Summer break can sometimes translate into a break from healthy eating. This year, don’t let your summer break and summer travel schedule disrupt your healthy eating habits. Whether you are taking a camping trip, a beach trip, a road trip, or any other kind of trip, you can take your health-conscious habits with you and spend your summer break and travel feeling fit and full of energy.
Summer Travel Snacks
Sugary and salty snacks might taste good, but the consequences aren’t so pleasurable. Instead, pack snacks with protein, fiber and healthy carbs to keep your energy high and your appetite curbed. Keep your snacks simple and as fresh as possible. Pre-portion into single-serving packages to stay tidy and prevent snacking from the bag.
A few ideas:
- Pre-cut raw veggies such as baby carrot sticks, sugar snap peas, pepper slices and cherry tomatoes
- Fresh and dried fruit like apples, grapes, berries, bananas, mangoes and pineapple cubes
- Unsalted almonds or other nuts and seeds
- Whole grain crackers and pita chips
- NuGo Fiber d’Lish bars
- Plain popcorn
Summer Travel Snacks from the Cooler
Traveling with a stocked cooler takes up space but allows for greater flexibility, more variety, and money savings.
Easy options for the cooler:
- Fresh hummus and guacamole to pair with veggies and chips
- Individual yogurt containers
- Cheese slices or sticks
- Fresh turkey or tuna wraps
Start with refrigerated or frozen items and use plenty of ice packs to keep your cooler cool.
Summer Campsite Snacks
Summer camping often means hotdogs, noodles and marshmallows. To boost the nutrition (and sophistication) of your next outdoor sleeping experience, try some of these summer campsite snacks.
- Kale chips – Leave the tortilla chips at home and bring some kale chips instead. Drizzle olive oil on fresh kale, sprinkle with sea salt and bake at 375 degrees for 10 – 15 minutes for a crispy and healthy snack.
- Whole wheat pancakes – Purchase a package or make-your-own mix. All you’ll need at the campsite is a little H2O.
- Grilled Panini – With cheese and roasted veggies. Press it, wrap it in foil and cook it over a fire.
- Kebobs – Be it fruit, veggies, chicken, beef or tofu, you can pretty much put anything on a stick, brush it with marinade and hold it over a fire. Just make sure you can eat it.
- Couscous – Prepare according to the directions and add-in fresh veggies, dried fruit or nuts.
- Dark chocolate s’mores – For more sophisticated and antioxidant-rich s’mores, swap out the milk chocolate for dark chocolate. Enjoy!
With a few extra minutes of planning, your summer travel foods will support you in feeling your best on and off the road, the beach, the campsite, and anywhere else you might land this summer.
Anne Marie Kuchera, MS, MA, RD, LPC is a registered dietitian, and both a licensed nutritionist and licensed professional counselor. She manages community-based obesity prevention and preventive health and wellness initiatives through Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC.