Travel meals, last week

Traveling can be so, so hard sometimes. Especially when you gotta watch what you eat so you don't get violently ill. So. Here is a little bit from the travel chronicles...

Breakfast- Hotel had a decent breakfast. I had a hard boiled egg, with some fruit and yogurt.

Lunch-
-Monday: Whole Foods hot bar: Rotisserie chicken, carrots, green beans, broccoli. I ate first, so I wouldn't buy the whole store out of hunger, then purchased a few items:
     Crunchmaster crackers
     Turkey breast lunchmeat
     Fresh fruit
     Yogurt
     Hummus + crackers snack
     Wine and chocolate

-Tuesday: McAlisters Spud Max for the win. Lunch was WAY later than anticipated, and I had a granola bar* in my bag to hold me over but I was STARVING. I originally intended to save half for dinner but I ate the whole thing. No regrets.
-Wednesday: The Lazy Dog in Plano has a gluten sensitive menu in the restaurant (but not online). Despite the disclaimer that nothing can be 100% gluten free, I enjoyed the chicken tortilla soup and wedge salad with no tummy issues.
-Thursday- No travel day is complete without freezing rain and delayed flights. At the gate I had an Rx bar* and apple from the hotel breakfast.

Dinner- Since lunches were eaten late in the afternoon, dinner was light; a few slices of turkey breast with crackers and fruit. Wine and chocolate for post-yoga dessert :o) (I did not consume all of it; I shared the chocolate with colleagues and hotel staff)

*I packed an RX bar and a French Meadow Bakery granola bar. (aka life savers)

Travel meals, last week.

This week's menu was all over the place because of travel.

I don't like to have a big meal before flying, so depending on my flight time I usually fast or eat very light. I always carry a snack in my carryon bag because usually after I get off the plane I'm hungry but I'm also trying to pick up a rental car or navigate somewhere.*

So this week's meals:

Monday- Travel day. Rx bar at the airport, then I headed back home after hours of cancelled flights. womp womp. I ate something that was in the freezer and went to bed early.

Tuesday- Travel day Part 2.
Lunch: Cafeteria salad bar with hummus and potato chips
Dinner: Amy's black bean tamale frozen dinner**

Wednesday-
Lunch: Progresso GF soup and Crunchmaster crackers***
Dinner: Hotel restaurant had some GF options, yay!

Thursday- Oops another snowstorm was predicted so rather than get stranded over the weekend, we changed our flights and got the heck out of town. I grabbed an apple and a small thing of peanut butter from the hotel breakfast to snack on while waiting standby.

*Snacks: It's easy to go overboard and fill your bag with snacks. Typically an Rx bar and a baggie full of Snyder's GF pretzels will be enough.

**Dinner while traveling... sometimes I'll join a colleague for dinner and eat a plain salad just for the company, or if I'm lucky I will find a local GF place and convince them to join me.
Sometimes I'm tired and the local GF scene sucks so I hit up the nearest grocery store and grab something. Recently I discovered the Whole Foods hot bar. Game changer!

[Side note: This trip, after several canceled flights because of a snowstorm, I had woken up at 2am, worked all day, and at the end of the day Target was the nearest store.
Perfect, because I don't have a decent winter jacket... because I never needed one! Layers are necessary when you travel from 65-degree tepid Houston to 10-degree snowy Chicago. Turns out, I arrived hilariously under-prepared wearing a light sweater and ankle pants.
So I got food AND clothes. I love Target.]

***In addition to the frozen dinner and warmer clothes, I picked up some things for lunches: Progresso chicken and rice soup with Crunchmaster crackers. I like these in particular while traveling because the soup doesn't need a can opener, and the cracker bag seals with a ziplock.

Sometimes I plan my travel meals ahead and pack a tupperware container to heat up soup. This trip, there was a cafeteria with a microwave and I borrowed a bowl. So my lunch was warm and cheap and absolutely GF.

GF at Airports

Traveling can be stressful, especially when it comes to finding something that is absolutely gluten free. Being stuck on an airplane is not a good time to find out that you've been glutened.

For those and other turbulence-related reasons, I typically don't like to have a big meal before flying. I usually eat a small snack and carry something light in my carryon bag, like an Rx bar or Snyder's GF pretzels and peanut butter.

But, sometimes you gotta eat, even if it's overpriced airport food. So I've started compiling a rough guide based on my experiences. I usually fly United, so I'm not sure about other terminals but I assume they're all pretty similar within a specific airport.

A brief roundup of GF options at airports I've been to lately:

- IAH (2018) is the airport I visit the most. Terminal C has just been remodeled and is really nice. A lot of pre-packaged gluten free options at the little stores. I've seen little snack boxes, salads, bars, snacks, and I've even found GF sandwiches and cookies.
Some of the restaurants have GF menu options, but I have not tried anything. (I trust the pre-packaged stuff more than the restaurant dishes because of the potential for cross-contamination.)

- ORD (2018) pickings are pretty slim, so I usually try to have something with me. I like to grab an apple + a little thing of peanut butter from the hotel breakfast.

-DFW (2018) has a few stores with pre-packaged items like cheese sticks and chips, but not much else.

- RDU (2017) has a few restaurants that typically have GF options, like 5 Guys, but again I usually stick with a safe snack from one of the stores, or if time permits I'll eat before heading to the airport. Lots of GF stuff in the area.

- MSP (2017) has a French Meadow Bakery which has a really good GF selection. I've eaten there several times with no issues. At the very least I always grab a GF lemon bar for a special treat.

- LAX (2017)... I've only eaten at one place, but it was a really good hummus plate at a restaurant that was right next to my gate. They were happy to sub extra veggies in place of the crackers.

-SAN (2013)- The last time I was there, years ago, I found some of those GoPicnic boxes at a food court kiosk (some are GF, NOT ALL) and was happily satisfied with the assortment of snacks. Hopefully I get to travel to San Diego and update this soon.