Healthy, shelf-stable, "portable," carbohydrate?

October 10, 2011 4:47 AM

Healthy, shelf-stable, "portable," carbohydrate?

I eat on the run a lot, and try to eat (ridiculously?) healthy (low glycemic-index, glute-free, for starters). My typical carbohydrate when I'm away from home are packaged oatcakes.

I'm looking for a suggestion for a carbohydrate that I can keep in the trunk of my car for emergencies (the oatcakes tend to go bad pretty quickly). From my perspective, granola's and energy bars have too much sugar--an ideal things would be one of those heavy german breads (gluten-free is just a preference, not a necessity), that was somehow vacuum sealed or something.

Thanks,

Jon

posted by Jon44 to Food & Drink (12 answers total)

Try rye crispbreads. They're not gluten free (I think) but they keep for ages, and can come with sunflower seeds and the like.
posted by hannahlambda at 4:53 AM on October 10, 2011

Rice cakes are my portable carbohydrate. I usually eat them with some kind of nut bar to add some fat. I don't think rice cakes can really go bad.
posted by zeek321 at 5:20 AM on October 10, 2011

When I was doing a crazy commute, I used Larabars as a good portable source of food. The lemon one is a favorite. They're gluten-free, which is something I hadn't realized until looking today.
posted by sciencegeek at 5:23 AM on October 10, 2011

I was going to recommend Larabars as well. They are pretty calorie dense. Some may melt if you keep it in your car for too long when it is hot. I only eat the ones without tree nuts - the pb and pbj - and I like both of them.
posted by quodlibet at 5:32 AM on October 10, 2011

Oskri bars! Gluten-free and only 4 grams of sugar.
posted by smirkette at 7:21 AM on October 10, 2011

Slightly related: I keep a box of Capri Sun or similar beverage pouches in the car in winter, because they don't explode when they freeze. They're mostly HFCS, but that's better than nothing if you're stuck on the side of the road.

I'm fat-intolerant, so I usually snack on things like molasses cookies and ginger snaps, both of which are available in very-low-fat varieties. Calorie density is good, and they're delicious.
posted by Myself at 8:57 AM on October 10, 2011

I don't know how much sugar they have, but I love that Cliff bars pack about 200 healthy calories into a few bites.
posted by jander03 at 8:59 AM on October 10, 2011

We've been enjoying PowerCrunch bars as an on-the-go meal. High in protein, low in sugar, and no mealy texture found in many protein bars. Ten grams of carb, only five of which are sugars.
posted by blurker at 10:23 AM on October 10, 2011

I keep a bag of cheddar rice cakes and jar of unsweetened peanut butter in my desk drawer. The peanut butter on the rice cakes is fantastic and very satisfying. Gluten free too. Don't know how peanut butter would keep in a car's trunk though... or any food for that matter -- The extreme temperature shifts from freezing to oven-hot would make almost any food go bad quickly.
posted by cuddles.mcsnuggy at 10:32 AM on October 10, 2011

If you're talking a literal emergency, like getting stranded for 12 hours in a snowstorm or the impending Zombie Apocalypse, I submit that sugar wouldn't be such a bad thing.

Granola bars may be too sugary for your everyday life. But sugar is also a high-octane fuel for your body to burn in an emergency.

You would want to portion it out accordingly, of course. Don't just cram handfuls into your mouth, but eat little bits of it at a time. Think of it as a highly concentrated pellet fuel. Granola is excellent for this purpose because it has protein and fat, too, both of which are also things you want to have handy in an emergency.

If you really want to stick to your guns on this, then you might want to buy a few cans of brown bread.
posted by ErikaB at 10:38 AM on October 10, 2011

What about pinole? Super healthy, lasts forever, reconstitute it whenever you need to, gives you feelings of being a hardcore long-distance runner.
posted by betterton at 1:06 PM on October 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: "If you're talking a literal emergency..."

Just to clarify, though like all good citizens I'm concerned about the inevitable Zombie Apocalypse, I'm thinking more along the lines of a Yuppie, health nut emergency--e.g., "I'm hungry and there isn't a Whole Foods within 60 miles"

(Canned bread and Pinole are quite interesting...and good point that Rice Cakes probably never go bad....)
posted by Jon44 at 3:20 PM on October 10, 2011