April 27th: Pepita Snacks

Ah, lunches. The best part of any parent's day, I am sure, is packing their children's lunches, fingers crossed they will eat everything, or at least enough they are not starving and cranky by the end of the day. I've been trying for months to put together nut-free trail mixes that Olivia will eat, to no avail. She always eats the yogurt-covered raisins and chocolate-covered cranberries, but never the dry cereals or seeds. I've tried many different varieties.

This past weekend, I tried out a recipe from Today's Parent for oven-toasted pepitas (shelled pumpkin seeds) in a honey, egg white, salt mixture. She liked them fresh from the oven, but after two days in her lunch, she was done. Ah, well. They're not bad, if you want to try them for your child, or yourself.

From November 2009's Today's Parent: Snack Clusters.

August 7th: trail mix

I don't have a recipe per se but I make some fabu trail mix. I like to combine equal portions of:


raw almonds, roasted
salted sunflower seeds
raw pepitas (shelled pumpkin seeds)
raisins
chocolate chips


I find including the salted sunflower seeds adds just enough salt to the whole deal. The chocolate chips are what make the trail mix a home run.


Anything can be added or taken away. Trail mix is the most versatile snack, ever.

In this version I have also included dried apples.