Touring - Touring tips for a Vegetarian? For a Female rider?

Hello everyone, I am about to embark on my first long tour, from Virginia to Oregon. I am a female vegetarian, and I was just wondering if anyone had any tips for items to have along or things to try that I will find absolutely invaluable, either as a girl or a vegetarian. Thanks!

I spent a month in America last fall and I found it to be a challenge to be vegetarian and I was in 3 of the larger cities in the north! When I am cycle-touring I shop for food at grocery stores and will buy fruit, vegetables, yogurt, cheese, nuts, juice, breads and anything that is healthy, has no MSG and can keep without being refrigerated. For breakfast I will eat oatmeal, fruit, granola bars and yogurt, for lunch I usually stop for a long rest and have a big lunch often with local beer or wine. I make lots of veggie sandwiches on whole grain bread, fruit, nuts, olives, cheese etc... For super it really depends if I have a camp stove or the use of a kitchen like at a youth hostel for example. Pasta, been and rice dishes with veggies and bread is always filling. If you know your route, look up vegetarian restaurants and make a list with maps and have a good veggie restaurant meal when you can!

Oh and the best advice for a girl would be to stay away from meat eating Neanderthals!

Gordon p

It'll be tough going everywhere. When I couldn't really get some veg grub I wanted -I went for mac and cheese, oatmeal with anything I could think to add. Small restaurants can be accommodating, I've found.

Pretty much what Gordon said.

Check out the journels at Crazyguy. I think you will find alot of information on both subjects.
http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/?o=2LbOc

Can't speak as a girl, but...

Several years ago my then-14 y.o. daughter, who a month earlier became a vegetarian, did a 7-day tour along the C&O towpath. Her diet was hampered by the fact that she didn't (doesn't) really like veggies. She did fine w/ cottage cheese (much more available than one might think!), PB&J, mac&cheese, etc. Luckily she didn't know then that Gardettos contain anchovies. We did learn that Hamburger Helper cooked & eaten w/o adding meat is quite tasty. Velveeta keeps a long time if stuffed inside your sleeping bag during the day (Kraft Singles are similar, but more expensive per weight....)

I buy brown rice and lentils or split peas when I'm running out and passing a real grocery store (which will have these in one-pound bags) and cans of beans basically anywhere that sells food. These are the core ingredients of a nearly infinite number of evening meals with whatever fresh fruits and vegetables are available (these can be cooked with the rice and legumes, or added raw to leftover-rice-and-legume salads the next day). Also, peanut butter and whole-grain crackers like Ry-Krisp for breakfast and/or lunch. Add whatever milk proteins you favor -- even gas stations often have milk and yogurt, and powdered milk is an almost weightless backup/emergency ingredient -- and you should have the protein issues of a vegetarian diet covered.

All of this is cheap, too, which leaves money in the budget for a vegetarian restaurant meal whenever you want to break the monotony of your own cooking imagination. I'm a sucker for lunch at small-town Chinese restaurants -- their vegetarian offerings are often way more homestyle than the rest of the menu.

There is excellent info from Friedel of Travelling Two for women touring cyclists.

http://travellingtwo.com/resources/tips-for-women-cyclists

Unless you plan to eat at restaurants, taking fruit, legumes and vegies should be relatively easy. Travelling with meat would be a bigger problem as you would have to buy fresh daily, but anything not too waterery/squishy would keep well. e.g. pumpkin, potato, oranges, nuts, dried fruit, beans and lentils, etc.

Travelling Two also have good on the road cooking tips with a list of what they usually carry with them .... leave out the fish and you have a vegetarian touring pantry!

http://travellingtwo.com/resources/eating-on-the-road


regards
Maureen

This isn't female specific, but it should help the vegetarian in you. My 3 base foods are vegetarian stock
cubes, honey and couscous. The couscous is light and easy to cook and with the stock cubes or the honey
you can make a filling savory or sweet meal

Along with what everyone else said,
Not all yogurt is vegetarian. Many contain gelatin. I have to be careful and most small stores do not have a varied selection of those things.
It can get real boring, but lots of luna bars have worked well to get me through to a place with a better selection.
Also a guy I know who went cross country with almost nothing had a friend mail packages to post offices along his route. That way he knew what he knew what his ingredients would be.
omething I really really like are the Japanese seaweed salads. If you are lucky enough to have a good Asian market near, there is usually a variety and they are dried and packaged small. Add water and it is a good size salad.
I the tips from two traveling but prefer a Diva cup over a Mooncup.

