On The Road Healthy Eating

Ok, I made a comment on a travel thread to our friend Questor on what crap we tend to eat when on the road. Others chimed in and agreed that we all felt better and had more fun when we stopped eating that greasy roadside shit.
This is the thread for moto cuisine. No GORP or single pot 'dont look, just eat' ideas. How to eat healthy on the road. Recipies and ideas.
Ready, GO.

How is this specific to moto travel?
Sounds like a personal constitution thng.

First take aim at the desired direction you want to go.....after the strike of 12 noon....stop at first greasey spoon and dig in! It's be the best food since you left home and maybe beforehand, if the wife is a health food nut!

Sorry couldn't resist.......lol

I'm serious.....

No, I dont care what you eat. But there are plenty of people who eat crap while touring because they dont know another way.
If you can afford $100 bucks a day to eat out, go for it. Im hoping for good ideas to stay cheap and still have a decent meal.
Where I do most of my riding, I can't get a meal in every town so I have to carry most of what I eat. I know our Aussie friends do to and I'm hoping to hear from them.
If your riding a Gold Wing or a Harley, maybe this thread isn't for you.

Yeah, I can relate to the yearning for saturated fat...but as good as it tastes, it leaves me feeling all sluggish. At every fuel stop I snack on fruit and nuts, but for healthy meals I get a footlong veggie sub at Subway. I eat half on the spot and save half for later.

On a short trip of just a few days or even a week I just eat out. Since the duration of the trip is much shorter money usually isn't much of an issue. I try to find "real" food in a nice restaurant at least one meal a day.

On longer trips that last for a couple weeks or more I always camp. I'd like to be able to cook something at the campsite that taste good and is actually healthy. I have seen the compact "Jet-Boil" systems around and have used their quart sized unit for making coffee. It works fast.

I agree with the ADVrider that carries nuts and fruit. That will get me through the day but at the end I need real food. Some of my traveling companions eat gas station hot dogs and pizza all day at fuel stops. I just don't enjoy that type of cuisine. McDonalds is just about as bad in my opinion(but I love their coffee).

I have eaten MRE's and a few of them are pretty tasty. No need for cooking utensils either. Most of the current military hates those things but they've never survived on "C" rations or they'd be a little more appreciative. I am not sure the MRE's are actually real healthy since they are high calorie food.

I try to start the day with breakfast after breaking down the camp. Fruit, nuts and maybe a sandwich thru the middle of the day then hunt for a restaurant as we near the stopping point for the night.

I have always found that camping not only saves money but it adds something to the adventure. Sometimes after riding in the rain or cold temps all day a hotel isn't a bad idea either. But I usually just find a campground that has hot showers and then I bed down in comfort.

I plan to ride the TAT on a big DS bike and try to be as self -sufficient as possible. I think the JetBoil and maybe MRE's or some packaged camping food might be okay for that little ride. Of course, even with MRE's it would be impossible to carry enough food for a three week trip.

Well, that's my ten cents worth.

bill

this is where I stopped.

If they don't know how to eat on the road, WTF makes you think they now how to eat at all?

This is America, we waste more food a day than a small country can eat in a week.

I have yet to find a place to eat, and eat good, anywhere more than 100 miles.

food for thought

All semi joking aside....I too eat quaker oats, maple and brown sugar in the morning, usually 2 or 3 packets, sooner have a good sized breakfast than stop and eat crap at the first gas stop. For lunch, the subway is good, maybe a cheap resturant, club sandwich type food, supper is something easy to cook over stove, like beans, stew, soup....but not if in bear country.....I will eat before stopping to camp if possible.
Trail mix is great too, but I tend not to stop eating it and it's gone before a day or so.
Water and plenty of coffee to drink and we're good.
I try to have my bigger meal at lunch time so there isn't that staving feeling at supper time, just works better that way for me....?

