Traveling Kosher | Imamother

devorahrivka

Tue, Mar 17 2009, 11:26 am

Not sure where to post this. Sorry if this isn't the right spot.

DH and I are adopting a baby, Gd willing, in April when its born...we will be traveling by car from Georgia to Arizona to pick up baby. It will be my husband, my 2 girls (10 and 7) and myself. I have never taken a trip this long by car b4 as an observant woman (BT) and I worry about how to keep kosher on the road without driving myself crazy. Also, what happens if baby is born on shabbat? What if we are on the road for shabbat?? DH isn't as religious as me and does drive on Shabbat but up until now I never thought about riding...rinding is bad, yes? Also, I don't think he would care too much about keeping kosher but my 10 year old and I are strickt so we are trying to make a plan. I've never had to be away from home on shabbat b4 and with the situation the way it is I am sure that we will be gone longer than a week...ok I'm in a panic LOL...any tips, ideas, things I should plan for...recipes, or other food ideas...

All help and words of encouragement are much appreciated Smile

Mimisinger

Tue, Mar 17 2009, 11:31 am

Good luck, yes, shabbos would be difficult, but you could stay in a motel or inn for that time, or by a community, chabad shaliach, imamother person nearby IYH and work it out.

One thing that my rabbi used to do when they went away was to get tiny disposable grills and grill on the side of the road - I think they got them at cvs, we even made pizza on them! Get a BIG cooler and you can replenish ice as you go. You can also freeze things that will defrost along the way that you can then cook, or use, like cheese, that will freeze w/o taking up more space.

And mazal tov and good luck with your iYH new baby.

Tamiri

Tue, Mar 17 2009, 11:39 am

Beshaa tova with your new baby.
You can buy a cheap electric portable range (electric coil) at Target to make eggs, boil water for pasta, etc. in your Motel room. Breakfast of cereal or oatmeal is easy. Peanut butter is easy. Jam should not be that hard.
Lenders bagels are usually available in the freezers all across the country. Kosher crackers, though probably OUD are quite available all over as well. Tuna. Canned corn. Canned Heinz beans. Near East pilafs. The list is quite long.
Shabbat plan to be in a place with a Chabad house or a community (Dallas, Houston, Tucson, Phoenix etc.)
It's totally do-able.
You can even get a small, cheap microwave to bake potatoes, heat up Morningstar products etc.
Go to www.shamash.org and check out the restaurant section to see what cities on your route have to offer.

devorahrivka

Tue, Mar 17 2009, 11:56 am

Tamiri wrote:

Yes, this is what I needed...now my brain is working....I was planning to look and see if there is a Chabad house in Yuma AZ...

Chocoholic, I've seen those self heating meals at the store and was thinking about getting some...what will they think of next AMAZING! LOL

Entropy, my main issue is that I am just not use to cooking small LOL. I tend to over do. So I know my planning has to be really good. Also, I don't know that we are going to stay in a hotel on the way there...if at all possible we will drive straight through, DH and I taking turns at the wheel...on the way back...whose going to be worried about cooking with a new baby??

oh, I should add, dispite my 2 kids, I've never had a baby b4. My kids are adopted and came to us at 5 and 8. So this is another reason for my panic LOL

I love these ideas tho!! Soooo helpful....thanks!

Mirabelle

Tue, Mar 17 2009, 12:04 pm

Wow, sounds like you have so much to think about!

We have driven cross country several times, once with a baby and a dog.

I assume the birth mother knows that you are an observant Jewish family, so you can explain that if the baby is born on shobbos you can't get to the hospital until after shobbos is over (unless you stay at a hotel walking distance). Also, they dont just let you take the baby that night, I am assuming that the baby needs to stay in the hospital at least for a day or two for observation. Were you planning on being in the room when the baby was born?

I guess if I were you I would be more worried about driving cross country with a newborn than the food...there is plenty of hechshered stuff that you can get along the way. I would also just prepare in advance and bring a big cooler. I bet on the way home you will be so busy, you may forget about food!
Also there will most certainly be kosher places along your route.
Bshaah Tovah!

Tamiri

Tue, Mar 17 2009, 12:17 pm

YESHASettler wrote:

A lot of the larger supermarkets have their generic brands as kosher. Bread and such...
.

