I'm pretty sure our daughter gets her "hangry" from me so food is high on our priority list. Never happier than when snacking. Food and snack prep for long journeys is a non negotiable.
Some airlines seem to provide really great options for babies but toddlers seem to fall into a black hole. We're not super keen on Millie living on baby puree jars, nor on high sodium airline meals for adults so we went hybrid:
What we bought:
- Pouches - we love Only Organic. M's favourites are 1. Banana, Blueberry, Quinoa, 2. Carrots, Red Lentils, Cheddar 3. Risotto & Spring lamb
- Avocado (NB yes there was some green mess!)
- Peanut butter (NB yes there was some brown mess!)
- Savoury Snacks - Veggie Straws
- Desert Snacks - Coconut Rolls
What we made:
1. Green Pancakes:
All credit for the Green Pancakes goes to our obsession with Baby Food Bible
Ingredients
+ 1.5 small ripe bananas (or 1 large)
+ 1 cup spinach (we use frozen)
+ 3/4 cup oats
+ 2 eggs
1/4 cup coconut milk (canned is great or any nut/oat milk or water)
+ 1tsp cinnamon (optional addition)
1TBS Coconut oil for greasing pan
Method
+ Blitz all ingredients in the blender until very smooth and well combined
+ Grease pan with coconut oil and wipe any excess oil off with a paper towel
+ Pour in 1TBS amounts of the batter to your warm pan to make mini pancakes
+ Flip when batter starts to bubble - approx 2-3 mins per side
2. Banana & Zucchini muffins
Ingredients
+ 2 bananas very ripe, mashed
+ ¼ cup coconut oil or butter melted
+ 1/2 cup greek yogurt
+ 1/4 cup maple syrup (we actually omit this if the bananas are super ripe!)
+ 1/2 cup milk
+ 1 cup grated zucchini about one medium zucchini
+ 2 eggs
+ 1 teaspoon vanilla
+ 1 and 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
+ 2 tsp cinnamon
+ 1 tsp baking soda
+ 1 tsp baking powder
Method
+ Preheat oven to 200C. Line a muffin tin with muffin liners or spray with cooking spray.
+ Grate zucchini, squeeze out excess moisture with kitchen towel. Set aside.
+ In one bowl, mash the bananas. Add the butter, maple syrup, yogurt, milk, eggs, vanilla extract, mix well. Stir in zucchini and mix until combined.
+ In another bowl whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking powder and baking soda.
+ Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Stir until just mixed. DO NOT over mix or your muffins will be tough. A few lumps is fine.
+ Divide the batter between the 12 prepared muffin cups.
+ Bake muffins at 210 degrees F for 5 minutes, then without opening the oven, reduce heat to 150 degrees.
+ Bake at 170 for another 20-22 more minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Baking them at the higher temperature at first helps them rise and gives a nice rounded top.
+ Remove from oven and remove muffins from the muffin tin as soon as possible. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days, or individually wrap and freeze for up to one month.
3. Hummus
Ingredients
+ 1 can rinsed chickpeas
+ 1 clove garlic
+ 1/4 cup olive oil
+ 1/4 cup lemon juice (more to taste if you like)
+ 1/4 cup tahini
+ 1 tsp cumin
+ pinch of pepper
Method:
Blitz all the ingredients together until smooth. (That's it)
What we offered from the airline/plane food:
- Fruit - bananas (whole) and apple slices
- Cheese
- Bread
- Plain yoghurt
- Whole Milk
NOTE: We're lucky that our toddler doesn't have any allergens that we've discovered so far but certainly not a good place to try anything new.