my bf and i went on a road trip recently. we usually ate out for dinner and lunch, but for breakfast, we took yoghurt, cereal (we bought milk wherever we were at the moment), cold cuts, cheese, peanut butter and bread. depending on the frequency and locations of your stops, you can always stop by by a local grocery store, pick up some things like pre-made salads and whatever else you like to eat for dinner.

I was just about to write in with this question, so I'm super excited to see the answers. I know that I get really tired of eating room-temperature shelf stable foods after a few days (even if I am eating "well balanced"), so I really hope there are some creative ideas floating around out there.

Make your own salad/pasta salad/sandwiches/wraps and assemble when ready to eat, that way it won't be soggy. Grill any protiens prior to your trip and eat cold. I always pre-cut veggies (make sure to bring hummus/ranch/franks red hot sauce for dipping!) for road trips.

A few years ago my hubby and I stumbled on an easy, great road food concept. We kept buying pre-cooked boil in bag grain pouches of rice and quinoa as well as legume pouches like Tasty Bites. We put them on the dash of the car to "cook" while we drove and dressed them up with some cilantro, lime and random veggies we kept in the cooler. This worked well for lots of meals with re-stocking at Trader Joe's, Vitamin Cottage and Whole Foods. We also packed a camp stove for hot cereal and water for tea or coffee to have with fruit and other treats we picked up from farmers markets on our 3-week journey.

My brother and I just did a two week road trip. We camped the whole way, so had an ice chest and crates of food packed for just about every meal. Our faves:

- No-bake energy bites (like these: http://gimmesomeoven.com/no-bake-energy-bites/)
- Bags of chopped onions, bell peppers and sliced mushrooms helped us eat veggies in every meal (with eggs in the morning, with pasta and stir fries for dinner)
- Jambalaya - pre-cooked sausages and rice packets, a spice packet and some of your chopped veggies make a great one-pot dinner
- Individual cans of pre-made tuna salad with crackers, plus bags of nuts and dried fruit or an apple or banana was a go-to lunch
- Buy a package of cut and washed greens (I love kale from Trader Joe's) and make a container of salad dressing so you have an easy salad to put together
- On the go wraps - we relied a lot on dips like hummus and dill sauce - then buy a bag of frozen falafel from TJs and wrap them up in a tortilla along with some dips and veggie sticks

Enjoy your trip!

i was going to suggest a camp stove too. The boil and eat packets work great with that, packed some for a vegetarian friend on a road trip to some national parks. A lot of public parks allow camp stove grilling in designated areas. You could heat prepared food in a pot or even purchase some fresh things like veggies, sausages, or meats to grill. Two weeks is a long time so plan on having to stop and stock up on fresh stuff often.

Consider staying a night at a motel with a kitchenette mid way thru and you can do some cooking and baking for the remaining week.

PBJ sandwiches, cut-up fruit, cheese/crackers, and nut mixes. Parmalat in small containers + cereal + fruit for a quick breakfast. If you bring a small cooler and a full set of dishes/utensils, you can easily stock up on a few items at grocery stores instead of eating out at restaurants. Yogurt, sandwich meats, ready-made salads, etc.

Frittatas and hard boiled eggs. You could also make a big batch of salad and add dressing each time. Or maybe soba noodles with sesame sauce and vegetables. Have fun on your road trip!!

IDK about healthy, but often for fishing trips we'll make empandadas or cornish pasties and freeze them and keep them in a cooler. They thaw out over time, and are very tasty cold (Empanadas de Atun are, I suppose, slightly healthier)

