Trail Mix

My Mother-in-law likes to stick with a diet that is as close to "just out of the ground" as possible. This is what I would call "real food". You can't plant a seed and grow a Twinkie.
My kids were home recently for a week without school because of the swine flu scare. I found a new challenge in keeping up with feeding them all day every day. I know trail mix is good for us, but often store bought trail mix has hydrogenated fats, or my kids don't like what is in them. So one night after they went to bed I got everything out of my pantry that would make healthy trail mix. The next morning I gave them each a Tupperware container and let them put their own trail mix together. Then I put their name on a piece of masking tape and they put it in the pantry. When I knew we were going to be in the car for awhile, I had them bring their trail mix to snack on. They loved having something that they made and had their name on it. Here is a list of things that I put out on the counter. All nuts were raw and unsalted.

• Almonds
• Pecans
• Walnuts
• Craisins
• Raisins
  
• Cheerios
• Chocolate Chips
• Organic "gold fish"
• Kashi Honey Sunshine Cereal
• Peanuts

My son didn't want to make any. He said their wasn't anything he liked. We did think of some stuff he does like a couple days later, so I will be sure to have those things for next time we make our own trail mix. One of his ideas was to have dried mangoes.

I tried to get each of my kids to put some kind of nut, some kind of dried fruit, some kind of cereal, and a few chocolate chips in theirs. Keep in mind that kids ages 3 and under could choke on nuts. It might be best to leave the nuts out of their trail mix and give them an almond-butter sandwich.

Why are nuts so good for me and my kids?

1. Nuts are high in fiber
2. Nuts have healthy oils in them that help reduce bad cholesterol and increase good cholesterol.
3. Nuts are a good source of protein.
4. They are generally high in Vitamin E.
5. They help make you feel "full" because of the fat, fiber, and protein in them.
   

As far as the chocolate chips go . . . use dark chocolate, or semi-sweet. Do not use milk chocolate.