TheBalanced Power Mix

Looks pretty tasty, right? Well, truth be told….it is. It’s delicious. The perfect blend of sweet and savory, while being nutrient-dense and full of energy. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you TheBalanced Power Mix.

I used to call this ‘Trail Mix’, but I never went on a trail with it, so I decided to rename it. It’s now Power Mix, as that is its intended purpose. It provides concentrated fuel and energy to your body. It’s perfect for on the go, for travel in the car, for an afternoon snack, or even quick pre/post workout nourishment. It’s satiating, meaning it fills you up and it keeps you feeling full while it works its magic on your insides.

The Ingredients:

• Roasted raw almonds (2 cups)
• Roasted raw walnuts, halved (2 cups)
• Roasted raw pecans, halved (1 cup)
• Roasted salted cashews, halved (2 cups)
• Roasted raw pumpkin seeds (1/2 cup)
• Roasted raw sunflower seeds (1/2 cup)
• Dried cranberries (1 cup)
• Raisins (1 cup)
• Dark chocolate bits (2 cups)

The Tools:

• Cookie sheet
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Spatula
• Plates on which to cool the nuts
• Bowl to mix everything together

The Preparation:

1. Preheat your oven to 325. You’ll be baking (what I called ‘roasting’) these nuts for 10 minutes @ 325, or alternatively you could do approx. 20 minutes @ 225.
2. Spray a cookie sheet with a thin layer of olive oil, or low fat cooking spray.
3. Spread out 2 of your types of nuts on the cookie sheet evenly so that each nut is in contact with the cookie sheet. You can do this in any order you like. I did my almonds and walnuts, then cashews and pecans, then pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds.
4. Place the cookie sheet in the oven and bake for the time mentioned above. You should be able to smell the nuts as you near the oven. Be careful not to burn the nuts, as they retain that burn flavor after they’ve cooled.
5. Once the batch of nuts is done, place each type of nut on its own individual plate for cooling.
6. Repeat Steps 2-5 for the next two types of nuts. You may not need to repeat Step 2 if there is still plenty of oil on the cookie sheet.
7. Repeat Steps 2-5 for the pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds. You may not need to repeat Step 2 if there is still plenty of oil on the cookie sheet.
8. Make sure all the nuts and seeds have cooled completely before mixing everything together. If you do not, the heat from the nuts and seeds will melt the dark chocolate and give you quite the gooey mess.
9. In a large bowl, combine all the nuts, the seeds, the dried cranberries, the raisins and the dark chocolate bits. Get your hands in there and start mixing everything up! It’s like being a kid again.

Once you’re done, throw it all in a bag or bowl and viola! What you have left is a great, savory, salty mix that is healthy and choc full of good energy and nutrients.
The Serving Size: 1/2 cup

Closing Thoughts:

This stuff is addictive, so be careful! The use of salted cashews is the coup de grace in this recipe. It created the balance between sweet and savory. As such, be careful and don’t just sit there with a bag of this and eat until you’re stuffed! While it is incredibly nutrient dense, it also incredibly calorie dense! It’s intended purpose – energy for USE – should not be taken lightly.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 28th, 2011 at 12:35 pm and is filed under Nutrition, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.