Homemade Smoked Almonds

Homemade Smoked Almonds

My oldest made his own sandwich today. While that might not seem like a big deal, it is in my household. I live with three males. Most days there are dirty socks, dishes and messes all around my house. I have been working with my kids to make them more responsible. When I am in the middle of ten different tasks it can be hard to drop everything to make my kids a glass of milk, a sandwich you name it. When my son came into the living room with a perfectly cut and made sandwich I was happy, but assumed I would walk into a mess in the kitchen. After walking into the kitchen I was more than a little surprised. The counters were wiped down, the bread and sandwich ingredients put away and the kitchen looked cleaner than I had left it. There are many moments during the day that I feel like I try teaching my kids and nothing sinks in. Then there are days like today where I know that I am at least doing something right.

I am a big snack eater. My kids have inherited this trait and we go through a ton of snacks every week. I try to keep the snacks I make healthy and with protein so my kids stay fuller and don't have sugar crashes. This week I tried a new recipe for Homemade Smoked Almonds from the Taste of Home website.

This recipe has six ingredients. It takes 45 minutes of total time, 15 minutes of which is active and makes 9 servings. I followed this recipe pretty close to the original. The only changes I made were to add 1 teaspoon of liquid smoke instead of a 1/2 teaspoon. My liquid smoke was a little old and had lost some of its flavor so I figured adding a larger amount would be a good idea. Make sure to stir the nuts every 10 minutes so they get evenly browned and salted.

While this recipe states the almonds are smoked, they are more flavored than smoked. The main flavor that comes through is garlic. They are still delicious and my boys and I ate the whole batch. If you want a stronger smoke flavor you might want to adjust the amount of liquid smoke and garlic powder. However, I liked the almonds as written, the garlic flavor was delicious and made for a nice salty afternoon snack.

For the recipe go to Homemade Smoked Almonds.

Nutty Grain and Oat Granola

Nutty Grain and Oat Granola

It's January in West Virginia. December was warmer than usual, we had a few days that were in the upper 70's. However, now it's January and the weather is going back to normal. When I first moved here I had experienced very few winter days that got below 20 degrees. Seattle gets snow and cooler weather, but not cold weather. The first winter I was here and it hit 5 degree with wind I froze. It only got worse when my oldest started school. Standing at the bus in 5 degree weather with two kids is horrible. There is no way to stay warm in that weather, even in layers. So for at least the next 2 1/2 months my heat will be blasting and I will be in sweaters and wool socks. I don't do winter, I can do 100 degree days in the summer much easier. Plus I cringe when I see my gas bills, heating a house in cold weather can be brutal on the checkbook. Maybe it would be easier if I was a bear and just went to bed for the entire winter. I would wake up warm and refreshed with no cold weather in sight.

I have been trying to keep healthier snacks around the house for my boys. If given the option they will grab a bowl of sugary cereal before anything else. While cereal is okay occasionally, my husband's idea of an entire box a day doesn't work for my mindset. This week I tried a new recipe for Nutty Grain and Oat Bars from the January 2014 issue of Bon Appetit Magazine.

Marshall Plane Crash Memorial Spring Hill Cemetery Huntington, WV

This recipe has 9 ingredients. It takes 60 minutes of total time, 10 minutes of which is active and makes 16 servings. I did make a number of changes to the original recipe. First instead of amaranth I substituted sesame seeds. For the nuts I used almonds and increased the dates to 8 since mine were small. After making the bars and letting them cool they feel apart. I made sure to follow the recipe exactly and pack down the bars, but they still feel apart when cut. I decided to crumble the bars and add a small amount of honey and put them back in the oven for 15 minutes in order to make granola. After cooling I broke the pieces into granola size pieces.

Huntington, WV from Spring Hill Cemetery 

As bars this recipe didn't work out very well. When made into granola this recipe was perfect. My husband and I really liked the sweetness and taste from the dates and the granola made for a great afternoon snack. With the changes that I made to the original recipe this granola turned out well. A nice afternoon snack or breakfast served over Greek yogurt.

For the recipe go to Nutty Grain and Oat Bars.

