Sand between your toes, salt water in your hair, sun on your skin: A day at the beach makes you happy – and hungry! Equipped with delicious, beach-ready snacks that refresh and provide new energy for water lovers of all ages, your summer outing will be a truly successful experience for all the senses!
Anything snack-sized, doesn't need peeling, and can withstand a few hours of sun is refreshing and ideal, for example, cherry tomatoes, mini cucumbers, or cherry peppers. Grapes taste especially good when frozen beforehand – like natural ice candy! Nuts and dried fruits are easiest to snack on in bar form, and that way your fingers stay clean. If you can't do without chocolate, it's best to freeze the bar a few hours in advance so it doesn't melt so quickly.
Besides sun protection, adequate hydration is especially important on hot days – depending on body size and activity level, fluid requirements increase to three to four liters. Drinking water and mineral water are best; enhanced with a few slices of lime, orange, or cucumber, mint leaves, and ginger, they taste even more refreshing. Vegetable juices not only meet your water needs but also replenish minerals lost through sweating. Smoothies with fruits and green vegetables also provide energy, hydration, and vitamins and are perfect when the heat makes you less hungry.
Those who sweat a lot should also keep an eye on their salt intake. Crackers, small salted pretzels, or sun-dried tomatoes without oil are very suitable for this. For a bigger appetite, falafel, meatballs, boiled eggs, boiled potatoes, lentil salad, and pasta salads are good to take along – opt for a vinaigrette dressing, which withstands high temperatures better than mayonnaise, yogurt, and the like. Green salad, cheese, and sausage, on the other hand, wilt quickly and should be left at home or eaten immediately.
A cooler bag and ice packs are available for just a few euros and will keep food and drinks cold for about half a day. Drink bottles will stay cool if lightly buried in shallow water or a few centimeters deep in the sand. Of course, everything should be stored in the shade if possible, or at least under an umbrella or blanket – this also keeps insects away. To prevent sand from getting into your food, there are two options: seal food tightly in containers, swing-top bottles, screw-top jars, and zip-top bags. Or invest in a special beach towel, whose unique structure allows the sand to simply fall through (available online from around €10), keeping everything clean. And if you do end up with sandy fingers, you'll just have to jump back into the cool water to wash them off!
