Traveling

WFPB Toddler Friendly Snacks

Hello everyone! Today I am very excited to share with you my favorite 20+ WFPB Toddler Friendly Snacks for traveling (or any day really!)

I was missing so much to write another travel related post and decided to focus on vegan snacks that are toddler friendly.

I don’t know about you, but my 4 year old eats like a adult, specially when traveling; and because I don’t like most of the vegan options that are usually available on airports (lots of bread, tasteless veggies, fried foods and sweets) I wanted to make my own list of toddler’s friendly snacks, to serve as a reminder to myself that THERE ARE BETTER OPTIONS, and also to help you overcome your own snack-blockage with some amazing whole food Plant-Based ideas.

As you can see from the chart below, a few of these snacks involve a little bit of cooking (nothing out of this world so don’t panic!). For those, I link to the easy recipe so that you can make them yourself.

Of course, you can buy those few cooked items; which I don’t personally prefer because some products tend to be heavy on sugar and additives. Only exception to this rule for me will be hummus, because the store-bought version is more stable out of the fridge. Anyways, sometimes you cannot beat convenience so, if you can find healthy options on your local grocery store or you don’t mind, the choice is yours.

These WFPB snacks are so delicious you’ll have to remember to share with your toddler. Seriously! Or, maybe you should pack double servings! lol

Last but not least, because some of this snacks are fresh fruits, I suggest you have on hand some small containers so you don’t end up with fruit puree on your bag. Below you can find some of the more recommended on Amazon.


20+ WFPB Toddler Friendly Snacks for Air Travel

  1. Strawberries
  2. Plums
  3. Blueberries
  4. Hummus or Coconut Butter
  5. Tortilla Chips. Use plain tortillas and bake them for a few minutes until golden.
  6. Roasted Potatoes. Toss a few spices over your potatoes cubes or wedges (I usually use salt + pepper + Za’atar, or salt + pepper + turmeric + paprika or salt + garlic powder + paprika. Bake in a preheated oven at 245°C (475°F) until golden brown.
  7. Baby Cucumber
  8. Grape Tomatoes
  9. Carrot sticks
  10. Chocolate Chia Pudding. The easiest of all puddings on earth! Just mix, shake and refrigerate. You can also make Chia Jam by adding chia seeds to your favorite fruit puree.
  11. Bananas. Alway a favorite!
  12. Dry Roasted Nuts & Seeds. Another must. Just eat in moderation.
  13. Rice Cakes. Don’t know what these have but lately they are a favorite.
  14. Nut/Seeds Butter. Always good to add some protein and healthy fats to your fruits and veggies.
  15. Dairy-Free Pudding. I love love love this coconut pudding! So easy to make, flavorful and you just need a handful of ingredients! This one in particular is made with coconut milk which makes it extra creamy, but you can of course use another plant based milk and add some melted semi sweet chocolate for added yumminess.
  16. Semi Sweet Chocolate. This is another must! I mean, I either enjoy semi sweet chocolate than those extra sugary sweets on board. I particularly love 74% Chocolate Bar I find in my local grocery store and the 70% Lindt Excellence Chocolate Bar
  17. Plantain Chips are a fav here (platano power! lol) but if you prefer use plain potato chips.
  18. Popcorn. If you are not a fan like me, use dry roasted chickpeas.
  19. Chocolate Chunks Cookies.
  20. Energy Balls. This are probably the easiest and yummiest of all energy balls I’ve tasted. Don’t have honey, maple or rice malt syrup? Add soaked (in hot water) medjool dates to bind everything together.
  21. Banana Bread Muffins. Our mega easy banana bread recipe just got better made in a muffin pan! 😛 Want an even more delicious banana bread? Add chocolate chips or chunks! Yum!

And, this is it! My favorites WFPB Toodler Friendly Snacks for air travel. Share your all time favorite WFPB snack with us, in the comment section below. We are always looking forward to your ideas!

