Summer is here and it’s time to hit the road. What’s a road trip without good snacks? You may think that healthy snacks sound boring but here are some tasty ideas that will keep everyone munching happily on the road. 

I have fond memories of traveling by car in Northern Mexico with mom and dad and the sibs. We would stop at roadside stands all the way through the state of Sonora until we got to Guaymas, our beach destination in the Sea of Cortez.

Healthy snacks were easy to come by on the road in Northern Mexico. Aguas frescas and corn on the cob were everywhere. Then, the lady in the red stand in Magdalena made some killer homemade corn tortillas!

There’s a small town by the name of Imuris just south of Nogales where we would always stop. Little boys carrying blue enamel pots sold  soft homemade cooked cheese – queso cocido – out of these little pots. You could roll one up and eat it just like that, or add a tortilla and make a quesadilla! They sold it in small personal serving sizes in sheets of wax paper, and it was fresh and delicious.

The very first food item I think of for a nice little road trip picnic is fresh cheese! Mozzarella cheese sticks are very similar to the queso cocido of my youth, and you can find them in almost all grocery stores now. Taking a handful of these handy snacks is a good way to get some protein. Pack some whole wheat tortillas, or even a moderate amount of tortilla chips and you’ve got a healthy snack.

My favorite chips are blue corn! Whole grain and good looking! There are some great blue corn chips available at your local super market!

¡Esquite! (Now there’s a good Nahuatl word for you!) Make some homemade popcorn and sprinkle it with red chile powder or Tajin! Try it with grated parmesan cheese for extra flavor. Popcorn is a whole grain, just like blue corn. (Just remember to go easy on the salt.)

After we stopped in Imuris for queso cocido, we stopped a few miles down the road at the naranja stand. These were delicious, ugly little oranges that tasted like heaven on a hot summer day. Yes, we let the juice run down our arms, but now you have handi-wipes, so don’t fret about the kids getting sticky. It’s summer! Chill out.

You can make your own version of roadside naranjas by cutting up some oranges into quarters and taking some Tajín with you on your road trip. (Full disclosure: They are not our sponsors but everything tastes good with Tajín!)

After the queso and the naranjas, off we went down the road until we hit Santa Ana, Sonora. There we stopped for figs! Fresh from the tree and so much fun to pick your own! Finding fruit stands along the way is a fun way to break up a trip and get those little ones to stretch their legs. But if you don’t have roadside stands, pack some dried fruit like figs, apricots and almonds and put them in a ziplock bag to share, or split them up into small bags to distribute to hungry kids and grown-ups alike.

No road trip is complete without peanut butter sandwiches. This is America after all! Use whole grain bread to make a more substantial sandwich. Hearty breads made of whole grains are much better for us and they don’t get as soggy as quickly as white bread.

Pack some ready-to-eat baby carrots, celery sticks and cut-up cucumber spears, and pass the Tajín!

Add some whole wheat or rice crackers for extra crunch.

Keeping yourself and your kids well nourished on your road trip is easier than you think.

Avoid sugary drinks and greasy junk food and make it healthy and fun!   

Stick to fruits, veggies and nuts. Sunflower seeds are fun to eat, messy and delicious. So what if the car looks like a bird lives in it–it’s summer! Chill out.

Drink plenty of fluids. Water is best! But for a special treat, invest in one those vintagey water cooler jugs and make some homemade “aguas”, such as Jamaica (aka hibiscus), melon water, or watered down lemonade. If you water it way down, it isn’t so loaded with sugar, and the kids will still love it, especially when they’re thirsty.

If you really want to avoid the sugar, just fill it up with cool water and lemon. I promise it will taste good when it’s hot outside and it comes out of a pretty jug. And remember one rule of summer, everyone loves the refreshing taste of lemon on a hot summer day.

Keep it healthy, Comadres and keep it real. Even a little sugar in your lemonade won’t hurt anyone, because remember –  it’s summer!

And we believe in the ¡Poquito porqué es bendito! philosophy.

And to close this off, how about some plant-based protein for your journey?

Here’s a simple recipe for crunchy garbanzos.  My favorites are sprinkled with chipotle powder, but you can get creative.

1. One can of garbanzo beans…chick peas.
2. One teaspoon oil
3. One teaspoon salt.
4. One teaspoon powdered chipotle chile, red chile, or curry powder.
5. Drain the liquid out of the can.  Dry the garbanzos on paper towels until they are pretty dry.  Remove some of the skins if you can. Less skin = more crispy.
6. Add 1 teaspoon oil and one teaspoon salt.  Toss. Don’t season them with anything else until they are out of the oven.
7. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees until crispy or about 45 minutes.  (Shake them around a little at the half way point and put them back in.)
8. Season them after you bake them. Don’t cover them in an air tight container until they dry completely.
9. Get creative.  Powdered chile is always good but you can use other flavors such as, garlic powder, paprika, pepper, a touch of cumin, and, you guessed it, Tajín.

