Regardless of your motives for traveling, eating well while on the road can be difficult. Whether you’re traveling by aircraft, train, or automobile, you don’t have to sacrifice your nutrition with poor food choices.
It might be easy to rely on fast food options, rest stop vending machines, and gas station munchies when traveling by automobile. Ultimately, these items are practical and affordable. However, these fast meal options come at a cost: they are often high in sugar, processed fats, and empty calories.
Consider consuming nutritious items as road trip snacks. Read this list:
Raw Veggie Snacks for Children
Vegetables that are incredibly nutritious, simple, and kid-friendly provide kids with the diversity and nutrients they require when traveling.
- Cucumber rounds
- Celery with peanut butter!
- Carrot sticks or small carrot
- Snap peas
- Cherry tomatoes
- Blueberries
- Applesauce
- Clementines
- Pears
Ideas for Healthy Fruit Snacks for Toddlers
- Apple slices will last a couple of days in an airtight container before turning brown.
- Mandarin oranges are as cute as they are simple to peel and consume!
- Bananas – only bring these if you have a decent way of storing them to prevent them from becoming mushy.
- Grapes and blueberries store well, but you must cut them in half if you have young children to prevent choking.
- Strawberries and raspberries are good snacks for shorter road trips, but they tend to go mushy quickly, so they are not ideal for longer journeys.
Healthy Dairy Snacks for Children
- Enjoy plain Greek yogurt with fresh fruit, granola, or bran cereal
- Cottage cheese is delicious by itself or with berries and oats.
- Cream cheese goes well with cucumber slices, crackers, or English muffins.
- Cubed or string cheese – eat alone or with apple slices, fresh vegetables, and whole-grain crackers. Mild cheeses such as mozzarella or cheddar are typically fairly kid-friendly. Cheese sticks are fantastic because they are typically pre-packaged, which reduces preparation time.
- Smoothies made at home with nonfat or Greek yogurt. Prepare them, place them in a reusable water bottle, and enjoy!
High-Protein Snacks for Children
- Cubed meat – Chicken and turkey are also excellent options. Avoiding deli meats, which are frequently filled with nitrites, and cooking your own meats at home.
- Hummus as a high-protein dip for vegetables, whole grain crackers, and sprouted wheat bread
- Beans – black beans, kidney beans, white beans, and edamame are all fantastic sources of protein that will keep your children satisfied. • Hard-boiled eggs – Boil a large batch of hard-boiled eggs before the trip and let the children to enjoy them on their own or with crackers and fresh fruit.
- Tofu cubes — serve roasted or raw for a snack containing plant-based protein
- Healthy low-sugar cereal — dry cereal is an excellent vehicle snack for kids and toddlers, and it can be blended with nuts for a healthy trail mix alternative.
- Apple Chips – my children adore these! • Freeze-dried fruit – be careful to check the nutrition label and choose those with nothing but fruit listed as an ingredient (no added sugar).
- Roasted chickpeas or Chickpea Puffs are a fantastic blend of protein and fiber that will keep your children content during long car rides.
Crackers, Puffs, and Cereal
- Whole grain crackers
- Cheese crackers
- Cheerios
- Kix
- Chex
7 Strategies for Kid-Friendly, No-Mess Road Trip Snacks
1. No Crumbs
Because you’re trying to keep your car as clean as possible, you should seek for snacks that don’t include any crumbs. It’s possible that food will be spilt, and it’s always made worse when everyone’s belongings are stacked at the car’s floor and everyone steps on the goldfish crackers.
2. Have pre-portioned snack bags
Attempt not to be a control freak, but sometimes it’s impossible to avoid. One item that must be strictly regulated is the amount of candy consumed by children. In addition to causing hyperactivity in children, too much sugar is not healthy for you. However, avoid restricting children to a sugar-free diet, as confectionery is enjoyable.
3. Limit how much kids consume
Try to maintain a middle ground by limiting how much they can consume. This is an extremely convenient way to distribute snacks in the automobile. Additionally, it helps control the mess in the automobile. Use snack packets that are the ideal size for young children. It takes a few extra minutes to load the bags before a trip, but it’s incredibly simple and provides some diversity between rest stops.
Snacks always contain wrappers or bags of some kind, and if a garbage can is not immediately available, children will typically toss trash on the ground.
4. Keep the snacks with You
Depending on the age of your children, if you allow them unrestricted access to the snacks, they will be gone in a matter of minutes. This leaves you without ammunition for the duration of the journey. Slowly distribute the nibbles between bathroom breaks.
5. Establish car rules
Decide in advance what your car rules will be (e.g., no crumbs or no chocolate) and let the children to help choose the food they will bring with them. This makes the journey more thrilling and something to anticipate.
6. Keep snacks organized in containers
This will assist you in keeping everything organized and in one location. Utilize containers whose lids fit snugly, are durable, and are short enough to fit under chairs.
Don’t forget to check the bulk bins at your local grocery shop. Frequently, the food is less expensive and there is a vast selection of meals that are ideal for this condition.
To summarize
Long vacations with the family can be so unpredictable. Especially when there are young children involved! However, one item that is simple to prepare is the food that you bring.
And while there is no requirement requiring you to bring all of your food, it is widely believed that bringing food is one of the easiest methods to keep the kids (and yourself) happy during long vehicle rides.