The Full Plate Blog: (nut-free) Valentine's trail mix

Friday, February 10, 2012

(nut-free) Valentine's trail mix

Valentine's Trail Mix inspired by mom extraordinaire, JPV

**nut-free**

makes 2 1/2 gallon-size Zip-loc bags

2 boxes (12.4 oz. each) Kashi Heart-to-Heart cereal*

1 box (11.25 oz) Cascadian Farms Chocolate O's*

1 bag (16 oz) Bachmann's mini baked pretzels*

2 bags (5 oz each) Craisins*

2 bags (10 oz each) Sunspire Grain Sweetened Chocolate Chips*

Combine everything in a large bowl/pot/bag and mix/shake to combine. I laid each ingredient out in bowls and let the kids scoop the ingredients into gallon-sized zip-loc baggies using various measuring cups, and then shake to their hearts content...

*You can use any brand you'd like, but I've been specific in listing the ones above because I searched out nut-free ingredients so my boys could share this with their classmates, under our school's strict nut-free policy. For local (New Canaan, CT-area) sources, I did my shopping at Shoprite in Norwalk.

Optional sweet additions (I couldn't find these nut-free so I left them out): yogurt-covered raisins, yogurt-covered pretzels, dried cherries, white chocolate chips...

2 comments:

Pure EllaFebruary 12, 2012
Are these seriously heart shaped little cereal pieces? How cute ;)
What a nice little treat. Great idea for school-friendly snacks.

xo
Ella
ReplyDelete
Replies

Add comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

About Founder/Editor Eila DeBard Johnson

This blog has not been updated since 2015, but you are welcome to bookmark the recipes, so you can enjoy "bonus hours" with friends and family.

When I wrote this blog, I described myself as a happy, healthy mom of two young children, who has a knack for being able to whip up family-friendly, healthy meals with whatever I find in our fridge, freezer and pantry. In these years of motherhood, I have come to appreciate that there is so much intertwined in "being healthy" and feeling good as a mother, wife and friend. As a super busy mom who raising young children, juggled part-time work, volunteering, keeping the house in order, writing this blog and the elusive goal of “me” time, I understand the need for recipes to be simple.

While I’d love to claim that I cook everything from scratch, with only local ingredients, I don’t. One of my children is a vegetarian, the other is a self-proclaimed "meatatarian", so mealtimes are a constant juggling act around here. But, I do a swell job of getting healthful meals made quickly…that everyone around here enjoys. And if you open my freezer, chances are you'll find a bevy of homemade meals at the ready.

My love of cooking comes from an entire childhood spent in Southern California, where phenomenal produce was available (and offered up) year round... memories of homemade meals and family dinners throughout my upbringing... my incredible exchange student experience living on a farm in Austria in high school... and years of fine-tuning my cooking skills through numerous classes at The Institute for Culinary Education (then called Peter Kump's), private cooking lessons at night after my day job at an investment bank, and a Professional Certificate in Techniques of Healthy Cooking from The Culinary Institute of America. I have a BA from Colgate University and an MBA from Northwestern.

Before writing this blog, I ran a (wildly popular) Fairfield County, CT-based personal chef service; consulted on private label food products; and worked in new product development and brand management for a really big food company.

As my children got older, and I had the dinner gig down pat, I shifted my focus and expertise. You can find out more about what I am up to here.