I like these. $1.00-$1.25 at Kroger. No refrigeration and very light. Filling. Just add water. I survived on these across the TAT last summer. The penny tech stove fits inside the pot along with utensils and the fuel was in a MSR bottle. Denatured alcohol found at hardware stores or big box stores. Made coffee and oatmeal in the mornings. Tried to have one good restaurant meal a day but it didn't always happen. Picked up a couple bananas and energy bars or nuts to snack on at gas stops.



John

My problem was that i didn't eat anything. I would just ride and ride and ride, for hours at a time. But i finally wised up and began carrying "energy bars" and would have one along with a drink of water every coupla hours, or whenever mother nature needed a call!

Any grocery store or higher end convenience store for



or



or

Perhaps a more poignant question might be .... What happens when I go from eating my normal "home" diet to eating convenience store hot dogs, greasy burgers, etc while on my bike all day.....as it relates to bathroom issues......Maybe some of you fellas are impervious to major dietary swings and have no negative side effects, but I imagine many do...

One of my favorite camp meals (I carry a MSR propane canister stove ) is ramen noodles with a foil pack of cooked chicken (available at Wally and other places )...I eat granola bars at rest stops during the day...take a nalgene bottle with packs of crystal light to drink...and a MSR water filterer for sketchy water sources...Ive been known to pack plums and other fruit as are seasonally available... I usually start the day with hot oatmeal.... I do not consider myself a health nut, its just that greasy burgers and convenience store hot dogs dont make me feel "well" especially when riding a bike... and I am sort of cheap too :huh

This sort of regime might get old on a very long trip... but on trips of a week or less it isnt too bad....and I will usually stop every 2d or 3rd day for at least one "store bought" meal.. this usually coincides with my need to access wi-fi

I think the idea here is not to talk about diet in general, but to exchange suggestions for how to cook a good, well-rounded meal in camp using limited supplies and equipment.

My preference when touring is to start the day with a good breakfast in a diner/restaurant if possible, or in camp if necessary. Cooking up bacon and eggs on a camp stove is fairly quick and easy (I'm not a fan of oatmeal, grits, etc; don't care for cold cereal either), although I prefer to just break camp and get on the road in the morning, then stop somewhere for breakfast. Fast food will do when necessary, but I try not to do that too often. And when I do, I prefer something like an Egg McMuffin that has an actual egg and a slice of ham on non-greasy bread, as opposed to, say, a bacon and egg biscuit in which the bacon is greasy, the egg is processed, and the biscuit is full of fat.

A good breakfast means I can just have a small sandwich or energy bar or whatever for lunch.

For dinner I like to stop off at a grocery store or market en route and pick up supplies each day. Typically my riding partner(s) and I will agree on something to make for dinner; so we might buy a multi-pack of steaks or chicken breasts, for example, and some veggies. Or burgers and buns. Or if you're going to be camping someplace primitive and won't have a campfire (or won't have a grill to put over the campfire), figure out something you can easily cook using whatever cookware you've brought along. Occasionally it might be easiest to just get a couple of cans of chili or beef stew or soup or whatever and some 5-minute rice. But generally, as long as you're willing to stop off to buy fresh food each day and have two or three stoves to cook with (or at least a couple of pots), you can cook a nice meal each evening in camp. Look for local ingredients to get a fuller experience of where you're traveling -- for example, if you're in Newfoundland, find a fishery and get some ultra-fresh fish.

If you're someplace remote and expect to not have anywhere to stop off for breakfast the next morning, buy some breakfast supplies as well. Fresh eggs are fine, for example, if you crack them into a Nalgene bottle and throw away the shells and packaging outside the store. A small packet of bacon is good for several people, and if you dice a couple of potatoes and an onion, you can cook those in the bacon fat for tasty home fries (dice the potato small so it cooks faster).

Unless you're traveling somewhere REALLY remote (in which case you should obviously be planning accordingly), it's easy to find places to stop off and buy food each day, which means you don't need to carry much along. And in turn, this means that as long as you're a reasonable cook, you can eat quite well while touring without spending too much money or ingesting too much processed crap.

