I just got a job that requires constant travel. I’ll be staying in hotels for 3-4 days at a time. The company will cover all my food expenses, BUT…I’m highly allergic to all forms of soy, even soybean oil and soy lecithin. It makes eating in restaurants nerve-wracking and sometimes nearly impossible, because it’s an additive in almost everything and what most places use for cooking oil. It’s very easy for me to feed myself at home and to pick things out at the grocery store, but I hate eating in restaurants because I have to give so many special instructions, and oftentimes they mess up anyway. (Fast food is totally out of the question. There’s soy in pretty much all of it, and it’s bad for me anyway so that’s no great loss.)
So what can I eat, staying in hotels like that? Is it common for U.S. hotels to have a kitchen for guests to use? If not, this is going to be a real challenge, especially if I have no appliances or even refrigeration. So far my best ideas involve spending my food allowance at the grocery store and eating apples, dry cereal, crackers, roasted nuts, etc.
Help? I’d love ideas for no-cook, no-refrigerate, healthy meals that require minimal equipment to prepare. I can’t pack too much because I carry on my luggage, and I’m also a vegetarian.
Yes, this is a difficult question. I’m really struggling for ideas here though, and will welcome anything. I’ll pick a best answer. Thank you.
I can’t "go the packed lunch way" because again, I’ll be traveling and can’t carry food on the plane. I have to buy things at the grocery store. Believe me, I’d love nothing more to pack my meals but that isn’t an option.
Maybe your company will be willing to pay for you to stay in a suite-hotel like Residence Inn. It seems to me to be a perfectly reasonable accommodation per the Americans with Disabilities Act. Then you can stop at a market on the way to the hotel from the airport and be assured of some rather primitive but adequate kitchen facilities.
I can;t help with recipe ideas as your requirements are too specific. I think you should go the packed lunch way so you can relax and focus on your job.
Try locating an Extended Stay America hotel, as they has small frigs, microwaves and coffee maker in the rooms, so you can eat what you choose, and there rates are alot better than your standard room based hotels. I have stayed with them a number of times in the US and we have a few here in Canada now.
you will have to do a bit of research.for hotel deals go to http://www.hotels.com
and http://www.priceline.com and call around.
also go to http://local.yahoo.com and http://www.yellowpages.com and in their search
box to the left use the One Word A Search Approach such as Buffet, Grocery, Supermarket,
Walmart, and Wegmans and in the search box next to it type the street address of a hotel
where you will be staying.
for vegetarian and vegan options at fast food restaurants go to
http://www.vegetarian-restaurants.net/OtherInfo/FastFoodRest.htm
for recipes type the phrase "raw vegan recipes" or "raw vegetarian recipes" in the search
box at http://www.google.com and http://www.yahoo.com
for information on the vegan, vegetarian, and veg-friendly restaurants plus
additional resources in and around the hotels where you will be staying
type the street address of a hotel where you will be staying in the "Enter LOCATION"
search box of happy cow at http://www.happycow.net and the search box of
veg guide at http://www.vegguide.org