Living Vegan For Dummies - Alexandra Jamieson [109]
Consider the following list of healthy, easy, cheap, and yummy meals and snacks to keep stashed in your cooler. Many of these items can be replenished along your route if you get your list of health food stores together:
Carrot and celery sticks, sliced cucumbers, and red bell pepper spears
Individual bottles of water
Individual instant soup containers, which can be mixed with hot water from gas station tea machines, hotel bars, or diners
Individual juice boxes and soy or rice milk boxes with straws
Nut butter sandwiches made with whole-grain bread and naturally sweetened jam or apple butter
Road-worthy fruits like apples, oranges, and bananas
Seeds, nuts, dried fruit, and vegan chocolate chips mixed into your own trail mix
Tea bags or individual coffee pouches, salt and pepper packets from fast-food joints, and a squeeze bottle of agave or brown rice syrup
Tofu Sour Cream or Tofu Cheese to spread on veggies (check out Chapter 13 for these recipes)
Vegan snack bars like Lara, Vega, Raw Revolution, Pro Bars, and Oskri Coconut Bars
Wraps made with tortillas, hummus, beans and rice, or vegan veggie tofu cream cheese
Don’t forget to bring a few trash bags, napkins, and some washable spoons, forks, knives, and plates. Travel mugs are handy for refilling your tea and coffee on the road.
Consider stocking up on takeout orders if you find a great vegan-friendly restaurant while driving to your destination. These leftovers can be kept in the cooler for a couple of days.
Think “picnic in a car” when planning out your travel menu. Your road and train meals can be as fancy as you want, with slabs of marinated tofu on slices of fresh tomato and bread. They also can be as simple as gorp (“good old raisins and peanuts”) and a bottle of water. Try something new!
Being a vegan in someone else’s home
You may find it hard to believe, but many people really don’t understand what being vegan means. Many times they incorrectly assume that you’re vegetarian and will load you up with mashed potatoes with butter. My sweetheart of a mother-in-law made green beans for me on my first visit to her home. She happily announced that she “took the bacon out” just before serving it to me. When you’re traveling to someone’s home, you get your chance, not to preach, but to inform your family and friends about veganism.
So, how can you be a polite houseguest while still getting the foods you need? Before you arrive, let your hosts know of your special dietary needs. Explain what it means to be vegan and do the following:
Give some meal suggestions for when you first arrive. Many hosts will want to have some foods on hand that you will enjoy, so help them create this list.
Offer to lead a shopping trip. Doing so enables you to pick up foods that you want and helps you educate your hosts.
Make meals and snacks. Offer to be in charge of preparing some vegan foods, including main meals, side dishes, desserts, and snacks. Make it a truly vegan experience for your hosts.
Research restaurants and grocery stores online before your travels. Many nonvegan hosts may not know where to take you out to eat or where to go shopping. In order to take the pressure off your hosts, come armed with ideas that you have researched.
Bring some food items with you in your luggage to ensure that you’ll have something on hand for the first several hours in case the first dietary conversation is misunderstood. A box of Mori-Nu tofu and a can of pinto beans don’t need to be refrigerated, so you can keep them in your checked baggage or backseat of the car.
Flying with Skill: Vegans in the Air and at the Airport
You’ve bought your airplane tickets, and your itinerary is set. Eating or snacking