It must be something that is fresh but does not crumble easily.
Any packaging should be easily opened by the child and not require parent intervention.
The vessel holding the food must be sturdy enough to hold multiple items. The chosen food must be substantial enough to satisfy their tummies for the duration of the trip.
The food must be ok if left out. Maneuvering through the van from the front seat to the back to collect unwanted food and preserve the lefovers in the cooler is a comedy at best.
So, the chosen car food for the kids included: black olives, a slice of raw cheddar cheese, raw carrots with sea salt and pepper, a couple slices of my teff and buckwheat banana bread with blueberries, half a banana and cantaloupe or pineapple.
The kids got a real kick out of eating in the van out of their very own little box. Crumbles were kept to a minimum and they were satisfied for the whole trip!
I packed light for this trip as my amazing mother-in-law offered to bring a bunch of fresh food.
Here is my list of items that don’t go in a cooler:
orange sweet potatoes white sweet potatoes fresh strawberries purple grapes tomatoes apples bosc pears bananas organic applesauce olives pistachios cashews pecans dried apricots Real Salt
coconut water
Plantain chips x 2 Organic, gluten free, non GMO granola Sea Snax Mary’s Gone Crackers seed crackers organic brown rice crackers
Avocado oil potato chips Good health olive oil potato chips
Here are the cooler items:
Cashew butter bread cooked broccoli cooked zucchini hard boiled eggs raw eggs cooked pastured pork liverwurst organic ham raw colby cheese raw milk yogurt raw carrots avocado raw asparagus sauerkraut fermented ketchup
Once we arrived at the beach the kids wanted to immediately get in the water…me too!! But, I wanted to get some lunch in them so I did not have to pack up a bunch of snacks to bring to the beach. Sand plus wind and food in slippery fingers makes for a frustrating situation.
LUNCH:
I made a quick ham and cheese sandwich on cashew bread, sliced strawberries, raw milk yogurt with sliced banana and our new granola. Maddy and Annabelle had a sandwich, sliced strawberries, banana and granola and a small side of sauerkraut.
DINNER was a seafood boil! I forgot our sausage…ugh!! I felt so bad because I was responsible for bringing high quality meat to complement the amazing fresh shrimp. So, we reconstructed plates around the shrimp. My salad is a bed of greens, sauerkraut, shrimp, oysters, clams and broccoli. Cameron had seed bread with mashed avocado “butter”, scrambled eggs left over from breakfast (seriously, I don’t throw anything out! :), shrimp, white sweet potato, carrots and asparagus. The girls ate the same.
BREAKFAST for me were some amazing hard boiled eggs. Look at that yolk!! Cameron chose scrambled eggs, white sweet potato, avocado and carrots. William wanted sliced strawberries and banana with cinnamon, cashew toast with scrambled eggs. The girls had Cameron’s breakfast choice.
Everyone had a great morning at the beach and we returned early for lunch.
LUNCH was another quick ham and cheese sandwich on grain-free cashew bread with sliced fruit. The girls had melon, ham, and cheese roll-ups and their leftover yogurt from breakfast. Simple, real food!!
Everyone went back out to the beach, except the girls and I. The morning was enough for them. The plan was to attempt a nap which was a total fail. So we spent our time outside on the decks and drinking lots of coconut water.
DINNER was a simple grass fed beef burger with raw cheese, white sweet potato, steamed broccoli, fermented ketchup, seed crackers and sauerkraut. There were lots of conventional chips and the boys really wanted to try one. So we swapped out the crackers for the chips.
The next morning my little buddy and I enjoyed a great banded mobility warm up in the early morning darkness.
We picked up the 10K and 4K ViPRs and headed down to the beach for a really awesome beach workout. Sleeping in a smaller bed with two littles required a little unwinding the next morning. The environment of smooth sand, ocean air and an open beach was an great complement to moving my body under the load of the ViPR.
We headed home about mid morning. We made a quick stop at the seafood market to pick up some shrimp and add to our planned seed crust pizza!
Then it was into the van for the trek home. Now, even though we ate breakfast, I knew the kids would be hungry before we arrived home. I planned to have something substantial for them in their little travel boxes meeting the same criteria outlined earlier. Because once home, the girls are silly tired and really need to go straight to bed but need lunch first. The boys want to play outside with their friends but need lunch first. So, you see…planning saves so much in the long run.
After, only one potty break… it was time to eat their early lunch. Strategically, 45 minutes before we arrived home.
After our amazing seed crust pizza the boys were knocked out!
The girls on the other hand, were going strong! They slept for 4 hours when we got home and were ready for action!
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