Trail mix is the perfect at-school AND after-school snack: unlike sweets and junk food, it's a healthy mix of high-energy foods that will keep you going all day long. It's fun and easy to make with the kiddies. Many trail mixes include items such as dried fruit, nuts, chocolate and seeds—have the kids try out their own creative combos to come up with the perfect mix.

For all four recipes, combine ingredients into a large Ziploc bag, mix, and store in a dry, room-temperature place. Each recipe yields about 2-3 servings.

1 cup peanuts
½ cup walnuts
½ cup almonds
½ cup raisins: golden and/or dark
½ cup M&Ms
½ cup dried cranberries
½ cup yogurt-covered raisins
½ cup dried mango cubes

2 cups of salted nuts (choose or combine peanuts, walnuts, cashews, and almonds)
1 cup of unsalted sunflower seeds
1 cup of dried blueberries
1 cup of dried cranberries
1 cup of dried cherries
1 cup of raisins: golden and/or dark

2 cups of granola (your choice!)
1 ½ cups of M&Ms (choose or combine your favorite kinds, or substitute for M&Ms with Hershey’s Hugs and/or Kisses or Reese's Pieces)
1 cup dried craisins
1 cup mixed nuts, salted
1 cup chocolate chex

6 cups fat-free popcorn
1 cup cheerios
1 cup pretzels (or pretzel sticks)
¾ cup raisins: golden and/or dark

8/18/2009 7:00:00 AM