chickachicka

We're flying Seattle-Houston-London...we're a family of three (2 adults, one five-year old) and we want to pack some great food for our flights. We can bring a soft cooler with us (we're packing light anyhow). Any ideas? Other than the ubiquitous and none-too-exciting egg-salad or PB&J?

moldyhotelsaregross

Just thought I'd put a plug in for the restaurants at IAH. We were very pleased with the selection available in the international terminal.

As far as things that I'd pack with me, chocolate dipped pretzels sound awful good right now! That would work for both a sweet or salty craving!

chickachicka

We only have 45 minutes to make our flight change at IAH. So we've got to be prepared!

moldyhotelsaregross

Wow! I would contact the airline and find out if you will be in the same terminal for your connecting flight. If not, there is an underground train (more like a trolly) that links all the terminals together. You may even be able to have one of the airport "golf carts" drive you to your designated location if time is close.

moldyhotelsaregross

A bump for you.

ira

I agree, cc.

You have a larger problem making your connection than what to pack for a picnic.

suze

I know this is not what you want to hear, but I also would be worried about a 45 min. transfer! I fly out of Seattle and often the plane can be 1/2 hour late even departing (in the plane lined up on the runway waiting for clearance). Sometimes they make up this time up in the air, sometimes not.

I'm not specifically familiar with the Houston airport, but it must be big. I would definitely do more research about this transfer/time. Is is the same airline, will they hold the plane for you?

Yes you can bring a soft cooler as long as it is within your carry-on allowance guidelines. I like sandwiches (but not egg salad, soggy!) whole wheat bread, ham & cheese. Juice boxes, cookies, string cheese, drinkable yogurts, granola bars, cookies. Use a small bottle or 2 of water that you freeze instead of an ice pack, so you can drink them or toss them after they melt.

good luck!

moldyhotelsaregross

http://iah.houstonairportsystem.org/terminals

I hope that link will be of assistance to you.

chickachicka

Yeah - I was concerned about the connect time as well, but they said that there would be no problem. I've flown many times out of Houston and it's a HUGE airport (I think) with that train that takes a long time...I reiterated with the Continental ticket agent several times that I was concerned but she insisted it would be fine.

I don't know, maybe they have some sort of contract with Tinkerbell to just fly us over. I sure don't want to spend our night in Houston. I might run into family!

Thanks for the great ice-bottle idea, suze.

dsm22

I like to pack frozen juice boxes to keep my sandiches cold. I like roasted red peppers, sopressata, and good mozzarella cheese. If you can lay your hands on fresh basil, a leaf or two. Must be on good crunchy Italian bread. I like Sicilian semolina with the seeds.

Okay, now I am really hungry.

Oh, sopressata is like a salami for those who don't know. But better.

I have also made blt sandwiches using Pancetta. That is an unsmoked Italian bacon, from the belly. I have mayo packets for my husband, not as good as mayo I would make, but it's safer as far as food safety goes.

Some people will tell you to avoid salty things when you travel, but I do not have this problem.

I also pack a home made trail mix with dried fruit in it.

suze

Especially traveling with a kid, I think an insulated lunch box or small cooler might come in handy for other times later on in your trip. Even if you use it without ice, just to have something a bit sturdier to pack a lunch in.

ira

Hi CC,

I have a recipe for a nice sandwich from Escoffier that you might like:

Marinate a Chateubriand in olive oil and red wine vinegar to which a chopped shallot has been added. Grill to just beyond rare. Let sit until cool and slice thin.

Cut a fresh-baked batard in half lengthwise.

Place the meat on the bread. Wrap in blotting paper and put in a sandwich press.

After 1/2 hr remove the blotting paper.

Refrigerate. Slice before serving.

Keep in mind that sandwiches with mayonnaise will make the bread soggy.

Buttering bread before adding filling keeps it from getting soggy.

Have a nice trip.

Underhill

Julia Child's favorite sandwich for flights was peanut butter with sliced bananas: no cooling needed.

cmt

I would never pack egg salad. Actually, I would never eat salad, so we just may not eat the same things at all.

I don't pack food for flights because I nEED the food, but only becaue I hate to waste the food leftover in my refrigerator. If IO have leftovers that are easy to cut up and pack in baggies, I might do that. Some of the best are hard cheeses and peppers. My favorite food to pack for the airport is oranges. Something about dry, tense indoor spaces makes me crave oranges, which I like anyway. I make an effort to avoid eating too much very salty food before a flight.

cmt

What I meant to say above is that I'd never eat EGG salad. I eat other salads all the time, but I don't like eggs unless they are mixed with vegetables, as in a frittata, and I don't like mayonnaise, so egg salad is just not something I ever eat. Even if I liked it, I don't think I'd chose it as a particularly practical and safe thing to pack for a flight.

kswl

Fruit and bottled water. Apples and bananas, tangerines and oranges all come in their own handy wrapper and need no refrigeration. I also crave oranges on a flight--something about the dryness of the air, I suppose.

Triscuits are also favorite snacks for the plane, especially now that you can get them in so many varieties.

Tulips

Ira; that sounds wonderful. Wish I had that on my recent flight to JFK.
I never pack food for on a plane, but after our last flight lasted twice as long as planned, and there was no more food left on the plane for hours before we landed, I was sorry I didn't have any chocolate bars. Will always take food from now on!

BTilke

Our favorite traveling lunch is roasted chicken breast with fresh lettuce on buttered toast sandwiches or on buttered potato rolls. It means roasting a chicken the night before, but that's not a big deal. And the dog is more than happy to take care of any leftovers.
When I was a kid, my favorite picnic sandwich was Lebanon bologna (the sweet kind, not the regular kind) with potato chips *inside* a buttered potato roll. Preferably Gibbles potato chips, the kind they still cook in beef fat, not vegetable oil. Let's see, saturated fat, greasy meat, salt, sugar, and extra starchy bread all in one easy to hold bundle...how great was that?? Ahh, the palate of youth.

We also liked taking along dried beef from the Allentown Farmer's Market (aka PA Dutch carpaccio), hard boiled red beet eggs, potato chips, chocolate licorice, celery hearts (but only the local ones when they were in season), and a slice of fresh Moravian cake. Washed down with A-Treat brand soda.

But we're now living in Europe and have to be more sophisticated. So it's brie with cressonette on manidor baguettes from Rob's Fine Foods, fresh grapes, individual babas au rhum or Wittamer chocolates, and sparkling mineral water.
But from time to time, I still miss my Lebanon bologna, chips and potato roll combo.

PJI

We always take bottled water and prepackaged snacks on the plane - granola bars, trail mix, etc. Even if we don't end up eating them on the plane we have them for our hotel room or in our pockets for when we are seeing the sights.

They never give you enough water on the plane and we always get dehydrated especially on international flights.

chickachicka

Thanks for all the GREAT ideas. We will be putting them to good use, and hopefully eating well on this trip.

And, due to my overactive imagination/worry, we reserved a little tram - car thingy for IAH that will take us gate to gate. The second agent I called and talked to was not as reassuring about connection time and said this would be a good idea. She also said that Houston had very nice hotels at the airport (not what I wanted to hear). Are they required to get us on another plane if we miss ours, not due to weather?