Don’t forget to follow on instagram & pinterest! If you love this post, don’t be shy and share it with your friends and family this way we can continue make more posts like this! Tried one of these snacks? or have a wonderful idea? tag us with #kasheribbean so we can see what you came up with!!

Until next time!

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4 Easy & Travel-Friendly Meals that will Survive a Long-Haul Flight

A few weeks ago I returned from another long haul flight, and because of previous bad experiences and mistakes with my kosher meals, I wanted to do things differently this time; I decided I was going to prepare my own meals to take on the plane in case there was another mistake. But because not all food can be in optimal condition for long hours without refrigeration, I needed to pick wisely. Today I’ll share with you 4 travel-friendly meals that will survive your next long flight!

It was the third time traveling with this particular airline and they have already forgotten twice to order my kosher meal, so I planned to make food for an army because we are talking about an 8+ hours flight and I am travelling but a boy that eats like an adult sometimes. At first I wasn’t sure, but when I arrived to the airport and I was told the flight was delayed almost 2.5 hours plus the voucher given to us needed to be redeemed at another area of the airport (I needed to pass security again and we were already tired!…No thank you!), I knew it was actually a good thing. We had a lovely dinner at the airport and we still had food for the plane. Yay!

You probably may be thinking, why would I bother to cook when I can just buy whatever on the airport or just bring snacks?

Well, if you follow the blog for a while you know I love to have my snacks ready for traveling (You can see what I usually pack for snacking in this post and this one) but this time I wanted FOOD (You know what I mean? I wanted salty-satisfying homemade food, not just easy to chew snacks or fruits). I bothered to cook because usually the options at the airports are very limited (usually to bread and flour in every form possible and sugary stuff), and the “healthy” food is usually just salads (something that I can make at home for 1/3 of the price!)

Things to consider when cooking your own food for the plane

There are a few things you need to consider when traveling with food:

  1. Take food that can do well for a long time without refrigeration like pastas, rice, potatoes and some veggies like blanched or roasted broccoli and carrots as well as whole grape tomatoes.
  2. Don’t go overboard with smelly stuff: You certainly can use spices and herbs (nobody wants bland food!) but try not to use ingredients that you can smell a mile away like smoked anything, or fish, or onions and garlic.
  3. Limit your sauces: You cannot pass liquids through security so make sure whatever you are bringing has minimum liquids and they are in containers no more than 150 ml.

Now, let’s talk about the meals. So far I have tried these ones:

Roasted Potatoes & Chicken (or meat substitute)

For this meal I seasoned the potatoes with salt, black pepper and turmeric and added 1 tablespoon of olive oil. I then roast the potatoes for 30-40 minutes or until they were cooked through (and I would say a bit soft). Let cool down completely and store in the fridge until ready to go. I cut my potatoes not too thick not too thin, so they cooking time may vary depending how you cut. You want your potatoes to be thick enough that they will hold the shape and thin enough that they will be soft when thawed ( because nobody wants to eat dry-cold-hard roasted potatoes that could cut your throat. lol)

For the chicken breast, I seasoned with salt, pepper, soy sauce and paprika and let marinate overnight (if don’t have time just mix well and cook right away). I oven baked it this time but you can pan fried, steam it or whatever method you prefer.

This meal passed the taste very well. I even had leftovers that I ate at home once I arrived from the airport 😛

Basmati Rice & Veggie Burger (or some random meat)

For this meal I coked basmati rice with turmeric (I love it!), curry and chickpeas and serve it with a vegan burger I found at the grocery store. I originally made the rice plain because I wanted to make sure it would last long hours, but it looked so boring and unappetizing so I ended up making another batch of this yellow rice. You can also add roasted cashews to add some crunch (I will add them when ready to eat) and I garnished with some parsley to give it a pop of color. I won’t recommend making rice with certain legumes, like beans or sweet peas, because if the weather is too humid they can go bad. I like the chickpeas and cashews (or roasted almonds) for this rice because they hold very well and will make your rice delicious.

