Ep. 29: Paleo on the Road with Kimberly Dunn

The Fed+Fit Podcast | Nurturing a Healthy Mindset for a Healthy Lifestyle

We’re back with our 29th episode of the Fed+Fit Podcast! Remember to check back every Monday for a new episode and be sure to subscribe on iTunes!

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Episode 29 Topics:

• Welcome Cassy Joy’s sister, Kimberly Dunn! [1:39]
• Foods to prepare for the road [9:09]
• Food to buy when traveling [17:27]
• Navigating a menu and tips on ordering [20:46]
• Convenience store options [33:18]

We would LOVE some feedback, so feel free to leave a review in iTunes, comment below, or even give us a shout on social media!

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1. Find the nearest gym, maybe you have a membership with them, maybe you don’t. I have found that when traveling most gyms will either charge you a day rate or give just let you come on in and give there facilities a try! You can even take a shower if need be. There was an Anytime fitness right down the road in Stephenville Texas and my band and I were looking for a place to get out of the hot Summer sun and work out. Anytime took us in and we had a great work out. It depends on the staff at the gym location, I would stick to Anytimes, Golds, 24 Hours, or Planet Fitness.
2.  Yoga: You can practice near anywhere! I’ve done it in parking lots, parks, venues, during load in, sounds check. Yoga is a great go to on the road. You can make the intensity what ever you like, so if there isn’t a shower near by don’t go so hard 🙂
3.  Daily WOD:

1. WATER: Drink water, water, water. By having something to hold and consume you’re giving yourself something to do with your interesting conversation about the pot holes in the road.
2. ICE BERG Lettuce: this was a trick I learned from a touring buddy from the rock band FlyLeaf. Ice Burg lettuce allows you to chew on something and again gives your body something to do while you talk about the number of cows vs calfs in the field yonder way.
3. Carrots: eating carrots and hummus are a tasty snack. And believe me after 10 baby carrots you’ll want to throw the bag out the window because you jaw has been not only chewing forever but talking about that new Taylor Swift song that you just can’t figure out what it’s about. You’ll exhaust your jaw to the point of step one, water and quite possibly a nap!

Ep. 29: Paleo on the Road with Kimberly Dunn

This is the Fed and Fit podcast starting your week off with motivational thoughts on real food and fun fitness activities with Cassy Joy Garcia and co-host, Charissa Talbot. Remember our disclaimer; the information and opinions shared in this podcast are solely those of any given individual, and not a substitute for medical advice. Here are the ladies.

Today, I invite my sister, the fabulous singer/songwriter Kimberly Dunn, to talk about the tips and tricks she employs to support her paleo lifestyle while she’s on the road for her year-long tour.

Topics:
1. Introducing Cassy’s sister, Kimberly Dunn [1:39]
2. Road trip paleo: food to prepare for the road [9:09]
3. Road trip paleo: Food to buy [17:27]
4. Road trip paleo: Menu ordering [20:46]
5. Road trip paleo: convenience store options [33:18]

Cassy Joy: I am so excited about today’s episode. My sister, Kimberly Dunn, is joining me on the show today! Hi Kimberly!

Kimberly Dunn: Hello! {laughs}

Cassy Joy: {laughs} Everyone just collective reached for the volume controller on their car and turned it down just a little bit.

Kimberly Dunn: Oh no! I hope they can tell us apart. I kind of have the raspier voice today. {laughs}

Cassy Joy: Oh that’s right, we do sound really similar.

Kimberly Dunn: Yeah. Well, it’s going to be fun.

Cassy Joy: It is going to be fun! I’m so excited you’re here. Kimberly and I, we aren’t necessarily in the same business, but we like to work together as much as possible.

Kimberly Dunn: Yeah.

Cassy Joy: Yeah. Kimberly is actually a Texas recording artist. I’m going to do a little intro for you, Kim.

Kimberly Dunn: Oh, yay!

1. Introducing Cassy’s sister, Kimberly Dunn [1:39]

Cassy Joy: {laughs} So Kim is a Texas recording artist, and her last single called Trashy Side, super catchy by the way, reached top 10 in Texas this year which was an enormous accomplishment, and I’m so immensely proud of my sister. You can find her everywhere music is heard, so Spotify, iTunes, YouTube; I don’t know all the places anymore {laughs}.

Kimberly Dunn: {laughs}

Cassy Joy: I started burying myself in nutrition and I lost touch with some of the music stuff. But Kimberly tries to keep me up to speed. And she is working on her new album to be recorded in Nashville, and I guess, are you targeting next year for that to come out?

Kimberly Dunn: Yes, yes. I think the release month is, we’re shooting for February, and it should be really, really exciting. I’ve been doing a lot of writing, in Nashville like you said, and I’m so ecstatic. Ready for new music.

Cassy Joy: I’m ready for new music, too. {laughs}

Kimberly Dunn: {laughs}

Cassy Joy: I love your music, but I’m pretty sure. I haven’t heard every song as often as you’ve heard every song {laughs}

Kimberly Dunn: {laughs}

Cassy Joy: And I don’t know why I still don’t remember. I tried to describe to Kimberly that we used one of the ditties before the podcast plays, that music is a piece of one of Kimberly’s songs, and I was trying to describe to her how it goes instead of actually playing it for her.

Kimberly Dunn: {laughs}

Cassy Joy: I was like, I can’t remember which song it is, but it’s the one that goes {singing} duh-duh-duh-duuuuh! {laughs}

Kimberly Dunn: {laughs}

Cassy Joy: So, I may not have all the names down, but I can ditty them all.

Kimberly Dunn: Yeah. You’re really good at ditties. I think the ditties were great. {laughs}

Cassy Joy: {laughs} Oh my gosh, this is going to be a you know what show. I’m so excited. This is maybe the most fun I’ve ever had.

Kimberly Dunn: Ever.

Cassy Joy: Ok, so I wanted to bring Kimberly on the podcast today for multiple reasons; she’s fun, she’s bright, she’s got a lot of positive energy, she has never met a stranger, she’s always trying to find the best spin on any situation, and I have seen, with Kimberly taking on this music career, I have seen her encounter a lot of challenges. Kimberly is, her health and her fitness is a high priority to her.

In watching somebody that I know so closely go through the rigors of life on the road, traveling and playing all over southern US, all the southern US states, I really have an appreciation for traveling musicians, and watching her go through that and trying to figure out how to balance her healthy lifestyle at the same time has really been inspiring. Kimberly and I have put our heads together multiple times. She’s come home and she’s said, oh my gosh! I need help! What are some ideas, and what are some things that we can brainstorm that will help make life on the road easier for me.

And just to give you guys a mental picture, Kimberly has been in the business of traveling and playing her guitar. She’s a phenomenal musician; she plays the harmonica, the guitar, she’s an awesome vocalist. She’s been doing this for 4.5 years, so she’s no spring chicken. {laughing}

Kimberly Dunn: {laughing}

Cassy Joy: I think I just called you old!

Kimberly Dunn: {snort} {laughs}

Cassy Joy: She’s not old. {laughing}

Kimberly Dunn: She ain’t no spring chicken! {laughs} She’s more like a hen.

Cassy Joy: She’s more like a hen. Oh my gosh. {laughs}

Kimberly Dunn: Ok, yeah.

Cassy Joy: So anyways, 4.5 years on the road, which a long time, and last year, I think I have this right, you played 125 shows?

Kimberly Dunn: Yes, that’s right.

Cassy Joy: And this year you’re projected; you’re on track to close out the year at 150.

Kimberly Dunn: Yep. And that’s kind of the standard for the touring market as we call us the weekend warriors is what a lot of artists do when you’re starting out. It takes about 10 years to break an artist, and within that 10 years touring wise, it’s about 150 dates a year.

Cassy Joy: That’s amazing. I’m sure I’m not alone in this feeling; I think that is so incredible. And you know, we see these artists that pop up overnight, and you think, oh my goodness, they’re an overnight success! I saw this thing online, some of you listening probably have seen it as well, but I sent it to Kimberly because I thought it would really resonate with her, and you know, in this nutrition world. I’ve been blogging now for 5 years, so it started off really small and I’ve been working up to try to reach as many people as possible. But the thing I saw online is, if you want to be an overnight success, you have to be an every day hustler.

Kimberly Dunn: Yeah.

Cassy Joy: You know, I love that. Kimberly and I are no strangers to hard work. We love hard work. I think it’s in our blood. We are blessed with parents who have just kind of the entrepreneurial spirit and they want to go out and create and do good things, and spread good will in the world. So 150 shows in a year is nothing to sneeze at. There are some people who will tell me, they’ll look at me and think that I’m too busy and I travel too much. And if you want to know how I feel about busy, you should listen to my episode on busy versus full life. It’s kind of a button to me. {laughs}

Kimberly Dunn: {laughing}

Cassy Joy: But, if you think I have a lot going on, this girl definitely does, and she does it so well with a lot of grace. So just to put into more perspective, her time on the road, those 150 shows, what kind of mileage is she covering. Last year I think she told me they put 50,000 miles on their band van. So it’s a lot of time on the road. Kimberly has got a group of guys that travel with her that are members of her band and they alternate driving, and things like that, but she’s still away from home. So I thought, because I hang out with Kimberly and her music friends and the other folks that she opens for, and it’s so interesting that it seems to be such this huge riddle; how the heck do we take good care of ourselves when we’re on the road?

There are so many people that when they travel, they go on vacation, they think of their vacation time as time off of healthy eating, right? And they think, oh I’ll pick it up when I get home. When you’re traveling, and you’re playing 150 shows a year, you can’t take off. That is your whole life. So Kimberly has found a way, and that was why I wanted to bring her on, was to talk about some of the tricks and methods she’s learned to kind of decode healthy living on the road.