When my sister and I took our last road trip, we took a small picnic basket with paper towels, cheap paper plates, a set of silverware, a sharp knife, cutting board, and a microwave safe mug. We also purchased a styrafoam ice chest in cardboard box (from a butcher that mails or ships meat). We found this kept ice cold the longest. We tried to stay in motels that had a microwave, refrig. and ice machine each night. It was also helpful if they served continental breakfast (to get yogurt, fruit, or patries, etc). Breakfast, if continental wasn't served, we had microwave scrambled eggs (raw eggs will keep on ice for 2 weeks, cereal (purchase a small carton of milk at gas station/deli, or frozen waffles (use honey-does not require refrig.) and fresh fruit. Lunch-take bread and make a tomatoe, avacado, lettuce sandwich., or we took liverwurst (good German girls) and deli olives and fruit (sometimes chips, Crackerfuls, or fruited cookies). Dinner can be top ramen, microwavable dinners, or cup-o-soup & sandwich. Most often we ate dinner out. The trick was to pack what didn't need refrig. and then replenished the ice in the ice chest and a few items that needed to be kept cool in the foam container. We would then stop at road-side rest areas and bring out the picnic basket and ice chest and enjoyed the scenery and the picnic!

QUOTE: looking for ideas for breakfast, lunch, and dinner so I won't need to eat out all the time

What's your ultimate goal, maintaining a healthy diet while on the road or staying on budget? Lots of great suggestions here, many of which will achieve one while eliminating the other. And btw, it IS possible to eat healthy AND cheap - even at a fast-food drive thru - if you do your homework ahead of time & know what's available where.

Otherwise, invest in a compact, combo coffeemaker/toaster oven/hotplate which has an adapter for the cigarette lighter. More versatile than a camp stove & a good substitute for the hotel kitchenette (save$ on the room - a regular room is less expensive than one equipped with a kitchenette). Eat what you want, when you want and enjoy a hot meal or beverage anytime.

Lots of road time in this household. This baby can easily pay for itself on a 2-wk road trip with $ left over. Pair it with a cooler & you're all set. Done and done. Good luck & have fun!

I bake muffins, put together trail mix and bring nut butter. When we travel, we pick up veggie trays, fruit and buns. If we eat out, it's either smoothies or veggie burritos. Then we stop for ice cream when the kids demand more than what we have!

Deviled eggs--get hold of some mayo packets that don't need to be refrigerated, and you can buy hard boiled eggs at a lot of grocery stores.

Sandwiches--loaf of Italian bread, cream cheese, sliced veggies.

Chopped melons are good for a little extra hydration when you're traveling in hot weather.

Variety of cheese and crackers. (Bring a cutting board and knife.)

(Adding that my suggestion to buy pre-cooked hard boiled eggs is more for midway through the trip, not so much the beginning.)

So, a question for anyone still reading this comment stream: for those of you who recommend a cooler, how often did you have to replenish the ice? I'm doing a month-long road trip next summer that will include some of the hottest parts of the country, and I'm wondering if bringing a cooler means finding/buying ice more than once a day. If so, is it still worth it?

how about Tunisian eggplant dip? It's absolutely delicious and healthy, and you can eat with so many different things like lettuce, pita bread, rice or even spread on your vegetarian sandwiches. Here is the recipe - http://7th-taste.com/2010/12/02/tunisian-eggplant-dish-german-white-wine/

If you are in a big city and you can find a Turkish grocers take a look a the range of canned goods they stock. I was amazed at the range of tinned meze goods I found in mine and how good quality they were. Hummus, olives, roasted peppers, bean salads, stuffed vine leaves, stuffed eggplant. With some fresh bread and maybe a salad you have an amazing picnic without the needs for an ice box to keep them cool.

It's nice to have some ready to eat meals rather than bringing only ingredients that you have to assemble. I look for recipes that are make-ahead and require time in the fridge. They hold up well in the cooler. Here is what I made for our last family road trip, these all worked well:

1) Salads in mason jars-- the Kitchn has recipes.

