Monday, March 12, 2012

Homemade Energy Trail Mix

Yum
Sometimes it's nice to have a good quality snack around in case the munchies strike.  Nuts are a great source of fiber and protein. You can simply eat a 1/4 cup of nuts and call it a day, but I find it lacking. I need something sweet to balance out the nuts. Dried fruit is a great energy source and it provides a nice sweetness.  Okay... so why are there M&Ms?  Well, you have to put something fun in the bag to make it interesting for the kids (me too!). Buying prepacked trail mix is pretty costly so why not make your own homemade trail mix and save pennies on the dollar.  Plus they always have one ingredient you don't care for and you have pick your way through the bag to avoid it. If you customize your own special blend it's as simple as gathering your ingredients (buy it in bulk) and making your trail mix once a week for a bunch of healthy snacks that are ready to go when you are instead of grabbing a bag of chips or candy bar.


 Ingredients:
Nuts:  Dry roasted peanuts, almonds, walnuts, pecans etc...
Dried fruit:  dried cranberries, raisins, dried apricots, figs, dates etc..
Dry Cereal:  Chex mix, Cheerios, etc..
Snack favorites:  small pretzels, sunflower/pumpkin seeds (shelled), popcorn
Chocolate:  M&Ms, chocolate chips, white chocolate chips,

Directions:
Mix the ratio of 2 parts nuts to 1 part each of extras.  Use a 1/4 measuring cup and measure out the correct serving size into a snack size ziploc bags.  Enjoy.

My Mix:
4 cups dry roasted peanuts
1 cup M&M
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup almond slivers (I know it's a nut, but I treated it like an extra because it was expensive )




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