Kimberly Dunn: Yeah! {laughs}

Cassy Joy: Yeah, and I think its pretty dang exciting. She does a good job; of course, there’s always room for tweaking and fine tuning, but hopefully you guys; I’m sure you will. You’ll walk away with some new ideas and feel inspired, whether you are going on an actual vacation, you’re hopping on an air plane, or you’re hopping in the car to go for a Labor Day get away. These tips should be pretty useful. So, let’s get into it.

Kimberly Dunn: Wo-hoo!

2. Road trip paleo: food to prepare for the road [9:09]

Cassy Joy: Wo-hoo! Ok, so, first off, I want to talk about food for the road. That’s really probably what most people think about, is what the heck are they going to eat? Kimberly and I were chit-chatting a little bit beforehand; one of the things, I just kind of want to introduce as a concept first and then I’ll open it up to what Kim has to add, but something that Kimberly and I have talked about in the past is that when it comes to nourishing yourself on the road, try to not put yourself at the mercy of what restaurants you come across. You know? Because you don’t always know what’s going to be available, how full you’re going to be, or maybe how you’re going to feel overall.

So do as much as you can to prepare in advance. That could include making food from home, and actual meal prepping; or that could include going out and buying packaged goods from Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s that are healthier choices than you might be able to find on the road, and then you’ve got them in your back pocket. So, just to introduce that, but Kimberly, I’d love to know. 50,000 miles of road warriorness.

Kimberly Dunn: {laughs}

Cassy Joy: I make up a lot of words on this show.

Kimberly Dunn: I like it! {laughs}

Cassy Joy: {laughs} And I’ve decided that that’s ok. So, after 50,000 miles, what are your tricks to preparing food for the road? What are the foods that you make ahead of time, and what are the foods that you go out and you buy?

Kimberly Dunn: Yeah, so the foods that I absolutely always make ahead of time are foods that I can eat, probably have little snacks. Because I’m a singer, I don’t really like to put a lot of food in my belly to where it brings me down and when I’m eating clean it really doesn’t hurt me too much and feel like I’m super full. I eat a little bit more smarter when I’m on the road. When I eat sweet potatoes, I always make my hash.

It’s your recipe, Cassy, it’s the hash with sweet potatoes and the sausage, the all natural sausage and eggs, or not eggs, onions, and instead of adding an egg to it before I go, I’ll bring a hardboiled egg and eat the hardboiled egg with the hash. Sometimes I can heat the hash up if there’s a microwave; I have a microwave in my van. Most hotel rooms always have a microwave, so if you’re just in your car and you bring a hash with you, you can just go to a hotel and heat it up. Even, there are convenience stores that have microwaves that you can heat your food up and get hot water or something like that.

So I do the sweet potato hash, hardboiled eggs. There are some convenience stores that have hardboiled eggs, but I would stay away from those. {laughing}

Cassy Joy: {laughs}

Kimberly Dunn: Many experiences with those bad boys. {laughs}

Cassy Joy: {laughs}

Kimberly Dunn: I recently started loving white rice as another filler, just to make me feel a little bit more; I have a little bit of energy. I don’t always bring white rice, but I’ll cook it kind of the way Chipotle makes it. It’s clean, pretty simple, a grilled chicken. I will grill chicken the week before and I will bring whatever I have left over. I will cut it up so it’s already cut, I don’t need to use utensils, and I’ll eat it cold. Sometimes all I want, especially during the summer, all I want is a cold meal. I will crave, sometimes I have the weirdest cravings of cereal, and I’m lactose intolerant {laughing}

Cassy Joy: {laughs}

Kimberly Dunn: So I’ll eat a cold grilled chicken with some white rice, and it’s perfect. Carrots and hummus; just plain old hummus and carrots, especially with that and grilled chicken, that as a meal is, more than anything, super filling. I’ll always bring a bag of kale. I could munch on kale all the time, every day, all day. I’m like a rabbit.

Cassy Joy: {laughs}

Kimberly Dunn: Everybody in my band, they call me a little bunny because I eat everything without anything. I love the taste of vegetables. And I think it’s because when we were growing up Cassy, remember? We loved horses, and mom said that horses eat carrots, and alfalfa sprouts, and green things, and so I would just pretend that I was a horse half the time of my childhood.

Cassy Joy: {laughs}

Kimberly Dunn: I still, in my adult life as a touring musician, I’m like, oh yeah, I’m still a horse. I can eat this, and its food for my, you know, four legs. {laughs}

Cassy Joy: {laughs} Kimberly and I had really vivid imaginations.

Kimberly Dunn: {laughing}

Cassy Joy: Oh, that’s great. So what kind, do you buy the chopped up kale already or do you go and get the dino kale Latino, I don’t even know how to say that, the big stalks of it?

Kimberly Dunn: I do the bags, only because it’s just easier to transport. If I had more time in my week; which I probably do. You know what, I may do that this week. Go and get the big stalks. Because I would probably like that better, anyways. Sometimes you get a little piece where you’re like, mmmm, throw it out. {laughs}

Cassy Joy: Extra chewy.

Kimberly Dunn: Extra chewy, exactly. But yeah, I always, always, always bring that stuff. I love the kale. I love zee kale.

