[ParadoxFarm]

I'm tired of show food. I'm going to a schooling show this weekend, and want to bring my own lunch. I don't want a hamburger. So, what are some good alternatives that will pack well in a cooler? It will be HOT and HUMID this weekend, and I don't have a refrigerator in my trailer, so a cooler will have to do. I was thinking a chicken salad (with light mayo), but having second thoughts since mayo/heat, not good. I don't trust it even in the cooler.

I'm good with my snacks and stuff (fruit, granola-type bars), and drinks. I just need some lunch ideas.

Thanks!

[ambar]

I've been known to pack sandwich makings (bread, cheese, meat, mustard). I've also been known to throw together a bean-tuna salad with a viniagrette dressing, no mayo woes. If you're a salad and chicken breast kind of person, pack the dressing separately and the salad won't be soggy at lunch time.

[JB]

If the cooler is big enough to put enough ice, the mayo won't go bad. But mayo and your hot stomach may not mesh lol

We actually make tuna/egg salad/potato salad with a lot more mustard than mayo so that's an option.

There is also the option of deli meats to eat with mustard and not mayo. Or an all-veggie sandwich with some combo of lettuce, peppers, onion, cucumber, and more.

[airineek]

My favorite healthy horse show food is assorted sliced cheeses on whole wheat crackers with some grapes and strawberries. Finger food...and the protein and fat in the cheese keeps me full all day. We also (depending on the show or event) sometimes have a little wine on hand. I have kept chicken salad in the cooler before as well as lobster and crab dip, also eaten over crackers. Mmm, now I'm hungry.

[TarheelJD]

You can get those little packets of mayo that they have at restaurants and delis that don't need to be refrigerated (because they have yet to be opened), then open them and mix up with your other chicken/tuna salad ingredients and spread on bread or crackers when you are ready to eat.

[LulaBell]

You could always just stick with the tried and true - a turkey sandwich with mustard, lettuce, tomato, and onion. My favorite is the super-thin sliced fresh(er) deli meat, they also have it in a chicken breast that is delish. IME this travels better than anything else!

[redancepony]

My favorite healthy horse show food is assorted sliced cheeses on whole wheat crackers with some grapes and strawberries. Finger food...and the protein and fat in the cheese keeps me full all day. We also (depending on the show or event) sometimes have a little wine on hand. I have kept chicken salad in the cooler before as well as lobster and crab dip, also eaten over crackers. Mmm, now I'm hungry.

Oooh! I want to go to horse shows with you! Sounds delicious!

[gottagrey]

For breakfast you could pack hardboiled eggs (protein) or some prepackaged cereal or cereal bars..

Lunch - ham or smoked turkey sandwiches w/avocado (instead of mayo) - smoked meats do better, or BLT.. if you wanted to be really healthy you could make sandwiches in a lettuce wraps instead of using bread (thanks Bravo/Top Chef)

[Leprechaun]

I do sandwiches with grainy bread, lemon hummus & tons of veggies - put a leaf of lettuce over each slice of bread, then fill - no soggy sammie. Even my kids love them. Don't have to worry about hummus like mayo. Grapes, chips, water & a little chocolate. Short of some nice wine and a good lawn chair, what more could you want?!?

[ponymom64]

I sometimes pack a pasta salad of roasted chicken, grape tomatoes, grilled onions, roasted red peppers, feta cheese and toasted pine nuts tossed with some olive oil -very easy to make the night before and tastes much better when left overnight.

Or a toasted baguette rubbed with a garlic clove, spread with goat cheese and filled with roasted vegetables and sun dried tomatoes, drizzled with the oil from the tomatoes, wrapped very tightly in plastic wrap and left in the fridge overnight for the flavors to meld.

Both can be just thrown in the cooler right before you leave and will keep all day

[Event4Life]

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/i...ipe/index.html my favourite salad ever, can be put in pita bread for finger food!

Another one I do for on the go when I'm at uni all day is cold pesto pasta. Grilled veggies - I usually use red onions and peppers, penne pasta, and a tablespoon or 2 of pesto. Add fresh mozzarella if you like. Can be eaten cold and will keep for a day or 2 if its in a sealed Tupperware.

Our moms would also bring fruit salad, crackers/cheese, etc - things that could be put in a cooler and eaten with fingers out of Tupperware's.

[KBC]

Ponymom can I come to lunch at your trailer please?

[Mtn trails]

Mayo is pasturized so it would take a very long time at high temps to make it go bad. I trail ride a lot (see user name) and always take a tuna sandwich and this is during the heat of summer. It sits in my saddlebag until lunch time and have never, ever had a problem with spoilage. So go ahead and have your mayo based salads, you'll be fine. Trust me.