Flourless Chocolate-Coconut Drops

I love chocolate. Not just a little bit, but I literally eat a dark chocolate candy bar every weekend when I go grocery shopping. Since I have such a large sweet tooth I also workout on the treadmill for an hour a day and rarely sit down until the evening rolls around. I don't believe in denying myself the foods that I love, but instead I eat everything in moderation and make reasonable substitutions when available. It helps that I also am now gluten free so I snack a great deal less. The pre-packaged gluten free options are very expensive and honestly most of them are not delicious. I would love to say that I am always motivated to cook and bake from scratch, but I am human and oftentimes lack the desire to go in the kitchen and make myself something to eat. I try to stick with recipes that are easy to make and take little prep and cooking time. Last week I tried a new recipe for Flourless Chocolate-Coconut Drops from Everyday Food magazine, which looked like an incredibly easy gluten free snack recipe.

This recipe has 7 ingredients. It takes 30 minutes of total time, 15 minutes of which is active and makes 2 dozen cookies. For whatever reason every store in my area is currently out or no longer stocks dutch process cocoa powder. Due to this fact I used regular cocoa powder. I had no problems finding any of the other ingredients and made no substitutions. It took a bit of mixing to combine the ingredients and my cookies came out perfect so don't worry if you have to stir numerous times to ensure that all the cookies are fully mixed. Finally, watch the cookies in the oven. Mine took exactly 15 minutes to bake and would have burned left in any longer. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

These cookies turned out delicious. I like that they don't use flour so they are gluten free without having any aftertaste from using gluten free flour. The texture is crispy on the outside and soft on the inside which is both adult and kid friendly. These cookies would be great for a holiday cookie plate for a friend or family member eating gluten free while still yummy enough to serve at a party for all types of guests.

For the recipe go to Flourless Chocolate-Coconut Drops.

Moroccan Snack Mix

I snack all the time. I have never been one of those people that can eat three meals a day and feel full. Instead I eat small meals throughout the day. Part of this need to eat all the time goes hand-in-hand with my inability to sit still. My kids help this problem by creating messes as soon as I clean them up. They seem to have an ability to see me sit down and have a disaster that needs mommy's attention. Since I have given up gluten I have tried to find new high protein snacks to keep me full. One of my favorite snacks is nuts. They are delicious and great at keeping me full during my busy days. Last week I tried a new recipe for Moroccan Snack Mix from the September issue of Family Circle magazine, which with 6 grams of protein looked perfect for daytime snacks.

This recipe has 15 ingredients. It takes 10 minutes of prep and 1 hour and 5 minutes of baking time and makes 20 servings. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients and made no ingredient modifications. Make sure to fully dry the chickpeas before baking. If the chickpeas aren't dried adequately they won't become crispy. Instead they will be slightly soggy and not have a roasted texture. Additionally, the mixture needs to be stirred every 15 minutes to ensure even browning. I didn't let the mixture cool before adding the apricots and dates. I wanted the spices to incorporate with the fruit and adding them when still hot I figured would help with this process. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

With 6 grams of protein this snack mix is a great option for daytime snacking. However, my husband thought that the nuts weren't spicy enough and my two boys weren't fans of the mixture in general. The chickpeas weren't as crunchy as I would have liked. If I made this recipe again, I would let the chickpeas dry longer than the recipe states. Additionally, I would add chili powder in order to up the spiciness and add more flavor. With these changes I think this mix would be even better.

For the recipe go to Moroccan Snack Mix.

Hot Rice Cereal with Nuts and Raisins

As I have previously posted the last couple of months I have been working on my breakfast routine. Before making these changes I was horrible about eating breakfast. I would grab for a cookie or leftover piece of cake and my cup of coffee and not eat anything healthy until well into the afternoon. I was feeling tired all the time and my stomach was always upset. So slowly in the last couple of months I have been making changes. I have always been great about cooking from scratch and eating healthy. However, I also love to bake and when I am stressed I tend to over bake. I have fought with low potassium and anemia since February and I knew that it was time to start making a serious effort to be as healthy as I can be. So I made a big decision a couple of weeks ago after talking to my doctor and have eliminated gluten from my diet and drastically reduced the amount of cane sugar that I consume. In addition I have started eating balanced breakfasts and lunches and increased my consumption of fruit and vegetables. The results have been pretty dramatic. My stomach cramps that I was getting almost daily are gone and the bloating that my belly seemed to always have is gone. I feel so much better and my kids have stopped endlessly snacking and are actually eating their meals The change in breakfast habits has taken a couple of months to become like second nature to me and it has involved trying a lot of new recipes until I found a few I really love. Last month I tried a new recipe from Everyday Food for Hot Rice Cereal with Nuts and Raisins, which uses brown rice and nuts and looked like a great way to add protein to my morning breakfast routine.