Cassy Joy: I love zee kale. Those are great tips. And you know, just from my perspective, I think a lot of folks who follow a grain-free, paleo friendly lifestyle, at least when they first start off. And Kimberly first started on this, what, 3, 4 years ago?

Kimberly Dunn: Yeah.

Cassy Joy: Pursuing a paleo lifestyle. So again, {laughs} she’s no spring chicken. {Laughing}

Kimberly Dunn: {laughing}

Cassy Joy: I don’t know why, that’s my new favorite.

Kimberly Dunn: She ain’t no spring chicken.

Cassy Joy: She’s no stranger to these concepts, so I find that most people, they start off on a paleo lifestyle they tend to be pretty low carb, and then once you’ve been in it for a few years, you start to get more comfortable and realize that your body does well with healthy carbohydrates. And we’ve talked about this before, but those sweet potatoes, that sweet potato hash, especially with the sausage, is such an awesome, nutrient dense meal that doesn’t take up a lot of space when you’re traveling, and you could get a spoonful of it, you could proportion it out in little baggies and have a meal ready to go.

Kimberly Dunn: Exactly.

Cassy Joy: So that’s awesome. And then the rice is another really great one. Try to think about some of those things that don’t take up a lot of space but will really fill you up and not have you searching out the next place you can get French fries. {laughs}

Kimberly Dunn: Exactly. I like to share with the band, and all of these guys have been touring musicians for, sometimes a lot longer than I have, and when we get to share foods and they get to kind of learn the cleaner ways of eating on the road, they’re just so jovial and excited about it. You know, they ain’t no spring chickens!

Cassy Joy: {laughs}

Kimberly Dunn: So it’s just nice, you can teach an old dog new tricks. {laughing} And also, when these guys eat healthier with me, it is a noticeable attitude change and they just feel lighter. The last thing we want before we get on stage is to feel super full or bloated. So, being able to share my food with them, I always bring massive amounts of whatever it is so I can share with the guys. And it’s been helpful.

3. Road trip paleo: Food to buy [17:27]

Cassy Joy: That’s awesome. That’s really great. That seems pretty doable. If someone is going on a road trip, they’re like, ok I can hard-boil some eggs, I can make some sweet potato hash, I can grill some chicken, a whole bunch of chicken breast, and I can make some white rice. That is super simple; you’ve got some meal variety. What are the things that you like to buy and bring with you, and from where?

Kimberly Dunn: Yeah, absolutely. I’ll go get sandwich meat, you can go to your local butcher. I know some people don’t have local butchers, which I think is crazy. But my sound guy, his name is Nick, and Nick is from South Africa. And he taught me that if you go to even your HEB grocery store, he said make friends with the butcher, because if you make friends with the butcher, first name basis, they will give you the best cuts of whatever it is for super, great, great deals. So I always go to the butcher and I’ll get sandwich meat so I can put that with my kale if I feel like, if I don’t have enough grilled chicken. I’ll go to Trader Joe’s and sometimes I’ll get a bottle of wine; go crazy.

Cassy Joy: {laughs}

Kimberly Dunn: But, that’s where I get my hummus and my carrots, Trader Joe’s also has these little dark chocolate patties. They’re only 3 ingredients, honey, peppermint oil, and dark chocolate. And they are amazing. It’s like an Andes mint, but so much better for you and so much tastier. Especially if you keep them cold. Holy Hannah, those are amazing.

Cassy Joy: Those are so stinking good. If you guys haven’t seen those; I think they’re just called dark chocolate peppermints, right? Honey mints?

Kimberly Dunn: Yeah, and they’re always by the cash register. There are normally 7 of us in the van for 3 or 4 days, there’s like, I don’t know 10 in a package, I’ll have one a day. I’ll have one right before a show; you have to treat yoself! #Treatyoself. {laughs}

Cassy Joy: {laughs} Treat yoself.

Kimberly Dunn: Yeah, I used to have that mentality, like you said before. It’s the weekend, and you want to have fun and oh you’re going to treat yoself. I’m going to have that, whatever today, and I can’t do that all the time. So I always make sure to have some sort of reward for still doing well, and one Trader Joe’s dark chocolate peppermint patty is how I #treatmyself. {laughs}

Cassy Joy: {laughs} That’s awesome. Those are really great tips. Other things that you can probably buy and take with you include, if you’re really planning ahead, there are some really healthy beef jerky recipes out there. Steve’s paleo goods has a really good jerky. They’ve also got, they’re like Slim Jims, and you can order those and have those shipped to you in time, trail mix, things like that are also good. Folks who are really familiar with Fed and Fit, and especially folks that have been on or taken my Fed and Fit project know that I’m not a huge advocate of snacking for a lot of reasons but mostly because it really puts you on a blood sugar roller coaster and kind of keeps you from really getting to a basic state of burning body fat when you’re supposed to burn body fat. So, bringing trail mix and beef jerky, I tend to bring those and think of them as a meal replacement if you’re ever in a pinch, but it’s good to have it just in case.

Kimberly Dunn: Totally.