[Tap2Tango]

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/i...ipe/index.html my favourite salad ever, can be put in pita bread for finger food!

Another one I do for on the go when I'm at uni all day is cold pesto pasta. Grilled veggies - I usually use red onions and peppers, penne pasta, and a tablespoon or 2 of pesto. Add fresh mozzarella if you like. Can be eaten cold and will keep for a day or 2 if its in a sealed Tupperware.

Our moms would also bring fruit salad, crackers/cheese, etc - things that could be put in a cooler and eaten with fingers out of Tupperware's.

Just added that to my bookmarks!

[Bravestrom]

My two sons event and they can easily go through 60 dollars worth of food at an event if I don't bring food.

We have several standard menus that I alternate through the season.

We have a huge blue cooler - I freeze a big water bottle and it easily keeps everything cool enough

Croissants with various topings including salami and cheese, egg salad and other topings.

Macaroni Salad and cold baked chicken (the chicken is coated in parmasan and grated graham crumbs then baked - I like the drumsticks and boys like the breasts - not a joke).

Pasta salad with asian sesame salad dressing

Sometimes hubby does the habachi with precooked sausages

Veggie tray with dip.


Crackers and cheese, fruit tray.


On really cold days I do a big chilli - heat it in the oven early in the morning, wrap it in towels and it is perfect at lunch with warm buns

[findeight]

Protein and whole grains are best. I have always like hard boiled egg with a little mustard and peanut butter on either celery or whole grain crackers. Tuna on whole grain crackers too, need a tupperware tub but the bread gets soggy if you try to make a sandwich. And, if all else fails, a PBJ on whole grain bread with "real" peanut butter-containing peanuts and sea salt ONLY- and "just fruit" spread jelly or jam is a good choice and takes alot of abuse in the temperature department.

You need protein, you need whole grains or fiber to slow absorbtion of the protein down.

Quick story, very applicable. In Viet Nam the military realized they sent pilots up that faced death, saw friends killed, killed [people] and crashed 1 mile short of the runway coming home and killed themselves trashing a baziilion dollar machine.

Why? Adrenline saps blood suger and low blood sugar=degraded performance. NASA verified this basic axiom.

So, even if you are not chasing MIGS or walking on the moon? When you are scared, you use adreneline and that saps blood sugar that makes you weak and not so sharp mentally.

Treat yourself right when you show, be like a fighter or athlete, EAT protein...and sugar and caffeine are A-OK about an hour out.

[happypants]

I have found that the only way to cure the hunger pangs is to eat protein only. Eggs, low fat, nitrate free lunch meats, grilled chix breast, fat free cheeses and cottage cheese, fat free Greek yogurt, etc. You will fuel up and can eat what you want guilt free but not feel like you are starving. Also drink tons of water.

[EmJ628]

I like to make the Suddenly Pasta Salad (has a vinagerette-type dressing) and mix in sliced grape tomatoes, fresh spinach leaves, shredded carrots and chunks/slices of grilled chicken. Will keep in the cooler, you can easily make a large batch if you want, and wraps up all the food groups in one!

[Simbalism]

I make my chicken salad with some red onion, cut up apples, dried cherries or cranberries, and pecans. I then get the small sandwich rolls(maybe 2inches square-freeze first as it makes them easier to cut). Put a spoon of chicken salad on and then I put them in a rubbermaid container. Easy to share, not too heavy as you only get a few bites with each sandwich. I routinely make these when I go to horsey activities as they stay cool(can practically submerge the container), so no mayo spoilage. I also like cut up pineapple, grapes, sweet cherries, strawberries, blueberries. If you make a fruit salad, you could put some vanilla yogurt over the fruit. Cheese and crackers is good also. Sometimes I will get either pepperoni or salami to go with.
I sometimes make potato salad with no mayo, but a combo of italian dressing and dijon mustard. Macaroni salad with cherry or grape tomatos, red onion, cucumber, green pepper, feta cheese and some Kraft Sun Dried Tomato dressing is good too. You could even add some shrimp in if you like that. Something else that is quick to make is something I use with nacho chips. Sort of a relish, cut up tomatos, red onions, corn, black beans, green pepper, a small amount of taco seasoning. You could also bring a little sour cream to dip with.

[Guin]

No mayo on anything. If you must have some, bring those little packets like you get at a McDonalds. You can make yourself a chef salad to bring: hardboiled egg, sliced ham, turkey and cheese in one tupperware. Keep lettuce and veggies in another tupperware and mix them when you get there. Protein is the key, like other posters have said.