Just like anyone else, if it's vacation time, I want to hit the road. This summer we went to San Angelo to visit my sister Ruth (the entire family) and then my husband and I went to Las Vegas as a couple. We got season tickets for Six Flags, too, so traveling has been a good part of our summer vacation. Well, for someone with health restrictions...what in the world do you eat on the road!?
Let's Start with Snacks:
OATMega Bars
I love these little buddies. They have low sugar (5g), no soy, no wheat, and they hit the spot. I avoid the peanut one because it makes my thyroid allergic to itself (doc's words, not mine). I'm glad I stock up because while I was in Houston for a two-day workshop, my GPS was not helpful in finding a restaurant I could eat breakfast. I arrived at the convention center too early and I asked advice and I walked down to a nearby health store (ha ha, it was attached to a gym and everything they had was carb-city). That morning I ate a Mint Chocolate Chip OATMega bar as my breakfast. The woman who had pointed me to that one shop struck up a serious thyroid health conversation and I got her pointed in a good direction (she used to see Mabray too!). These bars are a great last-resort and have saved my butt more than twice (it's only been a month since I found them, can you imagine!?).
Sage Valley Veggie Crisps
There are other brand names, but these are legit! You don't miss chips if you're munching on these. I've seen them at both Walmart , HEB Plus and Sprouts health food store (usually in the produce or health food/nut sections).
Harvest Snap - Snap Peas (Wasabi Ranch)
Oh my goodness, these are delicious. There are other flavors, but I like that Wasabi Ranch and while on the road to San Angelo, I leaned over the bag to my driving husband and he thought it was quite tasty. We had stopped for lunch, but I couldn't eat it...so my tummy was quite rumbly and I like to share. The Wasabi isn't strong. It doesn't burn your mouth or anything. It's mainly flavor, but it's also got that satisfying crisp crunch. For eating a veggie, it's anything but bland.
Bacon
What? Why wouldn't bacon find it's way on this page? Albeit, it does take some forethought, but a Ziploc bag of cooked bacon is great for a day trip. I know I read this idea somewhere else and thought, "This woman is a genius."
Boiled Eggs
These little guys are so portable. I'm currently not in a boiled egg eating stage (I go through moods), but when I make some for myself, I better triple the amount of eggs in that egg boiler Mom gave me because some little minion birds will be jacking mine (you remember those muffins I posted the other day, I got 2 out of those 17 muffins. Two!!! Kept finding a child I had told to wipe off their mouths with more chocolate around their lips).
Muffins
Now that you got me thinking about it, any homemade muffins you bake that use alternative flours and sugars (Splenda, Agave) your body can handle...wrap those bad boys and throw them into your go bag. Pillsbury makes a mean cake mix (yes, it's wheat, so it's not often I do that, but it is sugar-free and that's very important to me) and I tend to bake it as cupcakes. Again, both HEB and Walmart carry these cakes and sugar-free icing. Yes, it's sugar free cupcakes, but without the icing, they're just sweet muffins. But my husband sees them and just goes crazy. I wait until after #3 to say "can you tell those are sugar free?" I get a muffled "waah? Nah ay."
If you're one of those who don't mind experimenting while you bake, why not take healthy ingredients like ground flax seed or crushed nuts (both give fiber and protein) to a Pillsbury cake mix? The vanilla mix would be a great base to play with...well, so would chocolate. I love chocolate.
Nuts
Depending on your nut preferences and thyroid triggers (mine are peanuts), a handful of nuts goes a long way to shutting up the growling monster that resides in your stomach. Mind you, read labels. Some nut mixes have a considerable amount of sugar since they'll add cranberries, raisins, yogurt-covered items, dried fruit, and whatnot. Other nuts are naturally sweet on their own, like pecans, so they're better to use in baking. It's more important to find a product that's low on sugar and high on fiber and protein. It'll take less of it to make you full.
Homemade Jerky
If you happen to have these connections (if you're in South Texas, odds are you might), when you find a friend or family member that makes homemade jerky...do whatever you want to bribe or pay them for a batch. Homemade jerky (or deer jerky like my brother makes) does not have those unpronounceable ingredients. The worst it has is sodium.
Let's move on to restaurant choices:
Six Flags Fiesta Texas
You don't have to have season passes to get this meal deal. There's this one burger spot we like to hit up called Pete's Eats. We'll get a 4-meal deal and then get me an extra hamburger wrapped in lettuce (there are 5 of us, so that works). All are served up with french fries. They have signs that advertise it and we rotate the season passes so we can get a discount each time (up to 5 times, right?). I was over the moon when I saw that little sign. "Look, I don't have to peel off a bun! Yippee!" I also don't need a fork.
In fact, if you check out the Six Flags website, you'll find they have gluten-free options like nachos and salads. It helps you plan which restaurant to go to during your trip. When you have a game plan, it makes eating well easier. It also prevents the after-day-trip fatigue. I like that. Feeling tired is expected. Wiped out for that evening (where you can't be trusted to drive home), and the next day or so? Not cool. Now I get to swap driving duties. My husband's eyes light up each time I offer.
One of my Six Flag trips with a friend, her grown daughter, her grandson, and my girls, we packed a picnic. We each brought veggie trays, grapes, grape tomatoes, jars of pickles, and an assortment of other items the kids would eat. We had sandwich fixes and I was rolling up the turkey lunch meat and pepperjack cheese for protein (love pepperjack!).