Sorry for the typos, There should be an"S" on omething, and I meant to say I liked the tips...

+ 1 Couscous. Its easier and quicker to cook than rice or pasta. In fact we don't really "cook" it, just pour on boiling water and let it soak a few mins. You can add onion, garlic or herbs and/or chopped dried fruit such as dates and apricots to add flavour.

Can't speak as a girl, but...

Several years ago my then-14 y.o. daughter, who a month earlier became a vegetarian, did a 7-day tour along the C&O towpath. Her diet was hampered by the fact that she didn't (doesn't) really like veggies. She did fine w/ cottage cheese (much more available than one might think!), PB&J, mac&cheese, etc. Luckily she didn't know then that Gardettos contain anchovies. We did learn that Hamburger Helper cooked & eaten w/o adding meat is quite tasty. Velveeta keeps a long time if stuffed inside your sleeping bag during the day (Kraft Singles are similar, but more expensive per weight....)

Regular cheese keeps a long time too. Don't be afraid to just cook the same sorts of things you already cook at home. you probably will have to improvise a bit, but so do us meat-eaters.

As for being female - I think the only real difference here is safety. As a solo female, I'm less interested in free-camping than I would be if I was male (or at least a big person). I feel a bit safer in a developed camp site, where I usually introduce myself to the camp host and let them know I'm alone, so they might check in on me if anything weird happens. I don't free camp much unless I am either totally hidden or somewhere so public and obvious and allowed that I feel safe. And I don't ask for permission to camp in people's yards - i think a lot of guys do this, but i feel like the chances of getting a werido are too high.

I have taken people up on the offer of a room or a place to camp near their house before, but only if I've already had a conversation with them and they feel safe. Obviously, one could blow it on this decision. THe only time it turned out slightly icky was an offer from another woman - she turned out to be a total alcoholic, drunk at the time, and i didn't' figure it out until I was in her car. Oops.

There have been a very few times where I changed my camping plans and took a room instead, because of potential creepy people. I think it's important to stay aware of your situation, even if you are tired and hungry and just want to camp, and if it feels weird it probably is, so do something about it. I expect this is true for men as well.

I usually get a room if I'm in a significant size city, or camp in an RV park type campground.

Quinoa is also a good thing to eat on the road. Lots of protein, lightweight, and easy to cook. One thing that I noticed on my last tour (the first one as being vegetarian) was that I had plans to eat veggie sandwiches, etc., but those plans quickly deteriorated to PBJs because they are so quick, carb-filled, and delicious. I also ate a ton of oatmeal with raisins.

I don't do much touring other than weekend trips, but my day job has me traveling a lot. I'm not a vegetarian because I do eat fresh fish.(no beef pork chicken) However fresh fish is tough to find away from the coasts.
My boss frowns on me cooking in the company car so here is my list.

I eat often at SubWay, They have a vegetarian sub under $5 (12") most Subways have fresh spinach which is much tastier than the usual iceberg lettuce. Skip the mayo and a sandwich can last all day without refrigeration. Lots of Subway stores, I have seen them out in the middle of nowhere even in Canada.

Wendy's Side salad and Baked potato (.99 each most places) I don't care for their dressings( too sugary) I have the salad pretty often, I bring my own oil and vinegar

Taco Bell, Questionable nutrition value but they use vegetable oils for frying and Xanthan gum as a viscosity modifier instead of lard and gelatins from animal by-products. The "seven layer Burrito ( refried beans, rice, lettuce tomato, onions, guacamole and salsa) is about the best thing they serve IMO.

Road side stands, during the summer lots of people selling home grown vegetables fruit and baked goods along the road.

McDonald's has a salad also but it always has a strong taste of preservatives.

Many "family style" restaurants offer a Vegetable plate entree ( especially in the south) which is usually 3-5 different vegetables. or they may offer a soup & salad combination

Diners often have a "Greek Salad" ( hold the anchovies) They are usually a meal within themselves. So called "veggie burgers" are pretty common at diners these days, though I suspect they are grilled on the same grill as the regular hamburger meat.

Chinese as mentioned previously,

Salad bars and buffets, I don't do these as often as I used to, too many people with questionable hygiene sticking their hands into the food while serving themselves.

+ 1 Couscous. Its easier and quicker to cook than rice or pasta. In fact we don't really "cook" it, just pour on boiling water and let it soak a few mins. You can add onion, garlic or herbs and/or chopped dried fruit such as dates and apricots to add flavour.

