2 weeks ago we did a week long traveling adventure from Montana to Wisconsin for a wedding. Since my kids are on food restrictions while we figure out what is going on with my sons gut it meant I needed to prep some food for the trip. Here are a few things I found worked well. Soup was great to have as I would heat it up in the morning before we left our friends house for the day and put it in their thermos just like I do for their school lunches.
One thing that I have learned is that looking at new recipes as an adventure helped me not get frustrated. I had made many new recipes and there have been quite a few that didn't turn out or the family didn't like. Ok. Moving on. Don't get upset or give up. This is where I failed years ago. I tried and gave up way too quick. My husband pointed out to me that I could be cooking things full of sugar and wheat and my family might not like it or it might not turn out. It's part of the journey. Trying recipes is the only way to find out if they will eat them or not. There have been many foods that my son refused to eat such as avocados. I continued to offer it to him. Eventually I asked if he would please eat some as it was great brain food and it would keep him super smart. Now he eats it when I put it on his plate. The importance of feeding my family foods that will heal and nourish them is so important to me that I can't not do this. If you want to start eating better or feeding your family healthier options take it one step at a time. Think of why it is important to you. Looking back at this reason will keep you moving forward in times of frustration. There have been several things that I was feeding my family even after I thought I eliminated anything bad and then realized there was something in it they shouldn't have. Ok. Take that out of the kitchen. Moving on. I can't do anything about the past but I can change the future. If this is something you want to do you can do it. Just take one step at a time.
To help give you some ideas here are a few things I pack that are natural, no processing yet no prepping on my part!
Dates
Pistachios (other good options are walnuts, cashews, pecans, and almonds)
Lara Bars (careful on these tho if you have food restrictions. Not all of them are the same of course. Read the ingredients. Some of my favorites are cashew, blueberry muffin and apple pie for the kids. There are some other great ones like chocolate chip cookie dough and banana bread but those don't fit our restrictions right now.)
Bananas
Apples (I have the apple slicer on hand to make it easier for them to eat not to mention less mess with no apple juice running down their hands!)
Quick cooking oats-this is easy with hot water available at any coffee shop or gas station
Here are some things I prepped for food on the road:
"fudge" to add into oatmeal or melt to dip strawberries and bananas in. This recipe calls for peppermint oil. I have done it with or without the oil.
Chicken wild rice I don't use the corn starch. I simply substitute it for tapioca flour/starch (arrowroot starch can be used as well but I have read that it may contain gluten and since they work the same I just go with tapioca now.)
I like to make my own chicken broth in the the instant pot or crock pot but there are times that I don't have any made. In this case I go for pacific chicken broth as it is the only one I have found not to have unnecessary ingredients in it.
Chicken Zoodle
Cut out cookies - I have not tried the icing on these. They taste like graham crackers tho and we have used chocolate frosting from another recipe or nut butter on them as well as just plain.
No bake cookies I make these with walnut butter not the peanut butter it calls for
Banana Nut Muffins I do use an egg replacer on this recipe
Pumpkin Chocolate muffins I use an egg replacer in this and for the chocolate swirl on top I melt fudge from previous recipe and swirl on top before I bake them
Homemade Nut Butter (I usually do walnut... so easy and great to add into oatmeal for the whole family to get more protein and fat) All you do to make your own nut butter is put your nut of choice in a blender and blend tis it is smooth. That's it! It does take a bit of time depending on your blender but you will need to stop it a few times to push the nuts down and get the blender going but it really isn't hard to do. I have also made mixed butters like walnut/cashew butter that is really good. I would love to hear if you try this out and what you think!
"Popcorn"
This is actually considered granola but Ethan calls it popcorn and loves it while watching a movie. Morgan loves it as cereal with some almond milk. It would also be great on yogurt if dairy is in your diet.
Ingredients:One thing that I have learned is that looking at new recipes as an adventure helped me not get frustrated. I had made many new recipes and there have been quite a few that didn't turn out or the family didn't like. Ok. Moving on. Don't get upset or give up. This is where I failed years ago. I tried and gave up way too quick. My husband pointed out to me that I could be cooking things full of sugar and wheat and my family might not like it or it might not turn out. It's part of the journey. Trying recipes is the only way to find out if they will eat them or not. There have been many foods that my son refused to eat such as avocados. I continued to offer it to him. Eventually I asked if he would please eat some as it was great brain food and it would keep him super smart. Now he eats it when I put it on his plate. The importance of feeding my family foods that will heal and nourish them is so important to me that I can't not do this. If you want to start eating better or feeding your family healthier options take it one step at a time. Think of why it is important to you. Looking back at this reason will keep you moving forward in times of frustration. There have been several things that I was feeding my family even after I thought I eliminated anything bad and then realized there was something in it they shouldn't have. Ok. Take that out of the kitchen. Moving on. I can't do anything about the past but I can change the future. If this is something you want to do you can do it. Just take one step at a time.
To help give you some ideas here are a few things I pack that are natural, no processing yet no prepping on my part!
Dates
Pistachios (other good options are walnuts, cashews, pecans, and almonds)
Lara Bars (careful on these tho if you have food restrictions. Not all of them are the same of course. Read the ingredients. Some of my favorites are cashew, blueberry muffin and apple pie for the kids. There are some other great ones like chocolate chip cookie dough and banana bread but those don't fit our restrictions right now.)
Bananas
Apples (I have the apple slicer on hand to make it easier for them to eat not to mention less mess with no apple juice running down their hands!)
Quick cooking oats-this is easy with hot water available at any coffee shop or gas station
Here are some things I prepped for food on the road:
"fudge" to add into oatmeal or melt to dip strawberries and bananas in. This recipe calls for peppermint oil. I have done it with or without the oil.
Chicken wild rice I don't use the corn starch. I simply substitute it for tapioca flour/starch (arrowroot starch can be used as well but I have read that it may contain gluten and since they work the same I just go with tapioca now.)
I like to make my own chicken broth in the the instant pot or crock pot but there are times that I don't have any made. In this case I go for pacific chicken broth as it is the only one I have found not to have unnecessary ingredients in it.
Chicken Zoodle
Cut out cookies - I have not tried the icing on these. They taste like graham crackers tho and we have used chocolate frosting from another recipe or nut butter on them as well as just plain.
No bake cookies I make these with walnut butter not the peanut butter it calls for
Banana Nut Muffins I do use an egg replacer on this recipe
Pumpkin Chocolate muffins I use an egg replacer in this and for the chocolate swirl on top I melt fudge from previous recipe and swirl on top before I bake them
Homemade Nut Butter (I usually do walnut... so easy and great to add into oatmeal for the whole family to get more protein and fat) All you do to make your own nut butter is put your nut of choice in a blender and blend tis it is smooth. That's it! It does take a bit of time depending on your blender but you will need to stop it a few times to push the nuts down and get the blender going but it really isn't hard to do. I have also made mixed butters like walnut/cashew butter that is really good. I would love to hear if you try this out and what you think!
"Popcorn"
This is actually considered granola but Ethan calls it popcorn and loves it while watching a movie. Morgan loves it as cereal with some almond milk. It would also be great on yogurt if dairy is in your diet.
- 3 Cups quick cooking oats (you can use old fashion if you want a chewier version)
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 C walnut butter (or choice of nut butter)
- 3/4 C honey
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Preheat oven to 325°
- Melt honey and walnut butter
- In a separate bowl mix oats, salt and cinnamon
- Add vanilla in honey and butter mixture
- Combine all ingredients
- Layout on a baking pan (I use natural wax paper)
- Bake for 10 minutes then toss
- Bake for another 5-10 minutes. Watch carefully as it may burn if you let it bake too long.
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