Wellness Warrior Collective’s Top 6 Snacks to Bring On An Outdoor Adventure

Step up your snacking game with these six delicious recipes and tips to keep you energized throughout a day of adventures.

This post comes from wellness experts, Alexandra Dawson and Ksenia Avdulova!

This past July, Alexandra Dawson and Ksenia Avdulova of the Wellness Warrior Collective — a collaborative series exploring the elements and interconnectedness of whole body wellness through the lens of self-love, positive thinking, and holistic living — packed up their yoga pants for four days of scenic yoga, moon parties, and wildflower walks at Wanderlust Festival, Squaw Valley. With their diverse backgrounds and overwhelming passions for spreading health and living their lives in motion, they’re here now chatting about all things snack time – our favorite meal of the day!

While in Squaw Valley for Wanderlust Festival, we set an intention to really step up our snacking games. With our schedules jam-packed with yoga practices, meditative dance, media events, and wildflower and singalong hikes, we knew we had to bring some solid, sustaining snacks along for the ride. Whether you’re conquering a yoga festival, an afternoon or overnight hike, or the business of everyday, here are six of our favorite snack time must-haves to bring along on your next adventure (and yes – the office and classroom are adventures)! Let’s get munching!

Wellness Warrior Collective’s Top 6 Snacks to Bring On An Outdoor Adventure

1. Fruits – think fresh fruits with tougher skins: bananas, oranges, apples. These fruits will not only hold up better in your bag without refrigeration, resisting those bumps and bruises, but will provide you with a natural sugar boost to keep you going strong and feeling bright while conquering the great outdoors. If your adventure is on the longer side, also consider dried fruits, like these Ginger & Cinnamon Spiced Dried Pears, or opt for a naturally sweetened store bought option for added ease.

2. Raw or Lightly Roasted Nuts & Seeds – nuts and seeds, like cashews, walnuts, pumpkin seeds and brazil nuts will give you a clean, instant energy boost. Try mixing your favorite nuts and seeds for the most interesting flavor combinations. If you decide to add some dry fruit to your homemade trail mix, go for a small amount of goji berries, mulberries, or a couple of dates to keep the sugar in check. This snack wins “the most portable” award in our list.

3. Red Berry Chia Jam – utilizing the best of summer’s bounty, this naturally sweetened jam is perfect spread on your favorite slice of sprouted toast, coupled with creamy almond butter, or even stirred into your morning oats or chia pudding. Much like fresh and dried fruit, this jam is packed with just the right amount of natural sugar, plus the addition of protein and fiber-packed chia, to keep your cells buzzing while you’re on the go. We like to assemble our nut butter & chia jam sandwiches before we head out for extra convenience. (see recipe below)

4. No-bake Energy Bites – Bliss balls, energy balls, protein balls, energy bites… whatever you call them, this deliciously nutty sphere-shaped snack is one of our all-time favorites. Energy bites are simply a mixture of nuts (we love using cashews, walnuts and desiccated coconut), dried fruit (dates), a favorite protein powder or superfood, and a little bit of honey or pure maple syrup, processed in a blender or food processor. You can then roll them in deliciously crunchy cacao nibs, coconut, goji berries–you name it. The texture and taste scream pure indulgence, while you’re secretly sneaking in all the nutrients you need to ascend the steepest hill. The girls thought we were crazy, but when we were in the middle of a hike, the jar with vanilla lucuma energy bites came in quite handy!

5. Crunchy Homemade Granola Bars – packed to the brim with protein, fiber and omega rich pumpkin seeds, walnuts, chia seeds and cacao nibs, these homemade granola bars give any store bought option a run for its money. A perfectly satisfying pick-me-up with the texture of a cookie, and only pure, whole food ingredients, we guarantee these portable bites will keep your bellies full and your taste buds happy while you take the great outdoors by storm. Bonus: your apartment will smell like superfood heaven. (see recipe below)

6. LOTS of Water – before heading out, make sure to not only begin hydrating the night before, but fill your water bottle (maybe even 2 or 3 depending on the length of your adventure!) for the day ahead. Because staying hydrated is so crucial for every element of whole body wellness, we never leave home without water handy. Water not your thing? Heighten your H2O with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, a scoop of dried coconut water powder, or add some fresh herbs (we love fresh mint and cilantro!), cucumbers or berries to let those bright flavors infuse.

Red Berry Chia Jam [makes about 1 ½ cups jam, 12 servings]

Ingredients:

2 cups (10 oz) fresh strawberries, stems removed & halved

1 ½ cups (6 oz) fresh raspberries

2 -4 tablespoons coconut sugar (depending on desired sweetness)

2 tablespoons chia seeds

In a medium pot, bring strawberries, raspberries, and 2 tablespoons coconut sugar to a boil over medium heat. Mixture will appear very liquidy, don’t worry – it will reduce during the simmering (and chia adding!) process. Once boiling, reduce heat to medium-low and allow mixture to simmer for 10 minutes.

Remove pot from heat and check jam for sweetness – I prefer my jam as is, with the 2 tablespoons of coconut sugar, but add more to your desired sweetness level! Stir in chia seeds and allow jam to sit for a minimum of 15 minutes.

Transfer to your favorite glass jar, serve, and enjoy!

Note: well stored jam will keep in your refrigerator for up to a week

Crunchy Homemade Granola Bars

makes about 15 bars

Ingredients:

1 cup rolled oats

1 cup whole wheat or gluten-free flour

3 tablespoon chia seeds

1 cup raw walnuts

⅓ cup raw pumpkin seeds

¼ cup goji berries (optional)

3 tbs raw cacao nibs

⅓ cup honey or pure maple syrup

½ cup almond butter

¼ cup coconut oil

1 egg (or vegan egg replacement: combine 1 tbs. chia seeds or flaxseed meal with 2.5 tbs. water, mix and let set for 5 minutes to activate)

½ teaspoon sea salt

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a loaf pan or baking sheet with coconut oil.

In a large bowl, mix together all dry ingredients – oats, flour, chia, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, goji berries, and cacao nibs. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together all wet ingredients -maple syrup or honey, almond butter, coconut oil, and sea salt. Pour into oat mixture and mix well, until all ingredients are incorporated. Transfer to prepared loaf pan, laying out the dough evenly, about ½ inch thick.

Bake for 15 minutes, rotating the pan 180 degrees halfway through. Allow bars to cool before slicing, then fill your pockets with your new favorite snack.

Alexandra Dawson: @tallulahalexandra & inmybowl.com

Ksenia Avdulova: @breakfastcriminals & breakfastcriminals.com