Couscous ground up is white flour. Couscous is white-flour noodles minus the eggs and oil. I love couscous, but I wouldn't eat it as a staple grain (especially in a vegetarian diet -- it's of almost no value for building complementary proteins). Cooked whole millet and quinoa vaguely resemble couscous in taste and texture while supplying much greater nutritive value -- give them a try if you haven't.

... Cooked whole millet and quinoa vaguely resemble couscous in taste and texture while supplying much greater nutritive value ...

How available are any of these 3 in rural small town America? I get 'em all in medium-size & larger stores in my city of 250,000, but how about a town of 2,000 that's 3 days' ride from a "city" ?

How available are any of these 3 in rural small town America? I get 'em all in medium-size & larger stores in my city of 250,000, but how about a town of 2,000 that's 3 days' ride from a "city" ?

Well, sure, the more exotic it is, the less likely you are to find it in a tiny place. But when you find it there, it's great! And there are medium-sized places between the tiny places and the big places. Look around harder if it's a college town or a tourist trap or a place where immigrants live or migrant laborers visit -- these are places where you're more likely to find whole grains among the Ho Hos.

Couscous, millet, and quinoa were all available in the towns of 8,000 and 15,000 where I spent time last year in Minnesota and Wisconsin. They weren't available in the two towns under 1,000 where I also spent time -- but these were both less than ten miles from the bigger quinoa-and-millet-friendly towns.

it might be beneficial to research the location of natural/raw/healthfood stores along your determined route.
that way you don't have to carry too much or too little food at any given point.

... these are places where you're more likely to find whole grains among the Ho Hos...

Whew! For a second there, I thought you were gonna dis Little Debbie Swiss Cake Rolls!

Couscous ground up is white flour. Couscous is white-flour noodles minus the eggs and oil. I love couscous, but I wouldn't eat it as a staple grain (especially in a vegetarian diet -- it's of almost no value for building complementary proteins). Cooked whole millet and quinoa vaguely resemble couscous in taste and texture while supplying much greater nutritive value -- give them a try if you haven't.

Couscous is just pasta. On it's own its pretty boring, that's why I add the vegetables and stock cube. It makes a good dessert with dried fruits and honey added. As I'm not a vegetarian I sometimes add tuna. Couscous is my go to carbohydrate, but obviously not all I eat.

I think it's important to stay aware of your situation, even if you are tired and hungry and just want to camp, and if it feels weird it probably is, so do something about it. I expect this is true for men as well.



I agree. I go with my gut feeling. If something is odd, weird, out-of-place or a person seems just a tad too friendly, I move on.

How available are any of these 3 in rural small town America? I get 'em all in medium-size & larger stores in my city of 250,000, but how about a town of 2,000 that's 3 days' ride from a "city" ?

You can usually turn up some kind of whole grain in a medium sized town (say, 10-20k people). Brown rice, wheat berries, blends... Maybe not millet or quinoa in particular. I don't look for either one since I'm fondest of rice. Even the smallest town will have white rice. It may not be ideal, but it won't kill you for a few days. Besides, the processed stuff can be an excuse to get fancier with fresh veggies :).

Split peas are another fast cooking dried bean. They're more traditional in the South and Caribbean than lentils, so they can be much easier to find in even the tiniest town in the US.

You can usually turn up some kind of whole grain in a medium sized town (say, 10-20k people). Brown rice, wheat berries, blends... Maybe not millet or quinoa in particular. I don't look for either one since I'm fondest of rice. Even the smallest town will have white rice. It may not be ideal, but it won't kill you for a few days. Besides, the processed stuff can be an excuse to get fancier with fresh veggies :).

Split peas are another fast cooking dried bean. They're more traditional in the South and Caribbean than lentils, so they can be much easier to find in even the tiniest town in the US.

My recommendation of couscous over things like rice is that it cooks so much faster.

Vegetarian touring is pretty easy in the US, as long as you are ok with buying food in grocery stores. If you want to eat out a lot it may be harder. I tend to eat a lot of cereal and peanut butter and jelly in the day. At night at cook a big meal that usually involves couscous or pasta, and vegetables. One easy meal I really like is canned baked beans (vegetarian kind, obviously) mixed with cut up veggie burgers. After a long day of riding this is surprisingly delicious, and really fast to make.
I tend to carry of a bag of spices that I like. Seasoned salt is a good general flavor that works on pretty much anything.
The hardest thing about being a vegetarian on tour is having to turn down food when really nice people offer it to me.

