On the (WIAW) Road Again

For today’s What I Ate Wednesday post, I’d like to show Jen and all of her lovely guests, just what transpired during my road travels from North Carolina at Thanksgiving through Charlottesville….and finally home to my dad’s house in Pennsylvania. I believe you should always start a road trip with a pre-car breakfast that will fill you up, but not weigh you down, as inevitable boredom munchies will mandate snacking, regardless of how much you ate in the morning. Hence, a nice bowl of oatmeal.This one covered in extra almond milk and topped with a pear and a trifecta of toppings: dried currants, Trader Joe’s Raw Almond Butter, and some straight-from-the-plantation Georgia Mayhaw Jelly.A long day’s journey (into night)–or perhaps two or three–require(s) LOTS of travel snacks, which y’all should know by now I am an expert at packing.Of course, despite having all of those bars at the ready…I never actually ate any of them. I did, however eat some* of the Sugar Cookie Date Balls I still had left–because they don’t ever go bad!–that Jordan had made me as part of our foodie/blogger pen pal exchange in October.
*some [adj.]: all of the remainingAnyone else think it slightly odd that the Lindt girl looks as though she’s serving date balls for tea? [And that she seems so despondent about it?]I know what you are thinking, “Sarah…I thought you said things got more interesting when you travel? Sure, date balls are tasty…but they aren’t that intriguing.”

Until you cover it in peanut butter.

Using a chopstick.*

*(Never leave home without one.)

Back to Nature Stoneground Wheat crackers might not seem all that exciting either……even after accidentally breaking a whole in the bag requires some strategic removal from the packaging.But, while Baby Zach’s Smoked Thai Curry Hummus did make for a lovely pairing……things got really interesting when I broke out the red pepper relish.We all know that when you need some fresh food fast, finding a grocery store is always a good idea, especially if you are back in the land of Kroger, where you can often find great produce markdowns (due to looming expiration dates that the veg-head I am never seems to cross).

Hummus and veggies are a common pair––and oh, how I love raw cauliflower––but have you ever thought about packing some guacamole?It might be a little messy,*

*But remember: messy = more fun!

–but when you have something special to eat––like carrot chips imported from Poland (thank you, Gracie, for telling me this) sent to you in your foodie/blogger pen pal package for November–

–I think you should also have something special into which they can be dipped!The one thing I always make frugality concessions for is gas station coffee, especially if it is from Wawa (but I will settle, as I had to do this time, for Sheetz). My dairy-free digestive tract was happy I’d brought the remaining almond milk with me…

…as it tasted great later on my Leapin’ Lemurs!Something I bought at the store that I never ate but wish I had?I think the reason I didn’t eat it was because it looks sort of like a duck.