MUST Travel with Food

This picture is the dinner I prepared during a recent visit to my grandmas. I absolutely love the gold veined Formica in the background that has been in her kitchen for as long as I can remember. 

For this trip I brought a cooler full of vegetables, 3 melons, clarified butter, avocados, lunchmeat and a whole chicken to cook. I also brought our crockpot, because who doesn't travel with that? I am in the middle of my Whole30 diet and needed to make sure I had plenty of food to eat (not to mention something healthy I could feed my family). Bringing food is nothing new for us however.

We have been bringing food for the last 6 years. It started when I was working on a vegetable farm and was still a vegetarian. My grandmother and step-grandfather are in their eighties and do not have the energy or desire to do much cooking. We would show up for a visit and there would be a hunk of some form of meat in the crockpot and some dented unlabeled cans of veggies to heat up. Being a vegetarian at the time, I found myself quite hungry during those visits, so I started bringing food and preparing it.

Those dented unlabeled cans mentioned above? My grandma lives in southern Minnesota in the land of the Jolly Green Giant. For years she has rented out her farm land to another farmer and some years her land is planted with vegetables. From the canning plant she will get dented cans that can not be sold in stores. Our vegetable selections would be green beans, peas, corn, corn with sugar ( for the cans they ship to china they add sugar?), mixed vegetables and asparagus. As a child these were the vegetables I was frequently fed at my grandma's house. They would also send them home with us. Let's just say I will not touch a canned vegetable now. 

After years of canned vegetables, I still remember having my first fresh asparagus with my husband when I as in my twenties. I loved it! I had always disliked asparagus because I had had it from a can, or overcooked and mushy from my grandma's garden. The reason I mention this is I have learned to not bring "exotic" vegetables to my grandmas expecting them to be consumed (exotic vegetables would include a long list of fresh vegetables). On this last trip I stuck to potatoes and carrots, onion to flavor the broth that the chicken created in the crockpot. I brought some green beans to steam. The meal was a success, and I was able to then create a chicken soup out of the leftovers and broth to leave for my grandparents. 

Over the years they have grown to expect it (us bringing food and preparing it) and seem to really appreciate it. I love cooking, so am happy to do it. I love that I am providing them ( and my family) with a nutritious meal. This experience with my grandparents has also enabled me to feel comfortable bringing food other places. I do it nicely, never saying, "I can not eat your food". Instead I say, " I love to cook, I want to bring food or a dish I can share". For those who know my eating habits, I am sure this is a relief. They do not have to worry about what they are serving me, plus they have one less dish to prepare. This was especially important when I was a vegetarian. I did not want to be limited to eating bread of some form and potatoes, which then made the host of the meal and l feel awkward and guilty. 

Now that I am eating a gluten and dairy free diet it is especially important. Having added meat it is easier now, but can still be tricky, not to mention awkward. So, no matter where we are going, be it to the cabin or a friend's house, the most important thing to pack is food. Not clothes or a toothbrush, because I can probably find those if needed. But you can not always find healthy, nutritious food. This, I have ironically learned in the land of the Jolly Green Giant.