This recipe has 6 ingredients. It takes 3 minutes of total time (plus the time to cook the rice) and makes 4 servings. I did make a few changes. Instead of using the whole milk suggested by the recipe I used vanilla flavored almond milk. I rarely if ever use whole milk. I find the fat and saturated fat too high for my breakfast routine. Flavored almond milk still has the sweetness, but has far less fat than the cow's milk alternative. I also found for the cereal to thicken it took closer to 5-8 minutes, instead of the 3 suggested by the recipe. Finally I used cinnamon to top the cereal, I am not a huge fan of nutmeg outside of baked goods so I chose to leave it out. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

I love how this recipe is gluten free and has a lot of flavor. I had never thought about making a hot cereal with brown rice and I was very surprised how easy and delicious this recipe was. My two boys were skeptical of this dish at first, but enjoyed it once they ate a few bites. With 9 grams of protein and 4 grams of fiber it is a great whole grain option for breakfast and if you prep the brown rice the night before it only takes minutes to prepare in the morning.

For the recipe go to Hot Rice Cereal with Nuts and Raisins.

Almond-Cranberry Quinoa Cookies

My week of eating healthy breakfasts continues. So far I have been doing really well. I have consistently been eating breakfast every morning for the last two weeks and I have noticed that I have more energy and less crabbiness than when I was skipping eating. This week I am visiting family for the week and I am hoping to not eat too much restaurant or fair food. However, I love fair food, so you might notice a few posts on hotdogs and caramel apples on my facebook page, I love them! My two boys have been doing much better than I expected them to with the new breakfast routine and have fallen in love with healthy waffles and whole-wheat couscous. With fair food tempting them this week my main goal is to not have them eat funnel cake and pop tarts for breakfast and at least include eggs or another protein with every meal. I'm pretty sure fried bread does not count as a protein (I wish it would I love those things!). Last week my two boys and I tried a recipe for Almond-Cranberry Quinoa Breakfast Cookies from the January issue of Bon Appetit magazine, which looked like a great compromise between sweet and healthy.

This recipe has 15 ingredients. It takes 30 minutes of total time, 10 minutes of which is active and makes 2 dozen cookies. I did make a few modifications. I have been trying to limit the amount of sugar that my two boys consume so instead of granulated or brown sugar I substituted Splenda for baking. Instead of using an electric mixer to beat the sugar and butter, I did it by hand. This sounds bad, but my mixer was dirty and I had no time (or desire) to clean it, so I did the mixing by hand. I did not flatten my cookies out before baking and they turned out less flat and crunchy looking than the photo in the magazine. I would suggest flattening out the cookies in order for them to have the best consistency when baked.

I love that these breakfast cookies are full of whole grains. I especially like that they use quinoa, which is a great grain and my two boys love it. Using Splenda for baking worked well and my two boys didn't notice that I didn't use real sugar. This recipe makes a large number of cookies and they lasted for several days. They would also work well frozen, which I often do with cookie recipes. Overall, a nice alternative for breakfast or a snack that is full of whole grains.

For the recipe go to Almond-Cranberry Quinoa Cookies.

Alpine Muesli

As I've stated in a few of my previous posts I am determined to be better about eating breakfast. My son starts school in two weeks and with the start of school my eating habits go quickly down-hill. I am great about making my two sons eat a healthy breakfast, I just don't follow my own advice. Honestly, I have never been great about eating breakfast. Growing up my dad worked nights and my mom left for work before I went to school. So when it was time for me to eat breakfast my dad was getting ready to bed for the day and I would literally eat peanut butter out of the jar. My mom tried really hard to get me to eat, she even left pre-made breakfasts for me. It never worked. I preferred the peanut butter on a spoon. If given the choice now and if my metabolism was the same as when I was younger I would still be eating jars of peanut butter a week. I love peanut butter. I know better now, but it is still a daily struggle with myself. Last week I tried a new recipe for Alpine Muesli from Martha Stewart Living magazine, which I was hoping would help to encourage me to eat breakfast.

