Hopefully Jacetheace replies. He is the master.
LOL, thanks.
I have a ton of recipes which I'm allocating to one location so that I can add it to my food and travel blog. With it I'm going to include a how-to video on how to pack your coolers. I will post it when I have it up.
eBags just very recently reintroduced the Original Crew Cooler, as the
Crew Cooler II. It addresses a lot of the issues the original Crew Cooler I had. Specifically, there's now a removable and replaceable liner in the insulated compartment that prevents leakage and contamination of the stitched areas of the insulation (a perfect place for bacteria growth). The removable liner solves this problem. I put the Crew Cooler on my Christmas list. It is $32 and I believe they give crew discounts on top of that.
http://www.ebags.com/product/ebags/crew-cooler-ii/204851
Basically, the best thing to do is make a large batch of food beforehand (densely packed food like homemade lasagna, enchiladas, homemade chili is perfect), place them in a bunch of plastic containers like the one listed below, and pull them out one by one as you prepare for your trips (I've even packed Prime Rib, Roasted Red Potatoes, with Green Beans for my trips). Pack these containers close to ice packs like these...
...and the food will slowly thaw to refrigerator temperature on the 3rd day, assuming no additional refrigeration is available in the hotel. Want it the 1st day? Just defrost it and heat up in the microwave.
Fit N Fresh Chill Containers with Ice Pack portions underneath lid are perfect for holding food and keeping it cold:
I found Tupperware to still be one of the best brands for keeping the food in containers IN THE CONTAINER. Those Disposable Ziploc plastic square containers are horrible, do not seal well and will melt after about 4 minutes in the microwave. Then again, they aren't meant for everyday use.
By the 3rd or 4th day, assuming no fridge available take ice from the hotel or airplane galley and fill this hospital ice pack up with ice and place it in the cooler. Walgreens or Rite Aid carries these and they cost around $8.
If you want sandwiches I highly recommend bringing 4 or 6 slices of bread and place them in your rollaboard so they don't get soggy. Keep lunch meat and cheese in Zip Lock bags in the cooler, along with lettuce/tomato or whatever you want in your sandwich. Every airport has a Cibo which has packets of Mayonnaise and Mustard available for the taking. Grab a bunch of these and stick them in your cooler's unchilled sidepocket portion and you can make yourself a sandwich whenever you want. Keeping all sandwich ingredients separate prevents the soggy sandwich issue you encounter when you prepare the sandwich at home before the trip.
All it takes is planning, creativity, and learning how to cook and you'll see a HUGE savings in food expenses on your trips and maximize what you get from your per diem. I typically spend $25 in food on a 4-day trip. This is for BREAKFAST, LUNCH, DINNER, and SNACKS in between.
Breakfast options:
-Bulk Granola from Whole Foods, 8 oz Horizon Organic Milk containers ($1.25 each and about 30 cents for granola serving). This milk does NOT require refrigeration, so you can keep in your rollaboard.
-Oranges, apples, bananas (keep in rollaboard to save space in your cooler)
-Giada's Homemade Peanut Butter Granola Bars (
recipe here)
-Hard boiled eggs
-Whole wheat toast with your own peanut butter (go to Au Bon Pain and use their toaster)
Snack options:
-Celery and peanut butter jar (keep the peanut butter in the eBags side pocket)
-Hummus and pita chips (keep hummus in cooler portion, pita chips in front side pocket)
-Carrots
-Raw almonds
-Nut mix
-Pistachios
-Whole fruit
-Banana chips (make your own with dehydrator, use honey if you want to sweeten)
-Beef jerky (make your own with dehydrator)
Fresh Microwaved Rice:
-Basmati rice, brown rice, white rice, any kind of rice. You can make your own rice with this microwave rice cooker. Pack it in your rollaboard and fill them with clean socks or other items to reduce its space consumption. $6 to $8 on eBay:
You can use the fresh basmati rice you just cooked and serve with Chana Masala, Mashed Vegetable Curry, Saag, or any of the ready-to-eat packets from your local Indian grocery. No preservatives, except for a huge dosing of sodium. They cost about $2. Hey, it's better than the processed crap you eat at the Food Court. Serve with Naan (keep in your rollaboard) and you have yourself an Indian dinner.
And last but not least, CUT OUT SODA!!! Bring your own tea packets or just drink water.
Hope this write-up helps!