If you have on hand, you can use couscous or quinoa instead of rice and if you prefer, you can make some boneless chicken tights or chicken breast or even vegan meatballs (like Gardein) instead of the veggie burger.

Mashed Potatoes with Cheese

This is one of the combos that never gets old and what I personally call “the lazy combo” haha. I mashed the potatoes with cream cheese, salt, and a little bit of black pepper and topped with some cheese slices. I doesn’t looks so fancy but it made my cheesy dreams come true, plus you can eat it cold or at room temperature.

Marinara or Pesto Pasta with Almond Meal (Vegan)

For this occasion I made the super easy Sweet Potato & Tomato Pasta Sauce to which I added almond meal. I am a fan of almond meal because it gives such a nice flavor and texture to pasta dishes (no wonders why italians use nuts in their pesto! Yum!) Also, it adds on protein and healthy fats and it makes it very satisfying. I love Anthony’s Brand almond meal (have been using it for years now! Delicious!)

I like to cook my pasta al dente, add some pasta sauce (I haven’t tried pesto pasta for travelling but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work)

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Believe or not, this time the airline didn’t forget my special meal but unfortunately the food was too spicy for me or my son to eat (I am allergic to hot peppers!!) I finally realized bringing my own food was a good idea; I placed my favorite over the mini table and enjoyed it while watching Sherlock Holmes.

What about you? Have you ever brought homemade meals to the airplane? What are your favorite ones? Let us know in the comment section below and don’t forget to follow on instagram and pinterest. We appreciate your support!

Until next time!

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A Quick Summer Vacation Memoir {Plus, My Favorite Snacks for Air Travel}

Hi There!

Finally back to the habit of writing after a few weeks without posting…So sorry about that! (after 3 weeks on vacation on USA, I came home to find a dead laptop (that finally decided to turn on last week) and 2 days after that, a broken smartphone. Well, I’m still trying to find a good deal on the “right phone” which apparently is like seeing a shooting star, but hopefully, we are going to start posting regularly again soon! 🙂 Enough tragedy for now… lol.. Let’s move on…

It might sound crazy what I am about to say but there is something fascinating about the whole travelling experience that gets me excited. I don’t know if it is the fact that I am learning something new, or that I want to push myself to do certain things differently (like packing lighter and lighter every time, or finding healthy foods for travelling…) or just the fact of being on another country and experience a different culture, but it is just SOOO cool! 🙂 I was also very excited to see my mother-in-law and finally eat proper caribbean food not cooked by me. Wohoo!

On our way to USA we spent one day in Berlin. The trip is just 1 hour by airplane so, even though I took my healthy snacks with me, we didn’t eat that much. Once in Berlin, I had the opportunity to finally meet a facebook friend, we have being fb friends for around 5 or 6 years. She kindly spent the day with us and showed us a few city landmarks. We went to The Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag which is home for the Parliment now, and to the Memorial of the Murdered Jews of Europe (picture below).

Then, our friend invited us to an extravagant hindu restaurant where I had the most amazing vegan meal I’ve ever tasted: Vegetables Tutong; which is a blend of vegetables (mine had brocooli, potatoes and peppers) in a massaman curry with coconut milk and roasted peanuts. Oh my! It was so delicious that I almost ate the bowl, lol. I will have to make a rendition of this in the near future because it seems to be easy and honestly so filling and yummy.

After that, we headed to the Fernsehturm, close to Alexanderplatz which is now a radio station and is the tallest building in Germany (It was surreal looking it from the ground because I could see it from the airplane! O.o)

 

It was a long day, we walked a lot so we were really tired, but before heading to our airbnb room (Did you know that airbnb is awesome solution for people traveling on a budget? We have had a great experince so far!), we stopped by the supermarket to replenish our snacks vault for next day long flight. So, This is a ”sample” of what I prepared for snacking:

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Cakes Slices / Muffins
I had already on hand some pieces of cakes (2 fruit cake slices (made with plums) and 2 coconut cake slices) that our lovely friend who took us to the airport in amsterdam gave us early that day. What I loved about these cake slices is that they were homemade and had just the right amount of sweetness. Also, because they were made with a lot of plums and the other one coconut, they were an excellent source of fiber, which for me is great 😛

Fresh Fruits
To those cake slices I summed up a couple of fresh fruits.

