Friday Faves #72-Trail Mix!

**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links. ​  But, all opinions expressed are my own.

Wow! I can't believe that we have already hit Friday Faves #72! It is kind of cool to like so many things! But, honestly, before today, I can't say that I have always been a big fan of trail mix. I saw on my calendar of unusual holidays that today is National Trail Mix Day. When I saw that, I thought ugh! What is there to say about that? To me, the best part of trail mix is the M&Ms! It always bugs me that when you get to the bottom of the bag of trail mix, all that is left are some crumbs of cereal and nuts. So, I got to thinking, what if I make a personalized trail mix that I will really love? And no, it can't be just the bag of M&Ms. It has to have other healthy stuff in it as well. Well, I began to poll my family to find out what their favorite ingredients are in trail mix and then I made our own personalized recipe for it! I will share it with you later in this post! Then, if our faves are your faves you can just use my recipe. If not, you can take your own poll make your own personalized trail mix recipe.

1. Many family members were of my like mind and voted for M&Ms, so that is a given in this recipe.
2. My husband picked nuts, which I don't love, but he can eat them out of the bowl and I will stick to the M&Ms.
3. Dried fruits of all kinds are a favorite.  From raisins and cranberries to strawberries and Mango.  They are all good.  They can be dehydrated or freeze dried.
4. Lindsey suggested peanut butter chips or you could interpret that as Reese's Pieces.  I used peanut butter chips in my recipe.
5. Korina said that she liked those little sesame sticks.  I like those, too, but I couldn't find them in my grocery store.  I substituted veggie pretzel sticks with himalayan sea salt.  Not a perfect substitute, but Maddy liked them.
6. I still feel like we needed some cereal filler, and I like Rice Chex so that is what I used, but not so much that they are over powering.  

I love the nice big chunks of dried fruit in this mix!

     After you make the mix, it is nice to package it up to either take hiking or to give away, or just to keep it fresh for snacking.  It won't last long.  Maddy and I have been munching on it all day.  That serves 12 thing is just a guideline.  But, here are some ways to package it before you eat it all. 

• That cannister is a Dollar Tree find! You can order them by the case online if you want to make this in bulk to give away!
• Maddy made me plastic sleeves by melting a gallon storage bag in half with a hot knife! She is so ingenious. Or, just put it in the whole bag. I really liked the tube full of the trail mix though. I may or may not have eaten an entire tube of this stuff.
• I also like these 3 quart canisters that Dollar Tree carries for larger storage! I can see so many uses for these for food storage, and what a great way to have an organized pantry!

Btw, I used the fall colored M&Ms for this mix. I think it looks nice!

     So, Happy National Trail Mix Day! That is our personalized mix.  What would yours look like?  Let us know your favorite ingredients!
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