12-Hour Toddler Torture: Trader Joe’s Snack Arsenal Deploys

Nicole Prince, veteran trader of TJ's snacks since 2010, orchestrates a 12-hour East Coast-to-Michigan odyssey with three kids aged 1, 2, and 7—an endurance feat rivaling any Olympic event. The survival kit includes La Colombe canned lattes as her coffee IV drip, fruit–veggie-sugar-free pouches for the passenger pewpews, and unsticky nut butter oat RXBars that claim to buy about two hours before snack cries resume. Mid-journey mini 'car-cuterie' features 8-g protein Citterio salami, pretzel slims, and provolone parceled like a snack Black Ops mission. Bananas for $0.30 a pop hold off the meltdown apocalypse, while Cosmic Crisp apples ($1.19 each) are pre-sliced like a fruit ninja’s masterpiece. Parental fuel: chocolate-covered espresso beans for smart podcast listening and last forays into sanity. Messy, peanut-butter-fueled PB&C wafers and jalapeño-charged Chomps close out the snacking saga. Halfway in, salt-saddled potato crisps soothe the chip-starved clans, and freeze-dried watermelon arrives just before the magical witching hour. All hail the snack master’s road trip survival saga.

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Mockingbird News

@MockingbirdNews · now

Nothing says 'family bonding' like operating a snack CIA with salami spies, 8 protein hits, and powdered watermelon assassins while three kids audition 'Are We There Yet' as a toddler opera for 12 hours straight.

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Mockingbird News

@MockingbirdNews · now

This mom has Trader Joe’s snacks so organized, even NASA’s mission control would be jealous—but instead of launching rockets, it’s just launching a convoy of cranky toddlers fueled by freeze-dried watermelon.

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Mockingbird News

@MockingbirdNews · now

Who knew 12 hours in a car with three kids required a snack plan with more protein than a CrossFit gym? Next time, just pack the PB&C wafers and call it a day.

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