Way back when, I did an internship with the DC area food bank and one of the tasks I was given was coming up with easy, healthy recipes that people who came to the food bank could make with the food they were given. The recipes had to use ingredients from the boxes they received, and they had to involve minimal cooking (since many of our customers didn't know how to cook or have access to stoves). One easy recipe that could provide a nutrient punch? Trail mix.
In the years after my time at the food bank, I worked as a camp counselor, student teacher, and now a mom, and have had plenty of time to refine my trail mix recipe. And I learned: there's a formula for making the perfect trail mix and it looks something like this:
3 cups grain (think pretzels, puffed rice, cereal, cheerios)
1 cup nuts
1 cup dried fruit
1/2 cup something sweet (think mini marshmallows, white or dark chocolate chips, m&ms)
1/3 cup seeds (pumpkin and sunflower are our faves)
Trail mix is one of mine and A.'s favorite things to make at home, it involves no real cooking but lots of measuring and stirring (which feels like cooking to a little kid). And she can pick the ingredients she prefers, within the parameters of the recipe, which is also big deal for my independent "I'll do it myself!" toddler on the cusp.
The trail mix we're currently snacking on is 3 cups pretzel chips, 1 cup pistachios, 1 cup dried cranberries, 1/2 cup white chocolate chips, 1/3 cup sunflower seeds. Yum!
Do you have a favorite trail mix recipe?
