The Fifth and Final Installment of “Eating Healthy(ish) on the Road…” Series
Today I write the final installment from my journey to Austin (finally getting caught up)…
This installment focuses on how to properly stock your hotel room fridge and make full use of your facilities when you are traveling for extended periods of time with limited resources. My method is adaptable and by no means is the best or only way to stock your hotel mini-fridge…my stock method is to pick a theme and stick with it. Most of my condiments emphasized utilizing Mexican or Latin-inspired leftovers, but you may want to choose an Asian or more traditional American theme? Heck, you may want to do Mediterranean, the sky is the limit!
I lie, the sky isn’t the limit, you are actually quite limited by the space available in the mini-fridge…
So…without further adue…my hotel fridge!
Ingredients:
Homemade Banana Bread (for quick and easy breakfasts)
Homemade cookies (I had leftover carrot cake cookies)
Homemade Bread (whole wheat from bread machine)
1/2 gallon skim milk
1 package (~2 cups) of monteray jack cheese
Yogurt
Leftover refried beans (they keep well in a ziploc container after opening the can)
Berry Jam (I found that HEB Berry Spread is a wonderful product)
A wee bit of space for whatever leftovers you have
The next week I added to my list…
Guacamole
Salsa
Smart Balance Whipped Butter Spread
Now for the pantry…
I tried to keep some tried and true staples in my pantry, including…
La Tortilla Factory Tortillas
Extra cans of Refried Black Beans
Bananas
Peanut Butter
Chocolate Peanut Butter
Nutella
Honey
Raisins
Instant High Fiber Oatmeal
Coffee (be sure to get coffee filters too…most hotels use single use coffee bags for their machines)
Measuring cups
Measuring spoons
1 large plate
1 salad plate
1 microwave safe bowl
a few tupperware containers to store leftovers
Also, in between weeks, my husband came to visit and brought me some goodies…a batch of my double chocolate tofu cookies!
Some Quick Tips…
- Be sure to go to the grocery for staples upon arriving to your destination. A few minutes out of your day right off the bat can save you valuable time in the long run…
- When you go to the grocery store, but measuring cups and spoons, they come in handy for making some dishes like instant oatmeal
- If you buy your own coffee (I recommend it, hotel coffee tends to suck…), be sure to get filters, they are cheap and your hotel isn’t guaranteed to have them in your room (learned the hard way…)
- Buy ziploc containers for leftovers, they are pretty cheap and may just save you in the long run…
- If you are driving, bring your own silverware and dishes…they will always be better quality than the picnic-style cutlery sold in the grocery store…
- Find a theme and stick with it! Your space is limited, so pick a theme for your pantry and do your best to honor it…I nearly ran out of room a few times, especially when my husband came to visit me
- Enjoy your dinners out guilt-free! A nice healthy prepared lunch helped me be balanced the rest of the day and enjoy my dinners more than if I had eaten the hotel food. Eating the hotel food would have made me too full and bloated to eat the food I actually had a choice on…
- If you work out, be sure to get snacks for pre- and post-workouts. I found my granola bars and bananas were great for pre-workouts and yogurt or banana bread were good post-workout pick-me-ups!
Hope that this guide will help you on your next trip that takes you to a hotel, whether you are stuck in one for a two week training class, or simply on your family vacation (my husband and I did something similar for our recent long weekend to Orlando). Also, please let me know if you have your own suggestions or tried and true methods for eating while you are away!
