Snacks and meals for healthy kids on the go!
As kids go back to school and all of the fall sports and extracurricular activities take over our lives, I thought it would be good to explain how we feed our boys on the go. I can honestly claim that no matter how crazy our schedules or hours have been, I have never fed my children a meal from a seller of what I consider “fast food.”
The only reason my kids even know what it tastes like is because of travel with friends or church. This was a vow I took to myself when my first son was born - no way, not ever, no how. I would find other alternatives no matter what. I am committed as a mom to cook all of our food at home.
Because we eat animal-based, meals can be as simple or as complicated as I want them to be, based on our schedule. Dinner can be a large steak, glass of raw milk, and some raw cheese and fruit. It can be hamburgers with rice cooked in bone broth.
The most complicated I will get with our dinner is tacos or spaghetti (einkorn of course), or adding a treat like my sourdough bread or raw homemade ice cream. I will cook early in the day sometimes, so that the food is ready for anyone to heat up (convection steam oven, no microwave!) as their schedule allows. I will take full meals in containers to my boys for them to eat between events. We get high quality grass-fed meat both locally and delivered (Force of Nature, ButcherBox, Beef Initiative, etc…) and firing up the Traeger grill and cooking it is easy and takes no time at all.
I also fill my kids’ backpacks with healthy snacks so that they are not looking for vending machines or buying unhealthy things from the school snack cart.
Here is a list (always check ingredients before buying!) that you can use:
Grass-fed beef sticks
Grass-fed beef jerky or biltong
Organic dried fruit (mango, apricots, raisins)
Organic cheese sticks
MASA chips (these are cooked in beef tallow)
Organic non-gmo popcorn (make sure it is cooked in coconut oil)
Organic whole fruits that travel well (oranges, apples, bananas)
Grass-fed beef liver chips (yes they are good!)
Carnivore SNAX (brisket and chuck are my kids favs)
Larabars (it is hard to find bars with no seed oils!)
You can make a quick meal out of these, and your kid will be happy and healthy and ready to tackle the next activity. But, be sure you are feeding your kids whole foods at home and at the dinner table whenever you can. Gathering as a family is a privilege that we should not take lightly, and we realize that eating in loving community as often as possible is the best way to raise thriving unstressed children who are confident in their own place in our family and the world around them.
As a mom, it is my greatest responsibility to cultivate healthy meals and to take the time to make sure I am growing the strongest children I can. You can too! All it takes is a little extra planning and determination!