Many grocery stores will make you a custom sandwich in their deli section--they are usually happy to make me a cheese & veggy sandwich--with extra cheese instead of lunch meat. And, you can usually find a side salad while you wait (potato, macaroni, slaw, etc., depending upon your diet restrictions.)

Also, if you add corn to beans, you get a complete protein (says my trainer)--I'd bring a can opener and plan to buy a can of vegetarian chili in a pinch.

Mexican places in small towns usually offer vegetarian burritos (beans & cheese, sometimes with added stuff like rice, veggies, etc.,) sometimes just labeled as "bean burritos".

I also eat fish, so tuna in packages works well when I need a protein boost.

Oh, and a cheese pizza can always be found.

I find vegetarian (pescetarian in my case) eating pretty easy (I buy lunch at restaurants/stores every day and dinner several days per week) and I live in the mountain-west region.

As far as safety -- will you be able to carry a cell phone? if so, what about a gps phone with live web updating? (so your friends and family can always hop online at anytime and see where you are at in real time.)

I am not a girl, but I am a strict vegetarian, almost a vegan. I have the internet on my smart-phone, and when I go to unfamiliar towns, I check out this website: http://www.happycow.net/ It has vegetarian/vegan restaurant listings for every state. I find the farther North you are, the more veg places you will find.

Also, camping in the Midwest is not a 'Cumbayah' experience, with Earthy folks playing the guitar and talking world peace over hummus. I have found it to be mostly rednecks, drinking lotsa cheap beer. Be safe, and know where you are going to rest before you go. I would probably just stay in a motel, for safety of you and your gear/bike. Maybe save up some extra money, for the difference in motel prices vs. camping. Plus, if you take a Hot-Pot, you have somewhere to plug it in.

I travel a lot with my Hot-Pot; $9? at Wal-Mart, I think(?). It boils water for tea + couscous, heats soup, or really anything you want to stick in it. It can get really hot! My wife said her suite-mate in college cooked a steak in hers, once. And peanut butter lasts forever. You can make peanut butter&banana sandwiches with tortilla wraps, if you don't want to worry about smashing bread, plus tortilla wraps are flat for packing. Granola is not just for breakfast anymore.

Wal-Mart's selection of veg food is very limited, but they do have cheap Silk (soymilk). Find out where the health food stores are, in your path before you go. I went to Las Vegas a few years ago; the home of steak sandwiches, with steak shakes and steak fries, and I couldn't find any vegetarian stores - not their target demographic, apparently. If I go back, [doubt it], I will know where to get veg food/staples beforehand. I had to eat (pretty much) plain baked potatoes and salad for nine days. Actually, the only decent food I had in "Vegas" was on an Indian Reservation (we flew to the Grand Canyon).

Hope this helps.

As far as safety -- will you be able to carry a cell phone? if so, what about a gps phone with live web updating? (so your friends and family can always hop online at anytime and see where you are at in real time.)
I assume that you will probably be taking the TransAmerica route judging by your starting and finishing points. Much of the route is pretty remote. Cell coverage is very spotty and we found that batteries died VERY fast when our phones were on with no signal. It seems that the phone uses a lot of battery when searching for a signal.

FWIW: We found the route pretty safe and the people very friendly, kind and generous. Just use good judgment and you will be fine. If you want the security of being around other riders you will meet folks along the way and can probably ride and camp with them a good bit of the time.

Have a great trip.

We maintained a 100% plant base diet (ie. vegan) throughout our entire tour and found....

Many supermarkets throughout the US are adding a bulk foods section. You can generally find all the staples mentioned above in those sections... whole wheat couscous, quinoa, brown rice, and even dehydrated beans.

There are several good options in fake meats (Morningstar Farms, Yves, Boca). At least some are available in nearly every town with a large grocery store.

Making a pot of quinoa, rice or glass noodles in the morning and storing it in a pannier in a sealable pot for lunch worked well for us. Here are a bunch of meals we made on the road....

http://www.vwvagabonds.com/Bike/CycleCuisine.html (http://www.vwvagabonds.com/Bike/CycleCuisine.html)

Also, camping in the Midwest is not a 'Cumbayah' experience, with Earthy folks playing the guitar and talking world peace over hummus. I have found it to be mostly rednecks, drinking lotsa cheap beer. Be safe, and know where you are going to rest before you go. I would probably just stay in a motel, for safety of you and your gear/bike.
No offense to michaelalanjone, but I wouldn't let this kind of talk worry me. I really doubt that anyone has actually toured across the US would say this.

