If you are interested in having delicious and nutritious snacks that are easy to take on the trail with you, making your own snacks is a must! While you can purchase prepackaged mixes, creating your own can be a lot of fun! Invite the kids to help if you want and they are old enough.
Either way, making your own trail mix gives you the opportunity to be in charge of the ingredients. For some, this might mean purchasing dried fruits that have been processed a particular way while others might need to avoid ingredients due to potential allergic reactions.
Generally, trail mixes are concentrated sources of nutrition. This way, you can eat small amounts while hiking to provide your body with vital energy without being bogged down in the digestive process.
For the protein and fat content of your trail mix, use nuts and seeds. Chia seeds are excellent sources of nutrition and do not have to be ground up like flax seeds for the nutritional value to be accessible. Pick out the nuts and seeds that your family likes and experiment with different combinations in your trail mix.
As for the carbs, you will include the dried fruits of your choice. Some people like to focus their choices on a particular theme. For instance, a tropical fruit themed trail mix might have banana and coconut chips along with dried mango.
You can also add a few dark chocolate chips, dried fruits covered in chocolate or yogurt, or anything else with concentrated nutrition that will not spoil.
Have fun making your mix and record the ingredients you decide on so you can replicate the recipe later on down the line. You could even make a tradition of it for your family each year.
