7 Ways to Stay Healthy While Traveling & Healthy Snacks on the Go

It's that time of year again. The kids are out of school, the weather is gorgeous and you're ready to pack up and take a vacation. I can hear the beach calling my name right now.

Costa Rica anyone?

This is a picture from the boat of the sunset cruise in Tamarindo when I went a few years ago.

I wish I was there right now!

Maybe next year. But, when you do set off on vacation especially when its a road trip, how do you continue to eat healthy and stick to your clean diet? I know I certainly don't stop at road side McDonald's among other gross fast food stops and eat greasy food, but unfortunately, most of the time that's all there is to be found. It seem's like no one is looking out for the mindful eater. Let's face it, fast-food restaurants are called fast-food for a reason, the food is almost always full of bad fats, high levels of sodium,preservatives, artificial flavours, and empty calories -and let's not forget about portion distortion. Even their "healthy options" aren't exactly nourishing.

That's why I'd like to share with you today my favourite healthy travel tips and tricks and also some great snacks that are portable and easy to take with you while you're on the go.

With a little bit of effort and planning you'll be on your way.

Tips and Tricks to Stay Healthy While Traveling:

• Start your day by eating breakfast and avoid excess sugar. This will get your metabolism going first thing.
• Drink plenty of water.  I can't underestimate the importance of this one. It keeps you hydrated, keeps your body running smoothly and also helps to detox.
• Pack a cooler with healhty food before you leave home. 
• Find the local grocery stores or farmers markets. Summer is a great time to hit up the local farmers markets and almost every community has one. You can pick up fresh fruits and pre-cut veggies, and stock-up your hotel mini bar with them.
• Choose healthy options while dining out. Being on vacation doesn't mean you have to splurge at every meal. Eat like you would if you were enjoying a meal at home. Enjoy your time with the people you are dining with.
• Incorporate some fun activities for exercise. Take walks on the beach with your family as a way to start or end the day, find bike or hiking trails, explore the area by foot. The list can be endless!
• Enjoy and indulge in a treat. Everyone loves a good ice cream, and eating out at restaurants is all part of the fun of going on vacation so don't beat yourself up about it, just be mindful and keep a balance. Have something you really want and enjoy every bite. Have fun and relax, you will get back to your regular clean eating when you get home.

Healthy Snacks For the Car:

• Fresh-cut veggies. Remember that cooler I told you to pack, well this is where it comes in. Fresh cut veggies are great portable snacks when they're cut into small bites. Remember the ice packs to help keep them fresh.
• Sandwiches made with baked or grilled chicken breast and mustard or natural peanut butter/ almond butter and homemade chia jam or sliced bananas. These can be cut into triangles for snacking.
• All Natural Nut Butters.
• Individual containers of oats. All you have to do is add a cup of hot water cover it back over and wait 5-10 minutes and viola, oatmeal on-the-go. Add some fresh fruit and nut butter or protein powder.
• Whole grain crackers or tortilla chips. 
• Homemade humus, guacamole, or salsa. All great condiments that are clean eating.
• Low-fat mozzarella string cheese. A great source of calcium and protein.
• Mini yogurts. Also a great source of calcium and protein.
• Hard boiled eggs. The perfect portable protein
• Fresh fruit. Apples, bananas, pears, peaches, grapes, oranges, apricots, cherries, berries of all kind are the perfect hand sized portable snack.
• Individual bags of mixed dried fruit and nuts. Great sources of healthy fats and fiber, and even protein. Almonds, walnuts, brazil nuts, raisins, dried apricots, cranberries, dates. You can even add some healthy dark chocolate chips and make it a real trail mix!
• Lara Bars. These are a little high in sugars but the ingredients are all real foods. No preservatives.
• Vega also has some great on the go products that I sometimes buy like their Vibrancy Bars, energizing smoothie snack packs (individually packaged - all you have to do is and it to juice or water), and their savi seed are a great healthy superfood snack rich in nutrients. I really like Vega because they base all their products on real whole foods and use no strange ingriendents. They are also completely Vegan. If you're interested in finding out more about them, their web site is full of info.

Here are a couple of other great snack recipes that you can make at home:

How To: Roast Red Peppers

I never used to like peppers very much. For the longest time I used to think the only way to eat a pepper was raw. Yuck! That was before I learned how to roast them. I'll admit some raw peppers are alright, but seriously, why would you want to eat them raw when you can roast them? If you've never done this before then you really have to try it. The flavour and texture turn tender and sweet. Once you've tasted fresh roasted red pepper you will never settle for the jarred kind again.

There are a few different methods for roasting bell peppers depending on what type of cooking appliance you have handy. You can grill them straight on the BBQ or use your gas stove burner, but I'm going to show you what I find to be the easiest, less messiest way -roasting them in the oven under the broiler.

All you'll need is a red pepper, a sharp knife, some foil or a foil plate, zip-loc bag and of course your oven.

Ready? Set?

Grab your knife and let's get started!

To roast, first set your oven to broil, then take a pepper and slice the top off as shown:

Now run your knife down the inside of the pepper along the white spongy membrane. You should then be able to detach the seeds using your fingers. Just give it a little twist and pull. It should pop out easily intact with little to no mess.

Huzzah! You've now successfully de-seeded a pepper.

Slice it in half, then lay each skin side up on the cutting board and press down with the palm of your hand to squish the pepper flat.

Squish!

Place each pepper skin side up on a long sheet of foil or a foil plate.

It's time to roast! Place them in the preheated oven and let roast until the skin turns black and blistery. Keep a watchful eye and pay attention to it for the next 10-15 minutes.

Remove them from the oven and place them in a sealed zip-lock bag (perfect for easy clean up, you just have the bag to throw away when your are done). Let them sit for 15 minutes. This will allow steam to build up in the bag, causing the skin of the pepper to lift away.

Once they've rested remove them from the bag and peel off the skin using your fingers.

Viola, perfectly roasted bell peppers every time!

Enjoy them on salad or pizza, in sandwiches, pastas, stir-fry's, quinoa and rice pilafs, or even on their own. You can puree them into sauces, add them to salsa or soup...the list goes on.

How about Rustic Kamut Spaghetti with Turkey Sausage?

They are heavenly delicious and will melt in your mouth. These are easily one of my favourite vegetables now.

This is a great method for roasting any kind of pepper. Sweet red bell peppers in particular contain almost 300 percent of your daily vitamin C intake. Yellow and green are also good sources of the antioxidant.