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Our road trip holiday food

After receiving so many lovely comments back after our last newsletter about what food we packed for our recent road trip holiday, I thought I'd copy it into a blog in case more people find these tips and ideas useful too. You can join our EMU Wellness Community List HERE

How ruggedly beautiful is our amazingly large country! Over the recent long weekend our little family headed west to explore Broken Hill, Silvertown, White Cliffs and Dubbo.  So many things to do out there it was such a fun holiday!

The country was very dry and in need of rain, but we did see an abundance of wildlife. A few times we needed to be on the road near sunset and sunrise which made for some slower driving and lots of breaking for animals (don't worry we didn't hit anything!). However this also meant we were treated to more animal activity viewing. We saw Wedge-tailed eagles, Emus and some emu chicks, Kangaroos, wild goats, foxes, shingleback lizards, bearded dragons, various birds and then of course HEAPS of other animals at Dubbo zoo!

Look at the amazing red earth colour and the Singleback Lizard my son was so excited to see up close before it did it's funny run into the shrub.

Shingleback Australian outback red dirt

What about the food?

A common question I get asked is "So what did you do about the food while on holidays Mel??"

The country towns were amazing! Great coffee! Almost every menu had GF options already marked, the staff were so friendly and helpful with any questions.

Loved that the busiest cafe in Broken Hill served Kombucha, Almond Milk, Paleo and Vegan meals and raw desserts!  (The cafe was called 'The Silly Goat' if you are heading out that way).

We were away for 5 nights and this time I decided NOT to cook while I was away. Unusual for me, but yep I wanted a break too.

So it was a combination of using food I had prepped and packed and then buying one filling meal a day while out which, where possible, included extra servings of vegetables.

Since we had our car and esky and were staying in a place with a full fridge for the first 3 nights, I packed:

  • Frittatas - packed full of spinach and kale greens.  Here is a similar frittata recipe except for our holiday one I think I used around 3 cups of spinach (or could have been more as wasn’t measuring) and around 1 cup of bacon (no pumpkin or feta). Great way to add the greens in!
  • Chia seed pudding. Try this Pumpkin and Cinnamon chia pudding recipe
  • Almond Meal and Chia bread* 
  • Homemade grain-free granola*
  • Coconut Yoghurt. Easy to make your own using Kultured Wellness starter culture.
  • Fermented fruit salad. Recipe in our Family Friendly Fermenting ebook.
  • Bottle of Kvass (my new favourite fermented liver tonic drink) and raspberry kombucha 
  • Chocolate and Berry Gummies

*If you haven't made or tasted these before our Food for Wellness Reset is an interactive full day live experience to get easy recipes, practical tips and learn how to make going gluten-free the healthy whole food way doable and enjoyable.

road trip holiday food frittata paleo

Found these tins of wild sardines in olive oil in Coles - which came in handy for an easy meal. Tinned fish makes a great option while traveling since it doesn't need any refrigeration.

When you get the ones in olive oil you have an instant dressing and serve of healthy fats to help keep you full and satisfied. Just be sure to look for ones in olive oil rather than vegetable oil (check ingredients to double check even if the front says olive oil as sometimes it can contain both types - sneaky!).

Here is an article to learn more about why to avoid vegetable oils.

Chia bread road trip sardines

Breakfast one morning was a piece of frittata, some fermented fruit and chia seed pudding. A filling and satisfying way to fuel up before a day exploring Broken Hill and Silverton. 

Learn more about the benefits of fermenting and more recipes and ideas to incorporate fermented foods into your day in our 'Healing the Gut/Intro to fermented foods' live workshops. Or download a copy of our 'Family Friendly Fermenting' ebook HERE

holiday road trip food fermented breakfast

I've been experimenting with more gummies made with gut healing organic gelatin. These chocolate and berry gummies made fantastic road trip snacks. We have our coconut mango splice gummie recipe here or Top Deck Chocolate Gummies here.

Gelatin chocolate gummies holiday food

Filtered water is a priority for us for gut health and since it was so warm and dry we went through gallons!

To save buying all the plastic bottles I took our portable filter jug with us and refilled and froze water bottles each night. I have recently bit-the-bullet and upgrade to this one. It removes 99% chlorine, fluoride and heavy metals.

Eating while away is never quite the same as at home and yes extra coffees, some GF processed alternatives and some chips (always my weakness) pop into the days. Returning home I know that I need to include lots of green vegetables and broth to help settle my tummy back.

Mmmm a bowl of sautéed greens with butter and seaweed salt was just what I felt like when we returned home.

Holiday road trip food sautéed greens butter

Yes - this way of eating is still SOOO worth it.

Years ago I would have needed to:

  • Stop the car more regularly to do stretches for my aching back,
  • Pack heaps of pain killers for the headaches from the glare/heat/wind/getting hungry from the carb rollercoaster I was on.

Plus who knows quite what my moods would be like during the trip!

Now no pain killers are even packed, no headaches, and we all stayed well on the trip.

Holiday road trips need not be an excuse to undo all your great work with your food changes, it just takes some re-thinking and honouring yourself with your choices. Enjoy exploring this amazing country we have. 

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