Yummy local snacks that are great for travelling

Today is the day we leave for France. Hooray! We’re all quite excited, as this will be my daughter’s first trip to Europe.

Part of my preparations this week included scouting around for great local goodies to take with us on our flight. I generally don’t eat airline meals, and I definitely prefer to bring my own food from home rather than buying something at the fast food restaurants you pass by after you get through security.

Inspired by Food Babe’s recent article about healthy, organic travel goodies, I thought I would share my stash as well.

First it was off to Atherton Mill and Market and Old Store Produce, to see what I could find. Atherton Market was a treasure trove of goodies; it is also a great place to pick up a healthy prepared meal the night before a big trip. You can place an order in advance for Beverly’s Gourmet Foods, or stop in and see what she has.

I love Simply Local, and they definitely met my needs this week. Look at all of the wonderful foods they have! I especially liked the dried apples from Perry Lowe Orchards in Moravian Falls, Polka Dot bakery crackers, and the baby greens salad mix from Tega Hills Farm. You can bring your own salad dressing with you through airport security, as long as it is in a 3.4oz container or smaller. If you are travelling internationally, you will want to eat all of your fresh fruits and vegetables before landing!

Cloister Honey was my next stop, where I picked up some honey sticks for the herbal tea I’m bringing along. I always travel with my own tea (sorry, these aren’t local!), my stomach problems tend to flare when I am jet lagged and herbal tea helps calm it down. My daughter also informed me that honey sticks would be the absolute most perfect treat on the plane for her as well. They also sell the whipped honey in miniature containers; the nicely wrapped set of 3 would make a lovely gift if you often stay with friends or family when you travel.

While I didn’t buy anything this week, Nelly’s Naturals also has some wonderful options. I am a fan of her Ridiculicious stuffed organic figs and dates. Just pop them into a small ziploc bag, and they would be ready to travel! She also has a yummy selection of prepared salads and vegetable curries, although a few of these might have too much liquied to make it through airport security.

Old Store Produce in Huntersville also had some great snacks. Instead of buying a heavily processed granola bar from the grocery store or the airport convenience stores, I’d much rather nibble on the homemade ones made by A Lit’l Tate of Heaven, and sweetened with honey (and a touch of brown sugar). They also sell Fishel’s Moravian Pies, another great option for a pre-vacation meal.

This is what our stash looks like for this trip.

From left to right:

• Strawberries from our CSA share with Bell’s Best Berries
• Honey Sticks, Cloister Honey
• Granola bars, A Lit’l Taste of Heaven
• Rosemary & olive oil sweet potato crackers, Polka Dot Bake Shop
• Sea salt chocolate bar, Black Mountain Chocolate
• Carrot sticks, from CSA share
• NC sweet potato granola, Polka Dot Bake Shop (this is going into our checked luggage, not to be opened until we reach the Loire Valley and have some fresh, local yogurt in hand!)
• Toffee oatmeal cookie, Mrs. W’s
• Dried NC Limbertwig Apples

Plus some lovely lip balm from Whispering Willow.

And, the rest of our stash, consisting of non-local items, looks like this:

From left to right:

• Organic whole grain fig bars from the bulk section at Healthy Home Market
• Dehydrated green beans, also from the bulk section at Healthy Home Market
• A variety of single serve nut butters: Artisana’s organic, raw cacao bliss and cashew butter; Justin’s almond butter
• Righteously Raw ‘Caramel’ Cacao Bar
• Tea: Bigelow Sweet Dreams, Yogi Ginseng Vitality, Trader Joe’s Peppermint
• Unique brand sprouted splits pretzels
• Tasty Organic Fruit snacks
• Organic Blueberries (not pictured)
• Organic oatmeal packets (not pictured)

Put it all together, and it packs down quite small! I also put the healthiest foods on the top…so we eat that first.