Hello friends! Here is what you’ve missed if you haven’t visited me in a while: the movers are coming in 2 days and we should be in the car on our way to Washington on Thursday or Friday!
I have a giveaway going on and it ends tomorrow at 12pm CST so don’t forget to scroll down and enter!
Do you remember eating boxes of raisins as a kid? I do and I rarely buy them for my kids, because well to be honest I just figured there were “cooler”, more fun snacks out there. We do eat the Sun-Maid raisins out of the big container, mostly with our cereal, but not so much for snacking. So when the nice people over at Formula PR sent me the box of CalNatural shakes and wine, they also sent me some Kashi and Sun-Maid products to sample.
My 3 year old daughter ate every box of the yogurt covered raisins and the rest of us enjoyed the plain ones. How fun is that little box for a little kid? I also found that they were the easiest thing to throw in my gym bag for an post-workout (and sometimes during workout) snack. With early morning nursing and trying to get my 5 year old to preschool on time, I often don’t eat as much as I should for breakfast. So when I get to the gym I am often starving and that isn’t too great when starting a run/workout. Several times I devoured a box of the plain raisins to get my through my workouts. They provided the perfect amount of energy in this low fat snack: 45 calories, 11 grams of carbohydrates and 1 gram of fiber (remember these don’t have added sugar, just the natural sugar found in fruit). You’d be amazed at what 45 calories does for a grumbling stomach. They saved me several times over the past couple weeks.
Now I’m not big on celebrating all the food holidays out there, but tomorrow just happens to be National Raisin Day so here are some fun ways to incorporate this tasty and nutritious snack into your day: bake into muffins or pancakes, enjoy some raisin bread or bagels, snack on a mini box for a quick pick-me-up, sprinkle raisins into cereal, yogurt or oatmeal, add to salads, couscous or any other grain-based salad, make “ants on a log” for your kids, enjoy in a chicken dish or sauteed dark green vegetable!
Another snack that we sampled were these banana chocolate chip bars from Kashi. They tasted very natural and homemade. They tasted healthy. The chocolate chips were not very noticeable, but the name of the bar sure piqued the interests of my kids when I offered them this snack. They are made from a puree of pumpkin, apples and bananas and of course whole grains: wheat flour, whole oats and barley. While I try to avoid buying “snacks” that I can make at home (such as bars), for the non-baker who wants a healthier snack bar these are a good choice: 140 calories, 3 grams of fat, 4 grams of fiber and 9 grams of sugar (some coming from the fruit purees).
Kashi is truly one ofmy favorite brands of cereals, whole grain snacks (and no I did not get paid to say that). I love their cinnamon shredded wheat and have always enjoyed their other high fiber, high protein cereals. When I tried this one, it got bumped up to my top 3 favorite Kashi cereals. I loved the texture of the different grains and I just love a cereal with cinnamon flavor! Like all Kashi cereals, this one is high in fiber, 9 grams per serving and has 10 grams of protein. That is the reason why it keeps you feeling satisfied for longer!
This was my snack all week: Vanilla Greek yogurt mixed with a banana, topped with strawberries and Kashi Cinnamon Crumble cereal
So meal planning…. I don’t think anyone will be coming to me for ideas this week. I am not even sure when I will be out of my kitchen depending on if it’s one of the first or last things to be packed up. So, here are the rest of my clean the cupboard ideas. We will be eating on the road starting on Thursday of this week so I will have to skip meal planning until we get settled again. Wish us luck! 6-7 day road trip with 3 young kids….should be full of excitement. Then we will stay in temporary lodging until we find our new rental house. Washington here we come!!!!!
Sunday
Chicken Cacciatore with Orzo, Roasted Potatoes (have some I need to use up), Any frozen veggies left
Monday
Leftovers
Tuesday
Egg Tacos, Sauteed Peppers and Onions, Fruit
Wednesday
Packers will stay late- not sure?
Thursday
On the road- probably Subway or Panera
Friday
On the road- ??
Saturday
On the road ??
See I told you this week’s meal planning would be pretty sad!
Questions: Have you ever taken a long road trip with little kids? What are you meal planning for this week? Any tips for me as I try to feed the family on the road for 7+ days???
Disclaimer: I was sent free samples of Kashi cereal, snack bars and Sun-Maid raisins to try. All opinions expressed, as always, are my own.
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We drove with our kids to Wisconsin fromTexas when they were around the age of your kids. I purchased treats ( fun snacks they would like, games, toys, new movies, etc. and hid them in a bag. Every morning they would get a new big prize a new movie or game doe their leapsters etc. I would also had littler ones through out the day when they would be doing well etc. Made the trip more manageable. They had someone to look forward too. I also packed other healthy snacks and toys. We did a lot of sit down restaurants on the road. It gave the kids time to not be confined in a car sear. Also we did some subway and then found a field or a park so they could run and get out of their seats for awhile. Good luck with the trip and the transition. Here or our plans for the week.
Sun- kids at mil Greg and I eat out. I had a bad day this week feeling very underappreciated so my sweet hubby arranged a shopping date for the two of us:). I love that guy.
Mon- roasted redskin potatoes, sweet potatoes, and asparagus. Pan seared mahi mahi.
Tues- our kids school is doing a family fun and food trucks night so we will eat there.
Wed- quinoa stuffed peppers fruit or salad
Thurs- leftovers or salad bar
Fri- pizza
Sat- grilled cheese with fruit and veggies
Thanks for the tips Gretchen! I like the idea of keeping the new things hidden and unveiling each day. I already some new goodies so I can do that. How did the shopping trip go? That is so very sweet of your hubby. 😉
The trip went great! Got a lot of much needed new clothes. Since u have lost about 15 lbs with my plant based diet. My clothing options were very limited. It is nice to no longer fell like my pants will literally fall off.
the cereal and yogurt does look like a perfect snack!
I had to demo Kashi’s new steamer dinners, and they were a huge hit. I still want to try those banana chocolate chip bars. I saw them in the store not too long ago and I’ve been meaning to demo them!
On long trips I typically make LARGE batches of my granola, and pack lots of fruits like bananas and apples, which don’t melt or go bad too fast. And, while on the road, Subway is the number one stop we make!!
Oh good to hear re the Kashi frozen meal. I have a coupon to try one. I am curious as to how it’s different than a regular frozen entree. Yes, we will be eating a lot of subway! Luckily the kids like it a lot. 😉