The holidays are a hectic time of year. So many people, so many gifts, and so little time and money! The dailySpark has decided to ease a bit of the burden this year. Starting today, we're offering 12 healthy, homemade and affordable gift ideas for people in your life. Many of these gifts are great projects for kids, too. With a balance of carbs, fat, and protein, trail mix is a great snack. Plus, it eliminates one of life's toughest decisions by mixing salty and sweet. Store-bought versions can be pricy, so why not create a custom mix for the people you love? GORP, chow mix, trail mix, scroggin. Whatever you call this tasty mix, this gift is great for college students, commuters, outdoor enthusiasts and even children. Trail mix doesn't need to be refrigerated, travels well and is easy to eat. Buy nuts, dried fruit and cereal from the bulk bins at your supermarket to cut down the cost of this gift even more. Package it in a pretty jar (I save spaghetti sauce jars for this purpose) with a ribbon. The basic recipe is: 2 cups grains 1/3 cup dried fruit 1/3 cup nuts or seeds 1/3 cup of sweets (optional). Some suggestions: Mini pretzels/dried cranberries/pistachios/yogurt raisins Cheerios/raisins/walnuts/chocolate chips Puffed rice cereal/dried blueberries/almonds/coconut flakes Mini pretzels/peanuts/chocolate chips Sesame crackers/dried apricots/cashews/candied ginger Life cereal/raisins/almonds/white chocolate chips You're only limited by your imagination. Because the ingredient lists are so diverse, nutrition counts can vary. (Use SparkRecipes to determine your nutrition info.) Remember that a serving size of trail mix is about 1/4 cup. Once you choose your ingredients, print the recipe from SparkRecipes so your friend or loved one can make more trail mix! Need more ideas? Try one of these SparkRecipes for trail mix. What do you call trail mix? Growing up, my Brownie leader (aka my mom) called it GORP. Does anyone know what GORP stands for? |
Popular EntriesMore From SparkPeople
|
