Healthy Eating Habits: Two Easy Energizing Snacks

A great way to create healthy eating habits is to have snack food around that is both satisfying and has nutritional value—such as an interesting trail mix.

Trail mix is nothing new. Ancient nomadic tribes carried mixtures of dried meats, berries, nuts, and fruits for the same reason we bag up similar items today. It provides us with a portable and tasty source of energy that is generally quick to make and simple to store.

Early Native Americans used a version of trail mix called pemmican. It was composed of dried buffalo, moose, or caribou, berries, and animal fat. It was no doubt labor intensive to make from scratch, but it could be stored for months, and chunks were broken off to use as a tasty stew starter.

In the U.S., some of us remember mixtures of grains, dried fruit, and nuts being called GORP. Depending who you ask, GORP stands for “good old raisins and peanuts” or maybe “granola, oats, raisins, and peanuts.” In Denmark, trail mix is studenterhavre, or “student oats.” Some parts of the globe call it scroggin.

Whatever you call it, and whether your trail is through the woods or kitchen-to-couch, here are a couple trail mix recipes you may enjoy.

Two-Minute Trail Mix

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup dried blueberries (3 oz)
• 1 1/4 cup dried pineapple (6 oz)
• 1 1/3 cup sweetened dried cranberries (6 oz)
• 1 cup salted or unsalted soy nuts

Preparation

Put all the ingredients in an airtight storage container; combine by shaking. The recipe makes 3 3/4 cups.

Rice Cracker Trail Mix

Ingredients

• 4 cups assorted rice crackers
• 3/4 cup dried apricots, halved lengthwise
• 3/4 cup lightly salted cashews
• 1/4 cup chopped crystallized ginger and/or golden raisins

Preparation

In a bowl, stir all the ingredients together. The recipe makes 5 1/3 cups

Sources: Diabetic Living Online; Diabetes Self Management
Photo credit: Mary at flickr