In February of 2013 our family decided to take a BIG adventure…we moved to Argentina. This was no small feat. At the time my kids were 4 and 1. We had a house full of furniture to pack, cars to sell, and our home to rent out. Sounds like a lot, but for some reason those tasks didn’t phase me much. You know what kept me up at night worrying instead??? The knowledge that we would be flying for 13 hours with 2 KIDS! Something about being trapped onboard an airplane with two unpredictable small children was causing some anxiety for me. Go figure. I think I spent more time planning the homemade travel snacks I was going to pack for the plane than I did packing our suitcases full of clothes.
(Our family before we boarded our red eye flight to Argentina.)
We’ve been living here in Argentina for over a year now and have traveled as much as possible around South America. Our kids are becoming little pro-travelers and they usually do very well on airplanes. I attribute part of our traveling success to the food preparation. When my kids eat nutritious food on the plane (free of the chemicals and damaged fats found in packaged food) I know they are going to feel better. And when my kids feel better– they behave better. True story. So as we prepare to leave Argentina in a few months and head back to California (another 13 hours on the plane with kids!!!!) I know healthy easy snacks are important to bring in my carry on if I want happy travel companions. And believe me, with a 13 hour flight on the horizon….I want my kids HAPPY. Today I’ve pulled together some of our favorite homemade travel snack recipes to share with you.
(I still have nightmares about the amount of luggage we brought with us. We lived out of our suitcases for 6 months until our furniture arrived from the USA.)
Here are some of our favorite homemade travel snacks, from my traveling kids…to yours! (And PS–Let me keep it real…my kids DO eat some plane snacks too. I refuse to look at the ingredient list to save myself a headache and I know they are fine because most of what I give them comes from my kitchen. It’s all about balance.)
(Bring along cut up veggies and your favorite crackers for dipping!)
(These homemade fruit gummies will hold their shape for a few hours but will end up looking more like jello after 2 hours if they are not kept cool. I usually keep them in my travel cooler with an ice pack and they work great)
(Bring along some milk and you have an instant breakfast or lunch. Security usually lets us bring milk if it’s for our kids.)
(We make a lot of extra pancakes and then use the pancakes as bread for a gluten-free sandwich!)
Chocolate Coconut Protein Bars from Girl Meets Nourishment
Coconut Blueberry Jello from Honest Body
Curry Spiced Pumpkin Seeds from Real Food RN
Sweet Potato Apple Fruit Leather from Savory Lotus
Dehydrated Pumpkin Pie Leather by The Maverick Mama
Spiced Maple Roasted Chickpeas from 20 Something Allergies
Mixed Berry and Beet Leather from Eat Your Beets
Pumpkin Spice Apple Chips from Peace, Love and Low Carb
Triple Coconut Lemon Bars from MIX Wellness
Homemade Fruit Leather from Natural Family Today
And for the PARENTS: Bulletproof Coffee Gummies by Cheerfully Imperfect
These all look awesome! I am taking a month long road trip with my kids this summer up to Canada, so some of these are going to come in very handy!
awesome round up! Thanks for including me. I’m a big snacker so this is great! 🙂
Thanks so much. I saw this post and it was helpful to have one link that shows many snack recipes. I just ordered the molds to do those coffee ones.:-)
Great to hear Susan! Thanks for reading 🙂
Thanks for posting this great list! We’re headed to Argentina with our two girls ages 4 & 2! Definitely going to be making some of these for the plane ride 🙂
Wow, I like that kind of adventures!:) Me and my partner moved to the Philippines this year.. We’ll stay about 6 months and then head on to at least 5 different countries. We don’t have kids, though:D But grown-ups need healthy snacks, too!:)