In Megan and Joe’s generation, many of us got to take Lunchables to school every once awhile, and that was a very special day. Hard to say exactly why, as they are (unsurprisingly) packed with artificial ingredients and preservatives. And also kind of revolting to look at. And yet, the idea of it is still so adorably appealing, isn’t it: each food, chopped in bite-sized pieces, in its own little “cubby.”
We recently bought some assorted olives at an olive bar in our local grocery story. Joe’s immediate thought was that the provided containers were kind of like those once-exciting Lunchables, so we decided they’d be great to wash and re-use on our next road trip.
For the long drive down I-5 to LA, we cleaned out our fridge and pantry and filled out lunchables containers with lots of leftovers:
- Cheddar cheese (two kinds—Joe’s from Vermont, what can we say)
- Crackers
- Pistachios
- Hummus
- Sliced apple
- Carrots
- Peaches and nectarines
- Homemade lavender cookies
- Chocolate
- Seltzer water
Any kind of divided container can work great to pack healthy snacks on-the-go. We would have loved to include more produce, but this was all we had left in the house. Joe often likes to include some sliced salami, or you can sub in your favorite fruits or veggies (strawberries, grapes, celery, cucumber, orange slices, raisins, pickles, avocado, pineapple, blueberries…) or different cheeses or proteins (cottage cheese, goat cheese with herbs, egg salad, grilled chicken, even yogurt if you don’t required finger-food). Other nice additions would be nuts, granola, or trail mix. The combinations are endless!
Confession: We were pretty thrilled to open up our snacks on the road. We also avoided spending time and money on a stop for overpriced, unhealthy fast food.
What do you like to eat on the road? Do you pack food or eat out? How long of a stop do you allow yourself? Will you try homemade lunchables on your next road trip?
The Leftovers Project 