There are times when I'm stuck on the road, away from home, much longer than I anticipated. And there are times when I'm just too darned lazy to make a regular meal, even with all my "cook a lot, freeze in portions" routine.

So what's a sensible, intelligent person to do? Go on a quest to find acceptable meals, preferably drive-through.

So here's what I've found so far:

Carl's Jr has a 6-dollar hamburger (doesn't cost six dollars if you get only the sandwich) called the "low-carb" burger. It's their regular hamburger, lettuce, tomato, wrapped in a huge lettuce leaf instead of a bun and then put in a paper holder, so you have some way to eat it.

It's a good size, perfect for dinner (or that early dinner/supper around 4 p.m.). Without the bun, the fries, the soft drink, it's occasionally acceptable (though for my taste, quite salty and high in fat).

Now that I'm checking the facts, Arby's regular roast beef sandwich (no cheese) is a better choice--until I start adding the sauce and a side order of fries. ::sigh::

And then there's H Salt Fish & Chips -- one fish fillet has 13 grams of fat and 18 grams of carbs. Sounds pretty good, until you realize that each fillet is 105 grams (3 1/2 ounces), only a couple of bites. Ouch!

Starbuck's has a protein bistro box that is quite good. One cage-free hard boiled egg with salt and pepper, a bunch of grapes, half a sliced apple, multigrain muesli bread (shape more like a muffin slice) with honey sweetened peanut butter (I'd have preferred unsweetened). Very filling, especially with a hot cup of coffee.

I tried the salads at McDonald's and other places (Arby's, Jack-in-the-Box), but they were mostly lettuce with greasy fried chicken and yucky dressings. There's a salad specialty place near me with really excellent salads for dinner, but I've been looking for places where I can stop on road trips, without going into a restaurant.

Suggestions?