Airplane Travel Snacks

[#1]

We’re headed across the country for our annual vacation to visit family back East. To keep my son Tim from complaining, “I’m starving!”–and to save money–on our long plane trip, I always pack snacks. The restrictions on bringing liquid or gels through airport security mean items like yogurt and beverages aren’t options, and neither are freezer packs to keep perishable foods cold. But there are plenty of other nutritious and portable snacks that don’t require refrigeration. Here are my family’s travel favorites:

• Sturdy fruit such as apples. Pack fragile fruit like peaches and plums, and grapes, blueberries and strawberries in containers to protect them from bruising.
• Homemade trail mix: nuts, dried fruit bits and whole-grain cereal, tossed with a few chocolate chips.

• Instant oatmeal packets or instant soup cups–just ask the flight attendant for hot water. Remember to pack a bowl and spoon.
• Whole-grain cereal. Munch on it plain or order milk from the beverage cart. Remember a bowl and spoon.
• Peanut or almond butter sandwich on whole grain bread–add jam, if you’d like. Or bring a small container of nut butter to spread on whole-grain crackers, rice cakes or bagged apple slices (remember to bring a plastic knife).
• Granola bars, fruit leather or dried fruit, nuts, popcorn or pretzels.
• Cut-up veggies with a shelf-stable to-go pack of light ranch dressing (okay if they’re less than 3 ounces).

[#2]

Kerry, have you ever tried using GLAD CORN when making your trail mixes?  It's a whole grain corn snack with only 3 ingredients and adds crunch, a little salt, and a good dose of tasty fiber to the mix.  Like you, I like to mix it with either dried fruit and/or chocolate chips.  Much tastier than "whole-grain cereal". 

[#3]

Hello Stan,

I have never tried that before, but it sounds tasty! That's great that you also make your own homemade trail mixes; they are really convenient for snacking and traveling. Thanks for sharing your recipe with me.

Have a great day!

~Kerry