A couple links to pages from women doing the TA might that be good reading:
http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/circumtrektion
http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/bigred2007

For some more info on vegetarian touring the Crazy Guy forums have had some good info. Go to http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/forum/?o=3Tzut and do a search. There were a couple good threads in the last several months. Maybe start with this one:
http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/forum/board/message/?o=3Tzut&thread_id=79421&v=t&page=1&nested=0#79421

I assume that you will probably be taking the TransAmerica route judging by your starting and finishing points. Much of the route is pretty remote. Cell coverage is very spotty and we found that batteries died VERY fast when our phones were on with no signal. It seems that the phone uses a lot of battery when searching for a signal.

I had good coverage on that route all the way through Oregon and most of the way through Idaho. I travel around the west a lot on all of the remote highways and can't remember losing coverage much at all recently. A lot of cell towers have been added in the last year (in Idaho specifically.) But, coverage is lighter in some areas--not necessarily the strong fast connection you get in towns.

Also, a little solar charger may fix the battery problem. It's even possible to find little flexible panels now--you could probably even tape one to your fender or wrap it around your pack.

I wouldn't rely on this alone for safety. I grew up with Mom-cop (my mom was a cop). She made me go to every single self-defense class within a 100 mile radius of our house. However, I learned more from her than any of the classes since she had to make her little 5'4 frame appear tougher than any of the bad-guys out there, on a daily basis, which she was able to do through personality and attitude.

She did have some other tricks too: some of her favorite "weapons" to plant on me prior to letting me leave the house for a date were the simple little things like a 4" stick pin (think of the little flowery gold pin that your granny wears on her blouse.)

The best weapon that you have however is your head & your attitude. You can reason your way out of just about any situation, and you will be a much less desirable target if you look too tough/confident to mess with in the first place.

I had good coverage on that route all the way through Oregon and most of the way through Idaho. I travel around the west a lot on all of the remote highways and can't remember losing coverage much at all recently. A lot of cell towers have been added in the last year (in Idaho specifically.) But, coverage is lighter in some areas--not necessarily the strong fast connection you get in towns.
If memory serves we had good coverage in Oregon. Spotty coverage in Idaho, but lots of places with no signal. Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado we were without connection a lot. There were some holes in coverage the rest of the trip too. We had Verizon phones, not sure if other carriers do better or not.

We found the batteries lasted a LONG time if we turned the phones off when not using them and only turned them on to make calls. As I said it killed the batteries really fast if they were on where there was no signal. So if the connection was gone we made sure to turn off. That said it is easy to just plug in to charge when in camp, a restaurant, a laundromat, or whatever.

Are you aware of the "hecksher" symbols that Jews use to identify foods that can be consumed with or without kosher meat? They are a good way to find foods that don't contain any meat.

The "K" symbol alone means that a food product contains only kosher parve (non meat and non dairy) ingredients, which can include eggs and certain fish. The "K" together with a circled "D" means Kosher and dairy (no meat). (These symbols do not mean that a rabbi actually inspected and approved the process, only that the person preparing the food is certifying that they have been prepared in a kosher kitchen, and contain no improper ingredients. I am Jewish, and although I am only partially observant, I like the idea that the kosher symbols indicate a clean kitchen.)

My own issue with the food you find while touring in the USA is that so much of it is processed, full of bad fats and added sugar or corn syrup. And if you are riding the small towns on one of the ACA bike routes, you are not going to see a lot of Whole Foods stores. Last year, I rode from Chicago to New York. I felt like Oberlin and Cleveland in Ohio were islands of edible food. I try to eat bananas, apples, and nuts a lot, because I can buy them at the convenience store gas stations, where everything else is unhealthy.

In about ten days I am leaving for the Adirondacks, Green Mountains, and Berkshires, finishing up in Boston and taking a ferry to Long Island. Sometimes it seems, if you look at political blogs of where people voted Red (Bush) or Blue (Gore and Kerry) in 2000 and 2004, that map almost perfectly divides the parts of the country where you will find healthy food from those where it is difficult to eat well.



Also, camping in the Midwest is not a 'Cumbayah' experience, with Earthy folks playing the guitar and talking world peace over hummus. I have found it to be mostly rednecks, drinking lotsa cheap beer. Be safe, and know where you are going to rest before you go. I would probably just stay in a motel, for safety of you and your gear/bike. Maybe save up some extra money, for the difference in motel prices vs. camping. Plus, if you take a Hot-Pot, you have somewhere to plug it in.

