It was a boring summer afternoon when my twins’ and I decided to play Blindfold Eating Challenge.

Of course, they wanted all of their favorite snacks in the game!  I believe in snacks, I basically grew up on them (Keebler Elves) The problem is the snack area in the pantry is right at eye level for my tiny humans (it’s on my list to move up when school starts).

However, I refuse to say “NO” all of the time.  Could I let the summer be a Free for All in the snack department?  Should I forget the fact that my daughter has eaten the same packaged item four days in a row?  Would I regret this later when the sugar wears off?  Can I still use the Mommy Brain excuse and forget about it?

But every Mom knows snacks eaten too close to dinner time can spoil a little one’s appetite.  So when my daughter says to me, “I want crackers,” I give her crackers and she follows up with, “Not these crackers, the other crackers.” Right at that moment I knew it was time to introduce a new way of snacking.

What do I do?  The solution is Homemade Trail Mix!

I love the endless possibilities of making a trail mix with all of the shapes, sizes, crunch factor, and the surprise of maybe them trying a new ingredient.  Try a few options and mix sweet with savory.  Trail mix also gets your kids involved!  You just earned Cool Mom Points for letting them use scoops in the kitchen!  Some of our favorite recipes are all peanut-free if you plan to pack these as a school snack.

Five Ingredient Trail Mix

• 1 cup Dark Raisins
• 1 cup Golden Raisins
• 1 cup Cinnamon Roasted Chickpeas
• 1 cup Sunflower Seeds
• 1 cup Pumpkin Seeds

Road Trip Trail Mix

• 1 cup Rice Chex cereal
• 1 cup Cranberries
• 1 cup M&Ms
• 1/2 cup of Almonds
• ½ cup Mini marshmallows

School Fuel Trail Mix

• ¼ cup Walnuts
• ¼ cup Banana Chips
• 2 tablespoons Dark chocolate covered blueberries
• 1 tablespoon Raw pumpkin kernels
• 1 tablespoon salted sunflower seeds

Our Favorite Trail Mix

• 1 cup Cheerios
• 1 cup Goldfish crackers
• 1 cup Dried Cranberries
• 1 cup Cashews
• 1 cup mini M&Ms
• 1 cup butterscotch chips (or I use yogurt chips)
• 1 cup Mini Pretzel Twists

Tropical Trail Mix

• 1 cup Roasted and unsalted cashews
• 1 cup yogurt covered raisins
• 1 cup pistachios
• ½ cup dried pineapple chunks
• ½ cup dried papaya
• ½ cup whole slice coconut

Fun Popcorn Mix

• 4 cups Popcorn
• 1 cup Mini Pretzels
• 1 cup Goldfish cracker
• 1 cup Animal crackers
• 1 cup Cheerios
• ½ cup Dried cranberries
• ½ cup Nuts of Choice
• ¾ cup M&Ms

The way I see it is my kids’ are eating much less of the boxed items by making trail mix.  Plus they might even try a healthier option here or there.

What are some of your favorite and

satisfying trail mix recipes?

Photography: https://jessicarockowitz.com/