How to Prep Food for a Summer Weekend Trip

One of my favorite weekend getaways is a trip to the Jersey shore. The sun & beach always revive me, and it is fun to spend time with my family. The only problem? The food. Unless you want to eat boardwalk pizza, funnel cake, or salt-water taffy you are out of luck. I used to love these foods as a treat. But these days I know my body would not feel good if I ate them!

Here is how I prepped my meals for a weekend away. Hopefully some of these tips will help for your next trip to the shore, camping or road trip.

1) Make a batch of hummus and precut celery and carrot sticks. The celery and carrot sticks go in a sealed container covered with water. Then into the cooler. Yes, you are taking a cooler for sure!

2) Bring a travel blender and smoothie supplies! (I got mine on amazon for $15). I crave my green smoothies & having them on my most recent weekend vacation made me happy! Totally worth the money for a travel blender. Note, this little blender is no Vitamix, but it got the job done! I brought bananas, blueberries & spinach and topped my smoothie with granola (see next tip).

3) Make a bring granola to snack on! Store bought granola has a lot of sugar added in - even the "healthy" brands! Look for my favorite raw granola recipe in a blog post soon.

4) Precut veggies & pack with some lettuce/greens to make your own salads. Bring a quickly-made salad dressing (olive oil, apple cider vinegar, mustard) or lemons. Include nuts, beans or baked tofu to "bulk" up your salads.

5) If you drink lemon water every morning (I do!) then bring lemons by all means! You will miss it if you don't!

6) Prepare a grain salad of some kind - I made & brought a quinoa salad this past weekend. This is a quick meal or snack.

7) Buy local fruits and veggies at road-side stands and enjoy! We had some epic Jersey strawberries this weekend.

8) If you are a coffee or tea drinker - bring those supplies and save a few bucks!

I know this sounds like a lot of work. In reality, it took me an hour to prep and pack all of this food. I'd rather spend an hour at home preparing meals then on my weekend vacay! Put some music or a good podcast on, and prep away! You will feel so much better knowing you are nourishing your body.