Travel Tips For Healthy Eating on Our Family Vacation

Thanks to in-laws who plan spontaneously, flexibility from both my job and Colb's and a need to get away, we have an impromptu vacation coming in a couple of days. We had gone to Rye Beach with my in-laws last year and it rained every.single.day (no exaggerating) and we thought maybe we should try again this year where the weather has been so fantastic. And now my Type A personality is feverishly making list, jotting all over sticky notes, planning with my Droid Astrid app... to prepare my family of 5 to head to the beach in 3 days. We had not necessarily budgeted this getaway, so I need to plan carefully to keep the costs down, but pack lightly (have you traveled with a family of 5 for 4 days in a small cabin with no amenities??) Even with this time frame, I still pulled out the grocery store fliers and coupons this morning to prepare our meal plan. Not only do I not want to break the budget on junk food, I simply won't allow my kids to eat like crapola for a whole week because I failed to prepare. Anyhow, yada, yada, yada... I thought I would share some of my food plans for an other families that might have a vacation still coming up this summer...

I am going to use my coupons to purchase lots of dry snacks. With most of our days spent at the beach or water park, there will likely be no proper lunches and most likely grazing. Some good options:

• Pirates Booty or Smartfood popcorn
• Make yourself a batch of roasted chick peas (garbanzo beans) These are a yummy snack and help get some protein and fiber into a vacation diet.
• I will cover the sweet snack with the Sugar Cinnamon Croutons.
• Flavored mini rice cakes are popular.
• Granola bars
• Dried fruit, granola, nuts, trail mix... all filled with nutrients and yummy at that.

And then, beyond the dry snacks:
• I will make a batch of zucchini/sweet potato muffins to cover the sweet tooth. (Maybe a few extra chocolate chips since it is vacation.)
• A batch of french toast sticks and some waffles will cover the sweet tooth/ breakfast/ and snack time.
• Hummus and pita bread is well received. Add some cucumbers to the mix and it's a pretty good lunch.
• When we get there, I will go to a local store for a mix of our fresh fruit and vegetables. Cut cucumbers, baby carrots and broccoli travel well to the beach.
• Wraps are a good alternative to bread. You can get tomato or spinach wraps, and get the added benefit of the vegetable even if you are just putting peanut butter in it. I have found that wraps tend to get less soggy than a typical sandwich does.

By planning ahead, I will save a ton of money and also save my kids from a week of processed, fat laden food. But, of course, all this wonderful planning for healthy eating is all out the window the second Nana and Papa arrive.