Well this week we finally got to tackle the challenges of trying to not eat out while on the road. We were in Las Vegas on a little family business. Fortunately we were able to drive there. this made eating very simple. We understood at the start of this year that road trips and vacations would necessitate eating out at some point but we were determined to do as little of it as needed and to eat as healthy as possible.
The first step was easy because we drove. We were able to put a large cooler in the truck. I have a Yeti, Tundra 75 cooler. This is one of the new Roto-Molded coolers on the market. They are a far cry from the old metal or plastic coolers most of us grew up with. They are rugged and keep ice for days on end. We were able to fill it with juiced other drinks, veggies, cheese, meat and fruit as snacks. That effectively took care of food and drinker the first and last day as we were on the road as well as much of the lunches, breakfast and snacking while we were there.
This was sort of a working vacation so family business overtook just vacationing, so not enjoying the culinary excesses of Las Vegas was not a problem. If you want bad all you can eat buffets, $2.99 breakfasts and day old shrimp cocktails, you can still find them. But Las Vegas has grown and matured in all things food. There are world class restaurants available for every cuisine you would want to find. You just need to do a little research and also be willing to get off of The Strip but it is there. Millions of people willing to party and spend money drew great food to the area.
So, we brought a cooler with drinks and snacks for the time on the road including the hours spend driving around Las Vegas. This eliminated Fast food and hotel breakfast buffets. this saved a lot of money and much healthier than the other options. We did eat in a couple of the wonderful restaurants in the hotel for dinner a few nights. We ordered unusual dishes I thought I might like to reverse engineer so I could cook them home. We also bought fresh made juices. The juice craze is in full swing in Las Vegas.
There are several proprietors selling high quality fruit and veggie juices all over town. A glass or bottle of fresh juice on the road is an excellent replacement for a traditional meal. especially if it is replacing fast food. Two of my favorites are Green Crush in fashion show Mall and The juice Standard at the Cosmopolitan. By the way, if you still think of Las Vegas hotels as smoky dives filled with inebriated tourists just banging away at Slot Machines, A visit to the Cosmopolitan will open your eyes to the new world of sophisticated, sexy, smoke free offerings The Strip has to offer today.
So to sum up, last weeks menu was a lot of fresh juice, snacks of veggies, dried fruit, cheese and meats along with a couple great dinners I had never had before but will try to make on my own.
See you next week. John
Black Forge Kitchen 