All packed up and ready to go to New York City!
Are you wondering what my trip to NYC is all about? I shall explain”¦
Remember when I submitted my “Nacho Skins” recipe for the Whole Foods blogger contest? Well, it won the grand prize (yay!!!), which was a two-night stay in New York City for me and guest as well as an invite to an exclusive wine and cheese media event. Pretty amazing prize, right? Obviously, I am pumped. Mal couldn’t take off time during the middle of the week to come with me, so I invited Monica to join me for some fun in the Big Apple. She arrives bright and early tomorrow morning, and I can’t wait to see her. Although, I’m a little bummed that I forgot my banana costume to surprise her.
I took an afternoon train from Boston to NYC, so a town car arrived at my house this morning to take me to South Station. I felt so fancy traveling in style to the train station!
I had about an hour to kill before my train departed, so I sat down at a table, cracked open an issue of Real Simple, and ate my lunch, which I brought from home.
Lunch
On the menu: Parmesan and Garlic Roasted Edamame.
Mashed sweet potatoes with turmeric, curry, cinnamon, nutmeg, garlic powder, and sea salt.
A banana and a few pieces of stone ground dark chocolate.
I finished eating my lunch and then decided I still had room for Pinkberry. Obviously.
Then, it was time to board the train to Penn Station.
Boston —>
—> New York City.
When I arrived in NYC, I hopped in taxi to the hotel where I will be staying for the next two days. It’s really nice!
Pics of my room:
Snack
Once I got settled, my stomach started to grumble. Dinner was still a few hours away, so I grabbed a salad at Starbucks to hold me over. In the mix: kale, butternut squash, broccoli, roasted beets, red cabbage, roasted tomatoes, brown rice, and lemon tahini dressing. It was the perfect snack to hold me over until dinnertime.
Question of the Day
I know this question has been asked on CNC and other healthy living blogs in the past, but I’m looking for some new ideas and hope you guys might be able to help.
What are your go-to healthy meals and snacks for purchase when you travel?
I often pack healthy foods from home, but when I need to buy something to eat, Starbucks and Whole Foods are my go-to options when I travel.
P.S. Check out my newest post on The Laughing Cow blog: Guide to a Carefree Summer! (There’s a cute photo of Murphy in it!)
76 Comments
Gosh that Starbuck’s salad sounds incredible! Love your Whole Foods sweet potato bag, too, haha.
What a fun trip and congrats on the win – so fun!
I try to pack all that I can so that way I’m not having to spend as much while traveling BUT I definitely check out Whole Foods (or other grocery stores) or Starbucks. I like to find things that are balanced to help hold me over – like trail mix, apples with peanut butter, bars, or veggies with hummus.
My go-to healthy meals and snacks are usually pretty simple: a granola bar and a banana, or dried apricots and almonds. Something portable!
When I travel I like to take Lara bars, fruit, and make sure to get plenty of water. I love salad bars so I will hit up Whole Foods, certain grocery stores, or Sweet Tomatoes. I try to look online beforehand to make a plan of possible places to eat.
Do you eat the mashed sweet potatoes cold or were they still warm from home?
They were cold and delicious! 🙂
@Tina: I’ll have to try that. I would’ve never thought to eat them cold.
I was so excited last time I was in South Station and saw that they added a Pinkberry there. Well done, Boston.
Me too!!! 🙂
@Tina: it’s been forever since I have been to SS and had no idea they had opened a Pinkberry! A Yogurtland is opening in Newton – I can’t wait! Have a fun time in NYC!
So fun winning things. Enjoy the stay! I usually just enjoy the trip and not worry too much about packing food
That hotel room looks amazing!! I usually pack my own snacks but some of my favorite places to grab meals are chipotle burrito bowls, whole foods, subway, and local restaurants. My favorite meals when traveling are always at local, non-chain restaurants! Sometimes its not always the healthiest but smaller restaurants are usually really nice at catering to your dietary needs and always seem to have fresh food.
Where did you get your overnight bag in the first photo? It’s so cute!
Thanks! It’s from a Fitness magazine event that I went to last year.
Oh my gosh, what a fun trip!! Enjoy your time in NYC 🙂 I love taking protein bars with me – Quest and Luna are my favorites! They keep me full for a long time and are easy to throw into my bag or purse.
Is it weird I’ve never tried edamame? And those mashed sweet potatoes look SO GOOD
Congrats! I also love finding local farmers or food markets when traveling.
I pretty much always have a Kind bar in my purse for those times that I’m out and about and find myself starving all the sudden! At airports I tend to buy things from Starbucks as well, like their protein box. Every once in a while something new catches my eye like a smoothie bar or sushi-to-go. For some reason I’m always starving at airports! Have a great trip!! :))
Please try Health Warrior Chia Bars! They are found at all Whole Foods and are gluten-free (soy-free, dairy-free, vegan)! They taste good I promise. Coconut is the bomb.com. I promise I wouldn’t lead you astray
Looks like Starbucks delivered with that nutrient-dense salad.
Love your 3 bags, btw. Happy traveling!
I always travel with tuna packets or nuts in my carryon. If I’m going to be hungry, I’ll pack a ham/cheese sandwhich and if it’s hot a PB&J.
Mmmm Pinkberry! I haven’t had it in ages!
I always carry fresh fruit (apples, bananas, oranges), bars, or trail mix. If I need a meal, I’ll pack a PB&J or PB & banana on wheat bread – easy and healthy!
That looks like the Empire Hotel! Am I right?
Congrats on the win!! Have a blast in NYC 🙂
p.s. that pinkberry looks deeeelish.
I like to take protein bars with me when I travel.
mmm quest bars and apples for sure.
on occasion i also get those Sabra hummus and pretzel packs. theyre perfect.