This recipe has 11 ingredients. It takes 3 hours and 50 minutes of total time, 20 minutes of which is active and makes 8 servings. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients for this recipe at my local grocery store and I made no modifications to the ingredients. For the chopped fruit I used plums and for the sliced fruit topping I used strawberries. I had planned on also using raspberries, however, my two children ate almost all of the fruit out of the fridge before I had the change to make this recipe. Luckily I had just enough fruit. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

As written this recipe needs some work. First, I was not a fan of the fresh orange juice. My two boys refused to eat their servings due to the overly citrus taste. If I was to make this again I would make the following changes. I am not a huge fan of citrus, but if you like the taste of fresh oranges, then I would use vanilla almond milk instead of cows milk. The low-fat cows milk and the orange juice did not work well together. Almond milk would solve this problem. Personally, I think the recipe would be better without the orange juice entirely. I liked the whole recipe, except the citrus taste. So leave out the citrus and add a little more honey and this recipe will be a great way to start the day.

For the recipe go to Alpine Muesli.

Sweet Whole-Wheat Couscous with Dried Blueberries and Almonds

With my oldest son starting school in two weeks I am dreading the daily breakfast struggle. My son is great about getting up and taking a shower, but horrible when it comes to his breakfast habits. He will waste a ton of time not eating and then minutes before we have to walk out the door want to have something to eat. It can be very frustrating. This summer I have been working on making quick and easy breakfasts in the morning to keep my two boys happy and full. While they would be happy with eating pancakes every morning, I have been trying to introduce more whole-grains and protein into their diet and breakfast provides the perfect opportunity. This weekend I tried a new recipe for Sweet Whole-Wheat Couscous from Parents magazine.

This recipe has 7 ingredients. It takes 20 minutes of total time, 15 minutes of which is active and makes 3 cups. I did make a few modifications. My two boys aren't big fans of shredded orange peel so I left it out of the recipe. For the milk I used vanilla flavored almond milk, my boys prefer almond milk over soy so I prefer using it for drinking and baking. In addition to the dried cherries I also added dried blueberries sprinkled on top. I love just about any type of dried fruit and add it to a variety of breakfast foods. The leftovers re-heated very easily in the microwave the next morning so don't worry if you don't eat everything in one sitting. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

My husband and I really liked this recipe. I liked that it has a great taste and uses whole-wheat couscous which I was recently able to find at my local farmer's market. My two boys were a little more skeptical. They picked around their bowls, finally trying their servings. I wasn't sure if they would finish their bowls so I was surprised when my youngest ate his whole bowl and and then half of mine. Overall, this recipe is a great way to get protein and fiber into your diet and was very child friendly.

For the recipe go to Sweet Whole-Wheat Couscous.

Butter Chicken

This has been a crazy week. My oldest had his last day of school yesterday and I seem to have a to-do list a mile long. I would love to say that I am super organized and am great about getting everything done. Before kids I had lists and everything was always done on time or early. All that changed after my youngest was born. With two kids there are days that my house looks like the same disaster it did at the start (even though it has been cleaned 10 plus times) and instead of taking items off my to-do list I have added more. So I have learned to keep at least a few simple meals plans on stand-by every week. Without these quick dinners things would turn into chaos at dinner time. One of the best things I have learned is to utilize my crockpot. I can normally carve out about a half an hour in the morning to prep and put everything nicely in the crockpot for dinner. Then I don't have to stress when my two boys are in the kitchen screaming for food and my husband joins in after getting home from work. The May issue of All You magazine had a recipe for Butter Chicken, which with 20 minutes of prep and 30 grams of protein, looked perfect for my busy week.