4. Road trip paleo: Menu ordering [20:46]

Cassy Joy: Ok, awesome. Well, moving on, next I want to talk about menu ordering. And this is a tricky one. If you follow me on Instagram, I do some hashtags like #paleooffthemenu or #cassyjoyeatsout just so you can really see some of the things that I order when I’m out. But I’m going to give a basic kind of a template, and then I want to hear from Kim some of the places that you like to go to, and what you like to order when you are out and you’re trying to pursue this a little bit easier on your body health promoting, paleo friendly. So, first of all, I encourage you when you’re looking at a menu and you’re trying to make a healthy choice while you’re out, try to only look at nonbreaded proteins. So avoid the chicken fried steaks, avoid the fish sticks or whatever, the chicken nuggets, things like that. Try to go for anything that’s grilled, steamed, or pan fried is an option too, but not preferred. You can ask folks if there’s any breading on there.

I encourage you to pursue non-sugary condiments, so that would include mustard as a non-sugary condiment; that’s a pretty decent one. Try to avoid the ketchup and the barbecue and the sweet and sour sauces, just because it probably has more stuff in there when you actually read the label than you realize. I like to ask for steamed vegetables; whatever they’re seasonal vegetables are, ask for that. If you’re out for breakfast and the meal is typically served with, oh gosh, a biscuit or something like that, people won’t look at you strangely for too long if you ask them to replace the biscuit with some steamed veggies. That’s totally normal.

If you want to go one step further down the rabbit hole, you can also ask them what kind of fat they cook in because most people cook their meats in vegetables with a vegetable oil, you know, canola oil. As a lot of us know already, that’s kind of an inflammatory, inflammation promoting oil due to the counter balance of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids. So what you can do is, if you’re not lactose intolerant or really severe autoimmune, ask them to cook your meat and vegetables in butter. Butter is actually a safer alternative than some of the vegetable oils, so that’s a good one.

And then as far as starches go, if you can find a place that will serve you a baked potato, I say go that route. Baked potatoes, if you’re really needing some good carbs in your day; I would avoid the French fries, because they have some sort of a wheat based breading on them, and ask for a baked potato and just eat the insides of that potato and you’ll get all the good stuff from it. So those are kind of the parameters; I hope I touched on most of it. Kimberly, what are some of your favorite spots?

Kimberly Dunn: Well, it’s kind of like, they’re my favorite spots because they’re most of the time the only spots.

Cassy Joy: {laughs}

Kimberly Dunn: We play a lot of Texas shows, and most of the towns that we go to; you know, I live in Austin and it’s a major city, so I’ve got everything here at my fingertips if I want to go out and get a meal. My number one place that I look for a beacon of hope is Starbucks. And I know it sounds crazy, and we’re talking about food here, but Starbucks has a salad that I will stack up on if we have a festival, for example. When we play festivals there are not a lot of options. Normally it’s like, festival food and everything is fried.

Cassy Joy: Mm-hmm.

Kimberly Dunn: And it’s really difficult to find something that’s clean, especially if I’m out of the food that I already brought myself. I’ll go to Starbucks, get my drink of choice, and then they have this kale salad, its kale, beets, and at the bottom there is a rice. It comes with a dressing, but I always throw the dressing out, I’ve never used the dressing. It’s so good; it’s just kale, beets, and this delicious rice. Its cold, it’s so good, so you kind of get the best of both worlds. So that will be a lovely meal for me. I love it.

Starbucks is number one; beacon of hope {laughs} for food. A lot of places, for more food, Chick-Fil-A, if you’re going to go the fast food route, my least go to but they do have salads and grilled chicken there, and they do grilled chicken nuggets now, which is awesome. I’ll do, there’s an Asian chicken salad that they have. If you don’t add any of the prepacked crunchy stuff to it, you just toss that to the side. You add grilled chicken, and sometimes, a lot of times, the chicken amount is not enough protein for me so I’ll ask them to add 4 extra nuggets of grilled chicken.

Cassy Joy: Nice.

Kimberly Dunn: So you can ask for extra nuggets; double meat! That is delicious. It comes with, it actually comes with mandarin oranges, which I know are a little sweet, but it kind of acts as the dressing, so just think of it that way since you’re not even using the dressing. It kind of all balances out. And it’s kind of like a dessert too. But if you didn’t want to do the mandarin chicken, and you were totally being really good about not eating a lot of sugary stuff, they have the plain grilled chicken salad. No cheese grilled chicken.

The next place that I go to Jimmy John’s, and I get my unwich, and I love it, and it’s fast, and it’s not a salad, and I feel like I’m eating a burrito, but it’s green.

Cassy Joy: {laughs}

Kimberly Dunn: {laughing} So I love Jimmy John’s. The next place that we go to that’s normally on the road is Chipotle. Chipotle is a band favorite. Everybody loves it because we can always, always, always get something super clean there. I ate Chipotle yesterday, I love it. I’ll eat Chipotle all the time, every time, anywhere I am.

Cassy Joy: We keep saying that, Austin and I live outside of San Antonio in the way out burbs. {laughs}

Kimberly Dunn: {laughs}

Cassy Joy: And there’s not a lot of development out here right now, it’s just us.

