Feature Article

A Cyclist's Healthy Snack Mix

By Charlie Courtney

The combination of advancing age, being 60 pounds over my college swim team weight, and a nagging doctor has forced me to re-focus my culinary habits away from my usual not so healthy snacks. In response, I developed my own custom snack mix that is tasty, easy to eat on the go, and easy to store — compact in volume and no refrigeration required. As a bonus, it is a relatively healthy mix that is suitable for those of us on low carb diets. Indeed, unless you have allergies to them, nuts are generally a good, healthy snack. What is unique about this mix is the variety of tastes and flavors. Every bite is a little bit different — tangy, sweet, smokey.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups (approximately 1/2 the jar) of Member’s Mark Deluxe Mixed Nuts with Sea Salt (Sam’s Club) — this mix contains the following nuts . . . cashews, almonds, pecans, pistachios & hazelnuts and is peanut free. I don’t use commercial mixes containing peanuts because they often use cheaper, less desirable peanuts.
• 1/2 cup plain, unseasoned pecan halves (Rural King or any roadside stop in south Georgia). You can never have enough pecans.
• 1/2 cup Emerald Kettle Glazed Pecan Halves (Publix) to add just a little bit of sweetness.
• 1/2 cup Emerald Cocoa Roast Almonds (Publix) for just a hint of chocolate flavor.
• 1/2 cup Blue Diamond Smokehouse Almonds (Publix) for a touch of smoke flavor.
• 1/2 cup large, high quality peanuts (Hubbs Home Cooked Salted Virginia Peanuts are my preference (order from Amazon), but they are expensive. Alternatively you can use Planter’s Cocktail Peanuts.
• 1/2 cup cashews. These are optional since the Member’s Mark mix already has cashews, and adding more cashews adds a lot of carbs — a concern for those of us on low carb diets.
• 1 cup Parm Crisps Snack Mix, ranch flavor — contains the following . . . almonds, pistachios, cashews, and Parm Crisps (a baked parmesan cheese crisp). I usually order these from Amazon, although I have occasionally seen them in local stores.
• 2 Tbsp powdered ranch seasoning (Publix or Walmart) to add some tang to the mix.
• 2 Tbsp Heath Riles Garlic Butter seasoning (Rural King) to add more “yum”.

Directions:

Mix everything together and stir until well mixed. That’s all there is to it. I store the mixture in a large jar and put a cup of the mix in a Ziplock bag when needed for a ride.

Variations:

You can substitute things like Cheese-Its for the Parm Crisps if you are less concerned about your carbohydrate intake.

If you really want to amp up the flavor, create a Chex party mix like snack. Melt together 1/4 stick of butter and 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce. Drizzle the liquid over the mix that you prepared as above, stir well to evenly distribute the buttery sauce, and bake at 250 degrees for 90 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes.

If you are less ambitious about rolling your own more savory version of the snack mix and want to add more carbs, you simply can add an equal volume of Bold Party Blend Chex Mix. Easy peasy! This is the version of the snack mix that I took to this year’s Memorial Day picnic.