This recipe has 12 ingredients. It takes 20 minutes of prep and 5 hours and 15 minutes of cooking and makes 8 servings. I had the worst time finding garam masala in my area. All the large grocery stores have decided that everyone in my area only wants to buy 10 types of onion and garlic powders and little else. Insert mini rant on the horrible food choices in my state, if we aren't given quality ingredients to cook with then how do you expect our kids to grow up healthy! I digress from my rant. I was finally able to find the garam masala at the small Lebanese market by my house. This market has saved me so many times when I needed specific spices. They have a great selection and the prices are reasonable. I miss when small grocery stores were in every neighborhood and you could actually find things that were needed. I had no problems finding any of the other ingredients and made no modifications. I chose to leave off the cilantro at the plate since I was serving it to my kids. Instead of a food processor, I used my blender. Honestly, I use my blender more frequently, I find that it does a superior job when combining liquids or liquifying. My onions took much longer than 7 minutes to cook. I prefer my onions to be completely caramelized before placing in the crockpot, it makes for a greater amount of flavor. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

The sauce in this recipe was delicious. There was more sauce than the magazine photo represents. I would say most of the dish is sauce and then a small amount of meat. The photo is a little misleading, it makes it seem that the dish is mostly chicken with very little sauce. Either they were using breasts with no fat or miraculously found thighs with no fat! I actually liked that the dish was full of sauce, it made a great topping to rice and still had lots of protein from the chicken. If I made it again I would pulse the sauce longer like I did so it had the larger amount of sauce, the sauce was delicious and the best part of the dish.

For the recipe go to Butter Chicken.

Slow-Cooker Chicken Mole

I love chocolate! There is something great about eating a piece of chocolate after a particularly bad day. It literally almost erases all the negative things that have happened and leaves me in a great mood. The only problem is that my two kids share this love and my chocolate stashes never seem to stay hidden. I particularly love when they put the wrapper back so that I think there is still candy and then open it to discover that it has been completely scavenged. That's really awesome (not!). Luckily I have discovered that chocolate can also be great to cook with and since recipes normally use bittersweet chocolate my two kids leave the baking chocolate alone. Given my love of chocolate I was very pleased to see a recipe for Slow-Cooker Chicken Mole in the December issue of Everyday Food Magazine,

This recipe has 14 ingredients. It takes 4 1/4 hrs, 15 minutes of which is active and makes 6 servings. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients at my local grocery store and made no ingredient modifications. I ended up leaving off the cilantro on the plate since I completely forgot about it, opps! I did find that 4 pounds of chicken thighs ended up being far more than 12 thighs for me, I think my grocery store must sell smaller thighs than the ones the recipe used. Since everything was going into the blender I didn't overly chop any of the ingredients before putting them in. I have a very good blender that can pretty much chop anything, including ice. As I always do, I chose to cook this recipe on low, I prefer the flavor on low for a longer amount of time. For the toasted almonds, I toasted my almonds on the stove, I find it much quicker and easier than the oven. When the recipe is finished make sure to pour off the layer of fat and soak up any remaining fat with a paper towel. There was a good cup of fat that I had to pour off and without this step it would have been far too fatty. With this modification the recipe was perfect. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

My two kids loved this recipe. At first they were reluctant to eat it, but as soon as I mentioned that it was chocolate chicken, they ran to their plates. I did find that I had to add salt to my husband's and mines servings, but that it normal for most recipes. I liked that this recipe was full of flavor, but mild enough even for people that don't like spicy foods. The sauce was absolutely delicious and the chicken thighs ended up melt in your mouth tender. Overall, a great slow-cooker recipe that I will definitely make again.

For the recipe go to Slow-Cooker Chicken Mole.

Sweet and Spicy Cocktail Nuts

I am very lucky that I inherited my father's metabolism and love of all things active. If I am sitting still on my computer, I am also tapping my foot or moving my ankle, I can't just sit still. After having kids I realized that my eating habits might not transcend to my kids and I needed to try to provide high energy snacks that would help my kids grow up, not out. Sugar is the one area that my kids and I have the largest arguments over. I stopped serving juice approximately 6 months ago and switched over to water at meals. I was worried that my kids would rebel, but I was pleased that they quickly started asking for water and drink it happily now. Sugary snacks have been another story, they love them. I also have a tendency towards all things sweet, so I have been experimenting with using honey, applesauce, prunes, etc in my cooking to keep the taste, but lower the sugar. I ran across a recipe for Sweet and Spicy Cocktail Nuts using Truvia that cuts the sugar down to 1 gram per serving and the calories down to 160 and decided that it looked like the perfect recipe to try for my family.

