My husband has been working out of town for the past few months. He leaves Sunday afternoons and doesn't come home until Thursday night. While he's gone, he's staying in a hotel room (with no kitchenette or fridge).

He's been kinda down lately, not just about being away from home, but because he sees me losing weight and he wants to lose some too. I try to help him with his food so he can eat healthy while he's out of town, but he's getting really tired of eating the same foods everyday.

He's basically been taking cans of tuna, fat free sliced cheese, whole wheat bread, cottage cheese, lunch meat, light yogurt, salad mix, and some fruits (he keeps the cold foods in a cooler with ice)....but he's pretty much limited to eating sandwiches...for lunch and dinner, because he has no way to cook anything (and limited amount of cooler space to keep things cold). Then when he gets to the point that he can't eat another sandwich, he ends up ordering a pizza or something.

Do you guys have ANY ideas of some different foods he can take to change things up a little?? I know I would get sick of eating sandwiches all the time too.

What about cold salads, like pasta salad w/canned tuna/chicken, veggies, etc? My husband usually brings hard boiled eggs, and bacon w/him to work to munch on cold at break (he's in construction so no microwave on the job). I wish I had more suggestions

A microwave is the way to go. Ask the hotel if they can provide one, or buy a small one, they are very cheap , now. Try Target or WalMart. He can always get LeanCuisine or HealthyChoice meals for the microwave.

Hey Amba,

Have you tried wraps? They are easy to make for on the go meals that he doesn’t need to reheat if there’s no microwave available for him. There are a lot of ideas you can do with wraps, here’s one that you can use if your husband is looking to eat healthy too. Let me know what you think

Caesar Lettuce Wrap

Prep Time: 10 min * Total Time: 10 min * Makes: 1 serving, two wraps

What You Need:

2 large leaf lettuce leaves
6 slices OSCAR MAYER Deli Fresh Shaved Smoked Turkey Breast
1/4 cup KRAFT 2% Milk Shredded Cheddar Cheese
1/4 cup chopped tomatoes
1 Tbsp. finely chopped red onions
2 tsp. KRAFT Light Classic Caesar Dressing

What to Do:
TOP each lettuce leaves evenly with turkey, cheese, tomato and onion. Drizzle each with 1 tsp. dressing. Fold in sides of lettuce and roll up.

SERVE immediately. Or wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve.

You can search the recipe for the Nutritional facts on our SaladCenter com website

Thanks for all of the ideas!! I'm gonna let hubby read them when he gets home tonight so he can make a list of what he wants for next week!

Does anyone know if lean cuisines NEED to be kept frozen? Or would they be ok if they are thawed, but kept cold? He doesn't have access to a freezer at the hotel...just a cooler & ice.

When we work out of town my job micro-wave always goes with me. If there isn't one in the room we bring it in....of course it helps to have a store near by. I have cooked TV dinners that have thawed out in my cooler...I just don't cook quite as long. If we are staying in a hotel that isn't near grocery stores/fast food (bummer to eat at) or restaurants....I live on Campbell's soup from my micro-wave!

We have our own coffee pots too...we can make hot water for cup a soup..

My nephew is in the NAVY...he is in a hotel room right now...him and the guys with him are cooking with a George Foreman grill.

A lot of rooms have coffee pots...fridges and micro-waves...but MANY do not...when we have all those we are in heaven...

it sucks to live out of a cooler...have done it many times...soggy lunch meat...cheese...

Kipper snacks and crackers too..

OK so not all healthy that's for sure....just some ideas.

How about canned beans, veggies and fruit? A can or two of different kinds might make really good combos. Like black beans, corn and diced tomatoes? I would eat that! Maybe even put some hot sauce or dehydrated onion on top. Yum. ****, in fact, black beans, corn and pineapple even sounds good. I think either would be fine at room temperature too. But then I'm weird.

My bf and I like fat-free refried beans either pre-seasoned or with some hot sauce mixed in. And yeah, we always eat these room temperature. They're better that way for some reason. You can eat them with regular corn chips or a healthier alternative like pita or pretzel chips.

Trail mix is awesome. If you make your own you can keep an eye on the ingredients so you can use unsalted nuts and unsweetened dried fruit. It makes it a little better. Plus it's tasty and nutritious. But also easy to pig out on. He might want to measure it out in single-serving baggies. Or you can get a huge bag of trail mix at Wal-Mart for like, $5. The least expensive I've found.

And what about fruits and vegetables that don't need to be refrigerated? Like bananas, tomatoes or avocado. (I guess those are all technically fruits, huh?) They might be handy for him to take. Just look around the produce section for other things not kept cold.

And then don't forget canned soups, baked beans, Spaghetti O's, etc. They may not all be healthy, but if he likes them (and likes them at room temperature) they might be good to have around.

Those suggestions may not be ideal, but I still think any of them sound better than McDonald's. Good luck!

I've also stored frozen meals in a cooler, and reheated them from the thawed-state with no problems (sometimes the cooking time is reduced by more than half, so it pays to watch and check frequently).

If the room doesn't have a microwave, there might be one available in the lobby, if not on each floor. If not, I you might find it worth the investment to buy one to take along (this week, I saw some ads for small microwaves for under $25).

There are a lot of shelf-stable entrees, too. Healthy Choice has some. You add water, open the sealed pack of sauce, and microwave. Hubby bought a couple of the sweet and sour chicken, and we tried them. He liked it, but I wasn't fond of it (but I don't like cooked pineapple, the pasta dishes appealed to me more, but I haven't tried those yet).

Even the Hormel chili and stew and such may not be too bad (high in sodium, but at least portion controlled).

Special K is so yummy and keeps me full much longer than other cereals... it's an easy, quick meal, and all you have to keep in the cooler is milk. Other than that, lots and lots of fruit and veggies like carrots that you can eat like sticks without needing to steam, boil, etc...

Depending on where he is working there may be some healthy food options that are warm and not pizza! Any Vietnamese places nearby? If you give us an idea of what is around we may be able to food-detective some good options. Heck, even a warm Subway sandwich with some crunchy veggies on the side is better than cold stuff from a cooler. Sometimes when you add up the cost of the individual items it is cheaper to get an inexpensive meal out than to assemble something and if it is more satisfying then there is less chance of snacking throughout the evening.

LOVE LOVE LOVE my George Foreman grill! Ours is the one with the floating hinge, so you can use it as a panine grill as well. DH takes it every time he goes out of town to work. He grills chicken breasts, steaks, burgers if he's so inclined, it grills veggies...and it makes awesome grilled sammies!