The other day, my friend Raluka, who is very concerned with her kids’ health and diet, spent the day outside for their extra-curricular activities.
She brought some sandwiches – even if she is not fond of gluten – because sandwiches are definitely the most convenient things to carry for the day.
She came back tired at night, exhausted, with still dinner to make, and asked me how I was doing without sandwiches, when I was out of the house for the day, with 4 kids to feed (and that’s a fact my kids eat for 8 !).
This reminded me how complicated my life was when we started the SCD diet. I was born in France, raised in France, and used to eating bread 4 times a day. When we started the diet, I had already stopped dairy 2 years before – that’s another story :-).
But we were still eating gluten, and let’s be honest, with 4 kids aged 18 months to 8 years old, my life was much simpler : toasts for breakfast, sauteed pasta or risotto for lunch, bread with a piece of chocolate bar and a fruit for snack, leftovers from lunch for dinner, with cucumber, grapes, deli meat and… bread.
Okay, it was homemade bread. Made of whole spelt flour or einkorn. And sourdough. Low glycemic index and less gluten than regular wheat bread. But still 🙂
So one day, you wake up, and you realize you have to start the SCD diet (and that will be another story :-)).
No more bread. No more rice. No potatoes. No sweet potatoes. No chickpeas. No chocolate. No sugar. Nothing store-bought – everything you may buy contains something illegal (don’t send me on sausages which all contain sugar in North America, raaaaaahhhhhhhhhh. Meat does NOT need sugar. We might have found the reason for obesity : sugar is everywhere, even where it has no reason to be, and where you don’t search it…..).
Anyway !!! After long, very, very long researches, I finally found a few items I could buy ! Hooray !
Solutions & store-bought legal foods
After this discussion with my friend, I thought it would be useful to share my go-to solutions / store-bought items, to spend a day out, when you’re on a diet.
Or just not willing to buy processed food. Or on a budget. Whatever reason 🙂
- Buy convenient containers – you don’t need the same size if you have 1 kid, or 4.
When I want to carry some warm food (winter), I use these insulated Thermos – they come with a convenient stainless-steel spoon, and the size is perfect for one person.
If I need to carry a larger quantity (for my eldest daughter or my husband), I use these stainless steel containers, which I pre-warm in the oven, fill with warm food, and then carry in an insulated bag.
(Remember to put a little piece of parchment paper between lid and box, before closing the lid, or it will work as a vaccum and you won’t be able to open it without heating it again… It’s time for science : teach your kids about air gap, with a real example 😀 )
2. Start packing 30′ before leaving.
3. Think “categories” : fruits, vegetables, meat/fish/eggs, dried fruits, nuts/seeds. Cake if you have. If you’re doing SCD, you do have cake in the fridge :-). You need at least one item of each category.
- Fruits : Pack some bananas. Wash and quarter some apples. They travel really well (pears don’t). Or peel and cut some orange slices. Or kiwis. In season, bring berries instead of apples : blueberries are the easiest to carry in large quantities, especially when it’s warm outside. Strawberries also work great, if you have time to prepare them.
If you have time, prepare a “fruit salad” : cut pieces of apples/oranges/kiwis in winter, blueberries/strawberries/melon in summer, in individual containers. No need to add anything to ripe fruits. It’s appealing when you open the container, and will turn snacks into a gourmet meal :-). - Vegetables : cucumber slices, baby carrots (or cut raw carrots), bell peppers, grape tomatoes, raw cauliflower, raw broccoli…. You always have one of these vegetables in your fridge. Cut them and pack in a large container (to share).
If your fridge is empty, you can find platters with cut vegetables in every supermarket.
If your kids like dips, pack a small jar of nut butter. - Meat/Fish/Eggs :
- Meat : duck rillettes, beef jerky, beef sticks, turkey bacon, chicken sausages, breakfast sausages – all are already cooked and ready to pack.
- Fish : we always carry a couple mackerel cans in our backpack (this version is also very good). If you don’t want to snack on mackerel in the can, you may prepare a quick mackerel salad in a container : just cubes of cucumber, and mackerel. Drizzle some olive oil from the can if you like. My kids love it this way. Or add a tsp of my go-to vinaigrette.
Substitute tuna, for a change. Or sardines (one of the smallest, therefore, healthiest fish). Or canned herrings. Or salmon (leftovers, canned, or smoked). - Eggs : hard-boiled eggs ( don’t peel them, they’ll last longer), with or without mayonnaise. Or warm scrambled eggs, in the insulated Thermos.
- Dried fruits : Dates, figs, dried apricots, cranberries, blueberries, raisins, goji berries, prunes ( 2 prunes / day max, as it’s very laxative).
- Nuts/seeds : almonds, hazelnuts, cashews (alwasy roasted, don’t eat them raw), peanuts (roasted), macadamia nuts (roasted), Brazil nuts, pumpkin seeds + sunflower seeds.
4) Rotate inside each category : your kids don’t want to see the same mix of nuts or dried fruits every day. Or eat the same deli meat.
Choose, and pack in large quantities, 1 fruit, 1 vegetable, 1 meat or fish or egg, 1 type of nuts, and 1-2 kind of dried fruits for each field trip. Choose another one in each category on the next day.
5) Keep a bit of mystery, aka : hide some stuff to keep them interested :-).
Morning snack, show them the cake. Lunch, show them meat, vegetables, raw fruits, nuts. Afternoon snack, show them the dried fruits, and leftovers. Or the contrary ! Your kids will be as happy as in a restaurant. Because, let’s be honest : that’s a very diversified day !
6) Other time-saving items that I always keep in the bag :
- dried lentils (only the salt version, the others are not SCD compliant)
- dried chickpeas (if not strictly SCD – recipe to be posted soon).
- Thunderbird bars.
- Larabars (apple only – I’m quite sure the other ones have hidden ingredients, all my kids are sick when they eat them.)
I hope this helps !!
Keep this list in your pantry, and your kids can check it, and pack themselves, if old enough…..;-)
Enjoy your next field trip !
Looking for a “regular” meal to carry around ?
If you have time to prepare something more elaborated, or if you have already done some meal prep in the previous days, you may replace the meat category with one of these ideas :
- lentils wraps, reheated for a few seconds in the toaster, and filled with avocado, salt and pepper, or turkey bacon and lettuce, or tuna and cucumber….check the recipe for ideas.
- savory waffles
- deviled-egg salad
- “coleslaw” mackerel/tuna/sardine salad
- sandwiches made with cashew buns
- lentils salad
- mushroom/prosciutto muffins, or broccoli/bacon muffins
- zucchini / peanut muffins
If not strictly SCD :
- Lentil pasta salad
- Potato salad.
Homemade treats
There are a few treats you can prepare ahead of time, keep in the fridge for weeks, pack easily, and carry around :
- pecan bites
- cashew bites
- peanut bites
- marshmallows (nut-free)
All done !
Keep this list in your pantry and the kids can check it and even pack themselves, if old enough…..;-)
Enjoy your next field trip !
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