12 Clean-eating protein snacks for the car line

Now that school’s back in, I’m pretty sure I spend half my life in the car. Which can make it reaaaaally tough to make healthy eating choices. Since I’m on a journey to lose 52 pounds of baby weight, I’m always packing my own clean-eating snacks, but it’s hard to come up with healthy snacks that actually contain protein. (Because sometimes, a banana just won’t do.)

Here are my favorite 12 clean-eating snacks for the car line. And they all actually have protein.

1. Green apple and almonds

The apple is tangy, the almonds are buttery and filling. Easy-to-grab and easy-to-eat!

2. Grape tomatoes and hard-boiled egg

The tomatoes are sweet, the egg is filling. It’s really satisfying, with zero guilt.

3. Hummus Plus

Hummus Plus are basically ready-to-go snack packs that contain chicken and different types of hummus. (This one is roasted red bell pepper hummus!) You take the chicken out of a baggie, put it into the bowl, and use the included plastic utensil to spoon in some hummus. The chicken’s already cooked, so you can eat it cold or warmed up. It’s really easy and super filling and gives me great energy. Which comes in handy when I need to sprint through the lamps aisle at Target to catch up with a bolting toddler.

4. Pear wedges wrapped in turkey slices

I’m a fan of sweet and salty foods together, and this snack is awesome for that. I usually slice the pear and wrap each wedge with the turkey at home, then throw it all in a plastic baggie and go.

5. Grapes and cashews

I’m kind of obsessed with cashews lately, so I put them with everything. When I pack grapes as my snack, I try to take them off the stem so they’re that much easier to eat. Hello, one-handed baby-holder.

6. 3-ingredient clean-eating energy bites

I keep these in the freezer all the time, and just grab 1 or 2 when the urge strikes. When you bake them, you can add in an extra 1/4 cup of peanut butter for a high-protein variation.

7. Banana and sunflower seed butter

Bananas are wrapped in God’s own natural “packaging” which makes them super-easy to transport. Sometimes I bring my jar of sunflower seed butter and a plastic knife to add in some more protein.

8. Raw veggies with hummus

The other reason I love Hummus Plus is that it’s really a double-duty snack. There’s always leftover hummus to use in my next snack, as a dip with raw veggies.

9. Orange and pecans

I love this combo because the orange is citrusy and the pecans are buttery. Sometimes I peel and section the orange and put it into a plastic baggie before I leave the house to make things extra easy.

10. Carrot sticks and almond butter

I buy baby carrots and bring a small plastic container of almond butter. I always crave sweet, crunchy snacks in the afternoons (I call it my Secret Snacking Behavior), so this totally helps satisfy that craving, without the guilt.

11. Dried fruit and peanuts

I’m kind of obsessed with dried mangos lately, and again, since I’m a fan of eating salty and sweet things together, I like to pair them with salty peanuts. You can also use dried dates, raisins or homemade dehydrated fruit. (My friend recently lent me her dehydrator, and it’s ridiculously easy and cheap to dehydrate fruits yourself. I would highly recommend!)

12. Raisins, pecans & unsweetened coconut flakes

It’s like clean-eating granola. And, a party in your mouth. There, I said it.

Oh, and one more tip! I make snack bags every Sunday and keep them in a container in the fridge until I’m ready to eat them that week.

If you make it easy, you will do it.

Good luck!