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    Pantry Trail Mix

    January 12, 2010 by Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom 21 Comments

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    Confession Time.

    See that bag of chocolate chips down there. I could eat it in one sitting. I really could.

    I would feel a little less guilty about consuming straight up chocolate chips if they were in a trail mix.

    Enter the pantry challenge. I found half-full bags of dried cranberries, cashews, pecans, slivered almonds, and of course, chocolate chips in the pantry.

    Hence, Pantry Trail Mix.

    A delightful, healthy, guilt-less snack.

    (Think Super Bowl party. Not that this trail mix will last that long. Perhaps I’ll make another batch!)

    Now, go check your pantry…and see what kind of fun trail mix you can come up with!!!  Let us know what you mixed in your Pantry Trail Mix!!!

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    Filed Under: Healthy Snacks

    Comments

    1. julie says

      January 12, 2010 at 8:27 am

      What a great idea! Just made mine – M&M’s, left over Wendys sliced almonds from a salad, dried cranberries, Nature Valley Granola Nut Clusters and freeze dried apricots!

      Reply
    2. Jessica says

      January 12, 2010 at 9:44 am

      Good idea! Your pictures are looking great!

      Reply
    3. Annette says

      January 12, 2010 at 10:58 am

      You’ve inspired me to make a pantry trail mix of my own– chocolate chips, some nuts I bought for a recipe and never used, dried cranberries leftover from Christmas, some M&Ms left over from Halloween, and who knows what else I’ll find.

      Reply
    4. In The Bag says

      January 12, 2010 at 11:26 am

      I have a whole slew of half bags of holiday baking ingredients and I wasn’t really sure what I was going to do with them – until now. I have chocolate chips, toffee chips, pecans, dried cranberries and blueberries, and some dates. What a great idea!

      Reply
    5. OldNuffToKnoBtr says

      January 12, 2010 at 11:54 am

      None of the items would last long enough to make a trail mix. Which is why I do not buy the items necessary for trail mix.
      How do I make cookies with the grands? Pillsbury cookies in the butter/chese aisle–It makes the kids happy. (I send the cookies home with the family. It makes everybody happy.)

      Reply
    6. Megan says

      January 12, 2010 at 1:01 pm

      For Me: Dry roasted peanuts, raisins, cheddar pretzel pieces, honey nut Cheerios and peanut M&Ms
      For my Daughter: cheddar goldfish, raisins, chocolate teddy grahams, honey nut cheerios

      Reply
    7. Ashley says

      January 12, 2010 at 1:04 pm

      When I saw your tweet yesterday about this, I was instantly intrigued. And now I’m salivating… that looks SOOO yummy (and healthy, too)!! I’m definitely heading towards the pantry…

      Reply
    8. krista says

      January 12, 2010 at 1:14 pm

      In my experience you can’t make trail mix for under $5, nuts are just expensive. taking into account that you already have all the ingredients on hand and don’t have to purchase them to make the trail mix it’s “cheap” but really its deferred expense because next time you go to bake you have to repurchase the nuts. tasty idea though.

      Reply
    9. Julie says

      January 12, 2010 at 3:13 pm

      Great idea! I’m always wondering what to do with those odds and ends items I find in my pantry.

      Reply
    10. Risa says

      January 12, 2010 at 3:14 pm

      I do this a lot to clean out the snack cabinet. Most recently ours was made up of; chocolate chips, just bunches cereal, pretzels, ranch gold fish, golden raisins, cranberries, the remainder of a can of planters energy mix and a lost little baggy of gummies (gummies are a rare treat in our house)

      Reply
    11. Heather Fox says

      January 12, 2010 at 3:41 pm

      Great idea. Need to raid my pantry for some ingredients.

      Reply
    12. flutemom says

      January 13, 2010 at 8:53 am

      your trail mix looks delicious. i might try your recipe. i make trail mix on a regular basis. i eat a small handful each morning, because i always wake up hungry and ready for breakfast. that “buys me time” to get my shower without feeling weakened by hunger. anyway, my trail mix is cheerios, honeynut cheerios, peanuts, m&ms, and raisins. I always have all those ingredients on hand anyway, so i don’t consider it an extra expense. my leftover nuts from baking stay in my freezer so i can use them as needed- we bake all year ’round; except for the peanuts which i buy in a big container at walmart, because we like to snack on peanuts.

      Reply
    13. Stacie says

      January 13, 2010 at 11:17 am

      That is a really great idea to use up the stuff in your pantry to make a trail mix.