Congratulations on winning the grand prize — that’s awesome! And holy cow, the NYC trip sound fantastic (replete with a wine and cheese media event? SO MUCH WIN). 🙂
As for go-to travel snacks, my raging Celiac ways make eating while traveling a serious challenge. On travel days, I rely on dried individual soup cups (particularly Dr. McDougall’s GF options) and home-made PB&J sandwiches on GF bread. I can usually also get fresh fruit and yogurt in the airport, so I rely pretty heavily on that. Lastly, I like to take sample packets of protein powder that I can mix up with a mashed banana (it’s not pretty, but it works) and snack bars like Pamela’s Whenever Bars and Larabar Ubers.
When I’m hotel bound, I usually bring a loaf of GF bread so I can make myself sandwiches — that said, life gets *much* easier when there’s a mini-fridge in the room. Case in point: when I was visiting London, I hit up the Marks & Spencer and picked up GF bread, sliced turkey, cheese, grapes, carrots, and hummus, and every day I ate lunch in our hotel room. It worked out beautifully!
I like Kashi Bars for the road, as well as apples and bananas. Of course, fro yo is always an option, and there is usually one on every block in NYC 🙂
Yogurt Parfaits or Apples & Caramel packs you can always find in the convenience stores at rest stops!
I love your bag it is so cute! When I am on the go I love to make a big batch of brown rice pasta or whole grain rice and add some sort of protein (chicken or chicken sausage) and then a veggie. I love eating it cold and adding some italian dressing!
Wish I was there! Looks amazing!
Congrats on winning the contest!
As a frequent traveler, I always make sure I have snacks. I like an apple/almonds, banana/almond butter, protein bars, shredded buffalo chicken, protein shakes…
-AJ
FitTravelerAJ.com
Wow, what an honour! I love reading your posts and living vicariously through your success doing what I am working towards! Thanks so much!
And why is it that the food looks so much better on all the blogs I read from the US?
😉
Are you staying at the Empire?
Haven’t been to NY in FOREVER and I used to live 30 minutes away! It’s kind of weird to see pictures! Your hotel room looks pretty sexAYYY!
I love Kind bars and keep banana on hand… just incase. So exciting that you are in NYC. That hotel room looks nice. Congrats on your win!
Wow, Starbucks seem do have much better salads in the US than the UK. Your hotel looks amazing!
I usually take fruit and some nuts or something like a Larabar for snacks.
I only got to have pinkberry once when I went to Hawaii but it was so good and so worth it! I’m hoping they eventually bring it out to Australia too 🙂
I usually go loaded with food – hard to get gluten free and vegan friendly in one in Ireland – you might have noticed the limited variety when you were here! 🙂 Some nice looking snacks you brought along!
It’s so hard to be healthy when you travel! I try to find fresh fruit and carry healthy granola or crackers with me.
Gosh I wish we had such healthy snacks in Australia! I tend to go with some brought from home snacks, but then I also pop to a supermarket and pick up some healthy snacks as soon as I can. I travel a lot and I definitely use your snacks as inspiration to motivate me to choose healthy options!
Congrats on winning that contest – what an awesome prize!
When I travel I tend to make my own breakfast in the hotel room from cereal, Greek yogurt, fruit and nut butter – it saves time and it guarantees I’ll have at least one healthy meal in the day. I also travel with apples to have something healthy to snack on.
My go to healthy meals on travel will probably be salad or mostly fruit oriented recipe which energizes my body. As i am not much of foodie during travel, so i mostly opt for light foods.
I’m traveling to mayo next week (hooray for colitis help!) and so scared of traveling + food, especially GF, df, very low sugar and more… :/. No clue what I will eat. Guess I better start thinking about that! Have fun on your trip!!!
My go-to snacks are granola bars, almonds, dried cranberries and apple slices. Its so hard to be healthy when traveling, but those items help! Is that the W? I used to live right next to it in nyc, but that was a while ago 🙂
I’ve never seen a salad like that from Starbucks, looks amazing! I love to pack larabars and fruits. I would also try Trader Joes! They have healthy portable meals for good prices too.
Congrats on your winning recipe!! That is so awesome! And what a fabulous prize :).
I pass that Pinkberry every morning and have yet to grab one! I even have a gift card for it….what’s wrong with me?? Ha!
I’m allergic to wheat, so it’s hard to find “grab n go” snacks when traveling, so I either carry Kind bars, Glutino breakfast bars, fruit or yogurt. I’m a fan of light cottage cheese mixed with Stonewall Kitchen jelly, nuts, fruit, cinnamon. It’s pretty tasty and filling!
I used to go to NYC for work A LOT and I’d always stay in that hotel! Free champagne at check in? Yes please!
Your NYC trip sounds so fun!
My favorite travel meal is the Thai Chicken Salad from Panera Bread- I get the full size with an apple on the side. I can usually find a Panera, and they list the calories right on the menu board so it’s easy to make a healthy choice. I definitely pack food from home too, like larabars or almonds.
I heart NY and I’m a regular reader of Monica’s blog. Hope you both have a blast. As for go-to travel food; I always pack my own stash of Almonds, Apples and hardboiled eggs. If there is WholeFoods around then I’ll stock up on trail mix and salad goodies there.
Congrats on the win! Usually when I travel, I like to stop by Trader Joes, for either their tabbouleh salad or one of the prepackaged green salads.
I always stay at the Empire! Great location!
Congratulations! That’s fabulous!
I just took my first trip to NYC last month and absolutely loved it!
My go to travel snack is usually some kind of nuts or trail mix 🙂
Where is your funky bag from! I have been looking for an overnight bag!
Have a great trip 🙂
Welcome to NYC! Hope you have fun while you are here!
I really need to be better prepared about the whole snacks for travelling thing. I usually end up grabbing something on the go and trying to make the best of it!