With the school holidays coming up that usually means road trips! You’re going to be in the car for awhile so theres a good chance you will get hungry. Whilst stopping at a takeaway shop or going through a drive through is very tempting it makes it to easy to over do it on those not so healthy options.

So get prepared and pack some healthy options to take with you.

My favourites are below.

Trail Mix.

You can buy already made trail mix/ scroogen or make it your self try some of the combos below.

• Walnuts, cranberries, dark chocolate
• Almonds, apricots, sunflower seeds
• Cashews, dried mango, coconut flakes, banana chips
• Goji berries, pistachios, dried blueberries, flax seeds, dark chocolate
• Almonds, Wasabi peas, sesame seeds, dried ginger
• Peanuts, banana chips, dark chocolate

Play around with different combinations to find your favourite.

Fresh fruit and vegetables.

Simple, healthy delicious — fresh fruit and veggies are perfect for snacking on. Pick fruit and veggies which are easy to peel and eat. Try some:

• grapes
• apples
• bananas
• apricots
• cherry tomatoes
• baby carrots
• baby cucumber

Energy bliss balls.

One thing a long journey can take out of you is your energy. So to help prevent arriving at your destination feeling tired and weak make some homemade energy balls to take with you.

Try out this recipe.

1. Combine chopped dates, cashews, almonds, cacao powder, and salt in a food processor. Process all ingredients until texture is coarse.
2. Add the shredded coconut, a quick pulse, then add the vanilla extract and a little water at a time, until it reaches a dry but moist dough consistency.
3. Roll the dough mixture into balls, leave in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before packing to help keep their shape.

Popcorn.

Yes popcorn can be a really good. If prepared right! Don’t buy the store brought microwave popcorn this stuff isn’t good. Pop your own and add your own natural flavours, try some of my favourite below.

• Cheesy – mix ½ cup grated cheese into 4 cups or hot popcorn.
• Lemon butter – Cook ½ cup of melted butter in a pan on medium heat until slightly browned (be careful it doesn’t burn) remove from heat add in 1 tsp lemon zest and 1 tsp of lemon juice, then pour over 4 cups of hot popcorn.
• Herb – mix together ¼ cup melted butter with ¼ cup each of parsley and chives. Then pour over popcorn.

A road trip and a family holiday is all about enjoying the journey, so don’t feel like you have to deprive yourself of everything you like. The goal is simply to avoid mindless eating, or snacking on unhealthy foods purely out of boredom. Hopefully these snacks will keep you going and help your trip be even more enjoyable!