I’ve never flown with United Airlines, but googling ‘vegan meals on united airlines’ didn’t fill me with confidence… so I’m Bringing My Own.

Many people don’t realise you can take your own food on a plane trip, as long as you don’t bring anything that’s a liquid or gel in a container that exceeds 100 ml capacity. A cautionary tale: some years ago when travelling with my family, security officials consfiscated our hommous which they claimed was a ‘gel’. Really. If you can’t survive your trip without hommous or nut butter, be sure to pack it in containers smaller than 100 ml.

Here are my survival rations for a Sydney-Los Angeles flight followed by Los Angeles-San Francisco connection:

Baked potatoes and sweet potato

I simply scrub the potatoes and bake them and the sweet potatoes in their skins.

Pinto bean stew

The previous night’s leftovers – just a simple throw-together of onion, garlic, corn, capsicum, broccoli, silverbeet, a can of diced tomatoes, pinto beans and a good pinch of Mrs Dash Southwest Chipotle seasoning, all simmered together until the vegetables are soft.

Salad and caramelised orange balsamic vinegar

This is my current favourite vinegar. A small container like this one easily passes security.

Breakfast: Deluxe Breakfast Buckinis and fresh fruit

I have my fingers crossed that there’ll be soy milk available; otherwise I’ll just use fruit juice to moisten the buckinis. It’s fine to take fresh fruit on a plane but you can’t take it off the plane at the other end if you haven’t eaten it.