Greetings from Colorado Springs! A very unexpected trip was precipitated by an unfortunate event which left my future dad-in-law in critical care here in Colorado. So, my fiancé and I were on the road for the past two days heading to his bedside.
Normally, whenever we travel, I have plenty of time to plan. I'm a planning maniac. I make lists, go shopping and do menu planning for the road as well as for our destination. Well, I did not have that luxury this time since we had to leave in such a hurry. I did manage to pack some fruit, nuts, veggies and kale chips. But when all that travel food was gone we were left in Kansas with no nutrients in sight. Traveling can be very challenging when you want to eat nutrient-dense food. There are TONS of fast food joints along the freeways but not much real food.
6:00 a.m. yesterday and I'm hungry. There were a few "cuties" left (small mandarin oranges) but I really needed more calories than that. And we needed gas. At about 7:00 we pulled into a Love's Travel Stop to fill up. I told Mikey I was going inside to see if I could find some food. Yeah, right. Well, was I pleasantly surprised when I found a big vat of steaming hot steel-cut oatmeal! Apples and bananas by the register. Yay, Love's!
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| This is NOT what we paid for gas.... ripped this pic from the internet! |
Hunting for nutrients at lunchtime ... WHERE OH WHERE ARE THE VEGGIES? Then we saw it... Hong Kong Buffet. Hmmm.... there are always lots of veggies on Chinese buffets. Yes! Of course, we are NOT purists so we picked out the mushrooms from the chicken and mushroom dish, the broccoli that was mingling with the beef and the peppers from some other concoction. The green beans are always stand alone. And this place had a huge selection of raw veggies too that are meant to be cooked for you, Mongolian style...
I did partake in some fried (white) rice and admittedly there was way too much oil, but boy, oh boy, did I get my share of nutrient-filled veggies at the all you can eat buffet for $7.50.
So, you see? You CAN eat healthy on the road, even in Salina, Kansas. Because along with McDoo-Doo's and What's-In-That-Burger King, there are almost always Chinese buffets!
Now that we are in the beautiful city of Colorado Springs, I am certain we will have an easier time finding healthy fare. I'll be keeping you posted until my return to normalcy and recipe creations in my healthy kitchen!
Healthy trails... for real.
Helyn
