Last week we went on a week vacation with my family.  We had a fantastic time although the week leading up to it was SUPER busy and stressful trying to get all the preparations ready.  Since I have three sisters and a brother and my parents and grandparents were there we split up the days and each of us took a day!  On paper it looked like a great idea and did work, but there are a lot of different diets in this family!  Our immediate family is grain, sugar, corn, soy (and dairy for hubby) free, two of my sisters go by the blood type diet and are pretty much a vegetarian, Mom is low carb, Dad is low fat… and the preferences go on and on!  Each family just took a day and emailed out their plan and if your diet didn’t fit the meal than it was your responsibility to come up with an alternative.It worked!  And the amount of food we brought for our family was HUGE! I couldn’t believe how much we went through!  So what is the reason for this post?  What are some good healthy foods that don’t make a lot of prep time while on vacation, can be prepared a head of time, and pack well?  I tried to make our dinner suitable for all diets and preferences, but then wanted to have plenty of options for the nights we opted not to eat what was being served.

The following list are some of the ideas we came up with and some of the items we packed:

1. Coconut bread – I baked this ahead of time and froze it.  It worked well to help keep the cooler cold (instead of ice or ice packs) and didn’t get smooshed since it was frozen.  It defrosted well and we toasted it in the oven before serving.  I made two loaves and had one for dinner and then used the other loaf for breakfasts
2. Primal Pumpkin Muffins – Same as above.  Traveled well frozen and defrosted well.
3. Chewy Chocolate Bars – This is a fantastic dessert and it goes a long way!  Only need a little piece and it is super delish!
4. Chocolate Chip Cookies – Cause one dessert isn’t enough!
5. Crackers– As long as these didn’t get shaken by the kidos they did fine in a glass bowl/jar for storage.
6. White bean, sweet potato soup – I used premade stock, that I had in the fridge and prepped the soup before going.  All I had to do is add the kale at the last minute after reheating it.  I’ll be posting this recipe in the near future as well.
7. We also brought all of our own condiments as well, including: Mayo, granola, butter, salad dressing, ketchup,  mustard, jelly canned from last year, homemade peanut butter,
8. There has to be LOTS of snacking items on vacation too!  Some of ours include:

• [amazon_link id=”B000CSEEW0″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Fruit leathers[/amazon_link]
• [amazon_link id=”B0012JMSG2″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Seaweed[/amazon_link]
• [amazon_link id=”B003ZJBK2K” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Green bean veggie chips[/amazon_link]
• Meat sticks from our farm co-op
• Spicey Nuts (recipe coming soon)
• Grass-fed, hormone antibiotic free Bacon – cause meat is always a good snack or easily added to salads to make them more substantial.
• Veggies and dip
• Dried apples
• [amazon_link id=”B004UB4CKE” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Curried chick peas[/amazon_link]
• And for adults evenings some organic wines! Mmmmm Perfect end to the evening!

It was great to have all of this FANTASTIC food with us.  It took a lot of work to pre-prepare and pack, but it was well worth it.  I think I had to bake/make at least 2 items each day the previous week to have it all completed by the time we left.

Again, a lot of work, but SO nice to be on vacation and hardly cook a thing all week.  I feel like my days are spent in the kitchen and this was truly a vacation away from home and away from the kitchen!

What do you pack? I’d love more ideas for next year!