Eating Well on the Road: Travel Snacks and Food

As a seasoned traveler, I plan ahead and try to have healthy snacks and meals as much as possible, whether at home or on the road. Still, I occasionally find myself confronting a distressing array of empty calorie food choices, or no decent vegetarian options.

The healthy selection at Busch Gardens

Busch Gardens Tampa

For example, I was at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay last week and the only vegetarian option we could find for lunch was cheese pizza. Not the worst choice. But when you live within spitting distance of Roberta's and Table 87, theme park pizza is not what you craze.

Healthy snacks at Busch Gardens

We did find one place with healthy snacks. There were Clif and Kind bars, dried edamame, Peeled Snacks organic dried fruit and almonds. It's a start. But Busch Gardens should take a page from Disney, which does have appealing vegetarian, vegan and gluten free options at almost every venue in its parks.

New player in the healthy food market: HMSHost

HMSHost, which runs cafes and snack shops in airports and service plazas around the world, just introduced a the "Eat Well. Travel Further' initiative at select airports and travel plazas around the country.

Sampling of HMSHost healthy snacks.

Bento boxes include a vegan and a protein lunch boxes. The vegan box has chickpea salad, roasted red peppers and veggie chipsAll the boxes are under 500 calories (ever look up the calorie count in a smoothie from the airport?) and include nutrient dense food. There is also fresh fruit, hummus with veggies, count water and kombucha.

Flying off the shelves: healthy snacks at airports

HMSHost sent me a sample box of some of its new healthy airport and travel plaza offerings. Some items I was familiar with: protein loaded Rx Bars and Peeled Snacks. But there was also the low calorie, addictive Skinny Pop popcorn, and Bare fruit chips. Skinny Pop and Bare products are also vegan and gluten free.

Other healthy offerings include That's It bars, made with just whole fruit and Rhythm Superfoods kale chips. The kale chips have all the vitamin K you need for a day, plus over half the vitamin A.

Justin's almond butter packets are great to pick up if the only thing you can find is a bagel. And the Biena chickpea snacks give your snacks plenty of protein and fiber (add some to a salad).

Note: I was sent a sample pack from HMSHost. I was not compensated for this post.

8 Favorite Orlando Resorts: Family Hotels

Liki Tiki Village. Photo Credit: Vacatia

Orlando is a family travel Mecca, led by Disney World but buoyed by Harry Potter fans and Sea World lovers too. If you are only going to Disney, you may find it easier to stay on site, but if you are planning on visiting other Orlando theme parks and attractions, there are many family friendly hotels to consider. Below, 8 Orlando resorts that should be on your radar:

1.  Ritz-Carlton at Grande Lakes.

Ritz-Carlton at Grande Lakes: for well-heeled families this is the place to go. There is a Ritz Kids supervised program for ages 4-12, a kid’s night out program so parents can enjoy a dinner without their children, a kiddie pool and a playground. But most important, besides the luxury rooms and attentive service, is the The Protect Our Little Ones (P.O.L.O.) package: electrical outlets are covered in rooms and alcohol is taken out of the minbar, both the keep adult beverages away from kids and to provide refrigerator space.

2. Waldorf Astoria Orlando 

Waldorf Astoria Orlando is another top tier choice. The large luxury rooms easily accommodate families and the golf course adds another adult activity (the WA Kids Club tends to children ages 5-12 and Astoria After Dark gives parents a night out. There is a zero entry pool, and access to the Bonnet Creek adventure pools.

3. Marriott's Grande Vista 

Marriott's Grande Vista offers family villas with full kitchens, living rooms and washers / dryers. There are two pools, plus a kiddie pool, beach campfires, Kid's Night Out, and an indoor play maze for rainy or extremely hot days. There is also plenty of family friendly dining on site.

4.Doubletree by Hilton Orlando at SeaWorld 

Doubletree by Hilton Orlando at SeaWorld is next to both SeaWorld and the Aquatica waterpark. There are two kiddie pools and three large pools, miniature golf and a putting green. The luxury rooms include allergy-free rooms, great for kids with sensitive immune systems.

5. Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld

Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld has a waterpark,a kiddie pool and a regular pool. There is a game room and ping-pong tables (remember, table tennis is an Olympic sport!).

6. Wyndham Bonnet Creek Resort

Wyndham Bonnet Creek Resort, an all suite family resort features five pools with water slides, splash zones and lazy rivers, miniature golf, beach volleyball, BBQ & picnic areas, indoor game rooms and playgrounds. The suites have living rooms, fully equipped kitchens and washers and dryers.

7. JW Marriott Orlando

JW Marriott Orlando is luxury resort that has a Lazy River Pool, guided Eco-Tours by canoe and kayak, and large rooms with connecting rooms for big families.

