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- Every summer, my husband and I drive 12 hours from Pennsylvania to Michigan with our three kids.
- Carefully timed Trader Joe’s snacks help keep meltdowns to a minimum.
- Some of my kids’ favorites include Cosmic Crisp apples, PB&C packs, and Chomps.
Every summer, my family and I take a 12-hour road trip to Michigan, where we trade the East Coast humidity and Jersey Shore traffic for 9 p.m. sunsets and Lake Michigan beaches.
Of course, 12 hours in the car with three kids (ages 1, 2, and 7) is … long. No amount of screen time or curated playlists can distract from the inevitable cries of “Are we there yet?”
Instead, the real secret to surviving this trip is having an endless supply of snacks.
I’ve been shopping at Trader Joe’s since 2010 and like to think I’ve achieved connoisseur status by now. Here’s everything I grab at the store for our annual trek.
My husband and I like to start the trip with La Colombe draft lattes.
Our espresso machine is usually already in the car, so these cold, creamy, canned lattes are gold.
Each one delivers 6 grams of protein and just enough caffeine to help me wake up as we finish loading the car.
When the kids wake up, their first snack of choice is Trader Joe’s organic fruit-sauce pouches.
I like that these fruit-sauce pouches are made with fruit and veggies and have no added sugar.
I toss one back to my second grader in the third row and open two more for the babies.
For breakfast, I pass around nut butter and oat RXBars.
Everyone gets a nut butter and oat RXBar for breakfast. It’s our favorite flavor, and I like that they’re less sticky than traditional RXBars.
They’re packed with whole ingredients, like oats, peanuts, and egg whites, and have 10 grams of protein, which buys us at least an hour or two before the next snack request.
Along the way, I make mini “car-cuterie” with Citterio salami-and-cheese packs and pretzel slims.
One of my favorite finds this year is these peppery salami-and-cheese packs, which have 8 grams of protein and make the perfect accoutrement for pretzel slims.
I throw a pack to the back for my 7-year-old, then hand the 2-year-old the meat, and the 1-year-old the provolone cheese.
In the front seat, I like to build tiny stacks of salami, cheese, and pretzels for myself, too.
Bananas help us hold off on the sweets — for now.
At my local Trader Joe’s, bananas cost just $0.30 each, which means I can get three for under $1.
They’re a great, no-mess snack option for my second grader, and only mildly messy for my toddler and baby (if I pass them back in small chunks).
After we stop for lunch, I pass out Cosmic Crisp apple slices.
After a nice break to grab lunch, stretch our legs, and fill up at the gas station, I pass out apple slices to end our break with something sweet.
These apples are crunchy, juicy, and the perfect combination of tart and sweet.
While the kids take a nap, my husband and I snack on some chocolate-covered espresso beans.
Rich, crunchy espresso beans generously covered in different types of chocolate — say less.
It’s exactly what we need as the kids nap and we settle into an episode of the “SmartLess” podcast.
Once the kids are up, the “fun snacks” begin, starting with Trader Joe’s PB&C packs.
The bigger kids cheer when I hand them the PB&C snack duos. They love dipping the cocoa-creme-stuffed wafer tubes into peanut butter.
Although it’s arguably the messiest snack I pack, it brings the most joy.
Chomps come everywhere with us, and this trip is no exception.
These Chomps meat sticks are made from grass-fed beef (or antibiotic-free turkey) and pack up to 12 grams of protein each.
They’re portable, flavorful, and easy to toss in the back seat.
We love Trader Joe’s sea-salted saddle potato crisps.
About halfway through our trip, the reality of being in the car for so long starts to set in.
I hand stacks of the sea-salted saddle potato crisps to my little ones and the rest of the container to my oldest — there’s something really novel about eating chips out of a tube.
As the witching hour approaches, it’s time for some watermelon freeze-dried candies.
Trader Joe’s watermelon-flavored freeze-dried candies have a similar texture to freeze-dried fruit. However, they taste more like Sour Patch Kids, which my husband and oldest love.
I also enjoy some ranch-seasoned cashews.
Each cashew is coated in a salty, creamy, dilly ranch seasoning that’s incredibly delicious.
However, they can be a little messy, so I recommend having some napkins (or diaper wipes) readily available.
To finish the journey, we enjoy some Daelmans Dutch stroopwafels.
Our final destination is a city called Holland, so we wrap the drive up with Dutch stroopwafels.
These chewy, caramel-filled wafer cookies are the perfect way to end our road trip on a sweet note.
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