Trail mix is a great way for your kids to eat healthy and also snack. It's perfect for on-the-go, it's easy to make, and it's affordable. The most common ingredients in trail mix are raisins, peanuts and sunflower seeds. The idea is to combine carbohydrates, proteins and fats into a snack to keep your energy up during activities and sports.
The Popularity of Trail Mix
According to The Food Timeline, explorers and soldiers made trail mix for long journeys and called trailmix GORP, "granola, oats, raisins and peanuts". However, there are also claims that surfers first made trail mix in 1968. Eventually, trail mixes became popular through hikers, and the mixes have even been featured as a hiking food in novels such as Jack Kerouac's The Dharma Bums.
Recipes
Trail mix recipes can range anywhere from 300 to 600 calories per cup. Whatever you put into trail mix is really about preference. A basic recipe is just to mix a cup of granola with a cup of raisins, a cup of cereal and a cup of peanuts. However, I recommend jazzing it up with some dried cranberries, small marshmallows or even M&Ms for the kids. Paula Deen's "Lip Smackin' Trail Mix Recipe" on The Food Network is a good example of jazzing up the basic trail mix recipe.
Here's my own suggestion:
Grab a big bowl and a big wooden spoon. Take two cups of dried mixed nuts and mix that in with two cups of granola. Then add a cup of dried cranberries and a cup of dried cherries. Mix it into the nut and granola. Next add a cup of M&M's and a cup of yogurt covered raisins. Mix that in your bowl and enjoy! Place it in an airtight container to store.
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