DIY Travel Snack Recipes for Motorcycle Riders

Has this ever happened to you: you’re booking it out on a long ride, when, all of the sudden, hunger strikes. I don’t know about you, but hunger seems to hit me only after the road opens up and I’m in-between towns. There’s no hope for a stop in the near future, and my stomach is growling so loud I feel like I can hear it over my bike.

In my opinion, making pit stops at all those awesome mom n’ pop places is sometimes the best part of the ride, but it just isn’t feasible 100% of the time. You need a backup plan. When it comes to packing motorcycle trip food, we need to be a little more conscious about the bulk of our supplies.

Are you a do-it-yourselfer? Here are some cheap and easy DIY recipes for road foods that taste great and won’t weigh you down.

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Make Your Own Road Mix  

Ingredients:

• 1 16 oz. jar of dry roasted, salted peanuts or mixed nuts
• 1 package of chocolate M&M’s
• 2 6 oz. packages of Orange flavored, dried cranberries

Mix ingredients in a large ziplock bag and separate into smaller bags. Carry the large ziplock in any baggage, and the smaller ones in a pocket or tank bag. This is a good energy booster that’s loaded with protein and good sugars to keep you going.

A Trick for Keeping Crackers

• 1 package of smoked salmon, chicken, or tuna
• Ritz crackers

Store your crackers in an empty Pringles Small Stack can so they won’t get smashed. When hunger hits, combine meat with crackers for a delicious source of protein.

Note: If you’re looking for a beneficial as well as tasty snack, I suggest eating salmon on crackers. You can buy packages of ready-to-eat smoked salmon from your grocery store. Salmon is full of omega-3 fatty acids that elevate your mood and even protect against depression. Salmon is just good for you all around, but who knew it’s a snack that contains a natural happy pill?

A Tried-and-True Classic

Ah, yes. You knew beef jerky would come up on this list sooner or later. While everyone has their own take on what takes the title of best beef jerky (I’m partial to Jeff’s Famous Carne Asada Jerky, myself), it’s actually pretty cool to make your own. Even if you don’t have a dehydrator, here’s a pretty classic beef jerky recipe to make it at home.

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds beef top round, thinly sliced.
• 3/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 3/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon paprika, or to taste
• 1 tablespoon honey, or more to taste
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon onion powder

Directions:

1. Combine and whisk soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, honey, red pepper flakes, black pepper, garlic powder and onion powder in a medium-sized bowl. Add the beef to the bowl and turn it to make sure it’s completely coated. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let marinate in the fridge overnight.
2. Preheat your oven to 175 degrees and line a baking sheet with foil. Place a wire rack over the foil.
3. Put the beef on paper towels and toss out the rest of the marinade. Arrange the slices of beef in a single layer on the wire rack/ baking sheet.
4. Bake the beef for about 3 or 4 hours, or until it’s dry and leathery. Let it cool and store in ziplock bags.

Now, this is the simplest beef jerky recipe if you don’t have a smoker or a dehydrator handy. Feel free to experiment with spices and methods, just be sure to let me know how it turns out. I’m always down for a new jerky recipe.

Chocolate  

Hell yeah. Who doesn’t like a bit of chocolate as a pick-me-up? You’ve got to be smart about it, though. The only thing worse than hunger is the pain you feel when you have an unpleasant energy crash.

Surprise, dark chocolate is a great pick-me-up when you need it, considering it contains caffeine and theobromine, both of which naturally boost your energy levels without the nasty crash later. As a general rule, remember: the darker the chocolate, the healthier it is.

Add a Little Spice to It

So, it’s been proven that spicy foods increase your metabolism, a.k.a. boost your energy, and can even help improve cognitive function. I’m going to use this opportunity to share what I consider to be a very important piece of information:

I’m a sucker for spice, and I always say that Tabasco Sauce and some Sriracha Chili make everything better. Turns out, they come in handy travel sizes. Holy crap!

While this isn’t really a travel snack recipe, I just had to add it because this is easier than shouting from the rooftops. You better believe I’m already all over this.