Snacks are the unsung hero in our family.
When we’ve been scooting around town for hours in a car laden with soccer gear, groceries, lawn chairs, and at least 50 lbs of essential baby paraphernalia, a snack is often the inhibitor of one or more meltdowns. And I’m not just talking about the kids.
That little bite to boost your energy and blood sugar long enough to get home is crucial on busy days. The trouble though is most snacks are simply not healthy. They’re often loaded with preservatives, sugars, or highly processed ingredients.
But that’s the nature of mass market convenience. It needs to be inexpensive and easily accessible. Inexpensive means using cheap ingredients such as refined sugars, fats, and grains. And in order to sit on the shelf for long periods of time, they need something to preserve them.
Snacks in moments like this need to be transferred from package to mouth in a minimal amount of time to stave off excessive whining … or worse. And those convenient store-bought snacks might taste good, but they don’t do anything good for you or your kids.
Sure there are a growing number of health-conscious snacks on the market now. But they’re often expensive, and many of them are still loaded with sugar. Don’t be fooled by the “organic cane syrup” on the ingredients list. It may have been grown or processed differently, but in the end, your body treats it just like refined white sugar.
Try making your own snacks for the road. It’s easy and delicious.
Date Energy Bombs
These Date Energy Bombs are a great alternative.
First off, they’re extremely easy to make. And they keep for up to two weeks.
Also, you can easily customize these to accommodate any dietary restrictions or preferences.
This is a great recipe to let the kids help, too. They can make their own custom Energy Bombs. Take this base recipe and add up to another 1/2 C of other ingredients depending on the texture of the ingredients. You can add a variety of other dried fruits, nuts, grains, seeds, and so on.
I like to add, almonds, coconut, and a little dark chocolate. You can also pack it with chia seeds, millet, amaranth, and quinoa for an ancient grain twist.
Play around with it. And find the Energy Bombs that suit your family best.
- 1 C pitted Medjool dates
- 2/3 C rolled oats
- 3 tbl peanut butter (or other nut butter substitute)
Combine the ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until finely ground and almost the consistency of paste.
Scoop 1 to 2 tbl of the mixture depending on the size you prefer into the palm of your hand. Then roll into a smooth ball. (At this stage you could roll the bombs in a variety of finely ground nuts or coconut flakes to lightly coat the outside.)
Place on a tray lined with parchment paper. Move to the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to chill and set.
Transfer to zip top bag or air tight container. Store in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.
Sports Drink
While sports drinks may tout themselves as a magic elixir, they’re also a big jug of sugar water.
Replenishing electrolytes after a long game, workout, or practice is important, especially as the weather heats up.
The main ingredients in a sports drink that help retain electrolytes and rehydrate you are water, salt, potassium, and other minerals. Some foods that are great for this are bananas, dates, raisins, coconuts, and avocados.
So rather than giving in to the sugar surge of an over the counter sports drink, consider making your own.
There are countless recipes for unique sports drinks online. But here are a couple of my favorite.
- 3 C water
- 1 C fresh orange juice
- 1/2 C fresh lemon juice
- 3 tbl honey
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Blend to combine. Serve cold.
- 3 C seeded watermelon, chopped
- 1 kiwi, peeled, and chopped
- 12 oz coconut water
- 1/4 tsp salt
- juice half of lime
- Blend to puree. Strain through fine mesh strainer. Serve cold.