Hello friends!

I know I just did a meal prep post, but I wanted to share what I’ve been making for our trip! We are on vacation as you read this, enjoying five days at a cute Airbnb in the Outer Banks area – but the house has no microwave. In order not to eat out for every meal, I prepared breakfasts and lunches we could enjoy with just a refrigerator.

I hope this is helpful meal inspiration to you guys, whether for traveling or for everyday life.

Here is (almost) all the food I’m bringing, which I’ll put in our cooler on the trip there. It’s a lot of food but doesn’t take up much space in the fridge.

For breakfast I made a ton of smoothie to portion out in Mason jars. The smoothie includes bananas, frozen blueberries, plain Greek yogurt, milk, and a drizzle of honey.

I also baked hearty banana oat muffins with chocolate chips to accompany our smoothies. I used this recipe.

For lunch I made a few fun “salads,” although most aren’t the traditional kind at all. I used this delicious recipe for quinoa salad, swapping the goat cheese for crumbled feta and the roasted peppers for fresh bell peppers. I also added some chopped, cooked chicken for extra protein. It tastes a lot like pasta salad!

I also made a big batch of cold sesame chicken and noodle salad from this recipe, although I heavily modified it since I didn’t have all the ingredients they listed. It doesn’t look the most photogenic packed into two quart jars, but I think we’ll enjoy it. 🙂 This and the quinoa salad should last us at least two meals each.

The final lunch entree is a Green Goddess grilled chicken salad, which I packed into two one-serving plastic containers. You can’t tell what’s in it from the top, so I made a little collage…

I layered diced cucumbers, diced bell peppers, cubed chicken, lettuce mix, and cherry tomatoes. I also made a tasty Green Goddess dressing from this recipe.

The dressing, along with extra toppings, will be packed separately so the salad doesn’t get soggy before we eat it. I’m also bringing cheese, avocado, bacon, and hard boiled eggs. I’m planning to add each of these ingredients to the salad before eating, top with a generous amount of dressing, and then shake well to serve. Fresh and yummy.

I also made a big batch of our favorite sourdough discard crackers for snacking and/or lunch accompaniment. These are so addictive and flavorful! I made a wheat version this time, like Wheat Thins, but they’re amazing with regular white flour too. For the flavorings I added Italian seasoning and dried dill, Parmesan cheese, nutritional yeast, and maybe a bit of salt and pepper.

I’m curious how everything will hold up and if this meal prep will be a success – I guess I’ll tell you in the next vacation post coming up soon! I’m planning to eat the lettuce salad first as it keeps shortest and probably the quinoa will keep the longest, so we’ll just see how that goes.

I hope you found that inspiration helpful for packing a lunch or just as everyday good food options. Everything I tasted so far is tasty 🙂

What is your favorite vacation food, bought or homemade?

Thanks so much for reading, my friends, and have a lovely day!

***Allison***