Kimberly Dunn: The sticks?

Cassy Joy: It is, we live in the sticks. The suburb sticks. And we keep joking because we think we’re going to live here, what, 5 years? We keep saying that it’s going to happen. We’re going to put our house on the market, and they’re going to break ground on Chipotle on the front corner. {laughs}

Kimberly Dunn: Oh I know. Ain’t that the truth!

Cassy Joy: Oh, man, that would be so good. I love Chipotle too. You can turn any of their burrito bowls or burritos into a salad. And just to retouch on the Jimmy John’s thing, because I know a lot of people are surprised when I post about the unwiches on Instagram and Facebook; you can turn any sandwich at Jimmy John’s into an unwich. They just wrap it in some lettuce for you.

Kimberly Dunn: Totally. Yes.

Cassy Joy: its super stinking good, and I just ask for extra hot peppers; it’s good stuff.

Kimberly Dunn: Yeah. It’s amazing. And they always are just so fast, and it really is. If you’re on a road trip or you’re on a business trip or anything super fast, if there’s a Jimmy John’s in the area, that is the best way to go. And it’s funny that you brought up the baked potato, Cassy, because this past weekend, and more recently there have been a lot of McAlister’s poking up.

Cassy Joy: Mm-hmm.

Kimberly Dunn: And I used to eat McAlister’s in college all the time, and I used to eat the crazy, cheese filled bacon spud, which I know now that is a birthday meal.

Cassy Joy: {laughs}

Kimberly Dunn: {laughing} I save that for one day out of the year.

Cassy Joy: With two sides of ranch dressing. That was my favorite.

Kimberly Dunn: Yeah. Ranch dressing and sour cream; the works. So we can go to McAlister’s, and you can get pick two, and the cool thing about McAlister’s is, also, if you’re on a time crunch, which most people that are on the road are, if you call them ahead, you can tell them the exact time that you want to pick it up, and now a lot of McAlister’s have drive thrus, so you can call and order ahead, and you can do the pick 2 menu, which you can get a small potato and you can get bacon on it, which is what I’ve been doing. So if I need that starch in my life, and I don’t have my hash with me on the road, I will do a small baked potato, which is a tiny little potato; not tiny, but it’s not like their gigantic mammoth potato. {laughs} And then I can do a salad on the side with grilled chicken sans cheese and dressing, and it’s just the best meal, and I feel so much better after eating that and full. And I don’t feel like I need to take a nap. So McAlister’s has been a big thing that’s been popping up all over the thing.

And for those of you, I think in Texas, Buckee’s is a pretty big thing. Buckee’s has a restaurant inside of it; it’s not a sit down restaurant but you can order there, and they have burgers and all sorts of stuff. I’ve learned that you can get your burgers wrapped in lettuce at Buckee’s.

Cassy Joy: Bam!

Kimberly Dunn: Boom! {laughs} A lot of burger places that I have run into have not; in the very beginning, 4 years ago when I asked to get my burger wrapped at a local, random local burger joint, I kind of got a funny look. But the more I ask for it now, everywhere we go, everybody’s like, oh, that’s your burger isn’t it? I’m like, yeah. They’re like, what is it like? I’m like, it’s amazing. {laughs}

Cassy Joy: {laughs}

Kimberly Dunn: Sometimes our shows are at restaurants, perfect example. We played in Midland, Texas this past weekend on a Friday, it was a burger joint, it’s called Basin Burger; delicious. And they totally get it. Midland/Odessa area, they understand the concept of clean food and eating well and ordering off the menu. And the more and more we travel, the more you realize, it’s being accepted, y’all! {laughs}

Cassy Joy: it is. It’s like a big movement.

Kimberly Dunn: I love it.

Cassy Joy: It’s pretty cool, yeah. So if you are nervous about ordering kind of off the menu and tweaking, and if that has you feeling a little apprehensive, just go for it. I bet you’ll be surprised by the lack of eye rolls. {laughs}

Kimberly Dunn: Totally. Yeah, totally!

Cassy Joy: People are pretty nice. Those are really, really great tips. I think, at the end of the day I like to tell people, because folks always ask me, because they know that I’m a paleo food blogger. They say, if we’re out and we’re trying to pick a place to go, for whatever reason the group always turns to me and says, Cassy where can you eat? {laughs} I’m like, I can eat anywhere. Wherever you guys want to go, I can eat there. And I think that’s the kind of attitude you guys can have. It’s really possible to eat anywhere. You just have to get creative. And as long as you’re asking the sweet waitress, or the folks behind the counter, sweetly, you know, do you mind, is it alright if I go ahead and, keep the buns, I don’t want to throw it away, please save them, and wrap it in some lettuce for me? If you don’t have lettuce, I’ll just eat it with a fork, and I’ll be fine. If you just ask nicely, I promise you’re going to be ok. You can eat anywhere if you’ve got the right attitude and you’re able to really kind of decode their menu.

Kimberly Dunn: Totally.

