veg*an fast-food & healthy snacks

Okeydokey, I'm hunting the internet for options & ideas, and am hoping that someone here might have a list or a site that they know of.

I will be travelling to VA to visit my lil sister in a few weeks. We can't afford to fly & love our car, so we'll be on the road for 4 VERY LONG days (2 down, 2 back; about 24 driving hours each way) and I'm trying to come up with possible places for us to eat along the way and things to pack for us to crunch on if we can't find anything for Her Majesty or myself. This will be my first road trip not eating meat so I'm a little unsure of my options still.

I know that Burger King has a veggie burger. That'll probably be a couple meals, because they've also got the playlands for the kids to stretch their legs in. And I know that Arby's/Sbarro has a vegetarian spaghetti bowl big enough that the two of us can split it and STILL have too much food to finish. And of course Subway & Quiznos both have some good veggie subs. Am I missing anything? I'd love to have a "quickie list" printed out for the glove compartment, so we can check places as we pass them on the highway since I have no idea when or where we'll be stopping to eat. Lunch the first day is gonna be a picnic at a rest area, but because of food spoilage the entire second day will probably end up being fast food.

Also, I know that when we've travelled in the past sometimes we just don't feel like eating a whole meal & we'll snack on whatever happens to be in the car. Which tends to be things my husband picks up... like jerky, triscuit crackers, cheese sticks & such since he tends to see road trips as "junk food free-for-alls." I'm bringing a small cooler & I know we'll have baby wipes in the car for sticky fingers so I can pack almost whatever I want for us. Other than the protein powder for my daughter and carrot sticks, organic granola bars & a bunch of grapes (and the kids' oft-requested fruit leathers) does anyone have any favorite low-mess snack foods? I tend to snack on fresh fruits at home and will be bringing some of whatever's for sale, but I'm trying to come up with ways to balance this out a little bit for Her Majesty since I know she's not likely to eat much of anything once we hit the road. Any ideas???
love,
mom

 

I know that if you go to www.peta2.com, they have a whole list of foods that are vegan and a list of some fastfood places too. I hope this helps you out -- I am new to the vegetarian/ vegan lifestyle ( about 2 months ) and that is the website i rely on most.

 

one word: HUMMUS!!

 

hummus is the best!!

 

Ohhh, thank you! That list at Peta was perfect I forgot about Taco Bell! I love to get the 7-layer burrito without the cheese & sour cream. YUM!!!

Does hummus travel well? We've been keeping it in the fridge. I'll have a cooler, but doubt that anything will keep past about 30 hours & I was afraid of carrying something like that since coolers tend to have unsteady temperatures.

Drumminmama - we always have several baggies of raw veggies in the cooler, but yeah I get tired of fast-food "salads" and raw carrots & peppers on the road. Even before I switched I preferred to snack on raw foods, and road trips are always tough on my diet. I'm adding peanut butter to the list... and a baggie of apples I should've thought of that since we eat them ALL the time here at home. (I'd add almond, but DD hates it... so we'll share peanut to save space this time)

Thanks everyone!!! I just might survive after all
love,
mom

 

You can stop at grocery stores and get fresh fruit along the way. fruit is a definite staple.

 

Bleauch!

I can't stand hummus!

(At least not most hummus ... I've run into a few I can stand.)

 

Red pepper hummus...try it!

 

theres a book called "Healthy Highways" and it lists veg*n food places for tons of cities and towns. I've found it really helpful when driving cross country or going to a city I don't know too well.

 

Store bought or homemade?

Store bought hummus usually tastes like crap.

And homeschoolmama check out....
http://www.hotspotzone.com/Vegan/vegan_list.htm
http://www.peta.org/accidentallyVegan/default.asp
Hopefully they help.

 

As for the Taco Bell suggestion...we have had to resort to them on occassion and I must say that they have a flawless record of getting my order wrong every single time, no matter which one we go to.
PLEASE check your food before you leave. They are utterly incompetent. The bean and rice burrito w/o cheese and whatever sauce junk they put on it is vegan (I believe) and at least vegetarian. I would not call Taco Bell healthy, but if you have to stop there, they do have options. They love to upcharge though, even if you get a cheaper substitute. (i.e. want beans instead of cheese, it takes a damn act of congress and 25-50 cents extra even though it is cheaper to use beans than cheese)
I am not fond of fast food or American-style food chains (Chili's, etc). They all seem to have one dairy-laden vegetarian option and next to nil for vegans. Try your luck with "ethnic" places. They seem to be good at finding something for you to eat.

As for snacks- I would suggest getting Fruit Leather, Primal Strips (veg*n jerky, really good!), granola bars, whole wheat cereal (Cheerios or the like), sealed cartons of soy milk, and packaged soups (our health food store carries vegetarian and vegan soup that you add hot water to. Many are low in fat, etc. Many gas stations have a microwave or hot water dispenser) . Obviously you will need a variety of food because no one wants jerky strips for two days. These things that I mentioned need no refrigeration though, so that's good.
It will free up some space in the cooler
I do not have children, but I remember when I was a kid I liked to listen to music or play a game. If they are young, maybe they would like making cereal necklaces or something.


Hope this was a bit helpful!
Pamela

 

badwolf's suggested websites are awesome. Just beware that BK veggie burger is NOT vegan due to the egg whites they added. it used to be basically vegan with a hint of dairy in the bun, but now itis very un-vegan.

 

Don't forget nuts!

 

Oooh, I've never had red pepper hummus. That sounds fantastic!

 

hippychickmommy-
Yes, the roasted red pepper hummus has a deep flavour. I would suggest making your own by charring a red pepper til the skin is black, letting it cool, and then scraping the skin off and the seeds out and pureeing it with your regular hummus. (or buy jarred and do the same)

I have found that homemade hummus (even from canned chickpeas) tastes better and is way cheaper than pre-mixed. You can try pre-mixed red pepper hummus in case you don't want to use your resources to make it in case you don't like it.
Hummus is pretty versatile, you can do a southwestern version by skipping the tahini and adding olive oil, cumin, and green Tabasco.
I am sure you can even make a mint-style hummus.

 

Thankyou TRP!

I love homemade hummus. I've made black bean hummus, chickpea hummus, and cannelli bean hummus. Good stuff. I definitely want to try the roasted red pepper!

 

Try some homemade whole wheat bread,smuckers natural peanut butter and jam or slices of apple of banana.

 

Thank You so much for this post. I"ve been continplating going veggie for awhile. It is easy when at home, but once I leave the doors I find it is much harder. This post really helped me and my kids! Thank you again.

 

they cook it on the same grill as meat, but i've heard you can have them microwave it.

veggie burritos at chipotle sustain me exclusively.