While traveling with the babies and toddlers the most important part is the Food. The little munchkins can not have outside food and therefore homemade travel food becomes a crucial part of our packing.

Today I am sharing some travel-friendly homemade foods and snacks that are easy to cook and carry.

Along with these homemade snacks you can carry some of your child’s favorite snacks too like Cookies, cheese puffs, crackers, etc.

Few Tips on Baby Travel Foods

I traveled very frequently with my baby boy since he was 2 months old. We traveled by road, by train, and by flight.

The one thing which bothered me always in all the ways was the food for my little one while traveling. I tried many things and I wanted to share all those with you which helped me while traveling.

I was very lucky that my son ate almost everything I offered to him since I started solids with him. He exclusively breastfed till 6 months completed and then started with the solids.

Now when we talk about traveling, breastfeeding is really easier than solid foods. But if we plan it accordingly travel foods be no hassle for us and for babies too. In this article, I am sharing a few travel foods which are healthy, easy to make, and easy to feed.

There are a few easy foods which we can carry while traveling.

The recipes I am sharing are good for 4 to 5 hours at room temperature. I would suggest that you always feed fresh food to the baby and avoid packaged food or which is kept cooked for a long time.

Also, carry some fruits for a quick fix for the little one’s hunger. Fruits like oranges, bananas, Grapes, and Apple are some very healthy and easy options to keep the baby hydrated and filling during the travel, be it any season.

Travel-friendly solid foods for babies and toddlers-

1.   Home made Cereal mix

A great choice of tummy-filling meal for babies above 7 months and toddlers. It’s really easy to cook, carry and feed.

1.    Take

• 2 Cup of Rice,
• 1 Cup Daliya ( broken wheat) and
• 1/2 cup each of Moong Daal ( yellow and green),
• Urad Daal (black and white ),
• Toor Daal,
• Oats flour,
• Ragi Flour.

2.    Wash them and soak them overnight. Sun dry them nicely till all the moisture goes away land grind into fine powder.

3.    Add mixed dry fruits and nuts like Almonds, Pistachios, Cashews, and Peanuts while grinding. Store the mixture in an air-tight container.

4.    Just boil it in water for a paste-like consistency and fill it up in the feeder after it cools down.

It’s very easy to carry in a box too. You can carry some extra cereal mix powder with you if going on a long holiday. Cook it in a variety of flavors by adding any fruit available like apple, pear, strawberry, blueberry, etc.

Add salt and black pepper for toddlers if they like salty or add jaggery if they like it sweet. Add Ragi flour or oats as add into it. Never forget to add a spoon full of ghee to it. You can also make Dosas out of this mix.

2.   Oats porridge

It’s the easiest travel food of all. It’s good for babies above 6 months and toddlers too. You just need rolled oats.

1.    Dry roast 2 tsp of rolled oats in a pan and add 1.5 cups of water when you can smell the roasted aroma.

2.    Let it boil for a good 8 to 10 minutes. Add a pinch of salt if the baby is older than 8 months.

3.    Add 1 tsp ghee when almost cooked. You can add milk mixed with water in equal amounts and a pinch of almond powder if the baby is above 12 months.

4.    Pour in a feeder or in a box.

It’s easy to feed and babies love it in any way, sweet or salty.

3.   Pumpkin pancakes

These are a good option if your baby refuses to eat porridges and wants to eat by themselves even while traveling. Easy to make and carry and good for babies above 8 months and toddlers. They remain soft all the day and are good for like 3 to 4 hours at room temperature.

1.    Steam the pumpkin in a pressure cooker and make a puree.

2.    Add some whole wheat flour, salt, black pepper, and some chopped coriander leaves.

3.    Add water and make batter kind of consistency.

4.    Put ghee on hot Tawa/pan and pour a ladle of the batter.

5.    Cook from both sides. Put a little ghee on the top. Store in a box when cooled down.

4.   Whole wheat Jaggery pancakes

This is my baby’s favorite, at home and while traveling. These are sweet and soft and can be fed in breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Very easy to cook and carry.

1.    Take 1 tsp of jaggery and soak in the water for 10 minutes. Let the jaggery dissolve in water.

2.    Now take 2 tsp of whole wheat flour in a bowl and add a half pinch of salt and mix.

3.    Strain the jaggery water in the flour and make a batter. Add water if necessary but do not make it very thin.

4.    Put ghee on a hot pan and pour the batter. Cook from both sides with ghee. Keep them soft and do not cook so dark.

5.    Store in a box when cooled down. This makes 1 pancake. Take the quantity according to your requirements.

5.   Pongal

A very beautiful dish for babies with rice and moong daal. Good for babies above 6 months and for toddlers too.

1.    Mix 2 tsp rice with 1 tsp yellow split moong dal and soak for around 20 minutes.

2.    Put ghee to pressure cooker and temper with mustard seeds, jeera, curry leaves, and coriander leaves to it.

3.    Now add soaked rice and dal and add 2 cups of water to it. Pressure cook for 6 to 7 whistles as we want it really soft.

4.    Now cool down and carry in a box.

It’s an easy version of khichdi just without vegetables. It’s easy to feed during travel as it’s less messy and does not take a lot of time to prepare and cook.

DRY SNACKS OPTIONS

There are also some dry snacks that you can carry while traveling which are healthy too for toddlers and babies. Some of them are –

1.   Roasted Murmura

Take some ghee in a big kadhai and add curry leaves, jeera, haldi, and salt to it. Add murmura when curry leaves temper nicely. Stir well so that salt and Haldi are evenly mixed. Turn the gas off and let it cool down in the pan. Store in a box only after it cools completely.

2.   Roasted Makhana and raisins

Roast broke Makhana and Raisins (mixed) in ghee and add salt to it. Store when completely cooled down.

3.   Peanuts Chikki

Dry roast peanuts and remove the peels. Grind it nicely so that no big pieces are left. Now make jaggery powder in a grinder and strain it with a flour strainer. Add it to peanuts powder and roast in a pan with ghee. Do not roast a lot otherwise, jaggery will melt and become hard after cooling. Now take it out on a plate and press with your hands while it’s hot. You can also cover it with parchment paper and roll it out. Just cut it into pieces and store it in a box.

4.   Oats Chikki

It can be made just like a peanut chikki. Just dry roast rolled oats and grind to a powder. And rest you can make as peanuts chikki.

5.   Mixed Berries

Carry some dried mixed berries like blueberry and cranberry. You can add raisins, dried apricots, dried plums, and prunes (chopped in small pieces) to the mix. They are the quickest and easiest healthy way of snacking for babies above 9 months.

6.   Cheese Mathri

These are really good substitutes for biscuits and cookies. These can be made at home. Just add 1/2 cup grated cheese to 1 1/2 cup Whole Wheat Flour. Add a pinch of baking soda, 2 tsp oil, 1/2 tsp roasted Jeera, and salt to taste. Knead the dough till smooth and keep it covered in a wet muslin cloth for 2 hours. Pin it and cut it into desired shapes. Deep fry in oil and store in an air-tight container after cooled down.

Hope these tips on baby travel foods help you for your next trip. Carrying homemade food is always a good option but cooked food should not be fed to little ones after 4 hours. And never forget to carry some favorite toys of your little ones so that you can make them happy when they get cranky on the traveling.

For any queries or more suggestions kindly contact me at my Instagram handle @the_mamma_code