Healthful eating in the midst of travel madness

Jet setting doesn't bode well for healthful eating and tends to result in food waste. July has been a whirlwind of travel. I was gone the first couple days of the month, home for about 2 weeks, gone for a long weekend, home for 4 days, and I'm about to head out again for a long weekend trip. During this time I did not have a car, so getting up to Aldi for my usual grocery routine wasn't an option. A combination of bike and public transportation have worked out well even to get me to the big chain grocery store around the corner.

I've only recently addressed some of the travel-related food challenges.

• Airport food: I've been using the airport as an excuse to eat Chipotle. My mom and I used to go to Chipotle almost every Tuesday. Chipotle brings back happy memories and it tastes so good! This last trip I had YoBerry. It's an excuse to get a treat, but usually it's a treat I don't really need.

•  TSA: As it turns out, a lot of food can get through TSA screening. I'm trying to be better about packing a meal with me to eat in the airport. Sandwiches, fruit, salads with dressing in jars less than 3 oz all get through TSA. Ice packs get through so long as they are frozen solid. Gel packs, and melted ice do not. I suppose ice in  a zip lock bag could just be thrown away and your food will stay cool enough to get through security and eat it on the other side. 

 

•  Nothing to eat for lunch on "travel Mondays." I go strait from the airport to work and might have a bit of fruit with me.It only just occurred to me after a year of this travel routine that I could leave something in the freezer on Thursday and it would be waiting for me on Monday. So far I'm just leaving frozen burritos that I made a while back.

 

• Food waste: Part of my food waste problem was solved when I started packing meals to eat in the airport. I'm usually only gone for 4 days at a time, so a lot of foods won't go bad.  The hardest part might be the grocery shopping for 3-4 days rather than a whole week in between trips. Here's my loot from the other night. Just enough for 3 days. Cost was $19.57. Way cheaper than eating out for 3 days!