Ford – Choose Your Own Adventure #2 + Tips for Holiday Eating

So, recently we were given a Ford Territory Titanium to have a play with as part of the Kidspot Voices of 2013 Blogger Awards. We have three challenges to create and were given the freedom to “Choose Your Own Adventure”. You can see our adventure #1 here, now for adventure #2.

We had planned a trip to Canberra and timed it perfectly with when we also had the keys to the Territory. Whilst Canberra isn’t the most exciting of places, we soon found it is actually pretty good for kids. We even found dinosaurs.

As for the car. It was a pleasure, sitting up high smelling the brand new leather and finding where I needed to go with the touch of a fancy screen. The top 3 things I love about the Ford Territory (diesel):

1. It soothes kids to sleep. Almost instantly.
2. You (almost) never have to fill it up with fuel.
3. There’s a nook and a pocket for every last rusk, coffee, and bag of snacks.

Challenge #2: Road Trip – One Handed Cooks ‘Canberra’ Ford Adventure 

There’s one thing that does worry me a bit when we go away, and that is the lack of good quality ‘fast’ food for kids. We ate at lots of restaurants and cafes, and the kids menu was pretty appalling. Nuggets, Fried Food, Chips, + a token piece of soggy lettuce and cucumber stick. After about 24 hours of this, and when he wasn’t asleep in the Ford, Harry started to play up. He had a sore tummy and was turning a tad feral. We weren’t staying somewhere with a kitchenette, so my usual Mini Break Meal plan wasn’t an option.

Holidays are a great break and a nice chance to eat new foods and try new things but you don’t want crappy food ruining your time away. So what to do in these situations, and how to find some balance? Here are my tips.

Tips for holiday eating:

Keep your meal schedule: Having a good mealtime schedule really helps me determine when Harry is hungry and when he is tired/over tired/bored etc. By keeping to his schedule (most of the time) I knew when he was hungriest and when I would have more of a chance for him to eat, and eat well. This keeps the holiday more relaxed for everyone.

Stay active: While there was a lot of time spent in our nice new car, we were also on-the-go more than usual. Keeping active and giving Harry lots of open space to run around helped compensate for all the over-eating.

Fresh food is fast food: We had the hotel buffet breakfast as part of our deal so I used the fruit bowl to stock up on some whole fruit (apples, bananas and mandarins). I was able to give these fruits to Harry as a snack while in the car or between meals to get some fresh food into him.

Focus on variety: Sometimes you don’t have much choice with the food you are provided on holidays. I would try and focus on the variety of food Harry was eating, it’s also a great way for your kids to try new foods in a non-confronting way.

Get creative: If you are having a really hard time trying to find a decent meal for the kids, I often find asking the hotel for an adapted meal is not big deal. One night they made Harry some steamed veggies and an entree sized spaghetti bolognese which was far more appealing than what was on the kids menu.

Enjoy your time away:  Kids are very adaptable, and they will go back to their old eating ways when you get home. Being on holidays and enjoying cafes together is a great way to learn table manners and socialisation skills, not to mention it is a change from the ordinary and enjoyable for the whole family.

Note: we were not paid to write this post, we were given a Ford Territory to test drive for the Kidspot 2013 Blogger Awards. This post is sponsored by Ford as part of Voices of 2013.