Chasing our passions takes sacrifice. Sometimes we have to sleep in our cars to catch first chair at our favorite resort. Not to mention road tripping for hours just to get there. Each season the snow falls differently: it may have been snowy in Whistler last year, but Colorado is getting blasted this season. Cue up the playlists and bad coffee for the roadie. But you gotta stay strong if you want to shred and you don’t want to spend a lot on food. Here are four suggestions of places (and techniques) to eat relatively healthy if you’re road-tripping for powder days this year.
Chipotle
Yep, eating Mexican fare is always a good way to keep it cheap, and Chipotle is actually the Whole Foods of fast food. The company’s ingredients are free of “added colors, flavors, or preservatives,” and the chain sources its supplies from real farms. Try this one: order a chicken burrito bowl for around $6.50 then get a side of soft or hard shell tacos and you’ve got a taco bowl for under eight bucks. You can live on that. Plus Chipotle was one of only two fast-food chains to recently receive an A grade for not using meat that had been needlessly injected with antibiotics.
Subway
You can easily get sick of sandwiches on the road but a six-inch sub from good ol’ Subway is still solid in a pinch, and for under that $8 mark (don’t drink soda). Get yourself a 12-inch loaded with fresh vegetables and meat, stick it in a backpack and eat it all day as you ride. Subway graded a B+ in that same report mentioned above for its effort to cut out antibiotics in the meats it uses.
Buy a Cooler
Or bum one from your parents or that brother, sister, or uncle who holds a real job. For 20 bucks you can get bread, meat, cheese, and some veggies. Combine that with free condiments from the food counters of your local grocery store and you can eat sandwiches for lunch and dinner for three days. Eating from the store is generally more healthy anyway and a lot cheaper.
Whole Foods
Say the words ‘Whole’ and ‘Foods’ together and people naturally hear cash registers ringing in their heads. Yes, it’s expensive. But there’s a way to keep it less expensive and know you’re getting organic, healthy eats without breaking the bank. Mornings at Whole Foods feature a fantastic breakfast bar with eggs, bacon, and sausage mixed in a variety of ways. Grab a box, and go for eggs and meat. Mind the scale, usually right behind you in the vegetable aisle. Use it. You can’t go all out as it’s usually between $6-7.50 per pound. Get your meal weighing in at a pound and you’ve managed one of the healthiest breakfasts out there for around eight bucks. They also feature a lunch bar that’s similarly nutritious.
Bonus Hint: Cheap, yet quality coffee
Nothing gets you started like great coffee. Go to one of those kitchen wholesale stores and buy yourself a stovetop espresso maker. Keep your one-burner backpacking stove in the trunk, add water and coffee from the store, and in about four minutes you have high-quality espresso to start your day. Avoid spending that $2.75 each morning.
