Tag Archives: fruit

Sweet ‘n’ Salty Trail Mix Recipe

Sweet and salty trail mixIn preparation of our Florida road trip (we leave Friday!) I’ve been gathering snacks like a mama bear preparing for winter. One of the ways I hope to save money on this trip is by eating our own food for two out of three meals per day. George and I also like a night-time snack, so I’m preparing all kinds of treats to take with us on the road.

Healthy Trail MixThis weekend I made a giant bag of trail mix. I’m never satisfied with the trail mixes you can find in the store. Those mixes are often full of added sugar. Why do people feel the need to make fruit sweeter? It’s sweet enough on it’s own, people.

Ingredients
1 cup of pecans
1 cup of cashews
1 cup of dehydrated fruit
3/4 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips

For this trail mix, I toasted up 1 cup of cashews and 1 cup of pecans in butter on a low stove top for about 10 minutes. I used unsalted nuts, so I also salted them. I had been drying out strawberries and bananas in our dehydrator, so I threw about a cup of those in the mix. For George, I also threw in 3/4 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips, after the nuts had cooled, of course. The man complains like a baby if there is no chocolate in trail mix.

The best thing about trail mix is that you can throw in the things that you like or have on hand and boom, you’ve got trail mix! I’ll do a total snack breakdown later this week. I am so pumped for this trip, ya’ll.

What’s your favorite way to do trail mix? Let me know in the comments!

love,
melanie

Handmade Holiday Challenge: Infused Liquors!

infused liquorsI’ve never been too keen on flavored liquors with the exception of my college Smirnoff Lemon Vodka phase. I feel a little barfy just thinking about it. But that’s because most of those liquors are artificially flavored. I mean Cinnabon-flavored vodka? That can’t be real.

Infusing your own liquor is so much tastier than the manufactured stuff and makes mixed drinks extra special. And infused liquors make a great hostess holiday gift. Good thing my friends like to party because everyone is getting infused liquor this year!

infused liquors closeupHere’s the stupid-easy how-to:
Grab a canning jar. Cut up some fruit, add spices (if you desire) and fill the jar with liquor. I recommend using organic fruit so there’s no yucky stuff infusing the liquor. Then, shake once a day, everyday. The liquor will be infused in about a week!

I’ve tried strawberries and vodka before with great results. The vodka tasted just like real strawberries! This time I’m also trying an apple-infused bourbon and a green apple-infused moonshine. (The moonshine is legal, guys. It’s Junior Johnson’s Midnight Moon, if you are curious.) For the apple-infused liquors, in addition to the fruit, I also added a cinnamon stick and three cloves. I’m thinking with a little bit of simple syrup it will taste like apple pie!

I’m so excited about these holiday gifts, I might have to keep one for myself!

love,
melanie