1. I am SO sorry I have neglected you all!!! It feels like it’s been such a long time since I’ve posted & I hope you can find it in your gluten-free-hearts to forgive me!
2. I have some pretty legitimate reason! In the past 5 weeks, my one-year-old & I have gone out of town 4 times, to 3 different states, & during the one week we were home, we had family staying with us.
3. Lastly, my lovely one-year-old is in a stage that is really throwing me off! SO, I’m desperately hoping this stage passes soon, plus, I won’t be going out of town for a while.
I traveled mostly by car & a road trip is almost a Glupid Moment in & of itself! Having gone out of town so many times, I feel as if I have some things to share in the art of eating gluten free on road trips! For us, eating poorly, such as fast food during road trips, is an option only taken when in a pinch. It’s difficult enough to find food alternatives because of our gluten intolerance, it’s a whole other ball game to make fast-food stops, healthy!
Let’s face it- we wish we could carry our Blendtec with us on the road but…we can’t! The fastest places to stop & eat are generally the fast food chains. Yes, you can actually find relatively healthy food at some fast food restaurants such as at Wendy’s. I usually get the Apple Pecan Salad without croutons or blue cheese & even then it’s certainly not the best quality. Bri & I made the UT to NV trip twice & it’s about an 8 hour drive, so we were traveling for at least half of the day. Sometimes it’s difficult to find gluten free places for meals & sometimes we just want a snack when we stop for gas (like the good ol’ days) but good luck trying to find anything healthy in that department!
Gluten Free Road Trip Snacks
Just about the only thing that gets us through traveling is packing our own gluten free road trip snacks. These are three regular snacks I had with me through my four road trips:
We usually bring some sort of pretzels.
We are really into the Gratify Gluten Free Pretzels Sea Salt Thins
lately. If you haven’t tried them, you are missing out!
We can’t stay out of Whole Foods Bulk Dried Mango Slices
.
They don’t add anything to them! It’s 100% mango! Warning: they are extremely addictive.
I was introduced to this amazingness while I was in Tucson. Krave Gourmet Jerky
.
It’s absolutely divine. Plus it’s a perfect source of protein during a long road trip ;).
We like the Sweet Chipotle, Black Cherry, and Smoky Grilled Teriyaki. My mouth is watering now.
Annnnnd we always have apples & grapes. Always (these make for the best gluten free road trip snacks period).
When we stop for food on our way to Nevada, we usually have a few places picked out that we know for sure have gluten free, healthy food. We know this because we have made this drive many, many times. If you are traveling & you are unsure of the food places along the way, we suggest you plan it out. You don’t want to become desperate & fold! It’s not worth it! When you have to drive long periods of time, especially if you have children, you need to be on your A game! Your food is your fuel! Feed your body right!
Here in UT we have select food places we know are really great at accommodating gluten free. For the most part, people here are much more educated at gluten free than they are in the towns on the way to NV or in NV for that matter. Even eating at Chipotle here versus there, it seems like they just don’t have as much experience with it. We went to Chipotle several times while we were home. Usually the workers are pretty on top of changing their gloves. At one location back east, they changed their gloves, wiped everything down & switched out all the serving spoons!
At the counter, the server asked what I wanted & I let him know that this order would need to be gluten free. I told him I was getting a bowl, so he promptly grabbed a bowl using the same gloves he had on. If you have been to Chipotle, you know the server that starts your order is usually the one warming the flour tortillas. It scared me when he didn’t bother to change his gloves so I kindly asked him to wash his hands, switch his gloves, & grab a bowl that hadn’t been contaminated. All was well after that!
These are just a few of our tricks for a gluten free road trip! What are your road trip traditions? How do you survive eating gluten free & healthy? We wanna know!
In case you’re interested in how our trips went, they were awesome:
Get all three girls together, driving along memory lane & this is what you get: NERDS
We flew standby down to Tucson & couldn’t get on our flight home! So…we drove- 14 HOURS! (PS Colby is driving even though it looks like I am. The camera is flipped.)
Love these two!
Eileen willemssen
Love the pictures and info. Gratify pretzels are a favorite. I purchased them in Mn where I spend my summers. Where do I find them in Tucson. I have no only the gluten problem but also Candida so need to watch sugar intake. Thanks goodness for Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s and Sprouts. Hear we have another organic store which I have not checked out. So enjoyed finding you when looking for the pretzels.
Brooke Roundy
Yes, thank goodness for those wonderful stores! Glad you stopped by!