--mark

Potatoes and onions are easy to carry. So are spices: Salt, Pepper, Oregano, Paprika, etc. Smoked ham / sausages and dried fruit as well.

Dice or slice tatters, add onion and ham/sausage, season to liking. Wrap everything together in two layers of tin foil and put it in the fire next to your kettle. Give it an hour and you'll eat like a king. Add a bell pepper to sweeten the deal. Remember to save the tin foil for later use.

Beer Bread for the road:
1 12 or 16oz can/bottle of beer
4 cups self-rising flour
sugar/salt to your liking
bake at 375ºF for 45min-1hour
makes 1 large loaf or two mini-loaves
tastes great, lasts several days, dirt cheap to make.
You can add ANYTHING you want for variety: Chocolate Chips, Chunks of Cheese, berries, fruit. And experiment with different beers, it changes the taste.

A small bottle of olive oil is invaluable and butter will keep longer than you think. Put a single stick (wrapped in wax paper) in a small screw-top metal canister. You'll use it before it spoils. Jams & Jellies will also keep.

Fry a couple of chunks of beer bread with a pad of butter in a small pan, add smoked ham/sausage and hot coffee = Breakfast of Champions.

Keep a ration of dehydrated food for emergencies only. Pick-up fresh fruit when available, take a multi-vitamin and carry some sort of water purification aid and drink water/coffee/tea/hot cocoa.

If you buy healthy you will eat healthy. Assuming you will cook, learn to cook, then minimal equipment will do any job. My standard cook kit is a small gym bag, 11x16 camp grill in the bottom, one small & light skillet, two nested pots, utensils & camp stove. All spices, dry goods in the bag - fresh stuff in a small (soft sided) lunch cooler, including ice and beer.

You can grill over open flame, fry/saute/warmup in a skillet, or steam/boil/simmer you can cook damn near anything.

i stop at subway (they're everywhere) and get loaded foot long veggie subs on wheat every other day or so. i eat 1/2 then and 1/2 for dinner. i figure even if i eat some bad meals, i atleast get some healthier ones. i always feel like shit after eating fast food and riding again so i try and avoid it.

also i stop at health food stores when i see one and see what they have premade.

i also bring these just in case
http://www.google.com/products/cata...og_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CEAQ8wIwBA#
they really help alot!

Hey I like it. Allot of that packaged soup/chili stuff is really high in sodium, which effects me terribly. Its also expensive.
When Im on the road and I need to be cheap, I like to get that multi-grain twisted curly-cue pasta stuff. I can cook it up and store it in a big zip-lock. I take a small bottle of Italian salad dressing and ive got a decent meal, cheap. I snag some of those single portion salad dressing foil-pacs found at restaurants and some 'food courts'. Gives variety. Buying a cooked chicken breast at a grocery store deli counter, dice it up, add, umm better. My favorite, BELLA brand (Portuguese) sardines in oil added to the pasta.
Another is ramen noodles (most grocery stores have some of the premium noodles too) with an egg dropped in while boiling. Add green onions and maybe some chinese cabbage. I use half of the flavor packet.
Stuff will keep better than you think/seasonally adjusted.
When Im on the cheap I eat for about four to six bucks a day and feel I eat well.
I don't often buy allot of canned stuff except to augment my staples. Staples Rice, Flour, Pasta etc. is cheap, lightweight and easy to carry. Eggs can be carried successfully too.
There is economy in numbers too. Two or three can eat cheaper than one.

It may not work for you but it does me.

Maybe I've been in the wrong thread. Does this qualify?

I enjoy cooking on the road, camping or in a motel room. Disable the smoke alarm first or you get too much company.

As has been mentioned, traveling with two or more makes cheap, healthy, and flavorful much easier to attain. I'll go through a few dress rehearsals in the next couple of weeks and post em' up.

Too easy.

Eggs, Lentils, anything green and leafy, nuts, chicken/beef/pork/fish.

If it comes in a box or contains white carbs - not healthy.

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=416552

Check this thread out as well for eating properly on the road. Slowphil