Road tripping with Kids - Alberta to Ontario: Meal Plan

Okay, before we dive into what our meal plan looks like I’ve got something to say.

I’m feeling a little disappointed in humankind. You know this trip is going to be an adventure, we haven’t seen our family in what feels like forever, we are very excited for the drive, along with the visit…but 99% of the people we’ve told about our trip have come back with some form of comment like

“Wow, that’s going to be horrible”

“Pffft.. make sure you bring lots of movies otherwise your kids are going to drive you nuts”

“Yeah, screaming kids in the car for that long, no thanks. Good luck.”

I’ve been feeling like there’s a big perspective out there from those with kids who talk negatively about doing anything with them. They complain about how going to the grocery store is hard because of them, they can’t go to the mall because of their kids, trying to do ‘anything fun’ with kids is just brutal… and I think that’s very sad. If you have the outlook that doing anything with your kids is ‘horrible’ and ‘difficult’ then you are going to miss out on some very magical moments with them because you are too caught up in how they are ‘ruining’ it with their attitudes, their loud sounds, their mischievousness or desire to run around when you don’t want them to.

Will this trip have hard moments? Of course, it’s hard on anyone to sit in a vehicle for 36 hours. But it’s also a big ole family adventure and thinking about it from your kids perspective sure makes it even more exciting! Seeing so many new places, travelling across the country, sleeping in the truck, cooking food on the tailgate - it’s an adventure. Can we all work a little bit to shift our perspective on times like this with our kids please?

Alright let’s get to it - HERE IS OUR MEAL PLAN:

We are very seasoned campers, and by campers I mean roughing it in the bush, not trailer camping. So we are used to the prep work, the chilly mornings making coffee on the stove and trying to do dishes in a little pot. We love it! With having kids it means a bit more planning and preparing to ensure we are bringing food they will actually eat. On our trip we don’t plan on eating out at all, aside from the occasional baked good and delicious coffee from a cafe, and we’re doing this so we don’t feel gross and bloated on our drive.

Day 1:

Breakfast - English Muffin Egg Sandwiches

Lunch - Grilled Cheese

Dinner - Steak, Pita and Broccoli

Breakfast and Lunch will be pre-made at home because this is our leaving day!

Day 2:

Breakfast - Oatmeal with Bacon (on the side of course)

Lunch - Snack Plates ( cucumber, apple + PB, meats, cheese, crackers, peppers, carrot)

Dinner - Noodles, Beef Patties, Broccoli

Day 3:

Breakfast - Eggs, Toast, Bacon

Lunch - Grilled Cheese

Dinner - Spaghetti, Steak, Carrot Sticks

Day 4: Arrival Day

Breakfast - Oatmeal with any breakfast leftovers

Lunch - Snack Plate Leftovers

Dinner - at our destination!

What we are making before hand:

• Pre cooking all of our bacon

• Making english muffins

• Baking Cookies and Bread

For Snacks:

• Granola Bars

• Applesauce food sacks

• Juice Boxes

• Raisins

• Yogurt + Berries + PB

• Apples

• Zevias

We’ll be making coffee on our camp stove, boiling water and using our french press. We also like to bring some homemade hot chocolate mix for the kiddos too! Our aim is to hit the road at 5am everyday, the kids usually have a ‘wake up’ snack so they’ll eat that on the road and then we’ll formally stop to make breakfast around 730-8am, this will give us some good drive time so we don’t feel like we are rushing to get out of where we are sleeping. This also allows us to have a first break and stretch for the day. Lunch will be a formal stop, again we want to maintain some semblance of a routine so we aren’t just eating from sun up to sun down and feeling like garbage by the time we arrive. Dinners we want to be relatively quick, but also on the hearty side to because we are sleeping in colder temps. Having higher protein, fat within that protein and a carb will provide fuel for our bodies to stay warmer at night.

We are going to keep a softshell cooler in the truck with all of that days food and snacks, and then a larger cooler in the truck box with everything else. For water - we have an 18L jug that we bring camping with us, and we also have a very good water filter as well that’s gravity fed. So if we need to, we can find a river, locate a good spot, fill it up and let it filter into that water jug so we have clean drinking water!

That is the low down on our meal plan and how we are maintaining that feel good energy while we drive.

If you’re curious about what we are doing for sleeping you can read about it here, and if you’d like to see our Pre-Planning outline for the trip you also read about it here :)

Stay tuned as I write about our packing list, how we’re organizing the truck, kids toys to keep them entertained and I’ll actually be blogging along with each day too!

Cheryl