Shelf Stable/Car Safe Snacks

ftsolk

I am on week 2 of my 12 week goal to loosely track my food and record the times I eat each meal. It's helping me become more aware of why I eat what I eat, and I'm making a few minor adjustments as a result. For example, I noticed that Wednesdays, I eat dinner earlier than I do on other days. This, not only, means I eat less (due to a lack of hunger, but other social stresses as well), but it also means I'm STARVING around the time I go to bed. This, in turn, leads to increased hunger on Thursday. Therefore, I'm going to try delaying dinner by 20-30 minutes. Rather than eating as soon as I get to church, I'll wait a little while before going down the line.

I also have realized that, while I can go a while between meals, if I go too long, I will be hungrier during the rest of the day (and even beyond that). Thursday, I had lunch around 1:30, but dinner was at 10pm due to a semi-last minute trip to meet Candace Cameron Bure. I have decided that I need to have some options for emergency snacks that I can keep on hand in case dinner is unexpectedly delayed. I want some ideas for healthy (based on a lack of artificial ingredients- not necessarily lack of calories or fat, etc) snacks that can be kept in the car for an extended period of time.

I will always try to supplement with fresh fruits/vegetables when possible (ie: grabbing a banana to have with a packet of Almond Butter that I keep in my glove compartment), but that won't always be the case. I'm also aware of certain days where I'll definitely be needing a snack between meals (Wednesday nights starting in September; they don't served dinner at church, and I go out for dinner on alternating weeks). In those cases, I'll usually prepare a snack in advance that may require refrigeration or an ice pack.

Any ideas? So far, I've come up with:

-Kind & Strong Bars (my favorite flavor Kind Bars have chocolate, so I'll save those for the winter)
-Larabars (Apple Pie is my favorite)
-Baggies of nuts (Pistachios are my favorite, but they can be a trigger, so I'm nervous about those)
-Freeze-dried fruit
-Packets of nut butters (for use in cases where I can buy an apple or banana, etc)

(I'm also being careful to make sure that I'm not stocking up on snacks that I will be tempted to eat just because they are there; I want these to be snacks that I will only eat if I am legitimately hungry. Therefore, a Larabar or dry roasted almonds would probably be wiser than a Kind Bar or Pistachios.)

Tubbs216

Beef jerky!

vgnfarmer

I buy grapefruits and sunflower seeds because I don't REALLY like them (they are good but not great) but will eat if really hungry. I tried keeping almonds in the car but I ate them all...

zoeysasha37

Oh @Alluminati ...............lol

firephoenix8

I like the brown rice Triscuits, they are heavy and have some protein and so crunchy it's hard to want more than six. I put them in baggies sometimes, with six already laid out.

You can also keep your kind bars etc in your purse rather than the car to help with the heat issue.

Personally I plan on having two snacks a day-to-day one mid morning and one mid afternoon, if I'm trying to eat healthy, and fill it in on my weekly planner when I'm doing my grocery planning just like everything else. I think it's supposed to be healthier to eat at least a little bit more often? You can always flip flop afternoon snack with dinner on days dinner is earlier.

LaurenNotLaura

You can make little trail mix baggies. Some dried fruits, nuts, seeds, popcorn, etc.

kshama2001

ftsolk wrote: »

...(I'm also being careful to make sure that I'm not stocking up on snacks that I will be tempted to eat just because they are there; I want these to be snacks that I will only eat if I am legitimately hungry. Therefore, a Larabar or dry roasted almonds would probably be wiser than a Kind Bar or Pistachios.)

I'm not especially fond of Kashi mocha bars, but will eat them when I'm really hungry, so buy them for away-from-home emergencies.

princessbride42

We like bison bars (think less dehydrated jerky) and bearded brothers bars (similar to Lara bars but yummier).

Alluminati

thorsmom01 wrote: »

Oh @Alluminati ...............lol

oh_happy_day

Jerky. Nuts. Air popped popcorn.

SaffronSunrise

Those packets of tuna are handy to have around.

Blueseraphchaos

Make granola and portion it out.

Or take some time and make some 2 or 3 ingredient peanut butter oatmeal cookies, although you'd have to bake them. (my recipe is unbaked, but that would not go over well in a car or purse.)

You follow 100 days of real food, correct? Check out her blog for snacks you can take on the go, and then think outside the box. Apples are easy if the car doesn't get to be 100 degrees lol.

ftsolk

firephoenix8 wrote: »

I like the brown rice Triscuits, they are heavy and have some protein and so crunchy it's hard to want more than six. I put them in baggies sometimes, with six already laid out.

You can also keep your kind bars etc in your purse rather than the car to help with the heat issue.

Personally I plan on having two snacks a day-to-day one mid morning and one mid afternoon, if I'm trying to eat healthy, and fill it in on my weekly planner when I'm doing my grocery planning just like everything else. I think it's supposed to be healthier to eat at least a little bit more often? You can always flip flop afternoon snack with dinner on days dinner is earlier.