– Bananas (I got 6): I love bananas for travelling because they are like a complete meal and my son loves them too so I always take some bananas. Only con is that they can be smashed easily if you just throw them in your bag. To avoid this what I do is I store them in a plastic bag and then, I put them on top of everything else in my personal bag.

– Apples (I got 3): Apples are probably the most travel friendly snack because they can survive almost any condition of temperature and you can just throw them as is on your bag without them getting all smashed.

– Grapes: (I got 1Kg Seedless Grapes): Grapes are just super travel friendly as well, easy to transport and eat withput getting all messed up.

– On our travel back to holland I packed the same fruits mentiones before plus some kiwis

– On our return flight I also grabbed 1kg of fresh cherries which I recently discovered that 21 cherries (which is A LOT) are just 100 calories. They are full of vitamin C, full of flavor and delicious.

Roasted Nuts / Seeds

Roasted almonds are definitely one of my favorite healthy snacks. They, again, are super travel-friendly and of course very nutritious. They provide you with energy, plant-based protein and healthy fats. Of course you can replace almonds with your favorite nut / seeds of a blend (My favorite Almonds, cashews, walnuts and Macadamia)

Cookies / Crakers:

– Store-bought Coconut Cookies (hubby’s favorite): Well, this are not a “healthy option” but is just something I grabbed from the supermarket to please my husband, but of course they are tons of healthy options out there. Look on the health isle or the protein isle on the supermarket.

With those healthy snacks we always have more than enough snacks to survive. It is not like we want to stuff ourselves with all that food but I just want to make sure we have enough in case our son don’t want to eat the meal on-board (he is usually vegan and extreme in his choices) 🙂 Anyways, As for today we never have gone out of healthy snacks while travelling, on the contrary! (usually we have fruits left lol)

Good to see and feel a poweful sunny day when we arrived to Miami. It was much needed after spending a rainy day in Berlin.

So, this is all for today guys!
Now tell me, what healthy snack do you prefer while traveling? Let us know in the comment section below and on instagram! 🙂

Until next time…

 

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8 Tips for a Babyproof Air Travel

Tips for a Peaceful & Babyproof Air Travel

 If you’ve been following along on instagram, you know that I had a family reunion in Israel (Mom is still there! Yup!) for Passover. We had so much fun! We visited so many places, ate so many delicious foods, made new friends, and spent the most amazing Passover together! It was such an incredible experience for me. Still surreal!… Anyways, we are back home and somehow I kept thinking about how easy, peaceful and enjoyable traveling experiences I have had so far, so I want to share with you those little things that have made it possible for me, and hopefully some of it will be helpful for you as well. Let’s get to it. These are my 10 Tips for a Peaceful and Babyproof air travel.

10 Tips for a Peaceful and Babyproof air travel.

aircraft cabin, airplane cabin, airplane-5535467.jpg

See the moment in advance:

It may sound weird, but visualizing the whole process beforehand has worked wonders for me, as it allows me to arrange things in my mind in a way that “works” for me.  One of the things that might be overlooked before traveling is, for example, folding the stroller; so I fold the stroller a couple of times, that way I can oil it if it needs to, and avoid delays and awkwardness on the gate. 

Keep essential documents handy

Make sure you keep your essential travel documents in an easy access pocket that makes sense for you (I like to keep mind in the front pocket of my purse or backpack), that way you can take it easily when requested. 

Give yourself plenty of time

When you are traveling with kids is better to arrive at the airport with pleeenty of time  (and I mean “plenty”!). This will allow you to navigate the airport with and security your kids without rushing, have peaceful eating time and last minute visits to the restroom without stressing out about losing your flight.