      Reply
    14. Terry McAuliffe says

      January 13, 2010 at 2:38 pm

      I love making my own trail mix! Cranberries are a yummy addition!

      Reply
    15. Julie says

      January 17, 2010 at 6:41 pm

      Just made some up…chocolate chips, slivered almonds, dried cranberries, and shredded coconut…yummy!!

      Reply
    16. Ruby says

      January 22, 2010 at 9:10 pm

      For my 3 year-old daughter:
      Pantry “trail mix”
      pretzel goldfish
      broken up vanilla wafers
      cheerios
      raisins
      dried apricots (slices were quartered to be about the same size as the raisins)
      chocolate chips

      for the grown-ups:
      Go Lean Crunch (Brand name) cereal
      coconut
      chocolate chips
      sliced almonds
      dried apricots (quartered the apricots to be about the same bite-size as the cranberries)
      dried cranberries

      Reply
    17. Heidi says

      August 17, 2010 at 10:37 pm

      If there are chocolate chips in my house, they are never around long enough to make it to a trail mix. You have inspired me to buy some though so that I can make one. If they are in a trail mix, I will eat them at a much slower pace. 🙂

      Thanks so much for sharing your great ideas with us.

      Reply
    18. Dawnette says

      August 20, 2011 at 2:15 pm

      What an awesome idea! The crazy thing is, I’ve been a scout leader for 12+ years, and my troops/dens have often made trail mix for outings and camp-outs, but we’ve always purchased the supplies specifically for that event or had each child bring something to add. I’ve never made trail mix at home from all the bits & bobs left over in my own pantry. Duh!

      Into my pantry mix today: Craisins I’d kept shuffling from one side of the shelf to the other; the last handfuls of Cheerios and Crunchy Corn Bran cereal (minus the cereal dust I carefully sifted out); almost-empty bags of bittersweet and milk chocolate chips and candy-coated sunflower seeds; shelled pistachios near their “best by” date and macadamia nuts (ditto); and two bags of freeze-dried apple slices. It’s all bagged up and ready for Tuesday morning! Thanks!

      Reply
    19. Kim Steeber says

      August 20, 2011 at 4:10 pm

      So fun to find your blog and recipes!

      Reply
    20. Sharala says

      June 14, 2015 at 10:35 pm

      A few years ago our kids (with grandkids) were vacationing with us in our winter home. They bought all kinds of snacks for the kids — chips, fritos, BBQ chips, mixed nuts, Goldfish crackers, triscuits, etc. When they got down to a certain point in the box or bag, apparently no one thought they were worth eating, esp if they were broken into small pieces. They were getting ready to leave for the airport and I was looking at all these pathetic bags on the counter with which I was now stuck. I grabbed all the bags and boxes and mixed everything up in a big bowl. I put half into two gallon ziplocks , one for each grandson, and said “here are boutique snacks for the plane.” Turned out they were perfectly happy eating this mix, since it came from a full bag, was “their own,” and didn’t look like leftovers.

      So then I used the same technique on the various cereals they had left in the cupboard — some cheerios, some frosty flakes, some fruit loops, granola, etc. I mixed them all into a big tupperware container and just used them for us for cereal every morning. Was quite delicious, and always a treat to get all the different tastes.

      Then came Boutique Crackers. Once again, in our vacation home people leave all sort of dribs and drabs of various crackers, none of which seems very appetizing in the bottom of a box. So I mix all of them into one container, and suddenly they seem attractive and taste better with cheese during the cocktail hour.. And of course there are Boutique Nuts –all the odds and ends from different cans and bags.

      I don’t know what this phenomenon is — I think basically kids being spoiled by getting to buy whatever snacks they want whenever they want, and having the luxury to turn down the last few bites in the bag. (I never had this sort of luxury as a kid — we didn’t have that many packaged snacks, and what we had was “good to the last drop.” It also seems that people, even little ones, respond to the idea of “Boutique” as being special. LOL.

      Your method of making Trail Mix reminded me of the “Boutique Items” since it seems to be basically the same idea., and a really great one for all those pantry odds and ends.!

      Reply
      • Jayne says

        July 18, 2015 at 12:19 pm

        How long will trail mix using peanuts and M&Ms last individually bagged?

        Reply

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    I’m Erin Chase…

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    $5 Dinner Mom.

    I have a little problem. I cannot make a meal that costs more than $5.
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