Computerless for most of the duration of Trip-Recalling Trip from Final Destination

After yesterday's disappointment, we attempted no cooking but ate some of the best and worst food of the entire trip. Morning started out with coffee shop cappuccinos made with soy milk with oven-fresh bagels. My traveling companion had a class assignment to be vegan for a day and was disappointed initially to be eating her bagel dry sans her usual cream cheese. I suppose with some forethought we could have acquired vegan cream cheese embellishing with green onions, olives and freshly ground pepper but this trip showed me time and time again that many plans for a variety of reasons had to be altered or given up altogether.

We spent the morning exploring East Nashville, finding an amazing vegan-vegetarian restaurant called "Wild Cow". What can I say but "wow"! Every bit of our meals were fabulous from the Caesar salad with toasted pumpkin seeds, to the tofu stew, vegan cheese steak, mocha-chocolate cupcake, lavender-vanilla cupcake, cookies (we had tomorrow to think of).

Sated with a wonderful meal, we were sorely disappointed that we didn't order dinner to go.

That evening as we muddled through Chinese delivery in a West Memphis Super 8 Motel, we reminisced about the complexities of tastes and textures from the wonderful kitchen of The Wild Cow Restaurant.

Day 2-Nashville

Well as should always be expected when planning for the unknown and unexpected-most things will not go as planned.

First off-greatly underetimating what could be carried in a car my beloved solar oven creation needed to be left behind! With my smaller vehicle and laundry that had not been packed space was at a great minimum and an 18" square box could not be accomendated and was left cubside. I took the piece of plastic that went over the top, and will use for an at-home solar oven.

Second-even if the solar oven was brought along we have had nothing but rainy skies and clouds. Not only is there no sun which would have been needed for the solar oven but roadside barbeques and hanging outside of gas stations to tap into their electricity are not so easy to utilize.

Admisdst terrential rains we gave up trying to create lunch and went to a Mexican restaurant. The guacamole was made with "A little dairy" so I settle for lard free beans, lettuce, rice and salsa  in soft taco. Anticipating the need for an afternoon snack, I ate 1/2 and saved the second 1/2 for an afternoon snack.

By the time we got to the hotel in the evening we were both bone tired and could only manage to order a room service salad. Horrible!!!Iceberg lettuce and dried up pieces of carrots in fact if I hadn't embellished the salad with an apple, handful of sunflower seeds and a thinly sliced leek there would have been nothing redeeming about dinner at all.

Today was in room coffee which my travel mate brought from Bisbee and instant oatmeal. food was hard to access particualrly frustrating since we were both starved by the time we got to find a place to eat. Lexington, Kentucky had limited vegetarian options and we ended up in an overpriced boutique restaunt where I got a fried green tomato and mixed greens salad and a plate of sweet potato fries.

Our plan of attact tonight was to hit Nashville and heat the now unfrozen split pea soup with  Artesian bread. Problem is we have been searching for some Artesian bread for the past five hundred miles and have not found any yet. So tomorrow the search goes on for good bread.

Instead I had hotel vegan pizza (peppers, onions, and canned black olives). Not great and great momentimum for making my our own food tomorrow.

Pre-trip discoveries

Fortunately I have planned well enough in advance to test some of my road trip plans. First let me address the packaged soups: Uhhhhh not too tasty. These are perhaps the blandest tasting meals and not what I would look forward to after many hours on the road.

Twice I decided to try one of MacDougals' soups: Tomato Basil and Vegan Chicken Noodle. The Vegan Chicken Noodle was tasteless. The Tomato Basil will slightly better was still a disappointment. Each serving has a small hand full of teeny noodles and a packet of dried soup base or broth. Easy to replicate with more potential for dressing up a very bland meal. If I want to have some of this type of meal for the road I've decided I would be better off making my own.

Last week I had made a small pot of split pea soup, freezing two portions for road food and one for my dinner. Also bland  and great need of tamari, more smoke flavor and some fresh herbs. Hopefully we will find a source for fresh local herbs en route to use when reheating this soup.

This afternoon, I went up the road to my local small fruit orchard / grocery to get some road munchies and local fruits. I settled on a small bag of apples-Ida Red and Macintosh. They are both quite crispy, tart and nice and juicy- a perfect fall apple that will store well in the car for our journey. I also picked up dried dates, dark chocolate covered pretzels and a bag of local apple schnitzel. I thought these "Special" snacks would be great pick me ups in between meals or when we are feeling a little "snackish"

Crunch Time

With a week plus eight or so hours to go, my house is 98% packed, almost cleaned of twenty-two years of cobwebs and dirt, and I am near ready to drive thirty+ hours to my new home. My partner and I have divided trip preparation: she-road navigator while I am the kitchen wench. Not that I will be forced to do all the cooking, she is a capable cook with lots of great ideas, however it is my responsibility to create a working kitchen for the journey.