8. Liki Tiki Village

Liki Tiki Village has a water park with a water volcano, wave pool and water slides. There is miniature golf and plenty of family friendly dining.  If you prefer to cook, you have a full kitchen, plus outdoor BBQ pits and picnic tables.

Note: this post is sponsored by Vacatia.

Disney Side: I Think Bambi Was a Vegetarian

Brussels Sprouts, ready for roasting

It used to be hard to visit Disney World as a vegetarian, but the powers that be got smart, and now cater to all sorts of special meal needs: gluten free, Kosher and vegetarian.

So when I hosted a DisneySide party, I wanted to highlight fun vegetarian food . I had originally planned to do this for the Super Bowl, but I didn't get my Disney package in time.

We had to warn the kids to be careful of toothpicks. Wouldn't large colorful Disney toothpicks have been great?

The first thing I'd been wanting to try was Brussels Sprouts sliders. I figured these were a great party food, able to be eaten in a bite or 2. The recipe I found incorporated caramelized onions, marinated tempeh, grainy mustard and of course roasted Brussels Sprouts. They were complicated to make, messy and a huge hit.

Brains anyone? My vegetarian cauliflower soup

My youngest daughter has a recent obsession with cauliflower and I've been preparing it every which way. For the party I made a vat of cauliflower soup. I wanted to incorporate the villains theme and the mashed up cauliflower looked a little like brains. Vegetarian brains, of course.

Beet puree, before the toppings

We also had a beet puree that had a certain blood resemblance. But the roasted beets, topped with Za'atar, goat cheese and hazelnuts, was a pure vegetarian delight.

Lentils with roasted carrots

Our final dish wasn't the most attractive - intestines, maybe? But it was a crowd pleaser. It had French lentils, roasted carrots and a spicy harissa made with cilantro and habaneros.  I used purple and orange carrots to make it more colorful.


Note: I received a package of Disney goodies, for me and my guests; there was no other compensation.

Exercising My Right to Drive a Convertible

My favorite ride on a recent trip to Disney

Disney is all about fantasy, so driving a Camaro SS was a dream come true at the ultimate fantasy land, Walt Disney World.

I was in Disney at the TravelingMom retreat and Chevrolet http://www.chevrolet.com/ brought a bunch of shiny cars for everyone to drive. There was a 2014 Impala, the 2015 Tahoe and Suburban and the 2014 Camaro.

It poured for most of our time in Florida, so we really got to test the cars in less than ideal conditions - wet roads, mist falling. So we didn’t have the top down.  But the car handled well on curvy roads in the rain; I could imagine how much fun it would be to tool along on the California coast in this sporty car.

Where to Go

Chevy MyLink has a built in navigation system, but this Camaro was also equipped with OnStar, a remarkable concierge service for your car. You press a button, and within seconds are connected to a live phone call. All you have to do is tell the person where you are going, and directions will be either loaded into the nag system for you, or spoken aloud while you drive. Amazing.

The Camaro looks great from any angle

OnStar also offers incredible peace of mind - they provide roadside and emergency assistance, even for weather situations out of the scope of the car.  If say, the car in front of you hit black ice and had an accident, you could contact OnStar and get that person emergency help.

Connected Car

Chevy MyLink has an easy to use touchscreen, with Sirius XM radio and bluetooth integration with your phone.

Eyes on the Road

Everyone else is looking at you, but you want to make sure that you keep your eyes on the road.  It’s easy with this car, which has color heads up display. There are also audio controls on the leather steering wheel, so you won’t get distracted playing with the touchscreen.

Midlife Crisis

The money shot; the Camaro with the top down

If you drive this car with little kids, there are rear child seat latch anchors.  And up to teen years, a couple of kids will fit comfortably in the back seat. 

But if you are tall, and/or have large children, they will not enjoy the rather cramped rear seat. I like to drive with my seat pretty far forward, but still, my rear seat passengers were happy to get out of the car.

However, the Camaro does offer creature comforts like heated front leather seats, remote keyless entry, parking assist and power outlets.

The Camaro starts at $41,885; extras including special headlights, racing stripe, automatic transmission, remote start and the navigation system brought the price up to $46,650. It gets 15 mpg in the city, 24 on the highway.

Note: Chevrolet provided the Camaro for my test drive. Opinions expressed are my own.

Summer Hair - Whether Traveling or at Home

When I travel, I sometimes try out new products, figuring the people I meet will never see me again.This is also why I am the family photographer, hiding behind the lens with frizzy hair or flaking eye shadow.

But I put a new hair product to the ultimate test last week - three days in the rain and Florida humidity. I had just gotten a sample of SheaMoisture's Tahitian Noni & Monoi Smooth & Repair High Shine Glosser, a silicone free styling product that promised smooth hair and controlled frizz.

