Road Trip Food

We just returned from a lovely four days away from home and I'm happy to report that I was able to hold to my diet (with a few minor unknowns).  That being said, it took a bit of doing and some healthy snacks tucked into the cooler.

We arrived at the Cave B Inn at 1pm just in time for lunch only to find out they had only a brunch buffet with little other than fruit that I knew for sure was okay. With no other restaurants within a 35 minute drive and a 2:15 appointment at the spa, this was my first challenge.  The cook at the omelet bar was willing to do a no butter, no oil omelet with spinach, mushrooms and onions.  Added some fresh fruit from the buffet and a bit of lox (does lox have sugar in it?).  So far, so good.  Dinner was a fabulous ratatouille of spaghetti squash dressed with roasted carrots, celery, garlic, tomatoes, red peppers and onions and topped with a fried egg.  Delicious!

The following morning, two poached eggs on a bed of lightly braised spinach was terrific although the special request took 45 minutes to arrive.

Off on the road the next morning, we made a stop at McDonald's (mostly for the restroom) but I decided to get a drink and my husband wanted some fries.  This was my first trip into Micky D's in probably a decade.  I ordered an iced coffee for me and large fries for my husband.  "Will that be caramel or vanilla?" the server asked.  "Neither." I said.  "Oh, you have to pick one, it only comes that way." she said.  Turns out the iced coffee is not coffee chilled over ice but rather a pre-mixed, highly sugared beverage.  I went with an ice tea.  While I waited, I noticed the person next to me taking delivery on a box of fries that was as big as the popcorn boxes at the movies.  "Is that a large fries?" I asked.  It was about 4 times larger than I had remembered.  I revised my order to a medium.  "Medium fries and a sweetened ice tea" a server called as she pushed it in my direction.  They re-did my drink order to reflect my unsweetened ice tea order.  I walked out with a little better idea of how easy it can be to over sugar and over order if you're not vigilant.

A stop at a small town cafe was an unexpected surprise with a fresh looking salad bar.  Soup came with it.  I order lentil figuring the tomato mushroom likely had cream in it.  The lentil soup looked fabulous but was filled with small pieces of ham.  The server gladly replaced it with the tomato soup which it turned out was a clear, vegetable broth.

For dinner in Spokane and I chose Wild Sage on 2nd St. since it advertised non-gluten options.  Adding non-dairy severely limited the choices but I did end up with an excellent fresh, nicely presented salad with a high quality balsamic vinegar and olive oil.  Main course was black quinoa and lentil cakes served with a roasted tomato sauce, asparagus and pea shoots.  I asked  them to hold the Parmesan. They were very accommodating and knowledgeable about their ingredients.  Mmmm.

In the morning, the restaurants near the hotel didn't look too promising.  Eggs were plentiful but no mention of fruit or veggies on the breakfast menu.  I was dying for a Starbucks style cafe Americano so we headed down the street to what ended up being an independent coffee seller who sold Starbucks coffee.  I got my Americano and dug into my pack for a pear and my almond butter.  It was a satisfying breakfast that stuck with me.

Back at Cave B, I used a slightly different strategy and talked to the chef this time.  I ended up with a chicken salad sandwich minus the bread and chips with some extra lettuce mix.  I think the chicken had a tiny bit of mayo but since mayo is part of the diet as long as no added sugar, I decided not to sweat it.

The menu for dinner hadn't changed so ended up doing the ratatouille again since it was something I wanted to analyze a little further to see if I could replicate at home.  My husband ordered halibut which without the pureed peas which contained dairy would have also worked.  Tried my hand at dinner photos although the intense light and shadows were a bit of a challenge.  My husband drew the line at asking them to adjust the shades or move the table.

Figured breakfast would be a no-brainer since I ordered the poached eggs and spinach again.  Hmm.  Instead of the big plate of braised spinach with a small dish with two poached eggs next to it, I got a huge plate filled with bread, deep fried potatoes (which looked very tempting), and a small dressed salad topped with a few leaves of spinach along with my two poached eggs. I offloaded the bread and potatoes to another plate and made due with what I had since there were no offenders.  But I must say, it wasn't the same as the braised spinach. 

For dinner we ended up in Leavenworth, a Bavarian style town with lots of brats, and sugary treats.  I didn't have high hopes but my husband needed dinner and I still had some fruit and almond butter in my bag.  We ended up at Visconti's Italian Restaurant where the server gladly offered to substitute olive oil for the butter in the fire grilled mussels.  They were some of the best mussels I've ever had. Just the right amount of smokey flavor softened by the lemon, olive oil and herbs. Can't believe they would have been better with butter.  I added a  dish of roasted beets sprinkled with saba ( a balsamic like dressing made from grape must).  They also do a great Americano.

So what did I learn from all of this?

• You can't be afraid to ask.  There is dairy and sweetener hidden in less than obvious places.
• Be explicit. You can assume nothing.  Just because something is savory doesn't mean it doesn't contain sweetener.  Just because something doesn't have sugar, doesn't mean it doesn't have honey or some other sweetener in it.  If you ask about sugar, they don't always tell you if there is honey in a dish. If you don't want bread or potatoes, say so.
• Don't assume servers know ingredients or will accurately convey your requests to the kitchen.  Talk to the chef if at all possible.  Chefs change day to day so each day is a new experience.
• Carrying small containers of olive oil and vinegar comes in handy if you can find a salad bar since it may be difficult to ascertain the ingredients in dressings or the nature of the oil.
• Higher end restaurants are not necessarily more willing to accommodate although on this trip, all the restaurants did try to work with me.  If you're going somewhere for longer than a day or two, it would likely be helpful to call ahead so they can purchase accordingly. 
• You may have to wait longer to get your food since special requests often require your dish be pulled "off line".  At a busy time, this could mean waiting for someone to break away from their station to attend to your dish. 
• Apples, pears and almond butter travel well and can easily be carried in a shoulder bag or large purse and can always do in a pinch.
• Kale Krunch from Alive & Radiant Foods comes in a 2.2 oz. resealable bag.  It's mostly organic and with none of the prohibited ingredients.  I tried the southwest ranch flavor--it was excellent.  One of the few ways to get greens that can travel well without a cooler. I will be sure to have several bags with me for future trips.  I got mine at PCC in Edmonds, WA.

Happy trails!