While packing your bags for an end of summer vacation, healthy eating may not be at the forefront of your mind. But long travels don’t mean that you have to give up smart snacking. With a little planning and a few tricks you can eat well all the way to your destination.
Smart snacking on the go is a useful skill anytime of the year, but road trips and picnics make summer the ideal time to try out some easy tips to make sure you don’t rely on processed gas station wares. The first thing to figure out is how much space will you have for your snacks, and if you’ll have a cooler with you. If you have a way to keep food cool, yogurt, hard boiled eggs, and fruit and cheese cups make a great portable snack.
If you won’t be traveling with a cooler, there are plenty of options for snacks that don’t need to be kept cold. Jerky, trail mix, and granola are a common go-to, but those bought at the store can be highly processed and contain lots of preservatives. Luckily, these are very simple to make at home with only your oven. My favorite granola recipe is here, and it’s very easy to customize once you have it down. Mix with some of your own dried fruit (using this tutorial) and you have yourself a high energy, healthy trail mix. If you’re looking for a high protein, homemade snack, you can give jerky a try using this recipe. One often overlooked snack is roasted chickpeas. All you do is coat them in some oil and whatever seasoning you like, and bake at 400F for about 45 minutes. When you’re in the mood for something a little sweeter, these no-bake cookies are delicious and not messy, all while being good for you too.
To help these snacks travel well, try re-using old containers to house some of your smaller snacks. Coffee creamer bottles are great for holding and dispensing small snacks like trail mixes and granola. Old peanut butter containers or mason jars work well for stick veggies, such as celery and carrots. You can even put a little peanut butter in the bottom of the jar so they’re all ready to dip. For larger portioned snacks, try using cupcake liners and ziploc bags to divide up larger containers so all your goodies are in one place.