How to eat well on the road
Anna King Shahab has suggestions for keeping young tummies, and tantrums, in check while on the road
Second only to “Are we there yet”, “I’m hungry” is on high-rotate when it comes to the soundtrack of travelling with kids. But short of converting your car into a mobile buffet, there are many ways you can keep kids fed, and well, while on the road. A little time spent planning ahead, and reading the lie of the land while travelling, can mean everyone’s tummies, and tempers, are kept in check.
Pack snack packs for car journeys. A mix of treat and sustenance foods. Long trips are the right time for a few of those foods you might normally say no to — snacks with zero benefits other than gaining a blissful period with no whinging. There are plenty of opportunities to restore the balance with more nutritious snacks such as raw nuts, sliced fruit and vegetable crudites. Packing them into the lunchboxes (bento-style boxes are great for eliminating packaging — just rinse them out at your destination) means little ones can drip feed themselves in the back seat.
Keep eyes peeled for honesty boxes. It can be a game of sorts — whoever spots one first gets a prize from the stall! And it yields healthy snacks like fresh fruit, berries or vegetables grown locally and often organically. A recent honesty box stop my family made led to a back seat laden with juicy cherry tomatoes, sugar snap peas, and crisp apples, all spray-free and perfect for snacking.
Introducing your kids to the idea of different regions being famous for certain produce can lead to all sorts of conversations — why a fruit grows better in one area than another, the fact that most fruit and vegetables have seasons, why species of fish vary from one place to another, which land is home to cows that give us milk, and which to cows that end up on the barbecue. Get the kids excited to try the produce a region excels in — stonefruit and cherries in Central Otago, crayfish on the Kaiko¯ura Coast, citrus in Gisborne, kiwifruit in Bay of Plenty, ku¯mara in Dargaville. Perhaps they’ll even be game to try the eponymous oyster in Bluff!
Check the calendar for local farmers’ markets — they’re a wonderful way to spend a few hours as well as a chance for kids to meet growers and producers. Stallholders usually offer samples so your kids can try before you buy . . . which all parents know is a very good thing.
If you can find pick-your-own spots to try that produce, even better! A spot of fresh air and stretching the legs while gathering a feed: perfect stop on any road trip.
Seek out foods or culinary experiences a place might be known for, and build up anticipation as you head there. Think Southland cheese rolls, fish ’n’ chips over the water in Mango¯nui or whole flounder in a boat shed in Ra¯wene, a crisp fresh apple juice in Upper Moutere, a Fergburger by Lake Wakatipu after braving the queue.
Map apps including Google Maps are great for locating the nearest picnic spots, but so too is Instagram . . . search hashtags or geotags for the area you’re in and you may just find some of those hidden gem scenic spots that aren’t on the map.
Don’t be shy! Ask locals for recommendations — insider knowledge is the best kind.
Pack an old-fashioned picnic basket and a blanket. Kids love the ceremony of opening a wicker basket to reveal a neatly arranged feast: packages of food, miniature salt and pepper shakers, tin cups, little bottles of juice. Don’t forget the thermos!
Navigating the dreaded kids’ menu
They can be dire — processed schmeats and everything deep-fried into one homogenous look and taste. Don’t blame the restaurant though — if you want to see better offerings targeted at the young ’uns, ask for them. If enough customers keep asking, things can only get better.
In the meantime, if you are faced with lessthan-desirable options on the kids’ menu, ask waitstaff if the kitchen can make a smaller portion of something from the regular menu, or whether they could do a simplified version of a dish for a pickier eater.