Cassy Joy: So, yeah! This is awesome. It’s like we’re on the front end of a foodie revolution. Isn’t that fun?

Kimberly Dunn: Yeah, we ain’t no spring chickens! {laughs}

Cassy Joy: {laughing} We ain’t no spring chickens. Oh my gosh, that sounds like a T-shirt. Kimberly Dunn on the front; I ain’t no spring chicken! {laughs}

Kimberly Dunn: {laughing} That sounds like something momma would say. {laughs}

5. Road trip paleo: convenience store options [33:18]

Cassy Joy: It does. Oh, momma. Ok, next up. I want to talk really quickly, I know we’re getting to the top of 30 minutes, but I just want to touch on it because it’s a total reality. When you’re on a road trip and you’re driving around; or even if you’re in an airport and you’re walking through those convenience stores that are in the airports and you’re looking for something; how do you pick, the question is, oh my goodness, what can I get? Airports are usually pretty well stocked now a days, especially places like San Francisco airport has all of the good things. I think they carry GTs Kombucha now, too. So that’s kind of an anomaly, but I’m talking about San Antonio international airport {laughs}, which as large as San Antonio is, it’s amazing how small our airport is. It’s probably an efficiency miracle at the end of the day.

Kimberly Dunn: {laughs}

Cassy Joy: But what are things you can pick up off the shelves; either when you’re on the road and you’re in the middle of nowhere and you come across a gas station, or what are the things you can grab at an airport? And what I like to stick to, it’s pretty simple and I’m going to ask Kim what she goes for as well, but I recommend, you can either grab a bottle of water, that’s fine if you’re thirsty for plain water, but I usually go for the sparkling water. Because sometimes when you’re on a road trip and you go through a gas station, most folks they go in and they get a Slurpee or they get a Big Gulp with Dr. Pepper. You know, I’m not going to hate on that, but I am going to say that there’s something to walking out, getting in the car refreshed. You know, sitting in a car for a long time is not easy, and sometimes you do want a little bit of a treat, and sometimes plain old, unflavored sparkling water can do the trick. The fizzy water and the CO2 really helps you feel like you’ve got a treat. So that’s something that I’ll gravitate towards.

If you’re wanting something sweet; again, I’m not going to hate on that. Go for those really, really dark chocolate bars if you’re needing something. I would say 70% or higher. If you’re looking for something salty, I actually think, and this is something that you would have to do a self assessment to see if it’s right for you, and this is something that folks learn on the Fed and Fit project also, is what works well for their body. But some people find that they tolerate the occasional corn just fine. And corn, of course, is another grain. And some gas stations, even in the middle of nowhere, I’ve found, started carrying those Smart Pops, have you seen those?

Kimberly Dunn: Smart Pops; nuh-uh. Oh, yes, yes, yes, Smart Pops, yes. Yes.

Cassy Joy: It’s the bagged, and I know it’s definitely #notahealthfood, but it’s something. And it’s just bagged air popped popcorn, some of them have extra virgin olive oil on it, they’re organic, non-GMO, and sea salt. Like, holy bajolie, you can see that sitting next to the fiery Cheetos. And that’s awesome. It’s so cool that that’s an option. So if you’re needing something like that, I would say gravitate towards that instead of the cheesy Doritos. You’ll probably feel; it will probably hit that craving that you’ve got just as good, but won’t leave you feeling as crummy.

Kimberly Dunn: Yeah.

Cassy Joy: So those are some of my tips. Kimberly, what are your gas station finds?

Kimberly Dunn: Since we sing a lot ,and a lot of the times, especially in the summer, we look to get hydrated really fast, I’m a water drinker to the extreme. I always get a gallon of water. I drink my own gallon of water every day.

Cassy Joy: Nice.

Kimberly Dunn: And on top of that, we get coconut waters, and not every gas station has this brand, but it’s Vita Coco. Vita Coco is one of the only brands that doesn’t have added preservatives into it, so Vita Coco is where I go, the original plain coconut water. A grab for me, sometimes if I’m in a pinch and I don’t have anything; honestly, I don’t really ever get anything from gas stations, unless it’s a Buckee’s and I go to the beef jerky counter and I get myself some hill country peppered beef jerky.

Cassy Joy: That’s my favorite, too.

Kimberly Dunn: Buckee’s, it’s the best, and it’s not prepacked. Even the prepacked stuff that they have, I don’t go for it. I always go to the freshest source, and that’s at the meat counter. So there it’s my favorite. I’ll do pork skins sometimes.

Cassy Joy: Oh yeah, good one. I forgot about that.

Kimberly Dunn: They’re everywhere. You can get it every place. If you’re in a real big pinch, and you haven’t had anything to eat all day long, and you slept through lunch, your lunch stop, yeah. Pork skins, and I always go for those if I have a pinch. Tuna in water; there’s usually on the canned food aisle, they have the ones in the packages where you can just open it up, and it’s just tuna and water, if you really need a protein. I can do that sometimes. And if you really are feeling craving a beef jerky, there’s another brand called Oma’s Choice, they’re pretty clean. Not crazy clean, but much better than the other…

Cassy Joy: A Slim Jim?

