What's in my cooler?

What’s in my cooler?

Clients, friends, family and others often ask me about the food I eat when I’m on the road. The answer… I pack a cooler with delicious & nutritious food choices. Are you imagining carrots, celery, and a small container of ranch dressing? If you are, get ready for the new and improved cooler. It’s bursting with flavor and color!!

Packing a cooler eliminates the desire to hit up a fast food joint or feeding a few dollars into a vending machine that kicks out high sugar, empty calorie snacks. Either choice will make you feel like you took a sleeping pill and that can’t be good while you are at work.

In order to avoid unwanted calories, weight gain and going hungry, I keep food on hand. I use the “personal cooler” from REI http://www.rei.com/product/797874 . It’s roomy enough to satisfy a big appetite or a days’ worth of snacks and meals in small to medium size containers. The outside pockets are great for storing dry goods like nuts and bars.

I’m hittin’ the road tomorrow after breakfast so I’ll need to pack a mid-morning snack, lunch, a mid-afternoon snack and a little something for my drive back to keep me satisfied until I get home for dinner.

For my mid-morning snack I’ve packed 1 medium size apple with 1 tablespoon of nut butter that I’m storing in a small plastic container. Alternatively, you could buy individual packs of nut butter at Trader Joe’s.

Lunch is one of my favorite meals to pack. I bought a grilled rosemary chicken breast from Trader Joe’s, which I’ve cut in half. One half I’ll use for my lunch and the other half I’ll store in a container in my fridge to use for another snack or meal. I’ve decided to use this chicken for a salad. I do not eat salads every day; however I’ve got all the ingredients for a fresh, delicious salad, so that’s what I’m building for tomorrow’s lunch.

In a medium sized container I’m pouring 2 cups of arugula, ½ chopped rosemary chicken, ¼ cup chopped cherry tomatoes, ¼ cup cucumber, 1/3 cup or less of fat-free crumbled feta cheese and a sprinkle of flax-seed. In a separate small container I’m pouring 1 tablespoon of low-fat vinaigrette dressing, to drizzle over my salad. This salad smells so good, I’m tempted to eat it now, but I won’t because that will leave me with nothing for lunch tomorrow!

For my mid-afternoon snack I’ve packed my all time favorite protein bar. This bar has ZERO sugar and 20 grams of protein. Check out the label of your favorite protein bar. Or is it really a candy bar disguised as a protein bar. Does it have more sugar than protein? Does it have sugar? If the answer is yes to either of these questions, ask me what my favorite bar is, we’ll be carrying them soon!

By the time I head back home, 2-3 hours have gone by since my mid-afternoon snack, so I’ll carry a small zip lock baggie with 12 raw almonds in it to snack on during the drive.

Next time you have a road trip, think about packing a cooler, it’s a weight saver ;-)

Until next time...