by Lorelei Cohen

Created on: August 19, 2008   Last Updated: April 02, 2011

Kids have a whole lot of energy to begin with, but just add sugar, and ask them to sit still for a couple of hours in a confined space and see what happens. It really isn't a pretty picture and this is exactly what usually happens on most family road trips. Vacations that involve traveling for more than an hour or two can be nightmares!

The morning of the trip you are rushing around the house getting last minute details taken care of. You toss a quick sugar filled breakfast cereal into the kids to save just a few of those precious minutes that you are so scarce on at the moment. Then as soon as you hit the road those kids are bouncing up and down in the back seat like ping pong balls gone wild in a wind tunnel.

Nope! Not this trip you are thinking. That is definitely not going to happen on this trip!

You are off on a road trip in a couple of days and you are thinking that the frightening image of the kids going clinically insane in the back seat of your car is exactly what is not going to happen this time. The sweet snacks are being locked in the trunk to be handed out after you arrive at your destination. The picnic basket sitting on the floor of the car is going to be filled with sandwiches, carrot sticks, celery sticks, and little packages filled with cheese squares and bite sized pieces of sausage. You've even planned out pre-made little zip lock baggies filled with munchies that will take the kids time to consume. (Note: If kids can examine their food while they eat it then that food also becomes a time occupier. AKA: Amusement for kids!) So you've already planned to prepackage little zip lock bags filled with snack foods. Some bags stuffed with buttered popcorn while other baggies will be filled with multi-shaped mini crackers. The juice boxes that usually go along on road trips are being replaced this time with bottles of water.

Yep, the munchkins are going sugar free this trip!

Even breakfast is going to be different. You've eliminated all the sugary foods as options. No sweetened cereal, no oatmeal because you can't have it without adding brown sugar, no fruit or jam (high in natural sugars), no pancakes and syrup, and absolutely no fruit juices. That narrows things down to a few choice options. Eggs and toast, bacon and toast, or the out and out winning choice, left over pizza. Pizza will actually be the one choice that saves you a lot of work, and not only the morning that you will be leaving, but also on the night before the trip.

You are going to order the pizza the night before your road trip is due to occur, but rather than ordering just one pie, you are going to go for the two pizza deal. Most pizza places offer a "Two Pizza Deal" and it reduces the cost of the second pizza substantially. One pizza is for supper, and the other pizza goes in the fridge to become a quick, easy, sugar free breakfast the next morning. You rarely have to fight with kids to get them to consume pizza. It just seems that any and all food items classified as finger food are well liked by kids of any age.

Yep, this road trip the kids are going to be sugar free. No sugar crazed munchkins bouncing around in the back seat on this trip!

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