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Non-perishable, portable lunchins

gotham island fae

14:38 / 24.10.03

So, I'm going to New York for a little under a week. I intend to greatly limit my 'eating out'. My hope is to eat very little other than what I get from a store/market and keep with my belongings. Some suggestions/ideas so far include raw potatoes (LUV 'em) and string cheese. My wannabe nutritional dietician sis suggests granola bars and fresh vegetables. Another loved one really likes avocados, which my sis says are relatively high in fat, which I'll need for all that street-walkin'. Breakfast of easily microwaved oatmeal and oranges/apples at the hostel sounds like a good start for my adventurous days.

Any other ideas? And anyone know how full the selection of produce will be at the many Manhattan greengrocers this time of year? Help a starving faerie.

Ariadne

14:42 / 24.10.03

Bananas will help keep you going, and if you're organised you can probably make filled rolls at the hostel before setting off.

gotham island fae

14:46 / 24.10.03

Filled rolls meaning pita bread or tortilla wrapped around some inner nutritional goodness? What not-immediately-perishable fillings might you think of, Ariadne? There's a fridge I can use, but it's public, so... I still wanna keep most of my foodstuff in my room and re-supply every other day, I think.

Ariadne

14:53 / 24.10.03

Peanut butter? Lots of calories and protein to keep you going all day - and you don't need to put it in the fridge. Or peanut butter and banana at the same time - yum! Best on nice fluffy rolls through, rather than pitta bread I think. Though peanut butter and grated carrot's good on a pitta.
God, I'm hungry now!

Jub

15:01 / 24.10.03

Cocaine and amphetamines.
Might be a bit tricky if you can't find a dealer!

Look - if Blaine can do it - you can...

Seriously though, I recommend Soup in a thermos, and that way, you can heat it up before you go and it'll keep you warm. Have some sort of roll with it and you're laughing.

illmatic

15:01 / 24.10.03

I don't know if you have access to saucepans or any cooking facilities at all, but one thing I often make to bulkup the diet is Tabbolueh. You need to soak some cracked wheat (also called bulger), drain and squeeze dry, then add spring onions, tomatos, parsley, a bit of mint and olive oil and lemon juice. Delish. A can of cannelini or buter beans boiled for a bit - though cold would do - plus olive and lemon is another fave.

grant

15:18 / 24.10.03

Chinese takeout = cheap, and usually enough for two meals.

gotham island fae

15:20 / 24.10.03

Peanut butter! I knew there was a foodstuff that I'd thought of and then promptly forgotten to think of again! The bananas for breakfast and the carrots for lunch sounds good, Ariadne.

'Hardware' I have: pocket cutlery with a nice sharp paring-level knife. Camping mess pot. Microwavable square dish. I don't own a thermos currently. Wouldn't be hard to acquire. I don't yet know exactly what the facilities in the hostel lounge are (nor have I any experience with hostels in general).

And, Oh my godz! Illmatic, I just realized what it is that you give the recipe for! I made a couple batches (from a box, admittedly) a few years ago. I really enjoyed it. Though I did experiment with some of the secondary ingrediants and came up with a very puckery, lemon variation I don't intend to ever repeat. Yeek.

Thanks ALL and any other's ideas are appreciated, as well.

cusm

15:52 / 24.10.03

I intend to greatly limit my 'eating out'.

Sorry, I'd have something useful to say about canned goods and the skillful use of a dehydrator, but I can't quite seem to get past the innuendo.

"Sorry ladies, I have to cut back, though it may kill me."

*chorus of dissappointed sighs*

ibis the being

18:08 / 24.10.03

in lean times I've subsisted happily on bananas, fresh bread, water, and hot cocoa. the bread, if you can afford it, should be sundried tomato bread for best effect.

pachinko droog

18:25 / 24.10.03

Pita bread, soy milk, hard cheeses, olives, crackers, cereal bars, power bars...little boxes of cereal...trail mix...chex mix...that vegetarian jerky stuff...

Cheap Mexican restaraunts where you can get rice & beans to go (load up on the complimentary salsa, jalapenos, etc. if they've got 'em). Or Taco Bell bean burritos, I'm sure they last a while.

mondo a-go-go

18:46 / 24.10.03

Why on earth would you not want to make the most of all the glorious food you can partake of in Manhattan? It's one of the Best Places In The World for food. And it's dead easy to eat cheap in New York without having to worry about dragging food around with you all day.

Mind you, I am the person who tends to only have a muffin and coffee in the morning, walk 160 blocks and not eat until much later at night so I'm not the best person to ask.

Bananas are great if you have one place to leave them but they always get mashed really easy if you walk around a lot. Bagels are good and can be carried, though. Tubs of yoghurt.

I still say, make the most of NYC and all the food it has to offer!

w1rebaby

19:12 / 24.10.03

Plenty of rats in Manhattan - high in protein, too. I don't expect you need a licence.

gotham island fae

20:52 / 24.10.03

Why on earth would you not want to make the most of all the glorious food you can partake of in Manhattan? It's one of the Best Places In The World for food.

Right, right. I even, just yesterday, saw some thing on BlahBlahNuz Channel that spoke of how New York has been rated #1 for food. Seriously. The Big Apple beat out the Big Easy (2nd) and that French place with the tower (3rd or 4th). And I certainly don't intend to limit myself only to backpackin' type food. I'd just like to be able to manage most of my meals without restauranteering. I mean I need money for booze, ya know...

(And I'm sure as fuck bringing my own $30-a-carton Camels that I can only smoke outside. I think people said cigarettes there were some seven dollars a pack when I was up for X-mass. JEEEzus.)

04:56 / 25.10.03

Granola bars are a good idea. Nutrigrain bars are tasty even when stale, but I'm not sure how healthy they really are (despite what the good people at Kellog's have been telling me). Friends of mine can apparently survive for weeks eating nothing but peanut M&Ms. But you may want to try the bagel and yogurt thing first.

Come to think, maybe my advice shouldn't be offered in the first place...the last time I spent six days in an unfamiliar city it was Tokyo, where you can't swing a dead teenage prostitute around without hitting a vending machine full of food, beer, or ciggarettes. With careful spending, you can survive for a while without spending over 1000 yen a day. They have this drink called "Pocari Sweat" that has a list of all the positively charged ions on the label. I'm sure it means nothing important, but I felt energized reading it.

It ain't glamorous, but it's subsisting.

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