Fueling Up With Snacks On The Go (+Giveaway)

For the past week, the girls and I have started going on walks around our neighborhood. I’ll get into the specifics in another post, because the mere fact that I’m working out with both girls, sometimes before 8 am, deserves its own post (and a high-five), but I want to talk about something else today: how to fuel up with wholesome snacks on the go.

I’ve discovered that if I actually want to get out of the house before the heat index creeps above the 100-degree mark, we have to leave well before 9 am. Maddie’s usually up around 6:30am or 7 am, so as soon as Julia’s awake I get things rolling. I change the girls’ diapers, fill up water bottles, get them strapped into the stroller, and hit the road. The only problem I have with this method is that it doesn’t leave room for breakfast—and this mama needs her fuel when she’s pushing around 75 pounds up the mountains hills in her neighborhood.

Sometimes the hardest part of being a toddler’s parent is getting her to eat. I seriously think pulling out her teeth would be easier than getting her to take a bite of something—anything—some days. What used to be her favorite food, now she won’t touch it with a ten-food pole. She could ask for something one minute and then cry her eyes out the next because she does.not.want.to.eat.at. all. Or when she does finally eat, it could literally take all night. She’s more of a grazer, but I really don’t want her to get into the habit of having a two-hour meal, because that’s not going to happen in real life.

The struggle is real.

So when we find something that she actually gobbles up and that’s nutritious, I pretty much jump for joy. That’s how I feel about these new Nature Valley Simple Nut Bars. They come in two flavors, Almond Cashew Sea Salt and Roasted Peanut Honey, and from the second Julia saw me pick them up at Publix, she asked me for one. I almost gave her one right there in the store (because if the girl wants to eat, who am I to stop her?), but dinnertime was just around the corner, so I told her the bars were a treat and she could have on the next time we go on our walk.

We usually come back inside after our walk and everyone is hangry and sweaty, so I decided to start taking snacks with us to take the edge off while we’re out, and then after I shower we make a smoothie for breakfast. I honestly think she eats better on the days we walk.

The snacks below aren’t limited to just when we’re out in the morning; they’re handy to have around all day. The best part is that they’re toddler approved—can I get an “Amen”?! I also like that the majority don’t have to be refrigerated, so I can just keep a stash with me wherever I’m on the go.

And definitely keep reading, because I have a sweet giveaway happening at the bottom of the post!

Here are our go-to, mess-free snacks on the go to keep us from getting hangry throughout the day:

Hard boiled eggs

I make a half-dozen hard-boiled eggs every Sunday to last through the week. Some mornings I slice up an egg and eat it on avocado toast, and other mornings (or afternoons) I just peel ’em, slice them in half, add a sprinkle of salt, and eat it plain. It turns out that Julia actually loves hard-boiled eggs (I think because she sees me eat them all the time and I let her help with peeling them and sprinkling on a pinch of salt), and I love that she’ll eat them since eggs are packed with protein.  (2 Weight Watchers Points+)

Goldfish

What mom doesn’t have a snack-sized bag of these cheddar treats in their purse (or in their car)? My daughter’s obsessed with them, and I’ve been known to sneak handfuls at a time for myself. They totally satisfy that salty, crunchy craving. (4 Weight Watchers Points+ for 55 pieces)

Nature Valley Simple Nut Bars

I talked about these all-natural nut bars up above, but I’m really digging them as far as a quick snack goes, especially because it fills me up for quite a while. A little more info about them: they’re gluten free, I can read and understand every single ingredient (there are only 7 ingredients total), and they taste really, really good—they’re not too sweet, but totally satisfy a sweet-tooth’s craving, they’re crunchy, gooey, and have just the right amount of salt sprinkled.

For what its worth, my favorite is their Roasted Peanut Honey, and Julia already finished a box of  the Almond Cashew Sea Salt flavor. Want to try some for yourself? If you’re a Publix shopper, here’s a coupon for you (and you should totally enter the giveaway below—hint hint)! Since these are a little hearty as far as WW points go, I usually only eat them on the days that we walk. (5 Weight Watchers Points+)

Applesauce

This goes hand-in-hand with having goldfish in your purse, but these little pouches of applesauce are way too convenient. I have a few emergency applesauce pouches stashed away in random places both for me and for Julia. While they usually take the edge off for Julia until I can find her some more substantial food, I’m typically still hungry after scarfing one down. (1-2 Weight Watchers Points+)

Fruit

Bananas, apples, berries, peaches, plums, etc. are all good choices. I usually try to eat these as soon as we leave the house, because I’m not a fan of warm fruit, and if it sits out for too long they just get hot and mushy, which is the opposite of refreshing. Julia now loves to peel her own banana now, so that’s her current favorite fruit snack. (Zero Weight Watchers Points)

Cheese sticks

Who doesn’t love cheese sticks? (I’m sorry if you’re dairy intolerant!) We usually have two kinds stocked in our fridge: a simple one for Julia (usually cheddar) and a spicy one with jalapeno for me. If I’m going to have a small snack I want it to be full of flavor. (2 Weight Watchers Points+)

Since I know I can’t be the only mom who snacks on the go, I want to give one of you $20 in PayPal cash so you can go buy yourself a box or two of Nature Valley Simple Nut Bars so you can try them for yourself. Fill out the Rafflecopter below and you’ll be on your way to (hopefully) winning some dough!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Don’t forget to check out these new nut bars from Nature Valley, and then tell me what your favorite snacks on-the-go are in the comments below!