Not in my experience. Bread is difficult in many places (lived there, experienced that). Even if, say Weight Watchers bread is OU certified in NY, it may have no hashgache in Columbus. Etc. And the stores buy their brand name breads at local bakeries where they may have no clue what kosher is to even consider it.
Unless things have changed vastly in the past few years.

Chocoholic

Tue, Mar 17 2009, 12:20 pm

Tamiri wrote:

YESHASettler wrote:

A lot of the larger supermarkets have their generic brands as kosher. Bread and such...
.

Things have changed. Lots of large brands carry hechshers even in the most remote of places. OU is very national.

DefyGravity

Tue, Mar 17 2009, 12:45 pm

Definitely bring a cooler with you and fill it with:
Deli
fruit
bread
cheese

My dad has a portable gas burner, I'm not sure what it's called, but he uses it to make eggs and other foods that can be cooked with a frying pan or pot when he's travelling.

When he drove from Kansas to Baltimore, he brought the above items that I mentioned, and stopped at Wal Marts and various grocery stores along the way for more bread, hashbrowns, eggs, etc.

Wal Mart is definitely your friend when you need food while traveling! In general, it's pretty easy to find Kosher food at grocery stores, like another poster said, Lender's bagels are pretty standard fare at most stores. Cottage cheese, yogurt, etc., is usually Kosher (providing you don't keep CY).

I was in Harlingen, TX a year ago and the local HEB had lots of Kosher food. No problems there.

devorahrivka

Tue, Mar 17 2009, 12:48 pm

entropy wrote:

Riding on shabbos with a Jewish driver is the same as driving yourself.

(edited out my cooking advice bc others did a better job)

Mazaltov!

What if I'm the only Jew in the car? I know, I'm splitting hairs but I've tried to research this a little and found different opinions. What does everyone here think? Oh DH isn't Jewish (one day) and althougth my oldest is observant my kids are not Jewish either. My oldest will convert one day tho. So technically I will be the only Jew in the car...if its an issue with DH I will not fight him on it because I have seen differing opinions on this issue....but really interested in what you all think.

DiznyIma, I don't think they know anything about us. They are Catholic and in this economy happy to have someone, anyone, adopt. They were having issues finding a family (I think because it was meant to be us). It wasn't one of those deals where they picked us out of a book. I don't have permission to be in the room but basically, if I am there, the baby comes right to me after its cleaned up.

My other 2 kids will not let me forget about food LOL. I never realized how much small children can eat b4 I got a few Smile

My husband did find a hotel walking distance from the hospital Smile

Yay DH! So that issue is a non-issue...unless they release the kid on Shabbat...oh so many things to worry about LOL...For the past 3+ years I've spent shabbat in my home with no worries and no desire to go anywhere. As long as I have my bookcase full of books and a comfy couch I'm happy. Now I have to put all my learning into place and frankly have become very comfortable where I am. And I worry about using my husband as a sort of shabbos [gentile] Rolling Eyes

especially since he has been somewhat observant with me (more like Conservative observant that Modern Orthodox observant Confused

)

I'm sure I'll work this all out, just need to panic right now and getting great ideas Wink

feeling better allready!

Barbara

Tue, Mar 17 2009, 1:06 pm

devorahrivka wrote:

Mimisinger wrote:

One thing that my rabbi used to do when they went away was to get tiny disposable grills and grill on the side of the road

Wonderful idea !!! We've used those b4 too...I should have thought of that...adding to the list Smile

Thanks!

We've never been successful with those. We own this

http://www.amazon.com/Weber-Ba.....r=8-2

Not cheap, but we use it all the time at home and on the road.

Kosher meat is likely to be an issue, but so many regular brands of things are kosher that it shouldn't be a problem.

Mazel tov on the new baby.

SomebodyElse

Tue, Mar 17 2009, 1:34 pm

devorahrivka wrote:

My husband did find a hotel walking distance from the hospital Smile

Yay DH! So that issue is a non-issue...unless they release the kid on Shabbat...

In my experience, they release patients mid-morning or early afternoon (that's when they fill out the paperwork), but they don't expect you to leave immediately... whenever you're ready and your ride gets there, etc. It wasn't a problem to stay until after shabbos was over. (But you can still worry about a release on the first day of yom tov.)