Train travel food ideas?

[pinto]

I'm taking a train trip next week ~ 34 hours. I'm going to do a big breakfast in the dining car. They do them well.

I'm looking to pack & carry some travel meals for the rest of the trip. Ideas?

Thanks ~ pinto

[surrealAmerican]

1. If it were me, I'd probably make a batch of either ...

... "trail mix" or granola bars. Whether at meals or between, they should have a protein (nuts), a carbohydrate (grain or cereal), and fruit or vegetable (dried fruits).

[cbayer]

2. On our long car trips, we do this.

Take a soft sided cooler with a zip lock bag of ice.

Put sandwich fixings in there, but not fully made sandwiches. Meat, cheese, good bread, packets of mayo or mustard (steal them from a fast food joint), lettuce, tomato. Make the sandwiches when you are ready to eat them.

To do this, you will also need a small plate and knife.

Add some fruit, chips or crackers, nuts or trail mix, granola bars.

Whatever you want to drink can go in there as well.

You can replace the ice when it melts.

Does the train make a microwave available? Those noodle/soup bowls are pretty good.

Have a great trip, my friend!

[pinto]

5. LOL. "Local man arrested for theft of free condiments."

Yeah. Don't turn me in but I've got mayo, mustard, soy packets. Plan on some kind of sandwich with carry on fixings.

The noodle bowls are a really great idea. I'd just have schmooze a bit to use the cafe's microwave. That's doable.

Thanks, my friend.

[grasswire]

3. Take a cue from Europeans who travel coach.

I did when I went cross country and back again on Amtrak. Pack food!

A small pocket knife. A dishtowel or cloth napkin. Plastic utensils.

A salami to slice. Two chunks of cheese. (cheddar, and something else.)

Bread and crackers.

Fruit. Apples, grapes, banana.

Zip lock baggies with pickles and olives.

Small jar of peanut butter or some nuts.

Zip lock with carrots & celery, radishes, romaine hearts.

Little one-use tub of ranch dressing.

Zip-lock baggie of pasta salad or tabbouli.

Tinned tuna salad or chicken salad if you like it.

All of that kind of stuff works really well.

And if you are laying over in Chicago, Union Station has some really really good food available there.

Frozen juice boxes.

[pinto]

6. Thanks.

[maddezmom]

4. from past experience I learned that cheese will last a long time

if it's in a cooler. I'd also add some dried link salami and crackers. I love nuts but peanut butter is always a good thing, too. Apples you can cut up and if you like them, grapes also keep well too as long as it's the bag is cool.

[cbayer]

8. A really, really long time!

[pinto]

10. LOL

[pinto]

9. I made a cross country trip one time with a big chunk of cheese and a jug of OJ.

I was young.

Yeah, I plan to do bread, cheese, peanut butter, juice and fruits. Do some noodles like cbayer suggested.

It's only a day and a bit and totally doable.

[maddezmom]

11. sesame noodles are great..cool or room temp

[Mira]

7. Here's what I did and learned

The pizza and sandwiches available are not so hot and the lines are long in the car that sells them. Coffee is good and plentiful. If you take your computer there are strips of outlets and tables in the cars adjoining the one that sells the snack foods. Get a seat early, and plant yourself. I found the only use for my real seat is for sleeping. But it's pretty spacious and be sure to pack a blanket.
The dining car, the real deal, is pretty expensive but the food is quite tolerable, and you need to reserve a seating space at a quiet time as the train rolls, ahead of the evening meal.

I took a tin of hummus and crackers i like. A bag of trail mix of a kind I like.
A few bottles of a drink I like. You can figure out good snacks. Be sure you have a baggy with wet papertowels, and a few for trash.

Hope this helps. My trip was only 2o hours. NC to NOLA. And it seemed like a flash. Take a camera. Talk to the people. You'll have a ball.

[elleng]

12. Sandwiches made as done on French TGV!!!

Don't know HOW they did it, but took train from Paris to Bordeaux 20? years ago, and had the BEST sandwiches, even tho wrapped as 'fast food.' FRENCH fast food is/was just BETTER!

Have a great trip!

[pinto]

13. Thanks all for your tips - here's my "menu"

Rye cocktail bread (packs well)
Sliced pastrami
Swiss cheese, slices
Sharp cheddar, small chunk
Noodle bowls
Peanut butter
Green apples (I like it sliced with peanut butter)
Pears
Fig newtons
V8, individual serving cans
OJ, individual serving cans
Merlot, airplane type individual serving bottles
Tea bags, instant coffee
Microwave-able cup
Cheerios, individual serving boxes
Take-out packs of mustard and honey
Paring knife
Plastic knives, forks, spoons

Small blue ice thing
Small insulated bubble pack for perishables

LOL - seems like a lot of food, but I'm only packing enough for a few meals, snacks and what ever else fits.

[HopeHoops]

15. Sesame crunch bars - not the sweet ones, the pretzel-like ones.

[HopeHoops]

14. Two blocks of jello with marichino cherries in the center

Just leave them out on the lid of the travel container for a while for shits and giggles.

And yes, I've seen jello on a train.

[HeiressofBickworth]

16. Are you traveling coach

If sleeper, meals are included in the price of your ticket so this wouldn't be an issue. If you are traveling coach, please be mindful of the people around you who probably wouldn't appreciate the smell of stronger stuff like salami and some of the more fragrant cheeses. And no onions or garlic, please! And no fucking kimchee!

I've taken the train often and smells are trapped in the closed coaches so it would be appreciated if you kept the odors down.

[southernyankeebelle]

17. Well here is one my momma made for us on a train travel from Germany to Italy and back.

Fry meatballs - it is easy and not messy. Just fry them up put in a zip lock bag. You can serve on a roll. They can last a couple of days.

Also what is really great is pork tenders = Easy to make using egg wash and plain bread crumbs and fry. They can also keep a day or 2. Excellent finger food.

You can also buy skinless chicken breast pound them out and cut them like strips and use egg wash and plain bread crumbs. They also can last for a couple of days. Excellent finger food.



As a child traveling back and forth it was such great memories on the train. Just like in the movies. We were young. Enjoy your train trip. It is the best way to travel.

[fizzgig]

18. i'm taking the train in a few weeks and remembered this thread

so many great ideas here.

miss you, pinto