For a road trip, I need a lot of snacks.
Maybe it is because I have a little problem with control when it comes to food. There are many scary things out there masquerading as food that I do not want to have to eat. Or to feed to my children. I am trying to let go a little bit because it is spring break.
Tomorrow we are leaving for camp. Ski camp. We will drive all night long in vans with lots of loud teenagers plus my own kids. After several stops at fast food places that make me want to pull out my fingernails, we will finally arrive at our lodgings.
Once there, I will claim what will be my bunk for the week. There will be a large cafeteria or dining hall with food. That we eat. Every day for a week. I will not have access to a kitchen, so there are things that I simply must release.
That being said, I have spent longer today getting together the food I am taking along in the van than I have actually packing all the other necessary items our family will need for a week of skiing in Colorado.
Since spring break is sort of the season for road trips, I thought you might could use this list as well. Or at least you might want the recipe for energy bars. They are so much better than those cardboard things you can buy in the natural foods section of your grocery store.
Chino House Road Trip Snacks:
dark chocolate
carrots and celery
energy bars (recipe below)
fruit leathers
clementines and apples
almonds and omega 3 dried cranberries from trader joe’s
organic peanut butter
edamame
whole wheat orzo pasta with roasted vegetables and feta cheese, tossed with olive oil and lemon juice
various herbal tea bags
There you have it. I’m sure that at some point my food will run out and I will be forced to eat whatever happens to be available. Which we all know will not be the end of the world.
Energy Bars
3 cups puffed kashi whole grain cereal (I use Go Lean)
3/4 cup slivered almonds
3/4 cup creamy organic peanut butter
1/2 cup brown rice syrup
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)
Mix cereal and almonds
Bring peanut butter and brown rice syrup to a boil in a saucepan. allow to boil for 30 seconds. pour over cereal. mix well and press evenly into a greased 8 inch pan. bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees.
Sprinkle chocolate chips on top while pan is cooling. let the chocolate melt (5 minutes or so) and then spread evenly. allow to cool completely. you can speed this up by putting them in the fridge. turn out onto cutting board and cut into squares.
(This recipe originally called for dried fruit which you can add if you want. I took out the dried fruit and added chocolate chips which I’m sure takes the healthy factor down a notch or two. But it’s worth it. Hello. Chocolate while driving all night is so necessary!)
and here i was thinking- man, that doesn’t seem like a lot of chocolate in those bars. i’ll try mine with mini-chips to get double the impact.
[…] the kids, the food freak, and about 65 others are off to ski in Colorado – maybe I’ll hunt down a computer and post […]
wow, i can’t wait to make those bars. thanks for another great recipe.
… and do you really think it will do any good to beg anna to post?
SKI CAMP!!! Oh the memories! if you’re trying to stay awake while driving try remembering the words to Bette Midler’s song on Beaches…oh i can’t remember the name of it…do you remember? we stayed up late on the bus listening and stopping the “walkman” so we could write EVERY word to that crazy song about, well, brassiere’s!!! (sp?)
[…] had started last year about this time of things I wanted to prepare or purchase to take with us to ski camp for spring break. This month I have been a little more scatterbrained busy than last year and I have had only […]
[…] course, not all the treats are store bought. She was in charge of granola, I was in charge of energy bars. We both made cookies. Lots and lots of […]