Hamburgers
In a crunch, I have ordered a Whataburger double-meat burger and peeled off the bun. I might steal a few fries and then hand the rest to a kid in the back seat. I've done this at IHOP and a litany of other restaurants when I see my options are limited (and over time, I've gotten tired of omelets, maybe because it was the only thing I felt I could eat at IHOP...I scour the website and can tell you what dishes have sugars, more than you think!). The IHOP waitress didn't bat an eye when I requested a salad instead of fries. If you're chicken about altering orders, don't be. Many of us out there have diet restrictions and I haven't had a rude waiter/waitress yet.
Salads
I get in my moods where I can't stand salads. I'm no saint, but there are certain restaurants that make a mean salad. I like Montana Mike's Steak-Avocado Salad and Beeville Diner has a Steak (or Chicken) Avocado Salad. They have their own twists to them, but steak? You can't go wrong if one of my favorites is on top of some greens!
Another on-the-go option is swinging by Walmart or HEB and snagging their ready-made salads. They've grown their options in our little store to include individual servings with carrots and ranch, or a cheese and veggie tray for one. I like HEB's salad choices in the deli more than the produce section. I'll be the naughty salad eater by picking up crispy chicken salad, but they have this one turkey-feta-olive salad with avocado and red onions that I just adore. Again, it depends on my mood, but when someone else has gone to all that effort and it's in single-serve portions? Life just got a whole lot easier. I do that for workshops. I'll do it for day trips and stash items into my bag, or when it's an overnight workshop, I'll stash foods for the workshop itself and some for the hotel fridge.
Cracker Barrel
There are more veggie options here than most places. They have a major veggie on veggie salad that my vegan Daddy could enjoy. I often opt for the lemon pepper trout and overload my sides with veggies. Cracker Barrel is one of those places where if you're tempted to get pancakes or hashbrown casserole, just wait a few months until you get your impulses under control. I like the restaurant because my children get to get syrupy meals I don't cook at home and I get something that my body can handle.
K-Bobs and Beeville Diner
Shish-Ka-Bobs are delicious health food choice. Beeville Diner serves a shrimp-ka-bob with grilled veggies over a bed of rice and I'm in heaven. I'm doubly happy when their side veggies are squash and whatnot. It's double trouble because they flavor it just right. It's everything I can eat on my diet and includes one of my favorite things: grilled food.
Mexican Restaurants
Gluten-free, sugar-free, soy-free, peanut-free all describe most Mexican dishes. Be careful and know what dishes are made of. Green enchiladas use flour tortillas. You can order corn tortillas instead of flour when ordering fajitas. That puffy taco salad shell is also a flour tortilla. Most restaurants I've gone to have a mini-tacos dish, which is awesome. I like enchiladas and tacos and if I remember, I'll ask them to leave off the refried beans and double the salad or sub it for avocado slices. My favorite restaurant already knows me. They show up with extra lemon for my water and "no refried beans, avocado?" Oh yeah.
Chili's, TGIF, and similar restaurants
Most chains have a lunch special. If you like soups and salad, I'd suggest it. They're usually a fast serve and a cheaper meal. Some offer small steak and veggie side options with a salad. Truly, that is too easy and if it involves steak, you have my attention.
Buffets
Golden Corral and similar buffets (not Chinese, soy sauce sends my thyroid swelling) are an easy family option. I like finding the mom and pop establishments when we're on the road (there was this one on the way to DisneyWorld that was awesome). It makes pleasing all the family member's taste-buds and my Daddy (a vegan) and myself (sugar-free, wheat-free, etc.) can find foods we can eat. Golden Corral offers sugar free dessert choices, so that's always pretty sweet. You usually have to bake your own or carry them in your bag from HEB or Sprouts purchases (sugar-free dark chocolate almonds, yesss!), but most restaurants don't offer sugar free desserts. It's nice when one does.
Big City Restaurants
I have to have a category for this one. I don't recall the restaurant we ate at for my niece's wedding, but I was having a silent panic attack that I'd not be able to order a meal because the wedding menu had only pasta choices. I was worried that I'd maybe go without eating altogether. It has happened before in Fredericksberg when I ordered a salad and I could taste nothing but sugar in their chicken salad. It was their only non-breaded menu item, that's why I had ordered it. I ate a few bites and my stomach just rolled. I knew it'd make me very sick. I did try eating only the lettuce to fill up a little, but basically I didn't eat lunch that day. Yes, I was starving and we went to the museum like we planned and I snacked later on (and I get weak when I don't eat often enough, so I put up with my vision turning black a few times in the museum).
In that Dallas restaurant for the wedding reception, I looked at the menu and thought "Ah, bollocks"...and then I did it. I asked the waiter, "You wouldn't happen to have gluten free noodles? Or another gluten-free menu item I can order off this?" I figured I could ask...would I get in trouble? Would he scowl? Would he take away my birthday? We were in Dallas, you never know and sure enough, they did have gluten free noodles (it is a big city, they have more options and I forget that because my small town doesn't). Mom and I grinned at each other across the table and both ordered gluten-free noodles. The waiter told us he has to eat gluten-free, too, so he completely understood. I was more than relieved. So, you never know until you ask. Use your best manners and if you have a good puppy-dog look, use it. People don't mind altering their menu when you treat them kindly.
I hope this gives a good run-down of some easy choices when you're on the road and you're out of ideas. Good luck!
No comments:
Post a Comment