Snack without the garbage.
Limiting plastic garbage and processed ingredients with this homemade trail mix.
Store-bought snacks are a great place for garbage to hide. Although granola bars and trail mixes are marketed to be healthy, most are neither healthy for your body or the planet. Yes, they’re convenient. Yes, they’re tasty. But their single-use packaging is harmful to the earth and the added sugars and processed ingredients are harmful for your body.
The good news is, you can make delicious snacks without the garbage.
The bulk section at your local grocery store or food co-op is a great place to start. Bring your reusable bags and search for nuts, seeds, and dried fruits that you enjoy. We recently made a trail mix with almonds, walnuts, pumpkin seeds (pepitas), coconut flakes, and raisins.
Remember, just because it’s in the bulk section doesn’t mean it’s healthy. Things to look out for:
Look at the ingredient lists of nuts and seeds. Be aware of the oil they were roasted in. Better yet, go for the ‘raw’ kind.
Check for added sugars in the dried fruit ingredient lists. Pick the options without–they’re sweet enough already.
Buy organic when you can. Organic isn’t always available in all the ingredients we want to use, but we buy them when we can. And we get it, they’re a bit more expensive.
After you get home, the only step in this recipe is combining all the ingredients. We made this entire batch for $7. No added sugars. No cooking oils. Real foods. And still satisfies the sweet tooth. Eat it plain or throw over some oatmeal or plain full-fat Greek yogurt.
After combining all the ingredients, store in a mason jar or other glass jar you have around the house. (Peanut butter, salsa, pickle, or coconut oil jars work great!)
Comment below with your favorite trail mix combination or other eco ideas:)
Bon appétit!