Kimberly Dunn: Yeah, better than a Slim Jim. And also, like I said, the hardboiled egg; if you really want an egg, I’ve done it. I just, you know, it’s like a 50/50 chance of the {laughs} repercussions of a convenience store hardboiled egg. And then I would say about 7 times out of 10 there is always fresh fruit at the counter.

Cassy Joy: Yep.

Kimberly Dunn: And I always go for a banana. I will get a banana every time.

Cassy Joy: Banana.

Kimberly Dunn: Banana! If there’s a banana at the store I am getting it. {laughs} So bananas, and I think that’s it. I don’t normally get an apple, because they’re kind of hit or miss. And I’m an apple snob; I’ll admit it. I’m an apple snob.

Cassy Joy: That’s ok. You can be an apple snob.

Kimberly Dunn: Yeah.

Cassy Joy: I think it’s a good thing to be snobby about. I don’t like mealy apples.

Kimberly Dunn: Yeah! I just, really, if it’s an apple, I want it to be, like, Granny Smith.

Cassy Joy: Yeah! I think those are great tips. I hope what you guys are left with is the feeling that you really, there’s lots to eat everywhere.

Kimberly Dunn: Yeah!

Cassy Joy: You know? There are options everywhere. And if you’re really in a pinch and you’re really hungry, don’t think that you have to drive through that McDonalds to get something. And don’t think that you have to totally throw whatever healthy eating thing that you’re on out the window. It’s ok if you do; I’m not saying that it’s all in or all out, but just know that there are really healthy options out there for you.

We have some other stuff, but I think what we might do to keep this show a little bit shorter today is put them in the show notes on the blog. Kimberly has some other tips for you to include just words from the wise on pitfalls to avoid while you’re traveling, I think she’s got some tips on snacking, the kinds of coolers that she likes to invest in. What we will go ahead and do is link up to all of that in the show notes. If you’re curious for more information about the actual equipment that Kimberly likes to bring with her on the road, really actually road tested, go ahead and check that out. I’ll also include links to all of the places you can fine Kimberly on social media, on iTunes, good grief, the girl is everywhere.

Kimberly Dunn: Yi-hee!

Cassy Joy: Yi-yi! You can find her anywhere. And if you are in the Texas/Oklahoma/Colorado/Nashville {laughs}

Kimberly Dunn: Kansas! {laughs}

Cassy Joy: Kansas, all of those states, I recommend that you tune in, if you’ve got a Texas country radio, or I don’t know what they call it other states. Texas?

Kimberly Dunn: I mean, it’s just, they call it Red Dirt.

Cassy Joy: Red Dirt. Red Dirt radio. {laughs}

Kimberly Dunn: Red Dirt Radio.

Cassy Joy: We’re such Texans. You know, I used to wonder in, what was it, middle school we took Texas history, and I had one of those moments growing up where you realize the world doesn’t revolve around you, and I remember coming home and asking mom and dad, “Do people in Oklahoma take Texas history?” {laughs}

Kimberly Dunn: {laughing}

Cassy Joy: I just assumed everybody would. Who wouldn’t want to know what’s going on here.

Kimberly Dunn: I know, it’s technically like we’re our own country. Everybody in France thought we were our own country! {laughs}

Cassy Joy: Oh that’s right. Or, if you’re in France and we’re listening. We do have international listeners, Kimberly.

Kimberly Dunn: Oh, yeah!

Cassy Joy: Kimberly learned some French. She learned, what, bon oui?

Kimberly Dunn: Bon oui is good night. And let’s see, fromage is cheese, and vin is wine. {laughs} All the cheese and all the wine. You know what, it’s not very often that I get to tour France. But when I did, I let my hair down on some non-pasteurized cheese. Boom! {laughs}

Cassy Joy: Heck yes. I would too. That sounds great. If you’re going to do it, that’s the place to do it.

Kimberly Dunn: Totally.

Cassy Joy: That’s awesome. Well Kimberly, thank you so much for joining us today. Us; me and Gus. {laughs}

Kimberly Dunn: {laughs} Of course. Me and June were really glad!

Cassy Joy: Oh, good. If y’all don’t know, Gus is my Great Pyrenees, and June is Kimberly’s Great Pyrenees, and they’re siblings.

Kimberly Dunn: They’re muffins.

Cassy Joy: They are muffins. Gus is sleeping in front of me, his little belly up. Awesome, thank you guys so much for listening today. Again, check out the show notes if you want to learn more about Kimberly, about some of her tips and links to all of the products that we mentioned today. I think that’s about it; Kimberly, do you have anything else?

Kimberly Dunn: That’s it. Thank you so much for having me! I’m so excited!

Cassy Joy: Oh my goodness, I’m so excited. We’ll have to do this again. We’ll come up with more topics.

Kimberly Dunn: Yeah, yeah we should! {laughs}

Cassy Joy: {laughs} Ok great. I hope everybody listening has a wonderful week, and we will be back again next week. Bye-bye!