Hit the Road Snackin' this summer with healthier and still very tasty snacks for the long car rides.
This post is sponsored by FitJoy Foods
It's that time of year again.
Road trip season is upon on us. And we are helping you eat better again with the kickoff of our 2nd annual Hit the Road Snackin' series.
In this post you will find tips and tricks to eating healthier in the car this summer.
No I am not asking you to chew on kale the entire trip. I encourage you to make better choices, without taking away your desire to indulge.
Most Important Tip - Plan Ahead
The number 1 thing you can do to eat healthier on the road is plan ahead. It's usually lack of planning that pushes you towards convenient foods from the gas station that aren't so healthy.
This is why you need to buy and pack your snacks before you go on the trip. Pack plenty, so that you are not tempted to make unhealthy choices when you are hungry and only have limited minutes and limited food options.
Making Your Own Healthy Snacks
You can definitely make your own healthy snacks. That's a great idea! In the past we have had our own granola bars, pretzels, crackers, trail mixes, etc.
If you have a trip that is longer than a day of traveling, that might be too much work to do while your're packing for a trip too! Keep it within reason so you don't lose your sanity. I like to make snacks for the first day myself and rely on purchased snacks the rest of the way.
The rest of our post is about the best tips for snacks that you can buy and pack for your trip.
Pack Better Bars
Food in bar form is always a good choice to have on a road trip. Whether you are going to go for a hike or just need a quick, easy snack. They are the king of convenience.
Unfortunately a lot of the bars on the market are full of junk, whether that be artificial flavors, sweeteners, and little to no nutrition. Many of them just don't taste that great.
What bars do we recommend?
We are loving the gluten free, grain free, GMO-free protein bars from FitJoy Foods. FitJoy has a Grandma's Lemon Square bar that will blow your mind with it's soft without being crumbly texture. The bar screams lemon without being too tart or overly sweet - no artificial sweeteners either. On top of all that you are getting 20 grams of protein, something your grandma's lemon bars could never offer.
Pick Better Crackers
Crackers are a staple of road trips and a necessity when kids are coming along. Our recommendation is: don't just go cheap. Look for crackers with good, wholesome ingredients, without the preservatives. There are plenty of healthy options available now including gluten free and grain free.
Even if you are paying more money for the crackers it's better than buying cheaper crackers and then over eating. Making healthier choices can be built in portion control. If I buy a box of cheap crackers I am more likely to eat through the whole box, even though I am not hungry enough to eat the whole thing but they are there, and so I eat.
Don't Forget to Pack Some Fruit
Fruit is a must have on any road trip. Be careful which type of fruit you pick as some are easily damaged if not properly protected (like peaches, apples or bananas).
These are the fruits that I think are most durable for a long road trip
- Grapes
- Blueberries
- Cherries (keep an empty cup in the cup holder for spitting pits)
- Oranges/mandarins
If you want to bring along fruit that can be easily bruised, bring it in it's own container that isn't too big that the fruit will move around much it in it. You could even use some small towels as padding. This works well for apples, bananas, or peaches.
Dried fruit is easy to bring along as well and you don't have to worry about it going bad. Beware of added sugar in dried fruit. Sour/tart fruits like cranberries or tart cherries will have sugar added to it. Raisins, apricots, blueberries, and peaches are options that are available in no added sugar. Sometimes they still do, so real the labels.
What's most fun to do on a road trip is find a road side stand that is selling fruit. This is a great way to experience the area you are in and support the local farmers. Many places have u-pick berry patches. You don't need to pick pounds and pounds of them and it's a great way to get outside and enjoy yourself.
Avoid the Big Fountain Drinks
This is where a lot of people's health goes downhill. It's easy to head into the gas station and buy a huge soda pop. And you know you're going to drink the whole thing because you don't have anything better to do while traveling down the highway.
It would be great if you could just drink water. If not maybe try one of the popular carbonated waters that contain flavoring. If you just can't help but have a soda pop, then pick something that is a higher quality. A glass bottle craft soda will cut down on the amount you drink as you will be satisfied more.
Again plan ahead and have some drinks in your cooler ready to go so you won't be tempted with a 32 ounce monster drink.
Pick High Quality Chocolate
You may be noticing a theme here, but I really believe that when you buy higher quality food you don't need to eat as much of it to be satisfied. The same goes with chocolate.
If I buy cheap chocolate I will eat it all. If I buy good chocolate I will savior it more.
To keep the chocolate from melting, bring along some water tight bags and keep it in the cooler. We do it all the time.
Individual Packaged Nut Butters
Any kind of nut butter - peanut, almond, cashew, sunflower, etc, can be brought along. You can eat by the spoonful for a filling snack or bring along something to dip them in, like carrots, celery stalks or pretzel sticks.
Most stores carry individual packets that you can easily fit in your car. They cost more per ounce, but they make it easy to hand out to kids in the backseats.
What are your favorite healthy snacks to pack for a road trip? Leave your favs in the comments below. Happy Hit the Road Snackin' season!
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