A Lighter Version of Trail Mix
Trail mix is a popular snack that people choose, because the ingredients in trail mix are usually healthy foods. For the health conscious person trail mix has much more going for it than a candy bar. But one of the problems with trail mix is that it’s deceivingly high in calories and fat, and it’s easy to a lot!
On a recent road trip, I stopped for gas and picked up a package of trail mix for a snack. The package listed a 1/2 cup portion of trail mix at approximately 250 calories. That would be an appropriate of calories for a snack. The problem, of course, was that the package actually contained 3.5 servings! Now most people could easily have eaten the amount of trail mix that package, and possibly thought that was one portion. Had I consumed the entire package I would have eaten 875 calories! Not my idea of a calorie controlled snack.
Most trail mix has calorie dense foods: nuts, dried fruit, bits of chocolate etc. One way you can still enjoy trail mix is to make up your own and lighten it up with a plain dry cereal such as Cheerios, Fiber One or puffed wheat. What you get is increased bulk without the concentration of calories. Mix up a batch, then divide it into 1 cup servings and put into sandwich bags. Now you can have a healthy snack that’s ready to go, and certainly a lot less calories than straight trail mix. Try it!
Light Version Trail Mix Recipe
(makes 6 – 1 cup servings)
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup nuts
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
4 1/2 cups puffed wheat, Fiber One or plain Cheerios
ziplock sandwich bags
Mix all ingredients in a bowl and measure out one cup portions into baggies. Store for 2 weeks.
© 2012, Gretchen Scalpi. Publication rights granted to all venues so long as article and by-line are reprinted intact and all links are made live.
Gretchen Scalpi is an author, consultant, speaker and Registered Dietitian-Nutritionist, Certified Diabetes Care & Education Specialist, and Health & Wellness Coach. She opened her private nutrition practice in 2002. Gretchen’s practice provides individual nutritional counseling in the areas of diabetes, weight management, food sensitivities, gastrointestinal disorders, and general wellness.
