What are your go tos for take along meals for those long barn/horse show days? I typically eat a mixture of junk food from the vendors at the show and junk food I bring with me lol 
really want to do better this year with healthier and $$ saving meal prep!
When I trail ride I like a picnic meal. I hate sanwhiches that are soggy so I like to get Portuguese buns and then bring the fillings like presliced cheese and ham and mayo and make them. I also have soup in one thermos and hot tea in another.
But this requires sitting down and washing your hands. At the barn I want things I can just unwrap and eat on the go. Iām trying to be low carb low sugar so I eat a lot of Baby Bell cheese balls, bananat and keto protein bars. Nuts are also good.
Meal is different from snacks and if you donāt have access to a microwave or even an electric kettle itās hard to make something hot and satisfying. Maybe a wide mouth thermos with chili and some corn tortilla wraps?
I also find I need fairly bland if Iām going to ride. Burping up spice at the trot is not fun.
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People wash their hands before eating at the barn?
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Nope. Thatās why I go for things I can unwrap and eat 
not actual meals!!
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This past year I got a few of the prepared/prepackaged things that have meat/cheese/dried fruit/nuts in them. I got a bento-style box and will probably make my own a few times this year. They make it very easy to just grab a handful and they fit into the console on my truck so I can eat while driving home after Iāve forgotten to eat all day too.
Otherwise, I pretty much run on seltzer and Kind/Cliff bars.
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Boiled eggs, cured meats, cheese, nuts, bagels and bread.
Not the healthiest but the boiled eggs keep really well and can be made so many ways - day one you can make egg salad, day 2, have them with some cheese or nuts, day 3, have them in a saladā¦ A lot of stuff keeps well if you have the right cooler. I leave the eggs shelled until I eat them, which I also think helps.
Bagels, loaves of bread, baguettes can all be sliced and eaten with cheese, deli meats, or things like peanut butter, cream cheese, almond butter, etc.
I cheat and also buy the āadult lunchablesā at my local grocery store - single serving lunch packs and they are cheap ($2-4).
Another early morning horse show winner for me is overnight oats - requires no electricity. Make your oats dry ahead of time in a mason jar, just add water or oat milk - I prep them with chocolate chips, cinnamon, peanut butter, and walnuts. You can even prep them with fruits but these need to be kept in a cooler.
Of course, donāt forget the hard seltzerā¦
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Clif bars are usually the only things I have time for. I had to give up gluten and now Iām doing Lara bars. Bananas are also easy and pretty hearty.
Grown up lunchables plus mimosas
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The last time I went to a horse show, I braided 5 the night before, napped for 2 hours on the assistant trainerās couch, braided another 4, drank my own thermos of coffee at 4am, shotgunned a venti red eye cold brew one of the kids picked up for me at 6am, and existed at the show on a diet of half a Clif bar and an apple for breakfast on the way to the show, a protein shake for lunch, and two cheese sticks, a carrot, dates, trail mix, and a Honey Stinger throughout the day until I got home around 5. Plus a lot of water. I ended up feeding some of the barn kids, too, because I always bring extras. I won, so 
In seriousness, I do best when I have snacky-type foods that I can eat in portions throughout the day, rather than meals. I donāt like the feeling that food is sitting heavily in my stomach. The general rule I try to follow is that I need at least one protein thing and a thing with potassium, magnesium, and carbohydrates every 4-6 hours. So my Clif bar and some dates, or a cheese stick, some trail mix, and a banana. In summer, if you are going to be able to sit down and eat something, I really like a pasta salad with lots of cucumbers and olives and tomatoes and some feta in a vinaigrette.
And a coffee in the other hand.
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For horse activities where Iām gone all day or multiple days (shows, clinics) I pack a hand cooler with sandwiches, chips, granola bars, and a cookie or two. I donāt actually keep sandwich stuff at home so Iāll often go to Subway and get a 12ā sub and then cut it in fourths and Iāve got 4 little sandwiches I can eat across a day or two. Yes they get a little soggy, it doesnāt bother me.
