10 Healthy Kids Snacks To Pack In Your Suitcase

2018-04-18T14:24:50+00:00By |Travel|0 Comments

When I’m on the road, which is a ton, I love to have kid-friendly snacks with me.

Let’s face it, even when you have a kitchenette in your hotel or a full kitchen in your rental home, you don’t always have time to prepare healthy snacks.

Here are a few kid-friendly snacks we always have on-hand that pack nutrition along with ease.

1.  Activated Superfood Popcorn

My son lives for the Salsa Verde Superfood popcorn from Living Intentions.

While traveling, we often pick up popcorn to satisfy salty cravings on the road.  Previously, this was a snack that, while high in fiber, didn’t pack in a whole lot of nutrients.

(And we avoid microwave popcorn at all costs!)

The flavors range from sweet to savory with these four varieties:

  • Cinnamon Twist with maca root and mesquite pod
  • Tandoori Turmeric with turmeric and Ashwagandha extracts
  • Salsa Verde with spirulina, chlorella, spinach, and kale
  • Berry Smoothie with macqui berry, banana and beet powders, and lacuma fruit

How else can you pack in a ton of flavor in a salty or sweet snack that boasts tons of living, raw, nutritious ingredients?

If you can think of others, please comment below and share!

2.  Go Raw Sprouted Cookies and Savory Snacks

With flavors like Zesty Pizza, Lemon Pie, and Carrot Cake, you would probably be apprehensive to call this a “healthy” snack at first glance.  However, these raw or sprouted snacks are packed with satisfying nutrients and low in sugar. (The carrot cake flavor was the first thing I ate in the hospital when I had my son, and now all my friends who go into labor make sure that they have Go Raw satisfying snacks to replenish before, during, and after labor!

Why is raw food good for you?

First of all, cooking can destroy some of the enzymes and nutrients in our foods.

Raw diets are higher in:

  • Enzymes
  • Vitamins
  • Minerals
  • Phytonutrients
  • Dietary fiber
  • Nutrients

Why is sprouting foods good for you?

Sprouting foods sounds pretty scientific, but it’s basically immersing a food such as a seed or nut in water for a period of time in order to increase it’s proteins, enzymes and minerals; as well as to make it more bioavailable (or easy to digest and absorb nutrients).

Go Raw Sprouted Snacks are one of the best travel snacks we’ve found.  Each Go Raw cookie or chip is bite-sized and generally soft and chewy as opposed to hard and crispy (which is important if you’re sharing it with children under 2!)

My recommendation is to buy your Go Raw snacks in large boxes from the GoRaw website in order to get the freshest product, as well as to save yourself money on the per-bag cost.

Best of all, Go Raw individual packs are only 3 ounces, which makes them a perfect size to stow away and share.

3.  Roasted Seaweed Packets

Roasted seaweed is one of my favorite snacks on the road.  For a 30-calorie pack it takes up quite a bit of room, but we love to get these in bulk when on road trips or at a Whole Foods when staying at hotels.

You can buy them at Costco and most grocery stores, usually in the “Annie Chun’s” label.  Annie Chun’s has salty, sesame, and even Wasabi flavors (not great for kids!  They really have a kick!

Seaweed is good for you… very good!

The ancient Chinese have been using seaweed medicinally since 300 A.D. because it’s packed with vitamins A, C, E, K, and B, minerals such as iodine, selenium, calcium, and iron, protein from amino acids, and soluble fiber.

Trying to lose baby weight?  The soluble fiber in seaweed helps keep you regular while making you feel full quickly.  As if that weren’t enough, seaweed may help block fat absorption and reduce the risk of breast cancer due to it’s anti-estrogenic effects.

4.  Justin’s Almond Butter Packets

When I’m trying to avoid the carbohydrate and sugar loaded breakfasts on planes, trains, or in hotels, I like to have Justin’s Almond Butter on-hand.  Instead of having an apple or banana as a part of our meal, the nutritious and filling nature of almond butter makes fruit more of a meal.

Almond butter is high in healthy fats and very filling; often being touted as a great snack for people looking tolose baby weight.

You can find fresh fruit almost anywhere; in gas stations, airports, hotel lobbies, and even some coffee shops.

5.  Fresh Fruit

I always have bananas, apples, or tangerines in my diaper bag for the the little man and I are on the run.  He loves oranges and we often sit and share an orange together for a healthy snack.

The best buy for oranges is to buy the large back of “Cuties” and always have a few rolling around your diaper bag or luggage.

Best yet, fruit stays fresh for a pretty long time and it don’t require silverware to enjoy!

