Travel provides a lot of temptation to overindulge. There’s a great cafe or bar around every corner brimming with pastries and craft brew.
It’s wrong to not try them right?
A big reason we travel is to taste the flavours and stories of the local culture.
After spending a month in Tasmania and eating our way around Melbourne we discovered how disastrous these choices can be for your health.
The waistline expanded, the sluggishness set in, and the children’s undesirable behaviour shot through the roof.
I am quite health conscious. I do have a lot of food intolerances – gluten the main offender – and so have been on a journey for the past couple of years that involves a return to whole foods.
I try my best to eat foods free from gluten, dairy, and sugar. I was pescatarian, but have started eating a little more meat to compensate for a diet that is missing a whole lot of other stuff!
The problem with dietary requirements is you need to have a lot of control over your meals AND creating them involves a few extra ingredients and tools.
That is why I decided we needed to travel with a high-speed blender.
The backpacker in me thought I was insane!
But, I’m not backpacking. I have a camper trailer and a car with lots of room to pack a few more conveniences.
We now travel with a Blendtec high-speed blender.
Apart from our bikes, the blender has become the best addition to the tools and equipment we have packed with us on this journey around Australia.
We chose a high-speed blender over a smaller travel blender because I need it to turn food into liquid and to process things like nuts and dates.
I use our high-speed blender for everything. In fact, as soon as we set up camp, it stays out on the kitchen bench. On my wish list is to move up from the Blendtec high-speed blender to a Vitamix, or a thermomix.
Every morning we have a green power smoothie.
We struggle to get Savannah to try them – I swear she can sniff spinach a mile away, no matter how much you disguise it with raw cacao (for those who don’t know, that’s chocolate in its pure form that is so healthy you can eat it for breakfast.)
Kalyra loves the smoothies and is happy to try one each morning, even when it has ingredients like cucumber, coriander (cilantro) or even kale.
She does a happy dance on the mornings we make the Ultimate Smoothie.
In fact I think we all do: almonds, chia seeds, banana, avocado, spinach, coconut water, dates, and raw cacao. It’s to die for and a meal that is filling and packed with protein to get us through the day.
My smoothie has replaced coffee as my I cannot function without it morning drink.
I don’t just use the blender for smoothies. I use it to make healthy soup, like cauliflower and leek, or carrot and pumpkin – which Kalyra absolutely loves.
I use it to make dips like beetroot hummus for our afternoon snack, or a treat the girls love- berry coconut pops.
And our family favourite snack – which the girls fight over – are the chia and nut protein balls I whip up in 10 minutes using the blender.
I have to ration them out in their lunch boxes for long car journeys, else they’d eat 10 in a row. These are so delicious and cheap to make. They’d cost you $4 a ball if you brought them at the health food shop.
I also make healthy meals with the high-speed blender, like cauliflower couscous, raw vegan tacos, or basil pesto.
And then there are amazing desserts like this chocolate tart. Yep – it’s sugar, gluten and dairy free and is an indulgent slice of heaven.
Eating whilst travelling on a road trip has never been so good. We still indulge in the local flavours, but we now have a lovely balance and something a little more enticing to help us say No to the temptations.
When you feed your body food that elevates your energy with long-lasting healthy ingredients, you have more strength and stamina to get through the day enjoying the many activities you can enjoy.
I never thought I’d carry a high-speed blender with me on my travels, but now I’d never leave home without one.
I reckon I’d even find space for it in my backpack.
Update: We also now travel with a cold-press juicer!
You can read more of my tips for staying healthy on the road here.
