Road Food

Traveling for 5 months in a van can present some challenges for eating healthy. Oftentimes, people resort to eating in restaurants, or worst yet, fast food stops. We try to avoid eating out all together, replacing it with some natural healthy alternatives. Here are a couple things we have been doing:

Sprouts! Alfalfa, clover and radish seeds.
It is very easy to grow a jar of fresh sprouts in just a few days while traveling. All I need is 1) A big jar 2)mesh to cover the opening - I use bridal toile 3) cheese cloth to cover the opening and keep the sprouts from drying out 4) water!
Cost about 20 cents per jar

Sprouts are very nutritionally rich, because they contain much of the energy the plant needs to grow up. Alfalfa sprouts are high in vitamins A, B, C, E, and K, along with an assortment of antioxidants and amin0 acids. In addition, alfalfa sprouts contain substances known as phytochemicals, that to benefit your health - A perfect road food.


Yummy, fresh rolls (I grind the flour and bake during our stops at peoples homes), California grown organic fruits, and yogurt. I was given a culture last year that works at room temperature. We pick up a half gallon of hormone free milk and make fresh yogurt 2 times a week.

Sun tea!
These bottles have rooibos/spice in one and mint in the other. We can make fresh tea in just a couple hours on the dashboard of the van.
A word about rooibos: Research by Healthy and Natural Journal suggests that rooibos antioxidant qualities are up to 50 times more potent than green tea's.


My grain medley!
Actually, I shouldn't claim this as my grain medley because the idea came from Howie's mom. Green split peas, brown, green and yellow lentils, long grain brown rice, wild rice, millet, barley and quinua all mixed with onion flakes, garlic, oregano and celery leaf.


Of course it requires some cooking ~ that is what a coleman stove or campfire is for.

Of course we still take our vitamins. GNLD!

We are still exploring ways to enjoy great food in a van. I had this wonderful idea! When we upgrade to a larger vehicle, like a bus, it would be so cool to have a hydroponic garden. I was reading that the Aztecs and Incas amazed the Spanish conquistadors with their floating gardens. A floating hydroponic garden is easy to build and can provide a tremendous amount of nutritious vegetables, and best of all, hydroponic systems avoid pest problems commonly associated with the soil. We can build our own floating hydroponic garden $40.00. But then we will need to figure out a way to keep it stable in a vehicle.
What do you think?

Decending Custer Peak, SD

After being on the road for 2 months and traveling over 5000 miles we were feeling a bit road weary. It was good to take a couple days to ourselves.

We camped two nights in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The campground was very noisy, so Howie and I decided to spend our only afternoon there hiking a trail up Custer Peak. Not knowing how long the trail was and not having any food with us, we never made it all the way to the top. Instead, we took our time and found many adventures along the way.

A butterfly posed for us

Huge animal prints in the mud

A beautiful granite rock

We stepped up on a stump and I said to Howie, "Wither thou goest, I will go. Where thou lodgest, I will lodge. Your people will be my people, and your God, my God. Where you die, there will I die also." He said to me, "You are flesh of my flesh and bone of my bone, taken from my side. Therefore I call you woman. My woman."

Commitment Stump

With that we hopped off the tree stump and lite down the hill. Just rounding the corner we found a beautiful blessing. There curled into the brush was a baby fawn.

It smiled and wiggled its nose as we took it's picture.

It was a beautiful day in the Black Hills.