Driving? Try These Take-Along Snacks

You're in the car all day it seems -- for business, chores, even vacations. It's hard to eat while on the road, much less eat right, but it can be done. So what are some good food selections for driving? Fruits and vegetables would be at the top of my list. Lower-fat dairy products work well, too (keep cold in the car, invest in a car cooler!) along with whole grains and nuts. Lean meats are a nice addition, too, if you can keep them well chilled in the car (such as a turkey breast sandwich on a whole grain bagel).

Take-Along Snacks

The following tote-able take-along snacks must be easy to carry, easy to eat on the road, (some may require being kept in an ice chest though) and be reasonably healthful. What does this mean? It means it can't have too much fat or sugar. This rules out many of the snacks we are so tempted to take with us like those crackers and cheese snacks or those gummy fruit snacks, chewy granola bars and fruit filled breakfast bars -- which list sugar as their first ingredient.

Crackers: (containing canola oil or soybean oil)

• Pretzel Rods
  3 Rods contain 120 calories, 1 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 1 g fiber
  (First three ingredients are flour, water, partially hydrogenated soybean oil)
• Reduced Fat Wheat Thins
  1 ounce or 16 crackers contain 130 calories, 4 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 1 g fiber
  (First three ingredients are flour, partially hydrogenated soybean oil and defatted wheat germ)
• Reduced Fat Triscuit
  1 ounce or 7 wafers contain 120 calories, 3 g fat, 0.5 g saturated fat, 4 g fiber
  (First three ingredients are whole wheat, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, salt)

Nature Valley Crunchy Granola Bars

These are the only granola bars I found that use canola oil and don't list sugar as the first ingredient!

• Oats 'N Honey or Cinnamon
  2 bars give you 180 calories, 6 grams fat (0.5 g saturated fat), 29 g carbohydrate, and 2 grams fiber
  (First three ingredients: whole grain rolled oats, sugar, canola oil)
• Peanut Butter
  2 bars give you 180 calories, 6 grams fat (1 g saturated fat), 29 g carbohydrate, and 2 grams fiber
  (First three ingredients: whole grain rolled oats, sugar, canola oil)

Fresh Fruit

I think the trick to making fresh fruit appealing is to keep it cold. So if you freeze some grapes or keep your apple or orange wedges well-chilled in the car, taking them out for a nice afternoon snack will be particularly refreshing. Because fruits don't have a lot of fat they don't contain large amounts of omega-6 nor omega 3s. Cantaloupe, however, contains a nice little dose of some omega-3s.

• Orange Segments (chilled)
  1 cup contains 85 calories, no fat, 3.5 grams fiber (and 30% of the Daily Value for folic acid, 160% for vitamin C, and 9% for calcium)
• Cantaloupe Cubes (chilled)
  1 cup contains 56 calories, 0.4 grams fat, 1.3 grams fiber (and 64% Daily Value for vitamin A, 15% Daily Value for folic acid, 113% Daily Value for vitamin C)