Trail Mix

I saw this picture on a friends page on Face Book.  It was too good a chance not to add it to this blog.
I hope you enjoy the sentiment  that it brings.

So what then is trail mix on the website 21 Healthier Trail Mix Recipes the following is added

 It’s lightweight, portable, and full of energy-dense ingredients like dried fruit, nuts, and chocolate — perfect for trailside noshing. 

For those same reasons, trail mix can pack a hefty caloric punch, especially when we mindlessly munch while sitting around at work or home. Keep serving size to a quarter-cup or less to keep this yummy snack from sneaking into “dangerfood” territory.

Thy say that the Trail mix was invented (according to legend, in 1968 by Hadley Food Orchards) to be eaten while hiking or doing another strenuous activity.

Thus it is made up of the following.  I guess this is where the idea that you can pick and choose ingredients came from.

Nuts

• These pint-sized nutritional dynamos are loaded with healthy unsaturated fats, protein, fiber, antioxidants, vitamin E, and other essential vitamins and minerals.
• Great healthy examples include: Almonds, pistachios, cashews, peanuts, and walnuts. Higher-calorie macadamia nuts, hazelnuts, Brazil nuts, pecans, and pine nuts.  Especially those without salt and added sugar.

Seeds

• For those with nut allergies (or just looking to mix things up), seeds provide many of the same nutritional benefits as nuts. Hemp seeds, for example, are loaded with omega-3 fatty acids, gamma linolenic acid, protein, zinc, iron, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, and calcium.
• Sprinkle a handful of pumpkin, sunflower, sesame, flax, or hemp seeds in trail mix for an extra boost of nutrients.

Dried Fruit

• This sugary treat can easily become a dangerfood, so pay attention to the ingredient list and serving sizes. In moderation, dried fruit can be a great source of fibre, antioxidants, calcium, and vitamins A, C, and K.
• Look for dried fruit options with as little added sugar and preservatives as possible (some varieties, like cranberries, are naturally quite tart and almost always sweetened with cane sugar or apple juice). It’s also pretty easy to make your own dried fruit at home in the oven.
• Our Favorites: Dried apples, cherries, cranberries, goji berries, blueberries, strawberries, apricots, raisins, banana chips, figs, pineapple chunks, mango, and dates.

Grains

• Add some complex carbohydrates to your custom blend for extra fibre, which boosts overall energy and helps to keep you full.
• Choices include whole grains and avoid the highly processed cereals that add unnecessary sugar and sodium .  Good examples include:- Shredded wheat cereal, pretzels, whole-grain cereals like Cheerios, bran flakes, whole-wheat crackers, granola, toasted oats, puffed rice cereal, and air-popped popcorn can all add a little bit of crunch.

Sweets

• Some of us like sweet items. Just remember to add these sparingly.
• Great examples of these are:- a sprinkling of M&Ms, Chocolate chips of various kinds (peanut butter, carob, butterscotch), cacao nibs, yogurt-covered raisins, chocolate-covered coffee beans, mini marshmallows, or chocolate-covered nuts. 

Savoury Extras

• Once you have the basic mix try adding spices. Season the mix with eg. sea salt, curry, ground ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, or cayenne pepper. 
• you could challenge you tastebuds guessing with including e.g.. wasabi peas, coconut flakes, sesame sticks, dried ginger, and coffee beans.

To give you some other ideas they at least has 21 different ideas for a Trail Mix.

Trail Mix Ideas

Thoughts from the Pantry

I have a colleague to thank for this blog.  She took staff worship  on this topic and how it relates to our lives.  She told me every time she uses this devotion another thought comes out about what is in her pantry and how it applies to the group she is talking to.

There are various types of food items in the pantry

• Treat foods - favourites such as chips, sweets (lollies, candies), chocolate.
• half used foods - Rice, pasta, cereal packets, biscuit.
• Expired foods - cans of food, packaged foods, long life milk.

Some leave a mess as they spill out into the pantry and congeal around others and hold them into place.
Others gain dents, rust and bulges.  It all depends on how long they've been there.

• Treats represent our favourite bile text and favourite faith characters we like to keep on hand.
• Half used foods represent our mentors and parents who direct our interest and sometimes our behaviour and values.  We sometimes use and then ignore or turn away from.
• Expired foods represent the devotional books that lie on the shelf and never been read, Herb Larsen's plan for revival we planned to do and didn't, conference we went to and gained ideas for a better life and didn't follow through with.

I think you start to get the picture of what each one represents.  Yes we have quite and lot of work to do to clean up the pantry.

Then when you do sometimes there are surprises that you find in the pantry if you haven't cleaned it for

 awhile.  Do you find candles, forgotten treats, maybe medication or just maybe the kids put something in there to keep for later.

My friend told me she once found christmas decorations at the back of the pantry that someone who stayed at their house had left behind.  

When we have friends come to stay they bring foods to share.  This also to add to our collection in the pantry if not consumed while there.

I'm sure you could add much more to this thought so please don't let this one expire.  It needs to carried and shared beyond this webpage.