Favorite Healthy Road Trip Snacks

[EricaKaye 103]

Hello! I'm looking for suggestions for road trip friendly healthy foods to take along on our trips this summer. I want to get away from granola bars/protein bars, anything processed or fast food drive thru trips made out of desperation! We usually take nuts, pretzels, fruit and sometimes string cheese but I know we could do better! The tricky part is that I'm looking for something that fits the following criteria  

 

*sturdy enough not to end up smooshed and crushed into the car seats by the time we get there 

*affordable (holy out of control grocery budget!)

*widely available (I live in super small town America-no Whole Foods for me  ) 

*fairly child friendly- My kids aren't picky but they do have their limits! 

 

I'd love to hear what you pack when you are on the road! Thanks!! 

[LarryD517 541]

Fruit and vegetables (anything less and you're going to compromise the health aspect)

Cherry tomatoes, carrot slices, celery, apple, strawberries, nuts...get the kids used to eating the good stuff.

If they don't like it, let them sit there and eat nothing, eventually they'll give in

[Jake 69]

Is there a Trader Joe's nearby? They have these awesome apple fruit bars (apples + coconut is my favorite). They compete with those "Apples and..." bars, but are much better IMO, and only $1.

 

These have been one of my favorite snacks lately, too. Great with hummus.

[EricaKaye 103]

They love fruits and veggies and we always have those on hand so they are a good choice to pack up. Plus they won't get wasted turning to mush while we are away-bonus! 

Jake those bars sound perfect! Exactly the sort of thing I was hoping to find. We don't have a Trader Joe's near us but I may have to make a special trip. The crackers looked awesome too. Great suggestions  Thanks!

[YogaByCandace 1,515]

Last summer (wow, was it last summer? Feels like ages ago), we drove from Connecticut to California, where we posted up in LA for the summer. I did shop at Whole Foods for some of the snacks but I think many of them you can get off Amazon. Here's the post, if you're interested. We do a lot of prep for snacks - so if you have the time, I would maybe try something like these banana bread bites (really easy to make!), banana zucchini loaf, crockpot blueberry lemon bars (ok I guess these aren't the most healthy thing out there). None of these will do well if they're squished in the car but if you put them in a tupperware container they'd be ok? Other things I like, if you have a cooker - slices of cheese, peanut butter squeeze packs (this one come w honey!) with bananas or celery, dried fruit, trail mix.

[EricaKaye 103]

Thanks for the links to the yummy recipes Candace! Those banana bread bites look ah-mazing! I always want something sweet when we travel (ok, I want sweets any time or place!) and those would be guilt free! I'm going to make them later today!    

The prep is where I am failing. I do have the time but usually forget to do it before we go-NO MORE! lol! First trip is this weekend so I'm going to start packing up some healthy goodies in a little bit. No more nasty drive thru food for us! 

I'm so glad eggs were in the post! I had been considering hard boiled eggs but wasn't sure how they would fare in the car. Glad to know they are road trip friendly! Many of our trips are related to the kids' soccer tournaments so the protein would be great for them in between games. And for me...no one wants a hangry mom on the side lines lol! 

[YogaByCandace 1,515]

Hahah hangry mama on the loose - watch out!!!  Enjoy the road trip and let us know how it works out!! 

[EricaKaye 103]

I made the banana bread bites and they were so good and super easy! Thanks so much for the recipe Candace! We took trail mix, cashew butter and apples, the banana bites and grapes yesterday. No visits to the concession stands or drive thru so it was a success in my book  And no hangry mama! Yay! 

[YogaByCandace 1,515]

YAY!