Previously I had thought single serving oatmeal in a cup would be a good snack/breakfast item to take along but the environmentalist in me was bothered by the extra packaging and forced serving size so I opted to buy a larger container of organic instant oatmeal. Packed alongside dried sour cherries and organic sunflower seeds, even without picking up local fruits and/or nuts, we can prepare a yummy cup of oatmeal in under five minutes with only the addition of hot water.

Because of my impeding move I have let the condiments in my house dwindle. However there is always a need for tamari, oils, etc. and I have included them in the car box. Two of my house bottles were: 4 ounces of liquid smoke and 2 ounces of black truffle oil. Two yummy to pass up but without proper lids I went to the local camping store (Appalachian Outdoors) in State College and got two small plastic jars with screw on lids for about two dollars each. I noticed that these jars came in a variety of sizes perfect for future cooking on the road.
 

Yesterday I made a small pot (I had packed away the soup kettle) of smokey flavored split pea soup. For variety I added sliced leeks, 1/2 organic yam, 2 organic carrots, 2 small potatoes, smoke flavor, salt and pepper. Tomorrow I will freeze two portions to be kept cold until lunch or dinner one of the first days of the journey. With my arsenal of cooking abilities I can heat the soup in one of three ways depending on our situations when we stop to eat. If sunny day: solar oven, access to electricity: Vita Mix blender for ten minutes, roadside grill: heat in saucepan with addition of a little water.

Aftermath of short road trip-shared thoughts

With my impending move there are many goodbyes that have to be made. My east coast family requested a visit and their offer of a new (to me) car was too good to pass up. Getting to the New Jersey shore from central Pennsylvania using mass transit is not a simple thing. After an hour car ride to the train station, a three and a half hour train ride to Philadelphia, 20 block walk to the bus station ,  a hour and a half bus ride to Atlantic City then a forty five minute car ride I arrived at my family's home. With little preparation, I packed light and foolishly thought I could grab good food enroute.

On the train, a pepsi and bag of potato chips were the only vegan options for the lunch part of my journey. Had I used some forethought I would have packed a lunch but without preplanning I was hostage to Amtrak's menu.  Once I got to Philadelphia I found a small Thai-Vietnamese restaurant in Chinatown that was able to make a hot pot of veggies (mushrooms, asian greens and green beans) and tofu in a brown sauce, without the fish sauce. Coupled with a glass of Merlot this was a delcious meal and fun as I got to people watch and read the paper before the next segment of my journey.

Once with my parents dining options were quite limited. The two times we ate out I ordered vegan veggie burgers. Veggie burgers are often restaurants' token dish for vegan/vegetarians. Taste wise they are quite uninspiring however co-dinners are satisfied with the appearance of a "normal" food and it is one of the few times that a vegan can eat in peace amidst a group of non-vegetarians.

When I got home I was reinvigorated with creating many of my own meals on the road and not being so dependent on the very limited offerings that one encounters in unfamiliar places. Today at the supermarket I purchased some of Dr. McDougall's vegan soups and instant oatmeal for quick lunches and late nights when neither my partner nor I feel like making food. I will make some foods this week (Spanokopita and Split Pea soup) and freeze to take along to be heated in the solar oven. I am also planning on finding a pumpkin muffin  and chocolate chip cookie recipes to print out and take along for baking once we hit sunny climes.

It's Halloween and 15 days to go!!!

With the end of my six month internship at Community Partnerships RC&D, I now am full on into packing and preparation for traveling cross county. Most likely the first few day's meals will have been prepared ahead at home with the convenience of a  toaster-convection oven, electricity for appliances and running hot and cold water.


My road buddy has recently discovered Spanokopita (non vegan) so I decided to make a vegan version that can be heated in a solar box oven which I've decided to construct for the trip.

With virtually no cost a box oven can be made with two boxes, aluminum foil, one piece of glass, flat black paint and a bit of insulation (recycled newspapers). I have never used a solar oven but am excited to explore its potential. Once I reach Arizona I hope to cook using solar energy as often as possible.

I come from a family of planners. My dad is always the guy in charge of events with which ever is his current "social group" du jour. My sister plans extravagant parties that are months in the planning,complex in nature and over the top in most every way. I like to think of myself as a balance of pre-planning and deciding things in the moment. Often when I travel, road trips involve grabbing available vegan food; heavy, unhealthy, expensive and ultimately unsatisfying. This time I decided to try to make the road food as appealing as possible which is best addressed by cooking on the road.


Of the kitchen tools I will be taking, three require electricity. This will be tricky at times. I imagine me and my partner hunkering down in a McDonalds' playground grabbing some juice from an outdoors electric outlet to run the electric teapot. A very sweet rice cooker and Vita Mix blender complete the triad of electrical tools.

With these tools and basic hand tools I should be able to create delicious, healthy, meals made from fresh local foods. Planning around what foods are available is exciting and will give this trip an extra dimension.