The very first muffin tin meal I ever made, way before I'd even heard of the official Muffin Tin Meal, was put together as a snack for my then-2-year-old to eat in the car. I used four silicone muffin cups in a Glad sandwich container. For this week's muffin tin meal, I used that brilliant idea again. The kids and I spent about 35 hours in the car on vacation in January, and these muffin-tin-meals-in-a-box helped a LOT.
The containers I used for this trip were Rubbermaid TakeAlongs, but I tested the ziploc and Glad brand sandwich containers and they also work for this. The lids fit on perfectly, and only the tiniest foods will spill if the container is dropped. With the lid on. You're on your own if the lid is off. Luckily, that only happened to me once!
I re-used our Muffin Tin Meals 5 different times in the car. I refilled them at rest stops, or for the next day. Here are some of the snacks I used:
- goldfish crackers
- pretzel sticks
- raisins
- yogurt-covered raisins
- marshmallows
- gummy bears
- fruit snacks
- carrot sticks
- cereal (Cheerios, Fruit Loops etc)
- Cheez-its
Here is my preschooler enjoying her first muffin tin meal of the trip. It was easy for her to balance on her lap while she snacked. Both of the kids loved their “snack boxes.”
Interested in learning more about Muffin Tin Meals? Check out ways to save on Muffin Tin Meal supplies, Muffin Tin Meals Made Easy, my previous Muffin Tin Meals and this week's Muffin Tin Monday link-ups at Muffin Tin Mom.
AWESOME idea! I am totally using this on future road trips!
Using these for road trips is a great idea. I’ve have done this before when I knew we were going to be running errands after school and I knew the kids would be “starving,” if they didn’t have something to eat… but, we live away from family and often go on car trips- this would be a great way to bring snacks along for the ride!
What a great way to keep all the food together without getting crumbs everywhere.
What an excellent idea! Have an hour long car trip (and then another hour home again) with the boys tomorrow, think I’ll be packing a similar box for each of them to make the trip slightly more bearable!
Love it! Having these on road trips keeps the snacks interesting and theres enough to feed them for awhile.
Those are certainly healthier than lunchables! Do you think it would work with paper muffin liners, or would they be too flimsy?
Great idea. I use those muffin tin cups in my daughter’s lunch. They work great.
http://voneinspired.com/2012/05/how-to-make-sandwich-less-lunches/