RAW ON THE ROAD

Morning,

It's a rainy morning here in Philly.

But, yesterday was GORGEOUS! Breezy, sunny, poofy clouds, 90 degrees. Couldn't have been nicer.

We decided to take a day trip to the Mauch Chunk Lake for a swim!

As a return raw foodist, almost 6 weeks raw now, and 3.5 years raw before, being on the road for a day is a breeze. But for newbies, being raw and traveling can be a challenge.

My goal today is to answer...."Just how do you manage RAW...on the road?"

1.) Have a good filling breakfast at home, then....always take an igloo or cooler with blue icepacks in the car wherever you go. That way, if you come upon a great farmers market or buy some lunch or take snacks with, nothing will ferment, wilt or get hot. So important.

2). Since we raw foodies can't just drive to Wendy's for a burger, you always have to think and plan ahead and take, at least, snacks with you. We took cherries, boxed organic baby spinach, 2 avocados, medjool dates, fresh corn on the cob, tomatoes on the vine, and mangoes. We snacked on those in the car until we could have lunch, and we knew we could use some of that for lunch.

3). Use Whole Foods as a great resource for pre-made raw food items. My particular Whole Foods in Plymouth Meeting, PA, has a fantastic assortment of raw specialty dehydrated items. They also carry AWESOME FOODS, a pre-made line of raw pate's, raw wraps and meals. Yesterday, I purchased a mock 'eggsalad' at 180 cals per serving (2 servings in the container), and the Flax Wraps, about 240 cals per servings (2 empty wraps in the sleeve). With what Cliff had brought from home, i had the makings for a fantastic lunch wrap! Oh, and i got some great flax and seed crusts. They make a terrific snack.

4). Use Whole Foods free give aways - take their plastic forks, knives, spoons, napkins, cups with you in the car. Also, walk over to the salad bar and take a few of their paper salad bowls and lids. They make handy plates on the road. No one will stop you.

5.) If there is any doubt that your blue freezer packs will keep everything cold, stop by 7-11 and spend the $1.50 for a bag of ice. I took the ziplock bag that was holding the cherries, which we ate up, and filled it with the ice. This kept the leftover mock eggsalad nice and cool. I added the ziplock bag of ice on top of the food, and the blue freezer packs were below. In the 90 degree heat, this did a great job to keep everything cool. I'd also bought Cliff some real tuna salad and potato salad at Whole Foods, so the extra ice was necessary. What the sun does to mayonaise is not a pretty thing. The ice came real in handy. For lunch, Cliff had one of my flax wraps later filled with avo, spinach, tomato and nicely chilled tuna salad, which he enjoyed thoroughly and didn't get sick from. Important! Ditch the ice you don't use or ask the 7-11 guy for extra plastic bags and secure it really well. Drain the excess water out of it periodically.

6.) Keep water in the car or bottled drinks. We bought large containers of organic lemonade at Wholefoods for 99cents on sale. (Much smaller to go lemonades can be as much as 2.99!) These are for Cliff. I drink water. You can keep drinks cold in the extra ice!

7). Make your meals special. Find a great bench in the shade under a great tree somewhere, or a patio table. One memorable raw meal we had was on a patio table BEHIND a super market in Jim Thorpe, PA. I'd bought fixings for salad at the market, and when we spotted the tables, we said, why don't we eat here? No one bothered us...we had a GREAT time!

Remember, always plan ahead, and stay open to spontonaiety, and find opportunities to make your meals special everywhere....You can DO IT!

xoxo michelle joy