Since Michael is a strict vegetarian from Louisville, KY he probably knows what he is talking about. I haven't toured south of the Mason-Dixon line.

But I'm still going to disagree with him, respectfully. I think you will feel safe camping anywhere in the United States, as long as you use public campsites. People talk funny down south, but since you are from Virginia, you may be used to that already. I think the biggest problem you'll have at public campsites is getting the teenager rednecks to turn down their radios.

Howard

You could pack a couple of these for times you can't find food you want. And try to restock them on the road...

http://www.tastybite.com/

From the website: "The advantages are that the packs are not too heavy or bulky and so easy to carry. Secondly, the food can be eaten without heating, as it is ready to eat. Of course, it tastes the best, when the pouch is placed in a pan of boiling water for about 2 minutes"

Kev

Couscous ground up is white flour. Couscous is white-flour noodles minus the eggs and oil. I love couscous, but I wouldn't eat it as a staple grain (especially in a vegetarian diet -- it's of almost no value for building complementary proteins). Cooked whole millet and quinoa vaguely resemble couscous in taste and texture while supplying much greater nutritive value -- give them a try if you haven't.

I buy whole wheat couscous from my health food store, so I think it would be no worse for you than whole wheat pasta.

Another thought is about bringing beans along. You can purchase some of the bulk dried soup mixes you find in most health food stores. I recently bought a curried lentil soup mix that was pretty much all lentil and re-hydrated in about 5 minutes after sitting in hot water.

This website has great vegetarian travel recipes: http://www.freezerbagcooking.com/

They aren't all vegetarian, but they've got a good number of veggie ones on there. Best part is they are intended to be cooked in a freezer bag by pouring boiling water over them. They are, by and large, very nutritious, and easy to store. They are particularly applicable to a traveling vegetarian, because they are so lightweight (being made from mostly dry ingredients) that you can prepare a number of them when leaving a population center w/ lots of grocery options, and have enough to last you through a few rural towns. ;)

-Sam

They aren't all vegetarian, but they've got a good number of veggie ones on there. Best part is they are intended to be cooked in a freezer bag by pouring boiling water over them.

I saw this site a while back and wondered just how safe it might be to prepare food in soft plastic. I'm hearing so many stories about #1 plastic containers, but freezer bags seem even more like something that would leach unknown chemicals into the food.

Do you have any info on this? I could find anything on the web site.

I know there are some recipes you can cook in a vacuum bottle - mostly soups and the like. Heat up some water to boiling, pour it in the vacuum bottle, then prepare your soup, pour out the hot water and pour the recipe in. Seal it up, head out. Your lunch or dinner will be warm and cooked when you stop. No plastics involved. You probably wouldn't want to cook meat this way, but for a vegetarian? It's a great way to do beans, or lentils, or something else of that sort.

I saw this site a while back and wondered just how safe it might be to prepare food in soft plastic. I'm hearing so many stories about #1 plastic containers, but freezer bags seem even more like something that would leach unknown chemicals into the food.

Do you have any info on this? I could find anything on the web site.

Well, there is some speculation, but not much actual information. According to the FDA, these bags are food-safe at the temperature of boiling water, and note that on the packaging. You don't actually heat the bags, so the hottest they will ever be is 212F, and that is only for the brief moment when the boiling water gets poured in. I would NOT heat the bag directly, since that could easily exceed safe temperatures, even before melting the bag.

Those bags are LDPE (#4), which doesn't have most of the concerns that the PET (#1) has. #4 contains no BPA (the hazardous chemical most recently identified coming out of some plastic bottles), and no phthalates either. Most people studying the food safety of plastics are concerned with #3 (PVC), #6 (Polystyrene) and #7 (other, but including polycarbonates).

To be honest, I don't think there is a problem with occasionally eating from hot #4 plastic bags. But if you believed it was a problem, then just bag up your recipes, boil the prescribed amount of water, and then dump the mixed ingredients into your pot. You have a dish to wash now, but you've eliminated the hot plastic, if you aren't comfortable with it.

-Sam

We were in the local Subway, and they have a veggie sandwich- not sure what they call it- but includes a meatlike substance patty, not just the salad stuff they normally have. But it's on the "local favorites" and so may or may not be availabe at a particular Subway.

University towns seem to have a better selection of vegan/vegetarian restaurants and stores. Might be worth thinking about when you plan your route.