Tropical Trail Mix

Spring is on its way, and that means I want to try and eat well and keep my energy up! I love being outside with the kids, and try and take them on nature walks, in the winter go snow shoeing, and in general just enjoy the outdoors… but one thing I need (trying to keep up with two little girls and a baby) is fuel. I don’t know about you, but I find that if i don’t eat well, or end up eating fast food, or prepackaged stuff over a period of time my body just can’t keep up. I will also say, the reason I eat out, go through starbucks for a snack, or grab a bag of chips when i’m paying for gas is because I didn’t plan ahead. Then I get caught HANGRY! Eek!

So to try and battle the hangry attitude that can lurk around any corner, I made some delicious (and super easy) Tropical Trail Mix! I house a jar of it in my pantry, but I will grab 1/2 a cup and stash some in my purse for any day that I know is going to be busy (ie. doctors appointments, errands, etc…).

When I originally came up with this, I stocked up at my local bulk food store, and as I was perusing the aisles, I came upon dried papaya and pineapple… I had some sweetened coconut flakes at home, and I knew this tropical theme would work out perfectly.

The Ingredients:

1/2 cup dried papaya
1/2 cup dried pineapple
1/2 cup banana chips
3/4 cup unsalted cashews
1/2 cup unsalted peanuts
1 cup pecans (whole or halved)
1/2 cup sweetened coconut flakes

The How-To:

Measure out all the ingredients
Add into a jar with a lid.
Gently stir or shake the jar to ensure everything is mixed well.

note: I found that the dried papaya and pineapple pieces needed to be chopped into smaller pieces. Also since there isn’t a TON of sweetness in this, the sweetened flaked coconut adds a nice touch.

Yes, it’s really that simple! And getting everything at the bulk food store saved major money. We had recently picked up a bag of trail mix at the grocery store when we were in a rsh, and I could believe 1- how much added sweetness there was and 2- how expensive it was. So this really did become a bit of a life saver in the long run. The only down fall is that our school has a strict nut-free policy so I can’t send this on lunches with the kids. DO you have any easy go-to snacks that take little to no time to prep??