How to Make Homemade Trail Mix

Homemade Trail Mix

Last week, my husband and I took a little road trip out to Colorado.  Both of us have memories of going on vacation as children with lots of candy for the road.  I can't imagine how my parents endured long trips with small, sticky, sugar-high children not wearing seat belts and playing "slug bug" in the backseat. I think that's why my Dad always turned up the radio...to drown out the screaming.

Slug Bug was a road game where you slugged your travel companion every time you managed to spy a Volkswagen.  Since I am four years older than my sister, I always won.  So really Slug Bug was me just randomly hitting my baby sister and her crying. How much pain you must endure in childhood is so much dependent on birth order.

So, on this road trip I wanted to take some treats but wanted to keep the sugar content slightly lower than 100%.  I decided to make my own trail mix. Here is my recipe, as if you really need a trail mix recipe:

A bag of dried fruit from the dollar store...............................$1.00

A bag of M & M's from Wal-Mart.......................................$2.98

A bag of chex mix on sale with coupon from Dillon's..............$ .49

Almonds from Sam's, bought in bulk, about..........................$2.00

A bag of coconut from Wal-Mart.........................................$1.28

A bag of sunflower seeds from the dollar store......................$1.00

Half a box of raisins from Aldi's, about.................................$  .90

Total                                                                                    $9.65

This sounds expensive until you compare. Small bags of 6-8 ounces of Trail Mix cost between $3-5 and contain mostly oatmeal with a couple of nuts and maybe a chunk or two of dried fruit. Minus the m&m's, and substitute a little homemade granola for the chex mix (see previous post on how to make homemade granola) and this would actually be a pretty healthy treat.

The bowl pictured above holds 120 ounces or about fifteen 8 ounce bags worth of Trail Mix. When you are trying to save money, always ask yourself....Can I make it myself?