My curls were even subjected to a test drive in a convertible, and a couple of turns on Disney’s newest ride, the MineTrain roller coaster.

Like all  SheaMoisture products, this is organic and paraben free. Tahitian Noni is an antioxidant, and Vitamin C is added to keep hair healthy. Monoi Oil repairs damaged hair, and keratin smooths it.

Not only that, it is sold at drugstores and is reasonably priced.

Fitness Challenge: Disney

Getting in your exercise is easy at Disney, as long as your exercise is walking. If you use a pedometer, or an app to measure your steps, you may be surprised at how much you walked (over 7 miles, on a recent family trip).

But if you crave more strenuous exercise –and not the Disney Princess Half Marathon, most Disney hotels offer fitness centers and other ways to stay in shape.

At Disney’s Yacht Club Resort, you can swim, play tennis or rent a surrey bike at The Boardwalk (1/2 mile walk each way, too – or take the free boat ride).

I made use of the excellent fitness center, adjacent to the spa. The well-equipped fitness center had a variety of stability balls, a bosu balls, mats for stretching and a barre.

There were also ample free weights, treadmills and ellipticals with individual televisions, and headphones in case, like me, you forgot your own. Or you could listen to good tunes playing throughout at a reasonable level.

For strength training, there were a few new well-maintained weight machines, plus weight benches. And mirrors throughout the fitness room let you watch your form (or your biceps pop).

If you have a late flight, you can swim or work out, and shower. The locker room had nice towels, shower gel, shave cream and razors and self-locks. And everything  at the gym was very clean, without smelling like chemicals.

Note: I was a guest of Disney at the TravelingMom retreat.

Fitness Challenge: Day 51

Although the Disney Fantasy cruise ship makes it easy for a vegetarian to eat well, with menus at sit down restaurants offering several vegetarian choices, (and lighter fare) the cruise ship is concurrently offering more fitness choices.

When you get to the private Bahamian island, Castawy Cay, inaugurate your visit with a 5K run. This is a new fun run through the island, and while you don't get a t-shirt, you do get an official bib. And every entrant gets a medal.

But I am all about the run shirt. So I opted for yoga on the beach. This is a particular treat for those of us who don't live next to the ocean. Coney Island is a mere 8 miles from me, but it's not a beach that screams serentiy.

In fact, the yoga here is at the adults-only beach, Serenity Bay. Some cruisers relax with a massage en plein air, but I find yoga both relaxing and invigorating.

You can also exercise by snorkeling or swimming, or riding a bike (snorkeling and biking cost extra; yoga is included).

Back on the boat, I took the spin class, with the same affable South African who led the yoga class. Instead of the pounding of the surf I listened to the pounding of my heart and calculated which dessert I'd earn at dinner.

Fitness Challenge: Day 50

What better place to be, at the half-way point of the 100 day fitness challenge: aboard the new Disney Fantasy cruise ship. The ship, the largest in the Disney fleet, has a dcent size gym, with a dozen stat-of-the-art spinning bikes and a daily spin class. There is also an early abs class, so you can work off that extra trip to the buffet.

Aerobic machines have their own TV screens, or you can listen to music and watch the ocean.

The gym
The gym, inside the ship's spa, also has a few bosu balls and a full selection of hand weights. I like to lift weights, then run outside, and the Fantasy helps here, too, with a running track 7 levels below the gym. Do yourself a favor and run those 7 flights of stairs.

In fact, even if you are gym averse, you can combat cruise overeating by avoiding the elevators and always taking the stairs.

Fitness Challenge: Day 49

Animal Kingdom Lodge at Walt Disney World wows visitors with its recreated African environment. You see giraffes glide by on your way to your room. kudu and antelope with night vision goggles and African birds throughout the resort.

While your kids are at the playground or zipping down a slide into the pool, you can work off a South African feast (courtesy of the signature resaturant, Jiko, which has plenty of vegetarian options) at the gym.

The gyms
There are two at Animal Kingdom Lodge, one at Jambo House, the main part of the hotel, and one at Kidani Village. I used the Jambo House gym, where the treadmills ovelook the lush vegetation and the main pool, so if our spouse is at the pool with the kids, you can keep an extra eye on them while you run. I was pleased by the selection of free weights and the stretching area, with mats and stability balls.

All day access
I've been to Animal Kingdom Lodge 3 or 4 times, and I see little kids late at night, in the wading pool or searching for animals. Not sure when they sleep. But if you have spent the day at Disney parks and still have the energy to work out, you can use the fitness center at Jambo House 24 hours a day.