¡Happy Verano! ¡Y Buen Provecho!

Latin American Style Smoothies

Licuados and batidos are a daily staple of traditional Mexican and Latin American life. And like many other good things from our motherlands, they have happily found a place in Los Yunaides (Mexican slang for United States). In the U.S., licuados have morphed into smoothies, kind of like burritos became “wraps.” But the essence of smoothies, licuados and batidos, is the same–a delicious, nutritious, refreshing and portable elixir to have as a breakfast, snack or mid-afternoon pick-me-up.

Licuado literally means blended, so anything you blend in a blender is a licuado. No sense in getting uptight about the true definition of a licuado. If you blend it, it’s a licuado.

In Ecuador and other parts of Latin America, these delicious and portable licuados are called batidos, and they are fantastic because of all the amazing and exotic fruits you find in those regions.

Call it what you will. Smoothies are easy and quick to make. At our house, the blender is always on the counter, as is the toaster and the comal. If you are in a hurry, you just throw in some Chocomilk, a banana and some ice into the blender, blast it on high and you are good to go! Get yourself a reusable cup and never say you don’t have time for breakfast.  

Keep it simple. You don’t need a fancy blender. If you are into appliances, there are all kinds of cool blenders you can buy, like the NutriBullet. But my advice is: if you have a blender, use it. If you get into the licuado habit, reward yourself and buy a fancy appliance. But to get started, all you need is the humble run-of-the-mill blender.

Traditional licuados are usually made with milk, fruit, ice and sugar. I don’t use sugar because the fruit is usually pretty ripe and tasty, but you can add a pinch of sweetener if you like. Vanilla is good with banana smoothies and a sprinkle of cinnamon is good with almost anything, but especially con chocolate!

Licuados are a great way to use up those ugly, shriveled strawberries that you didn’t eat but you felt bad throwing out. Almost any ugly fruit will do, as long as it’s not spoiled.  The other day, I peeled an old apple, threw in some chopped celery, a small bit of peeled ginger, a little bit of orange juice, a cup of water and ice. I blended it within an inch of its life and it was refreshing, delicious and it didn’t have milk (and I still called it a licuado!)

To make protein rich licuados, by all means use milk, yogurt, soy milk or any alternate milk you like, add some fruit, and presto! You can add protein powder or even nut butters, like almond butter or peanut butter. For breakfast, especially, we recommend powering it up with protein. Protein at every meal is a good rule, been around for a while and still makes good nutritional sense.

You can enrich and fortify your licuados with all kinds of good stuff – even spinach, if you are feeling like Popeye. I picked up a book in the bargain bin at Safeway the other day, The Blender Girl by Tess Masters. She gets truly creative with what she puts in a blender! She should be called The Licuado Girl! She even has a licuado with orange juice, strawberries, bell peppers and cauliflower! Who knew? (I haven’t tried it yet, but it’s on my list.)

The Mexican cookbook that we are drooling over right now is Mexico, The Cookbook by Margarita Carrillo Arronte.  Her honey avocado licuado is similar to the De Las Mías Avocado Mojito Smoothie. I also found Jugo de Vampiro on page 578. Now you tell me what 12 year old boy or girl wouldn’t like a shot of vampire juice?!  

Smoothies are a low risk way of getting creative in the kitchen. I bought some plums the other day, and I am not kidding you, comadre, when I took a bite, it bit me back! It was so sour that my mouth still feels somewhat puckered, but did I throw it out? ¡No señorita!  I peeled it, I threw in some old peach juice that I had left over from a can, a few shriveled up strawberries, a pinch of stevia, a cup of water and some ice! I showed that plum a thing or two! I blended it until it cried out, ¡mama! and sprinkled some Tajín on it. It was so good, sweet and sour at the same time (it kind of reminded me of Kool Aid).

My point here is that you can make a licuado or smoothie, with whatever fruit or veggie you have at hand that appeals to your palate.

If you are looking for a healthy habit to add to your day, add a licuado a day! Add some veggies, add some fruit. Channel the Licuado Girl. You’ll love it and your kids will love it too!

Get creative and send us your concoctions! Email info@delasmias.com and we’ll have our nutritionist, Malena, analyze the nutritional content and post it in on De Las Mías and give you proper credit.