Feed Your Body Friday: Homemade Trail Mix
Trail mixes aren’t just for hikers! On busy days, finding time to stop and have a snack can be strangely difficult. How many of you have gone through an entire day before you realized you hadn’t eaten yet?
To be honest, I rarely remember to plan for snacking throughout the day. I never even considered making trail mix for myself because the only occasions I thought about this snack were on picnics or while doing outdoor activities. But that was before I realized I could make a delicious trail mix blend at home!
Trail mix bought at the grocery store can be expensive, plus most blends are often very generous with the peanuts and raisins and stingy with the almonds and cashews (and you don’t need to be an economist to understand why!). In short, I simply prefer to combine my favorite nuts and dried fruits to make a 100% on-point combination for my tastes.
Rich in magnesium, vitamins E and B, iron, calcium, and minerals, nuts are an interesting fruit from a nutritional point of view. They’re also particularly beneficial for your health! Thanks to their high fibre, nuts will quickly fill you up. Even if the nut is high in fat, rest assured, it’s perfectly fine to add them in your diet if you consume them in reasonable quantities. As for the king of dried fruit, raisins, these little guys are particularly rich in iron and vitamin B, and also contain many minerals like potassium, calcium, magnesium and iron.
Trail mix is the perfect snack to have on hand. Make a ton of it and portion it out into mason jars, and you’ve got a ready-made, to-go snack to keep you going all week. You can bring it everywhere: in the car, to work, to school, or on an actual hike.
Let’s get started!
Homemade Trail Mix
Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Servings: 3 cups
Ingredients:
- ½ cup cashews
- ½ cup almonds
- ½ cup peanuts
- ½ cup sunflower seeds
- ½ cup pumpkin seeds
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- ¼ cup raisins
Preparation:
- Preheat oven to 275˚F
- In a bowl, mix all the nuts with the maple syrup.
- Place on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper.
- Cook in the oven for 25 minutes, mixing halfway through.
- Remove from oven, add the raisins, and you’re done!
Very simple and versatile, this trail mix allows you to use what you have on hand and change the ingredients as you like. Have fun with it! You also don’t need to cook it if you leave out the maple syrup and just mix the nuts and the dry fruit - a good option if you’re in a rush.
I have found that making my own trail mixes has been an unexpected pleasure! I bet you will have a great time buying your favorite nuts and dried fruits in large quantities to make your own signature blend.
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