2) Muffaletta type sandwich-- This held up great in the cooler, I used this recipe: http://applevalleygirl.blogspot.com/2010/07/menu-plan-monday-camping-food-part-1.html

3) Two different three bean type salads, one with quinoa and the other was this recipe: http://applevalleygirl.blogspot.com/2010/08/camping-cuisine-part-5-eat-your-veggies_12.html

@alicelost, I live in the south west, its very hot. We sometimes camp in the desert using a standard plastic cooler. Ice generally lasts for one day. Buy the biggest bag - or even better - get blocks of ice. Here in Utah one can also buy dry ice - that will superfreeze your food, but that could buy a couple days of no ice.

My favorite road food is a jar of nutella and a bag of pretzel sticks!

@JSCarey Just because Catherine doesn't want to eat out all the time doesn't mean she doesn't want to experience the road. I made a road trip from SC to WY in a 36-foot moving truck. I did not want to stop at restaurants/fast food places because of the sheer size of the truck. I made a road trip from Memphis to Montreal in a regular vehicle and quickly learned that restaurants/fast food usually made me sleepy.

As to the real question:
Catherine, I will tell you what I usually pack for my long, solo road adventures.
1) Refillable bottles with filtered water pitcher buckled into the backseat. (save money & save the planet by refilling at hotel or rest stop)
2) Mixed nuts (takes the edge off before your next scheduled break)
3) Really good canned tuna packed in olive oil (no need for mayo) (I like Genova? it's in a gold tin)
4) Triscuits to put the tuna on (they don't make my sleepy like bread)
5) Apples - Whole & a cripsy variety (better than caffeine for a longer alertness)
6) Natural peanut butter.... great with apples or Triscuits
7) Carrots - (other crispy veggies are nice to snack on)
8) Reusable utensils including a sharp knife
9) Stop at grocery stores & re-stock from the outer walls & treat yourself to deli salads & meats.

Ice in Coolers - I travelled through the Grand Canyon area during a summer & one 7-lb bag would last a day in my medium sized cooler.

If you're traveling by car and want long term food storage, you may also want to consider buying a portable 12v fridge/cooler that can plug right into the car. Get one with an AC adaptor and you can take it inside if you're at a hotel or couch surfing.

Most of my tried and true ideas are on here, so I will add that what I find most helpful is to stop and eat a lunch and try your best to limit (mindless, bored) snacking between meals. I find that while in the car, the urge to eat away boredom is superstrong, especially when I have packed a *%*&$ -load of snack (nuts! crackers! cheese! gold!fish!crackers!) foods that I generally don't eat at home. Plan out your meals and try to eat on the schedule you would at home. Otherwise you may chomp through your cooler on day 2 (guilty). That said goldfish crackers mixed with almonds are so so good.

oops one more thing- you can get hot water/coffee at many rest stops so you can make oatmeal, instant rice noodle soups, boil in a bags, etc if you don't have a camp stove.

We went on a month-long road trip last month and my favorite food that I brought along was grain-free coconut cake (http://deliciouslyorganic.net/grain-free-gluten-free-coconut-cake-recipe-lemon-curd-strawberries-cream/). It's nutrient dense, subtly sweet and perfect for breakfast or a filling snack. Just one piece each would fill us up for hours and many times it saved us from buying breakfast. I also cooked different flavors of Applegate organic sausages, wrapped them and ate them with a piece or raw cheese or some veg for lunch or dinner on those long days in the car.

Dress a big bag of kale with a vinaigrette for salads-- I find it lasts a week or longer even when pre-dressed. I also like bean salads dressed in vinaigrette because they don't need to be refrigerated and beans last a while before going bad. Just be careful about what else you put in with them. I find tomatoes and bell peppers go bad after a day or so in vinaigrette, so add those when you want to eat the salad.

Canned tuna can be made into a variety of cold dishes, as can sardines. Just add olive oil and some sliced olives and scallions to the tuna and you have a lovely Italian tuna salad. Put sardines over some slices of baguette with a spritz of lemon and some olive oil for a delicious protein-filled bruschetta.

Pickled veggies can be made ahead of time and add veggies to your meals without having to stop at the store.