The Foodie Files

Since I'm going out of town Saturday, I've spent the last week resisting the urge to make my usual grocery runs.  And it's been awful.  Even so, I'm glad I'm not leaving a fridge full of food I'll have to throw out when I get home, now that's the worst.  That being said, when I went to brainstorm for this week's Foodie Files I realized I was gonna have to do a little "outside the box" thinking as there was literally no fresh food in my house.  So guess what?  Today you're getting a backstage pass to my road trip snacks.  If there's two things I take very seriously it's road trips and snacking, so when you put those hands together all kinds of planning is required (if only I was joking).  You need to cover all your flavor bases, make sure you don't get anything that's too heat sensitive, and avoid messy foods to the best of your ability.  This is the winning combination I've come up with:

Let's break it down....

You've got your salty snacks: something cheese based (Trader Joe's Cheese sticks), a nut of some kind (Pistachios), and at least one chip-like-item (though our trip is gonna be pretty long so I went with two...Crunchy Curls and Organic Popcorn.  Bonus...neither one is greasy so you don't have to wipe your hands after every bite).

Sweet: something chocolate (Quadratini...my favorite), something vanilla (Meringues), something decadent (Butter Almond Thins) and something you can eat early in the morning and not feel gross about (Chocolate Chip Granola Bars). 

Odds and ends: fresh fruit (Peaches), protein bars (White Chocolate Macadamia Nut) and water (Fiji).

And throw some pretty napkins in there while you're at it.  See, you didn't know there was such a science to it, did you?  I've tested this menu on many a road trip and it always comes through for me.  And I'm never at the mercy of a gas station or fast food place or worst of all, a fast food place connected to a gas station (gag).  What are your favorite road trip snacks?  Anything you think I need to add to my bag of tricks?