What I really like is that I had some prepared food I had ordered that shipped with these great reusable ice packs. They fit perfectly in my hand cooker, stay really cold, and donāt leak like filling a sandwich bag with ice, so you donāt have to worry about your food getting wet. I think these are the exact ones I have, I particularly like the foam brick style/shape, but there are a lot of options (and cheaper) on Amazon. And you probably donāt need 26 of them 
and Really believe we do not need the fifteen or twenty packs that are in the freezer now that we used when we rode NATRC competitive trailā¦ I keep moving them about but they are still frozen ready to use for the last decade.
Actually I preferred to to just use MREs that are self heating, I am not one that āenjoysā camping at all, with having endured nearly two years of forced camping some fifty years ago that took care of that desire. ( to me now , A night ruffing it is a low cost motel)
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I love these great āadult lunchablesā ideas! I often canāt eat until after a class, but them Iām starving and grab the first thing. Whether Iāll make my own or buy them, itās better than the junk I usually end up grabbing.
Yes. I used to stress over making my snacks and work lunches super healthy and cheap and end up not taking anything at all. Iāve now decided that I can do āgood enoughā and it will be cheaper and healthier than buying lunch. So I pay for prewrapped cheese because it keeps forever, etc.
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When horse showing, I find if I eat bad food all weekend, come monday morning itās like a hangover from not enough sleep, sugar and carbs. I make tuna or egg salad and it eat with triscuits or water crackers. I also pack low sugar yogurt, fruit, prepackaged cut up vegetables w/ dip. Usually pack a bag of potato chips and if someone brought a cake or cookies, will indulge. Water, lots of water, no soda or juice.
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A horse-show breakfast that was recommended on another board years ago was: bagels, with a tub of mixed cream cheese and prepared horseradish cream. Spread the cream mix on bagel halves, then enjoy! Iām not sure why this is so satisfying, but it is. The heat of the horseradish, the cool cream, the soft bagel. With a cup of coffee, perfection. It is forever associated in my mind with horse show mornings when everything is possible - before everything goes to heck!
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I pack a cooler with nuts, protein bars, snap peas/hummus, and prepared salads from Thistle or Sakara Life.
For the Ntl Drive - a 3-5 Day event for me - I have a small softsided cooler (could hold a 12-pack of soda) that I fill with bottled water, iced tea & grab&eat snacks like those little cheese & peanut butter crackers, precooked chicken breast, Buddig meats, cheese sticks & something sweet < candy or cookies (or both).
Breakfast is included at the motel of choice & sometimes Iāll grab an extra yogurt & piece of fruit from there.
I use the gel-filled icepacks & refresh them overnight in the motel mini-fridge.
Dinner is always out with my Driving club friends
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String cheese or these divine single brie bites from Trader Joeās with apple; turkey, swiss, mustard or mayo and pita or tortilla wraps. I keep them all loose in the cooler and assemble a wrap when hungry. Chips and salsa (Iāve convinced myself this is a reasonably healthy snack since I get the minimal ingredients, no added sugar kind of chips and salsa). Iāll also cut up carrots ahead of time and get those shelf stable ranch cups. Water and electrolytes are also key for keeping me alive at summer shows. I will not - repeat, WILL NOT - give up horse show breakfast sammies though. mmmm, give me that greasy, foil wrapped piece of heaven.
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Cold brew coffee, tuna packets (no prep and if you donāt eat them, theyāre good for another day), hummus with celery and carrot sticks. Water and powdered electrolytes.
When Iām teaching a field class away from home, Iāve gotten pretty good at packing all or most of my food (depending on if Iāll be going out to dinner with the other instructors or not). I like to make a mix of nuts, blueberries and a firm brie or other cheese that works with the nuts and berries, and I snack on that as weāre driving out to the field site. For lunches Iāll usually have some chopped up veggies with canned kipper snacks, tuna, hard boiled egg or something like that. Half an avocado or some pre-made guac + a squeeze of lemon or lime makes a good substitute for dressing so you donāt have to buy or haul along a bottle of dressing. CostCo sells Paleo Bars, which I like and keep at the barn for snacking emergencies.
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I also like bento for packed food. Not only do they make it look appealing but you are more inclined to add variety and use random things to just fill up one of the sections.
https://www.eatingwell.com/gallery/13659/easy-bento-box-lunch-ideas-for-work-and-school/?
