Bulk Bin Trail Mix

Sure, it’s tempt­ing­ly easy to grab a bag of pre-made trail mix –col­or­ful, effort­less, and with such fun names to boot! But have you ever stopped to glance at the nutri­tion facts of that bag of seem­ing­ly healthy options? More specif­i­cal­ly, check out the sug­ar con­tent. Some com­mer­cial brands of trail mix have as much sug­ar as a 16 oz bot­tle of soda! The main cul­prit is sweet­ened dried fruit, and some brands add can­dy as well. If that deli­cious mouth­ful of sweet and salty is your taste­buds’ desire, don’t despair. There are plen­ty of ways to make a deli­cious AND nutri­tious trail mix, all with ingre­di­ents from your gro­cery store bulk bin!

Here are a few things to con­sid­er when mak­ing your Bulk Bin Trail Mix…

1. Vary the tex­ture — the best trail mix has crunchy, crispy, and chewy all in one bite.
2. Vary the fla­vor — sweet, salty, savory, or even spicy if that’s your jam.
3. Keep por­tion size in check! I like to make Mr. Hatch Health a giant con­tain­er of trail mix, and then he can scoop out a serv­ing as he goes or pack it in his work bag as a snack. 1/4‑cup of trail mix is a serv­ing — mea­sure it out once or twice so you can see what that looks like and you’ll be more con­scious mov­ing forward.

To make your trail mix, choose from the fol­low­ing fruits, grains, and nuts, or make the ulti­mate mix with a few from each category!

Fruit: unsweet­ened dried cher­ries, blue­ber­ries, apples, goji berries, raisins, dates or cranberries

Grains: pret­zels, plan­tain chips, puffed quinoa, air-popped pop­corn, gra­nola chunks

Nuts/Seeds: sun­flower seeds, pump­kin seeds, almonds, cashews, pis­ta­chios, wal­nuts, peanuts

Extra Zing (think of these as an accent, not the star of the show): cacao nibs, dark choco­late chips, banana chips, choco­late-cov­ered cof­fee beans, peanut but­ter chips, coconut flakes, dried gin­ger, wasabi peas, spices (cin­na­mon, cur­ry, gin­ger, cayenne pep­per, sea salt)

The pos­si­bil­i­ties are end­less! Share your favorite com­bi­na­tion with a pho­to on Insta­gram (be sure to tag @lydiahatchhealth!) and one lucky win­ner will receive a Hatch Health and Hap­pi­ness swag bag!