Suggestions needed: Road Trip Food

Mr. Barefoot and the Barefoots-In-Law are all going away this weekend to a cabin in West Virginia.  It's about a 6-hour drive from us, and Bonus Sister Barefoot has to drive 3 hours to get to us, so I figure I'll make us road trip food.  I should admit something that I've been hiding from you all lately.  I seem to be (hopefully temporarily) lactose intolerant.  It's apparently something that can be stress induced, and since my new job is super-stressful, I can no longer eat cheese.  Bummer, I know.  I seem to be okay with yogurt, and I'm hoping this is something that I outgrow as I settle into the job better.  I've been here for three months though, so we'll see. 

 

So here I am, trying to figure out good car food, and I'm trying to come up with something that is easy to eat while driving - meaning all things that need to be eaten with knives and forks are out.  I was thinking of sweet potato black bean empanadas, but those seem really unhealthy and this is already going to be a super-indulgent weekend. 

 

Another option is sandwiches, on some kind of soft roll that will keep everything together, but I'm rubbish at thinking of good sandwich combos that don't involve mozzerella.  I have an eggplant in the fridge right now, and could do some kind of eggplant-goat-cheese sandwich deliciousness (since goat cheese is okay), or some kind of hummus-and-veggie blend.  Mr. Barefoot does not eat peanut butter, but I suppose we could get him some deli meat and we could each have a really boring sandwich. 

 

Other ideas I have had are things like roasted chickpeas, for protein, and then some kind of crispy and easy to eat vegetable, but Mr. Barefoot is not a big carrot-stick muncher or anything like that.  Also, some kind of spring rolls or veggie egg rolls seems like it might be a possibility. 

 

So please help me out!  What are some easy to eat car foods?  It's okay if they are a bit elaborate to put together, I just want something tasty and easy to eat that won't make a mess in Bonus Sister Barefoot's car.  We're going to be eating burritos several times in the next few days, so I don't think those are an option. 

 

 

Sweet Potato Cashew Curry

We have finally gotten the hang of menu planning for two people with busy jobs, I think.  The trick is to plan meals that allow for advance prep, but don't require it, and to allow for a few slacker meals.  This week's menu plan:
-Pear, Leek, Goat Cheese Pizza
-Potato, Mushroom, and Leek Croquettes
-Pad Thai
-Sweet Potato Cashew Curry

Theoretically, we were going to do all the prep work on Sunday.  That didn't happen - we got to the leeks, the onions, and the stuff for my grandmother's 90th birthday party.  So instead, last night, I prepped everything for the potato, mushroom, and leek croquettes and the sweet potato cashew curry while also making pad thai.  This means that this morning, I just tossed the curry in the crockpot and came home to a really delicious meal.  Since I adapted the original recipe, I'm going to share my changes here.

Ingredients:

2 tbsp oil
1 sweet onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 cup raw cashews
3 tbsp (or a conservative pour) Trader Joes yellow curry sauce
2 sweet potatoes, peeled, and cut into small chunks (I only used one, but two would be better)
1 can diced tomatoes (with juice)
2 cups water
1 cup frozen corn
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 tbsp hoisin sauce
3 tbsp (or generous pour) yellow curry sauce

-Heat oil in a pan over medium heat, saute onion, saute until translucent, then add cashews.  Saute until golden brown.

-Add yellow curry sauce and sweet potatoes, fry for another minute or two.  Transfer to crockpot.  

-Add can diced tomatoes, water, frozen corn, tomato paste, hoisin sauce, and remaining yellow curry sauce.  

-Cook on low heat for 4-6 hours.  Serve over rice.