Snack ideas?

I usually pack a cooler in the morning. I do the granola bars in the morning, too, and keep a few bottles of water in the cooler. Some of the things I may take with me for the day are foods like a banana, hard boiled egg, yogurt ( I like light vanilla yogurt with low fat granola mixed in, so I'll put a little granola in a baggie to add to it), those small cans of whole tuna are great for a lunch. I try to eat healthy while I'm working, too, so most of the things I take are for snacking throughout the day, but healthy snacking to keep me going. I love the granola type bars from Kashi. They're a bit more expensive, but they are full of whole grains, fiber, and keep me filled up. If all else fails, I'll run into the quick store and buy a can of Slim fast to tide me over til I can find something else to eat. I've went through the McDonald's drive through before leaving town to get a yogurt/fruit parfait....only 99 cents and not too bad for me. Sometimes I'll make a small salad and pack it in a tupperware container with the dressing separate. That's always a good lunch if you have time to stop. I usually don't stop for a lunch when I'm out, but sometimes will pull over and work on my laptop getting some of my visits put in and eat lunch then.

As you can tell from the many replies, this is a hard one to answer. I swore when i started this job I would not "drive thru". I have only twice in 9 mos. I figured out what stores have a deli, I'll get a sandwich for lunch. Nuts are good, they fill you up and are good for you. Fruit is easy to eat while driving as are cut up veggies. Hard boiled eggs are good too. It's tough if you don't stop to eat. You can only eat so many things while driving your car and talking on your cell:saint:. Good luck with that, hope you don't gain any weight!

Natalie

Oh yeah, there's nothing like trying to teach a CHFer that canned soup is unhealthy then remembering that I ate a bag of cheetos ofr "breakfast"

I do mostly private duty now and try to pack a good lunch to eat during the shift, generally I can use the client's fridge and microwave. Also always keep a non-perishable food in the car like a can of (vegetarian) "spaghetti-os" for those days that I'm on my way and realize I forgot to grab my lunch!

For days that I travel more, I like to pack fruit, fresh cut at home or packaged snack cups occasionally. Applesauce, apple slices and peanut butter, carrots and dip, nutty trail mixes. I do buy the deli made sandwiches at gas stations, etc but can get expensive. If I ate meat, the cheaper way to go would be grocery store subs, but who wants salty cold cuts all the time, either?

Try a good cooler, one that will hold a sandwich or salad as well as a few cold packs and your drinks (start out with one juice or water bottle cold, the other frozen) Maybe a cooler that plugs into your cigarette adaptor would work, too? But if you're like, me your adaptors are already full!

I like to keep track of where the neighborhood parks are, I can often swing 10 minutes in the parking lot for the hardest to manage part of my lunch and eat the easy finger foods on the road.

If you get some of those cool packs that you are pliable, you could pack yogurt cups in your cooler. Ice packs on top and below, along with the molded cool pack around the cups should keep them cool enough. If you make your sandwiches on bagels, you'll find they don't get as soggy, too.

Thank you for all the repies! I have been doing a lot of what you all have suggested. I started packing a cooler now that it's getting warmer here. I took a big swig of water from my bottle when I got back to my car the other day - and it was HOT! YICK.

I've been making up baggies of apricots, trail mix from Walmart, rice cakes, etc. I can't believe how dang hungry I get just driving around!

I did find myself stopping at MickeyD's drive thru way too much in the beginning - so I knew I needed to adress this quickly.

Dawn in PA

(off to walmart for some more cooler packs)

Subway has delicious healthy subs, and any of them can be fixed as a wrap which is much easier/less messy to eat while driving. That's a staple with dh and me for road trips.