Tonight we are heading off on a much anticipated three week holiday, firstly visiting family in Perth, and then heading over to meet up with some friends in Lombok, Indonesia. I absolutely love going on holiday (who doesn’t!?) and have been looking forward to it for months. Does anyone else ever feel that sometimes the anticipation and lead up to a holiday, or other important event, is almost – almost – more exciting than the actual event itself. I definitely fall into the camp of travellers who like to organise and plan for their holiday for months in advance, and love this lead-up period and all the excitement it brings with it.
So it probably comes as no surprise that when travelling, I like to pack food for my flight. This is mainly so that I’m not limited to buying food on the plane or at the airport. Airplane food is usually processed, packed full of sugar and preservatives, and usually not fresh. I always find airport food to be a bit hit and miss as well, not to mention grossly overpriced. With a little preparation though its quite easy to prepare meals and/or snacks for travelling. Some of my favorite foods to take are
– Fresh fruit (a no-brainer!)
– Cut up vegetable sticks stored in dip
– Bliss balls (berry or chocolate flavoured)
– Chia pudding
– Coconut water
– Mixed nuts/seeds
– Banana oat bars
– Swedish crackers
As our two flights are split up over two days, and we’ll be spending the night in an airport hotel, I’ve packaged up some dry chia pudding mix to take – chia seeds, coconut milk powder, cinnamon, coconut sugar, spirulina, cacao – so the night before I can mix it with a mashed banana and some water and then take it with me in the morning. The last airport breakfast I had was $25 worth of scrambled eggs that were both rubbery and runny at the same time, cold mushrooms, burnt tomato and canned “baked” beans. It was bad enough to put me off airport breakfasts for life!
I was planning on making my usual recipe for Swedish Crackers, but decided it might be more fun to mix it up a bit. I removed the flour and replaced it with some ground seeds. I also added in some thinly shredded vegetables for extra flavour and nutrients, plus added some Japanese flavourings – tamari, ginger, and seaweed (nori). The end product turned out wonderfully – they’re crunchy bit also quite soft and almost crumbly when you bite into them. And the flavour is perfect – subtle and yet noticable enough that they are distinguishable from other plain crackers.
Paleo Veggie Crackers
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup sesame seeds
1/3 cup shredded coconut
1/2 heaped cup finely grated zucchini
1/2 heaped cup finely grated carrot
1 Tbsp finely grated fresh ginger
2 Tbsp tamari
1 toasted nori sheet, crumbled
4 Tbsp oil (coconut, olive, sesame)
Preheat oven to 155 C || 310 F
Combine the top 5 ingredients in a bowl and then divide into two. Add one half to a food processer and blend into a fine crumb. add back into the bowl with the unprocessed ingredients.
Finely grate the zucchini and carrot (I used the smallest grating blade on my food processor to do this), and then squeeze out some of the excess moisture. Add half to the food processor and mix until it forms a paste.
Comine all ingredients in a mixing bowl with 4 Tbsp oil (I used 2 parts coconut, 1 part olive, 1 part sesame).
Place dough on a lined baking sheet and line with some greasproof baking paper. Use a rolling pin to evenly and thinly roll it out, then use a sharp knife to mark the dough so that it will easily break into crackers when cooked.
Bake in oven 30 – 35 minutes (note that the cooking time will vary depending on how thin the cracker dough is rolled).
Cool on a wire rack and then break into smaller pieces. Store in an airtight container.
These look delicious -love the idea of the nori and Ginger in there. Have an aweomse time in Lombok you Lucky thing!!
Yes! The anticipation of a holiday is almost as exciting. I really want to make these crackers. Am always looking for a better cracker alternative for my husband but have trouble keeping home-made ones stocked. A fully home-made kitchen is hard to keep up at all times, isn’t it?! Have a wonderful holiday, Dearna!
It sounds wonderful with a 3 weeks holiday! Indonesia sounds awesome :)
Wonderul post btw. I always love getting tips on how to stay healthy when you are on the go. These crackers look so delicious.
Enjoy your holiday! Can’t wait to hear about it :)
Wow, these are so unique! I wish I had some of them for all of the traveling I just did. The food on the plane is deplorable!
I hope you enjoy every minute of your holiday. It is always so exciting leading up to it and then it goes by so fast. Try to savor it and maybe take a few pictures to share! ;)
I’m so glad to hear I’m not the only obsessive vacation planner out there! I have my holiday coming up in July and have been brainstorming already. Outfits, activities, where and what to eat. I think it keeps me sane to organize things. Have an amazing trip!! Can’t wait to hear all about it. :)
I just came across your site today via Finding Vegan and I am SO GLAD that I did… your photos and recipes are amazing!! I love everything about it. You most definitely have a new reader :) and these crackers sound so fab!
Aw, thank you so much Jordan! Its so lovely being able to connect with other healthy food bloggers, and Finding Vegan is such a great way to find other sites. You are definitely welcome to drop by any time! And I can’t wait to check out more of your blog as well – I just popped over quickly then and those muffins – wow! They sound amazing :)
You’re much better than me with eating healthy and travelling! I’m always terrible and end up having to eat the plane food. These crackers look so tasty :)
I’m a lot better now than I used to be! Thanks Lillian :)
What a uniquely vibrant and healthy combination! I frequently pack my own snackies when heading out, too – especially when we drive to the beach (so I can pack a lot without worrying how much they weigh or whether they’ll be questioned at security!). Having delicious yet wholesome homemade snacks helps me eat more healthfully when faced with quick stops at fast food restaurants along the way! :D
Your style is so unique compared to other folks I’ve read stuff from.
Thanks for posting when you have the opportunity, Guess I
will just bookmark this site.
hi
i tried this.
something is missing
the crackers did not hold , something is missing in the ingredients, something to stick everything together
you also said 5 ingredients to mix and there is only 4 on the top of the list
looks like flex seeds is missing
please comment
thanks
Hi Andre, sorry it’s been so long since I have made these that I can’t remember what the missing ingredient is, though I suspect that you are right and it’s a Tablespoon or two of flax or chia seeds. I will make them again soon and update the recipe accordingly. Thanks, Dearna
thanks very much i think that it should be 1/2 cup of flax seeds in water for about an hour and then mix it together, i will wait till you experipent
thanks