I love homemade Chex mix (though I rarely use Chex brand cereals to make it – thank goodness for generics). And I make it very well (if I do say so myself). 🙂
However, I’d like to try something new, I think. So I’m asking you wonderful flist folk out there for your favorite savory snack mix recipes. High fiber would be wonderful, lower calorie/fat content would be good too. (One reason my Chex mix is so yummy, IMO, is that I use butter. Not low cal/low fat, but damn yummy.) I’m not adverse to a bit of sweet in it, but the main purpose of this is to accompany my packed lunches as a savory side with a bit of fiber.
So go on, wow me with your favorite recipes. My lunches could use a punch up. 🙂
One of the things I’ve done for Will when he’s out flying (and for myself on road trips) is to make my own GORP (as you may know: Good Old Raisins & Peanuts). However, my gorp is generally made with fewer peanuts, more cashews, plus any other interesting nuts and dried fruit I can find to put in it. So, in general, my trailmix is made with: cashews, peanuts, almonds, pecans, walnuts, sunflower seeds, raisins (maybe), dried cranberries, dried papaya (good enzymes there), and possibly other dried fruit, depending on how sweet I’d like it. To make it even healthier, use raw nuts as much as you can stand it (cashews and almonds are great raw, but I have to admit to loving roasted sunflower seeds and pecans, and of course peanuts).
I always wondered how GORP got its name – didn’t know it was an acronym. Thanks for the education. 🙂 My own Chex mix never has peanuts in it – always deluxe mixed nuts. Heh. I love peanuts, but I love other nuts even more. Papaya – tasty idea. I might mix myself up a GORP one of these days. Thanks for the ideas!
I thought GORP meant Granola Oats Raisin & Peanuts and that most people left out the granola and oats. And I recommend popcorn and dried peas as well. Especially if the dried peas have wasabi on them . . .
I learned that GORP = Good Ol’ Raisins n’ Peanuts, too. Of course, the acronym may have started that way, and then changed to match the recipe most people preferred.
I also echo almonds (of all the nuts, they have the highest fiber) and sunflower seeds. In the gorp that my mother made for me all through school (I’d keep a baggie in my lunch box, which would just get refilled/refreshed as needed), I had sunflower seeds, raisins, almonds and cashews. And sometimes, unsweetened carob chips. If you expect carob to taste just like chocolate (Because it looks like chocolate), you’ll think it tastes terrible. But if you approach it with the attitude that chocolate is chocolate, and carob is carob, with its own flavor, you may find it addictive. I know I did. Unsweetened, it had an in-between, neither sweet nor bitter, slightly nutty taste. Whether it tasted sweet or nutty depended on whether I was chewing it with a raisin or an almond.. Also, I’ve never tried them in a snack mix, just on their own, but modern technology now allows for the quick freeze drying of vegetables, as well as fruit. If you want to go more savory than sweet, you may want to try putting that into the mix… I like dried green peas, and dried carrot bits. And I don’t know how tolerant you are of spicy food (I love it — and I love spicy with sweet). But my mother liked to dress up popcorn by tossing it with curry powder. You could add some popped corn into the mix, and pre-toss some with curry powder, or taco seasoning or pizza seasoning powder). Just some thoughts off the top of my head.
I like the idea of the popcorn, but to keep it “fresh” you’d probably need air-popped as oil-popped tends to get soggy pretty quick. I echo the freeze-dried veggies. One of my favorites is the green beans. At our local supermarket you can get a pre-mixed container with all manner of crunchy, crispy (freeze-dried or fried I’m not sure) veggies. Also echo positive on the wasabi peas. Mmmmmm…crunchy and spicy.