Hakuna Matata

Have Booty, Will Travel

If you have teens or tweens in the house, surely you know that Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides opens May 20.

What you may not know is that the great snack Pirate’s Booty is also getting in on the action. The all natural rice & corn puff, Pirate’s Booty, is gluten free and made without trans fat. The cheddar cheese puffs are also relatively low in calories and sodium, so you don’t have to feel guilty about snacking.

Which is good, since you’ll want to look your best if you win the Fountain of Youth Caribbean family vacation. Enter at Pirate’s Booty for a 5 day family vacation for 4 at Casa De Campo in the Dominican Republic.

Pirate Brands, makers of Pirate’s Booty, is also donating $.05 for each package sold unitl 7/31/11, up to $100,000, to Boys and Girls Clubs of America.

Coming Home from a Family Vacation

I was recently passing through the Orlando airport on the way home from the travelingmom.com Disney retreat and since my flight was at 6:30pm and airlines don’t serve meals on domestic coach flights, I had to find vegetarian food.

The results were grim.

In my little neck of the woods, the Delta terminal, an Outback restaurant had no vegetarian food on the menu. The Starbucks had only chicken sandwiches left and a place I’d never heard of did have broccoli cheese soup, but everything else looked so unappetizing, I didn’t want to chance the soup.

There was a veggie burger at Burger King, which sat forlonly while everyone else scooped up hamburgers. Since no one could tell me if it had been cooked on the same grill as the meat, I avoided it. Good thing; I found out later that it had 1030mg of sodium.

I wound up at The Smoothie King where people are deluded into thinking they are choosing a healthy snack. My peanut power shake (plus chocolate) had a whopping 717 calories in the 20 oz size, the smallest. I couldn’t finish it, which led me to wonder about the people I saw ordering the large.

OK, I didn’t have to wonder much. They were HUGE.

But since neither calorie nor nutritional information was posted, how could people make an informed choice?

When I go to Starbucks, the cinnamon chip scone looks appealing, but since by NY State law, the calories are posted, I know this indulgence will cost me 480 calories.

Which is why it’s so cool that the new Starbucks Petite line has fewer calories and less sugar. The salted caramel sweet square, with chocolate, pretzels and pecans, has 190 calories and 15 grams of sugar.

And if the airport Starbucks had only sold the vegetarian roasted vegetable panini, at 350 calories, I could have had a more filling dinner, at less than half the calories.

My hotel and meals at the retreat were sponsored by Disney. And I found plenty of vegetarian food there.

I spent 48 hours at Disney World as part of the travelingmoms.com retreat and since this was a working trip, I didn’t bring my kids. In fact, they weren’t invited, and even had they been, one kid is in college, one was skiing with friends and the youngest was on a bar/bat mitzvah trip to Israel.

But still, every time I go away for business, I go through a bit of an exit strategy. So if I were abducted by Martians, these are things my kids would miss:

Dinner. I cook dinner most nights, and try to make double what we need for favorite meals. Then I can freeze half, or we can eat it later in the week, and I only had to cook once.

Dessert. I’ve been baking since I was a kid, and one of the tricks my mother-in-law taught me was to freeze cookies or brownies. Whenever I go away, I leave a batch of peanut butter brownies in the freezer for a treat.

Bread. Over a year ago, I started a sourdough starter, and I’ve been baking bread regularly. I’ve got it down so I can mix a dough in just a few minutes, let the starter work its magic for a few hours, then do the next step when I have time. Although the quality of the bread degrades in the freezer, I leave a couple of loaves for the kids (and my husband) for lunches.

Math homework. I am the math expert in the family, and have had to explain corresponding angles and differential equations over the phone.

Shoes. My three daughters all wear the same size shoes as I do, so we trade footwear. When I go away, I sometimes take shoes that they want with me. When I go south in winter, I leave my boots home for the jackals to pick through.

Humor. We love to laugh in my family, and my kids definitely miss my warped sense of humor.

Compassion. One of my worst trips was when my youngest daughter, who was 5 at the time, had an accident. I was on a plane from Los Angeles and when I turned on my phone at JFK, I had an increasingly sadder series of messages from her.
Estrogen. Try as he might, my husband just doesn’t get it sometimes. When one of the kids has cramps or wants to rant about her period, I am there for her.

But since my kids are teens, and I rarely go away for more than a few days without them, they can handle me being away, reachable by phone, text and email. And when I am away from them, I can enjoy:

Sleep. Our bedroom is a floor below the girls’ bedrooms and we hear every floor creak, toilet flush and late night phone call.

A break from fights. As I said, it’s an estrogen -laden household. Maybe the Martians are interested in three teenage girls?

I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms blogging program, for a gift card worth $25. For more information on how you can participate, click here.

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