7 Flawless Tips for Food On The Go

Summer means eating on the go. But being busy doesn’t mean you have to forgo healthy eating habits, it will just require some knowledge and preparation on your part. Do you have hiking or camping on your agenda? Mapping out your wilderness nutrition needs is important: There's plenty to consider besides simply grabbing an energy bar or a bottle of water. Follow these tips to ensure you have a nourishing and safe food experience on your next outdoor adventure.

1. Transporting frozen groceries

To eliminate the need to rush straight home after a trip to the supermarket, store a styrofoam cooler in the trunk of your car for holding perishable groceries. The cooler keeps ice cream and other frozen foods from melting and prevents fragile items like eggs and fruit from rolling around and getting damaged.

2. Carproofing platters of prepared food

Driving around a curve a little too fast or braking suddenly can mean disaster for a platter of food that you are transporting in your car. To thwart potential messes, simply line the trunk of your car with a large, damp beach towel before placing the platter in the trunk. The towel prevents the dish from slipping. If you have multiple dishes, try bunching the towel between them to provide extra cushioning and stability.

3. Tips for tenting plastic wrap

Covering potluck-bound dishes with plastic wrap protects the food, but it can also pull away the top layer when removed. To preserve the presentation, use several pastry tips to prop up the plastic when transporting the dish and remove them prior to serving. If you don’t have pastry tips, you can also create props by folding twist ties in half. Just before serving, touch up the top of your dish.

4. Keep a lid on it

Transporting a casserole to a potluck can be a messy task. To lock the glass lid of a casserole dish in place and prevent spills, try this technique: secure a rubber band on the handle of the lid and stretch it to attach it to one of the handles of the dish. Then secure a second rubber band on the handle of the lid and stretch it to attach it to the other handle of the dish.

5. No food carrier? No worries!

If you don’t have an insulated food carrier, don’t fret—you can improvise. Wrap a casserole straight out of the oven in aluminum foil, then in a large beach towel, and then in plastic wrap. While the casserole wrapped this way will not stay at a safe temperature for the same length of time as in an insulated carrier (only about an hour, versus nearly 3 hours in a good carrier), it does give you long enough to travel moderate distances and still keep the food hot.

6. No more dish slippage

Have you ever thought to yourself, “gee, i wonder what i could do with my leftover nonskid shelf liner?” If you happen to have a large casserole or cake to tote from point a to point b, here’s what to do: line the bottom of a cake carrier, box, or other container with a small piece of surplus nonskid shelf liner to keep the contents from sliding into the walls of the carrier while in transit.

7. Crisper casserole crusts

To keep a casserole topping crisp while traveling to a potluck dinner, place a paper towel or clean dish towel over the top of the dish before wrapping it in aluminum foil. Steam from the hot casserole is absorbed by the towel instead of condensing on the foil and dripping back onto the casserole.