I kinda end up doing that. I usually like eating dessert at least an hour or two after dinner. Today, for example, I met up with some old friends for dinner at Panera (half salad with strawberries, pineapple, blueberries, spinach, romaine, field greens, olive oil, and white peach balsamic vinegar; and a BBQ chicken flat bread- I brought my own dressing since I can't eat the Poppyseed dressing the salad comes with). After a break for a short Bible study, we went to a bake shop where I had a couple mini tarts.

However, on nights when my friend and I go out after church, we eat dinner around 9pm. That's late enough that I don't really feel like having a dessert or snack later on (though, we DID split a piece of cake last time we went out back in June. That was a special circumstance, as we were celebrating my Birthday).

As far as keeping the bars in my purse, I'd rather not do that. If I'm driving, I can usually postpone the impulse to eat- even if it's just by planning on stopping somewhere for a snack/meal. However, keeping a snack with me at all times will make me more likely to eat it- even if I'm not hungry. In cases like these, I wish I could keep yogurt in my car. I haven't been able to manage to comfortably walk around eating yogurt- unless it's in a pouch or squeeze tube. At least, then, it would force me to sit down and enjoy the food to some degree. It's not something I can just eat for the sake of eating.

MakePeasNotWar

What about Wasa crisp breads (assuming they're not just a Canadian thing)? They are reasonably filling, but not really tempting because they taste a lot like cardboard. Melba toast might also work, though it does taste better than the Wasa

Raw unsalted nuts and seeds may be easier to control than roasted and salted as well. They don't taste bad, but they aren't nearly as yummy.

azulvioleta6

STARVING? Really?

My experience is that very few things survive the extremes of heat, cold and humidity of a car trunk for more than a couple of months. I can't keep things in my purse either as they get beat up before I remember to eat them.

Sometimes stopping at the grocery store for a piece of fruit or a cup of yogurt works better. Identifying restaurants that have workable options is another thing to consider. My

For me, carrying some sporks, a knife, napkins, handi-wipes and paper plates in my trunk has worked out better in the long run than stockpiling food.

Hunger is not an emergency. It can usually wait until you get home or get to a store.

tomatoey

If you're that hungry, maybe your daily calorie intake target could be slightly increased, so you're a bit more satisfied at meals. Are you doing -2lbs/week? If so, would reduce the deficit to -1 or -.5 lbs. Also would play around a bit with protein, fat, fiber to maximize satiety.

Delaying and overly restricting when I am actually hungry just sets me up for the opposite of success. Like I actually have never been able to do that for longer than a couple of hours. However, I still successfully lost over 50 lbs, by keeping a very small deficit and exercising lots.

tomatoey

But ok for snack ideas - I recently discovered Bio Protein bars, which are not terrible (for protein bars). Still, that's 320 calories I'd rather have in burger form (as in 320 extra calories allotted to a meal that is a burger).

tomatoey

I hear you on the wishing yogurt were more portable, though (I also wish the same for cottage cheese).

Blueseraphchaos

tomatoey wrote: »

If you're that hungry, maybe your daily calorie intake target could be slightly increased, so you're a bit more satisfied at meals. Are you doing -2lbs/week? If so, would reduce the deficit to -1 or -.5 lbs. Also would play around a bit with protein, fat, fiber to maximize satiety.

Delaying and overly restricting when I am actually hungry just sets me up for the opposite of success. Like I actually have never been able to do that for longer than a couple of hours. However, I still successfully lost over 50 lbs, by keeping a very small deficit and exercising lots.

She doesn't count calories. I'd describe what she does as a combination of "clean eating" (i know that term is rife with controversy, but yeah) and intuitive eating.

Ninkyou

Stop at a McDonald's and get a Fruit & Yogurt Parfait for $1? I mean, that's pretty fast, portable and generally there's a McDonald's every 3 miles or so (lol). Even though you don't want to count calories, it's only 150 calories and has fresh fruit mixed in and a packet of granola to add to it. It's cheap and tasty.

Why not keep snack bars in your car trunk or glove box instead of your purse? Why do snacks have to be in your purse at all?

IMO, you should always have a bottle of water and a snack in your car in case of an emergency (you know, a REAL emergency, like a flat tire on the interstate or turnpike and you're waiting 5 hours for a tow truck or AAA).

There are sooooooooo many options. Just ask anyone that has gone camping and I'm sure you'll find tons of ideas.

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airbent

Just whatever you do don't put quest bars in the car...so expensive, so melty.

WinoGelato

OP as usual I think you may be overthinking things but...

I keep snacks in my glove box for my kids who are apparently incapable of surviving the 10 min car ride home without something to tide them over... I would get some of those 100 Cal snack packs of crackers, pretzels, etc. in fall and winter those squeeze pouches of applesauce are good too.

I also agree with proportioned baggies of popcorn, trail mix, nuts, etc.

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