Sep 23, 2011

How to Prepare a Trail Mix



In my previous post regarding outdoor nutrition, I promised to write about how to prepare a home-made trail mix. To those unfamiliar with the term - a trail mix is a combination of dried fruits, nuts, grains and sometimes chocolate… which is most of the time brought on an outdoor activity and is oftentimes a desirable snack because it is lightweight, nutritious, filling and gives that very much needed energy boost.

Due to the limited selection at the grocery, I came up with just 5 ingredients for my home-made trail snack, as follows:

1. banana chips (php22+)
2. almonds (php24+)
3. cashew (php24+)
4. dried papaya (php30+)
5. large raisins (php10+)



Last time I made a mix, I also included dried mango, dried pineapple, dried guyabano, and M&M peanuts. It’s up to you what ingredients you prefer, and it depends on your needs.

I used a Ziploc to mix everything in. In most trail mixes I see, people just have everything in the large bag. With me, I want it in small portions, for portability purposes.



First I made everything bite-size, crushing the banana chips and cutting up the dried candied papaya. Then I just poured everything in the Ziploc, tried to mix everything evenly.



Afterwhich I transferred the contents to smaller Ziplocs, perfect for one-serving consumption. The cost of the whole mix is roughly Php110, and I was able to make 7 servings. A bit expensive I know, lols. But it is better than the usual trail snacks of pure sugar and junk foods.



During energy-draining hikes, trail mix is better paired with granola bars and electrolyte-replenishing drinks.

PS: One more thing, don’t forget to seal it tight… to avoid lost of crunch for the chips and nuts.




1 comment: