Southern newbie

[KasDeNeui]

I live in small-town south Georgia, a land where we're strange for not owning a deep frier or slathering everything in sight with butter. I'm originally from Minnesota where it was a lot more culturally acceptable to eat healthy than not so it was a lot easier to FIND health foods there. Supply comes where there is demand, and where I live there is little demand for health foods, therefore they are very difficult to find. If they are here, the prices are jacked way up. The produce section of the store is my best friend but there is never much variety so I usually can only find the very basics which most of the recipes on instgram and such for whole 30 have a lot more fun ingredients than I am able to find. Does anyone have suggestions for a variety of recipes that can be made with a small supply of ingredients? Or should I be making weekly trips to bigger cities to school for food (we're on a budget)?

Also (more newb questions), we are moving soon so will be doing traveling for house hunting was well as the move itself. How do you prepare meals ahead for when you'll be in the car (not just snacks-meals) and when you have to stay in a hotel, what have you found to be the best way to go about planning for that? Is it easier to make meals ahead and haul a cooler around all day or would it be easier to make a grocery stop near the hotel and make them there (provided there's a kitchen). Just looking for advice, thanks!

[Tom Denham]

You can do a lot with a few different veggies by varying your spices or other additions. I keep maybe 40-50 different spices in my kitchen. You can make the same veggie or eggs taste really different with different spice combinations. I also work with dried cranberries, macadamia nuts, or walnuts as additions to things that I cook to change the taste a bit. 

 

I can't really help with travel and food. I carry cans of tuna and a can opener with me when I travel, not so much for meals as something to eat at 3 AM when I wake up in my hotel room hungry. 

[ladyshanny]

For the road tripping, meal planning aspect you might find this article handy: http://whole9life.com/2011/07/whats-in-your-cooler/

[Munkers]

A lot of veggies are interchangeable. They don't necessarily taste exactly the same, but you can make the swaps and still have a tasty meal. For example, when you see something that calls for broccolini, just sub regular broccoli. A salad with arugula will still be tasty with regular salad greens. Whenever you see something unfamiliar, get on google and type in "substitution for (blank)" and type in the new ingredient. I guarantee that you'll find lots of ideas for making tasty food without the super exotic (and probably expensive) ingredient.

 

As far as traveling, you have some options. Some folks travel with an electric skillet so they can have a hot meal in their hotel room. If you go that route, I would highly recommend chopping and prepping your veggies at home first. You might also consider pre-cooking your proteins so that, once you're at the hotel, you can just toss in the protein to warm through. A lot of hotels offer a fridge and microwave, but finding one with a kitchenette takes a little more searching. (But they are out there! I just stayed in one when I went to Portland last week.)