, 4 or 5 for a dollar. Not just the junky ones either!! They have Lara Bars and Kind Bars :)

They also have all sorts of crackers and chips, some even organic. Dips and spreads too ... and once again, some even organic. If we are in a pinch and  unable to make homemade bread, the discount stores have whole wheat buns and bread for $1 or so a loaf. This is always nice when we are in a time crunch and it would be much more stressful to make bread than to just spend a few dollars on a few loaves.

So ... what's for lunch?
Any kind of wrap or sandwich travels well if wrapped up in foil individually. Not too long ago I was at a Trader Joe's in another state and saw they had hummus wraps - hummus with shredded raw veggies wrapped in a flour tortilla. YUM! I copied this and we all liked the results. Since hummus are thick, no mess was left behind in the vehicle.

Sometimes if we are going to eat soon I will make hot sandwiches - some kind of meat (shredded chicken from a whole chicken cooked at home is the cheapest and best in my opinion), mayo and/or cheese, wrapped in foil and warmed up in the oven.

We've also made 'pancake sandwiches' -- pancakes with nut butter, jam, fruit or any other appropriate thing in between make nice, handy meals.

I guess the possibilities are endless.

For snacks we like to bring homemade things like muffins or crackers, however we also bring along whatever we found at the discount store as well as other things from our pantry that need to be used up while we are gone.

Speaking of 'used up while we are gone' ... whenever you are going on a trip, it is best to plan a few snacks and meals around what needs to go. Clean out your fridge so nothing is left growing while you are gone and nothing gets wasted.

That's all the time I have for now because I must get ready for our trip!! Please share your car-ride ideas and tips.