I’m reporting live from the quiet darkness of our little Mexico City apartment; a little sanctuary in the middle of this vibrant city, and our home for the next couple of days. Our trip to Mexico is 10-days in total – the longest we’ve been away together since Leo was born. It’s exciting to be here with this tiny man, we’re all buzzing to be in the city, and we’re also a little bit exhausted. This isn’t the first time Leo has left the country or our home; he’s been to Hawaii, and Paris, bounced to Florida a few times. But this is the first time since I stopped being his primary food source (he quit breastfeeding cold turkey at 15 months!) we’ve been away from our kitchen, or our well-known grocery store channels for so long. And these Coconut-Dusted Apricot Almond Energy Truffles were my failsafe.
As the mother of a toddler, I am a woman nearly petrified of being without a snack. It doesn’t matter if we’ve walked into the backyard or flown halfway around the world, I know that when Leo requests a snack we’re just a few steps away from all blissful hell breaking loose if we don’t fuel his tiny tank. And so, I packed abundant snacks for our trip. Things that I know he loves. Things that I know I can offer him even when the distractions of trains, scooters, planes and foreign conversations are distracting him. It’s very easy for “travel snacks” to simply become a varity of shapes of the same things – bunny crackers, graham crackers, bananas and berries are all straight up carbohydrates, flour, water and sugar afterall. And I have a tendancy to eat dates in many forms through the day and my sweet son has started to scan his treats for dates. “NO DATES!” He’ll say. But “power food” (as we call it in our house) is much much harder to come by when you’re dangling in the world at 30,000ft. Or simply, not in a place where you can MAKE a snack.
There’s something to having snacks you know, things you know your body loves. And, there’s something to the virtue. If we take a break from fueling our bodies and lives with beautiful intentional food it DOES matter.
We have fabulous eating habits at home – all of us. We enjoy meals together, have a lovely warm breakfast each morning before the day starts to spin, a nourishing and plentiful lunch in the afternoon at the same time each day, and sit down to dinner together in the evenings. The fridge is stocked with power-house foods I make during my brief weekend kitchen practices, as well as wholesome, local fruits, vegetables and other treats that come from our favorite purveyors who champion quality, presence and love in food over macros. Perhaps you’re the same.
This isn’t just “nice.” Or aesthetic. It’s rich in the greatest sense of the world. Our bodies feel this abundance, and they glow it out through vibrant health and well-being. This kind of food, these sacred rituals of bringing earth into our bodies is something that is absorbed – not just ingested. But that sandwich purchassed from the kiosk at the airport – not so much.
Does this mean that we can’t ever break our stride with beautiful homemade food? That this way of eating becomes a “rule” rather than a choice? No. Absolutely not. Life happens. Airport kiosk sandos too. But understanding what our bodies are doing and why they thrive on healthy eating habits and virtuous food can help us make better decisions. And, pack the right snacks.
So what did I pack in our suitcases for 10-days? A box of graham crackers, and a box of bunny crackers – like any toddler mom. But I also brought a stash of the Alpine Glow Bars (for all of us – in case Leo changes his mind on the dates) and a stash of these Coconut-Dusted Apricot + Almond Butter Energy Truffles – the lifesaver of lifesavers. He devoured one in the car. When our flight landed late in Mexico City, they were a snack savoir as we navigated ground transportation. When we woke in our little apartment without yet visiting the grocery store for breakfast provisions, Pete and I enjoyed a couple with warm water and quiet. When I did finally hit my favorite organic grocer here, I picked up a few more items to make our snack stash complete – a papaya, tiny bananas (obviously,) chocolate milk boxes for Leo. And as we continue to bounce to the beach for the next few days, I’ll be packing them in our beach bag. Snack stress – difused.
…are more than just a quick snack. Stacked with spices, they also help to boost digestion and bring balance to the body in subtle ways that are so important when we’re traveling, and having our senses inundated with newness. Warming spices like cinnamon, ginger, turmeric and cardamom ground, restore and preserve the nervous system, boost the digestive system and help our bodies to eliminate, process and stabilize when things get crazy. Fiber from the oats, protein from the almond butter, and healthy fats from the coconut also balance our bodies on the go. Chances are if we’re snacking as we’re moving, we’re not home for meals where the ritual of eating is grounding so we have to do what we can to keep this balance as we bounce! And, they’re not made of dates. I LOVE DATES. But diversity is important for our diets. Apricots are sweet, soothing to vata and pitta doshas, and the flavor plays so well with the spices in these energy balls.
A new classic for our rotation.
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