6.  Raw Cashews & Dates

Unlike many other raw nuts, cashews are very soft, making them delicious and safe to eat for kids!

I love to have a bag of raw cashews on me so that I can eat them raw or add them to stirfry dishes or to soups for a vegan creaminess.

Cashews have lower fat than other nuts,and 82% of the fat they do have is unsaturated.  Over 2/3rds of that is monounsaturated fat, which is good for your heart.

One serving of cashews has almost your entire day’s value of copper, which assists with iron utilization, elimination of free radicals, development of bone and connective tissue, and the production of melanin.

Dates are another delicious snack because they’re soft for sharing with baby and they have a long shelf life.

I’m notorious for rummaging through luggage or snack bars looking for a quick fix of something sugary when I’m bored or feeling like a snack, but I hate succumbing to M&M’s or my beloved York Peppermint Patties.

Keeping dates on-hand is good for a quick sugary fix that is also very nutritious.

I add them to salads, soups, or eat them raw because they boost my energy while boasting lots of vitamins, minerals, and fiber.  In dates you’ll findessential minerals such as calcium, iron, phosphorus, sodium, potassium, magnesium and zinc as well as the vitamins thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, folate, A and K.

7.  Perky Jerky

I don’t eat a lot of meat, but when I do I want it to be palatable.  Beef jerky is notorious for forcing you to chew like a cow on it’s cud for several minutes before swallowing.  And if you look at your teeth you can literally see blood on them while you’re eating it!  I can’t…

But now you can find a soft, lean turkey jerky by Perky Jerky almost anywhere jerky is sold.  I love to get it in bulk when I’m at Target but I’ve found it in almost any grocery store.

Perky Jerky is low calorie, low fat, low carb, and loaded with protein.  I choose Perky Jerky because it has no nitrates, perservatives, MSG, or gluten.

If you’re doing a day of sightseeing or hiking around, Perky Jerky allows you to replenish with a high-protein snack that won’t cause you to crash from sugars.  What’s more, it’s in a very thin, concise package so you can pack a dozen packs on top of your luggage without sacrificing much space at all.

8.  Chia Seeds

I add chia seeds to nearly everything. Water, tea, yogurt, juice, and smoothies.

Fiber-rich chia seeds are edible when soaked in water or another liquid to give them a soft texture almost like tapioca.  You can also add them to smoothies if you have a blender strong enough to grind them into a powder.

Chia seeds have exploded in popularity with a new wave of health consciousness in our society but were used by ancient Mayan warriors thousands of years ago.

They’re known to control hunger and they’re packed with super-nutrients.

In addition, they’re used to boost energy, supplement your body with Omega-3 fatty acids, and provide you with carbohydrates, protein, fiber, antioxidants and calcium.

9.  Protein Powder

It stores in a small bag and packs in tons of protein.  Some versions even come in travel sizes!

You can find dairy free, organic, and GMO-free kinds in most grocery stores and in flavors ranging from Vanilla Chai to Chocolate.

I’m a sucker for Vega powders because I love their flavors and they mix well, even with water and no blender!

My son thinks that protein powder and green powder mixed together in his sippy cup is “juice”, and I hope he never discovers what fructose-laden “juice” from grocery stores really is…

In fact, he’d definitely take Kombucha over orange juice any day!

10.  Pepitas

My son goes crazy for these teeny, tiny, savory treats.

Pepitas are high in antioxidants and rich in magnesium, zinc, and iron.

They’re shown to help lower cholesterol and they’re high in Omega 3 (good) fats.

I buy bulk from Eden foods because I throw pepitas on salads, stirfrys, or I eat them raw as a snack.

When I suffered from Postpartum Depression after the birth of my son, I loved eating Pepitas for their depression-fighting iron and zinc.

In addition, I’m notoriously low in magnesium when taking comprehensive analyses of my vitamin and mineral needs, so I think I subconsciously crave this natural source of magnesium.  Best of all, magnesium is linked to fighting dementia and relieving anxiety.

Get pepitas for your next trip.  As with the bulk of this list, they’re easy to travel with and won’t take up much room in your carry-on!

For more amazing Baby Travel Tips, get my book for only $10 here >> the tips can save you thousands of dollars, and dozens of headaches!

 

 

 

 

 

2018-04-18T14:24:50+00:00By |Travel|0 Comments

About the Author:

Stephanie Hirsch has run multiple businesses online varying from weight loss and fitness to finance and personal development. Her passion is to take her years of running companies online to help mothers free themselves from the demands of traditional jobs to prosper in flexible, at-home jobs that they love to do.

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