Invite the kids to the bathroom a couple of times before boarding:

On-board restrooms can’t be used until after the flight has take off, so when traveling with kids, it’s important to invite them to use the toilet before boarding to avoid discomfort.

Whenever possible, check-in online

Keep in mind that no all flights allow you to check-in online, but if they allow it, do it. Make sure you abide by the airline rules and luggage dimensions to avoid delays, as some airlines still check the luggage size/weight, and will make you pay at the gate if yours is over the limits. 

Bring enough travel-friendly heathy foods and snacks:

I usually have a selection of my go-to travel-friendly snacks which are, but are not limited to, grapes, grape tomatoes (usually sweeter than cherry tomatoes), roasted nuts and seeds, some crackers or chips, digestive cookies, or granola bars. Apples are amazing snack for travel, because they keep really well and are usually kid-friendly. Cheese cubes or sticks pair well with any of the things previously mentioned (crackers, fruits, nuts…). Homemade or store-bought sandwiches and wraps are also great. Don’t forget to always carry extra formula (liquid or powder if traveling with babies) and an empty reusable bottle to keep you hydrated at all times.

Dress comfortably:

Make sure you dress your kids with comfortable clothes and shoes for the flight. Also, always have a change of clothes for each kid, in case of accidents or spills. It can happen. I like to keep the change of clothes handy in a front pocket if possible, I also bring them inside ziplock bags, where I can also put away the dirty clothes. 

Drink enough water

I can’t stress this enough. It is important to drink plenty of water , to stay hydrated and calm, as well as avoid bloating and headaches, if you are prone tho those events (like me!). Also, remember to bring an empty reusable bottle (I like to use my stainless steel bottles that keep water cold for 12+ hours) to fill up after you have passed through security and before boarding. 

If you can travel at night... do it!

This is a lifesaver, specially if you are traveling with kids. Children can get irritable and very tired during their time at the airport, and I find it less overwhelming when I know there’s a good chance they will eat dinner on the play and quickly falling sleep. Been able to sleep on their natural schedule can makes the whole experience less problematic and stressful for children and adults alike, and reduces jet lag too. 

For long flights, bring a tablet of old smartphone

I still remember my first trip with my toddler. I brought all off-screen entertainment I could think of, since it was a 10 hrs flight, which rob me of precious space in my luggage and, what did my son use at the end? Maybe  1 or 2. So, for the next flights I only brought a tablet. It can fit comfortably in a backpack, purse or luggage, and you can load it in advance with interactive games, ebooks, movies, to fit your child’s needs and likes. 

Make sure to bring children's headphones

Always encourage your kids to use headphones to avoid  disturbing other passengers when watching movies or playing games.

Prepare for ear discomfort

Take off and landing can be very uncomfortable for kids, especially because of ear discomfort. One of the most common ways to avoid it is by chewing gums and swallow frequently. These methods open the eustachian tube, allowing air to flow and equalizing pressure. Yawning and using noise-cancelling headphones or earplugs are other ways to relieve any discomfort. 

Don't rush your way in or out

If I have to choose one of the most annoying things on the planet while traveling, I’d say it is the impatient people that stand up as soon as the airplane has landed, but before it has come to a full stop. They often rush to the hall, and to pick up their luggage, and make the hall jam-packed, like sardines in a can. It always makes me wonder, why the rush?

I understand you just want to get out the tight space, breath and stretch your legs. You might even have just a connecting flight soon after landing, which by the way, is a huge mistake (delays, anyone?); but again, if you are already late for your next flight, why the rush? Being impatient is not going to help you, specially if you are traveling with kids. Keep your glamour standards high next time you feel the need to run in your way out of an airplane, and just wait until the hall is comfortably cleared, so that nobody is trying to get their luggage too close to your head, or pushing you on the way out, which can lead to someone accidentally hurting you, or your child. 

There you have it, 10+ tips for a peaceful and babyproof air travel. Is there anything I missed? Let me know in the comment section below so I can add it to the survival list! And don’t forget to follow us on Instagram & Pinterest for more! 

Until next time,

Hannah

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