Eating on the road

[Libby]

A thread like this turned out to be quite popular on another travel board I visit. I thought we could try one here.

What foods do you eat when on the road? I know it depends on where you are, but what has been cheap and easy in your experience.

[LHR02]

There are outdoor markets and groceries everywhere.....for me, glorious fresh bread! Add cheese, fruit, butter, sliced meat, maybe a nice bottle of wine and I can feast all day. Have never ever eaten at a McD's or PizzaHut or any such place, one they are too expensive and two I do not go to Europe to eat a cheeseburger. Nearly any grocery, bakery, metzgeri, or market will sell you a made to order sandwich. Any of the 'local' fast food carts, stands or shops will offer great to go food at a most reasonable price. Markets though are probably my favorite....or fests! Ah, the glories of 'fest food'!

[me]

when i studied in Germany, every once-in-a-while i'd get some pommes at McD's. it was comfort food, sort of.

- d

[Marie]

Whenever my hostel had a kitchen, the thing I would eat most often was pasta since it's easy to make, cheap and you can add anything to it.

For breakfast what could be better than great european yogurt and fruit and maybe a piece of bread or a croissant!

[Kim]

We would eat yogurt and cereal for breakfast (we'd bring the cereal with us, without the box and had a couple of bowl and would buy milk in each place)

Lunch: bread, butter, cheese, meats, fruit.

Dinner - we made this one ALOT. Cook some pasta noodles, fry up some garlic and vegetables and soy sauce and add to the noodles. We tried to make things that wouldn't end up with alot of left over ingredients to pack around!

[LovinEurope]

I like this thread, i had no idea about what to eat. Of the times i've been its been pre-planned tours so we always ate a local restaurants to try like local cuisine.
So sandwiches are a popular day time thing.
With eating this way, does one normally gain or lose weight on such a trip? weird question, i know, but im still curious.

[Kim]

With all the walking, we definately lost weight. Hiking those packs around is really good exercise.

I'd say I lost about 15 lbs. during our 7 month trip and we ate ALOT. Unfortunately, the 15 lbs I lost has now found me again.

Kim

[Libby]

You are OK Kim...as long as they didn't bring friends.

When you are staying in a hostel, can you leave some food behind from day to day? Or is that just asking for someone to eat your food.

Also, what about buying stuff in a grocery store. I'm thinking mostly of Safeway and Marks and Spencer's in England. What type of stuff can you get there and is it cheaper than restraunts?

BTW....we should share recipies

[WillTravel]

The supermarkets in London are definitely cheaper than restaurants. Sainsbury and Tesco are two other brands. I had some great roasted chicken at Sainsbury as well as lots of other nice food. Look for a supermarket with a deli.

Most of the time your food should be safe in the hostel kitchen. Wrap it up and mark your name on it.

Admittedly I have eaten at a Pizza Hut in London once. At the time it was 4.99 pounds for all-you-can-eat pizza, pasta, and salad. I really was desperate for salad at that point.

[Kim]

We loved Sainsburys as well, great selection. There was one right down the road from where we were staying.

Usually they will post when they clean out the fridge so check on that to make sure your food doesn't get thrown out. We always marked our name and date on it so someone didn't think it was old.

Great way of meeting people if you are cooking and you happen to have extra! Made tons of great friends in all of our travels by sharing meals.

Kim

[LovinEurope]

Do a lot of hostels have kitchens and fridges? I love cooking up a quick meal, i would love this.

[Libby]

I'm worried about the main ingredients..like butter, milk and the like. What does one do with them when on the road?

My only idea is to be really sneaky and steal stuff from takeout stands and restraunts. The little sugar, salt and pepper packets..ketchup, little butter tubs. I do that a week or so before I go camping all the time.

Little packets of Soya Sauce from Chinese takeout too

[WillTravel]

I really don't know how you would manage butter. I can sure imagine a mess resulting, however :-).

For milk, I'd just buy it in small enough quantities to drink up in one location.

[me]

Milk's always available in ½ liter cartons!

WillTravel said:

IFor milk, I'd just buy it in small enough quantities to drink up in one location.

[WillTravel]

In respect to the butter and salt and such staples, many hostel kitchens are stocked with such basics. I would probably just hope for the best.