This recipe has 8 ingredients. It takes approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes to prepare and cook and makes 18 servings. All the ingredients are very basic and I already had all of them in my cupboard. The recipe uses Truvia, but other brands of Stevia or store brands would work just as well. Make sure to toss the nuts every 10-15 minutes or they will stick together and not be evenly roasted. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

With a reduction of sugar from 10 grams per serving to 1 gram and calories from 200 to 160 this recipe would be great for people watching their sugar intake. I thought that the taste was just as sweet as traditional sugar and the nuts were crunchy and nicely roasted. Of course I still will always prefer real sugared nuts and sweets, but this recipe creates a nice alternative to added sugar, especially during the over indulgent holiday season.

For the recipe go to Sweet and Spicy Cocktail Nuts.

Rosemary Roasted Nuts

I have a horrible snacking habit. Growing up I would drive my mom crazy when I would come home from school and eat half the fridge. I would then go on to eat dinner and snack again before bed. I was lucky to have inherited my dad's genetics, which pre-disposed me to being tall and thin, the opposite of my mother's family. My mother was always determined that my snacking would make me overweight, but eventually gave in to the fact that I snack instead of eating big meals. As an adult I have become even worse with my snacking. My two kids are constantly on the go, so I have become adept at snacking throughout the day since I end up missing meals. One of my favorite snack foods is nuts. They taste great and have enough protein to keep my energy levels up. Recently I found a recipe for Rosemary Roasted Nuts on recipe.com, which loved very simple and a great way to get more nutrition into my snacks.

This recipe has 5 ingredients. It takes 10 minutes of prep and 20 minutes of baking, and makes a total of 12 servings. All the ingredients are basic, with the exception of the nut varieties. I would love to be able to purchase hazelnuts, however, they only come once a year at my local grocery store during the fall. Additionally they are always in the shell, so I passed and instead I used all whole almonds. I chose to use fresh rosemary, I prefer the taste of fresh herbs to their dried counterparts. Make sure to watch the nuts during the baking time or they could burn. My nuts had to be pulled out at exactly 15 minutes or they would have been overdone. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

These nuts have a great subtle flavor, which is delicious. The recipe is very easy to prepare and takes little total time. My whole family enjoyed snacking on these and they were able to tide me over until my next meal. The best part of this recipe is that they are great as an everyday snack, but would work equally as well as a snack food for a party.

For the recipe go to Rosemary Roasted Nuts.

Family Circle Almond Pound Cake

I love cake. Not just a little bit, but as far back as I can remember I was the little kid eating multiple servings of my homemade birthday cake. The other members of my household don't appreciate the finer qualities of a great piece of cake as much as I do. In order to appease everyone in my life, I have been trying various cake recipes to find one that we can all agree upon. The July issue of Family Circle magazine had a recipe for Almond Pound Cake, which looked like a good compromise for both the cake lovers and the non-cake lovers in my household.

This recipe has 8 ingredients in the cake and 3 in the topping. The total prep time is approximately 20 minutes and the bake time 1 hour and 5 minutes. All the ingredients are basic and most I already had in my pantry cupboard. I found that my cake took 10 minutes longer to completely bake, but part of that could be due to my disco-era oven. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

I really like how light this cake turned out. Everyone in my family enjoyed this cake, even the members that aren't big cake fans. The prep work is minimal and the cake goes together very quickly. This recipe could also easily be modified into a number of various pound cake variations such as chocolate, chocolate chip etc. The cake does dry out rather quickly, so it's best consumed within a day or two.A great simple, pound cake recipe.

For the recipe go to Family Circle Almond Pound Cake (registration required).

Bon Appetit Spanish Trail Mix

As I've stated numerous times before, with two growing boys I make a ton of snacks. If given the option, my two boys would eat all carbs and no protein snacks, which would lead to two very cranky young men by the end of the day. Therefore, I try to make at least one snack a week which is high in protein and good fats, such as nuts. The January issue of Bon Appetit magazine had a recipe for Spanish Trail Mix, which looked nutritious and full of protein.

I made a number of major modifications to this recipe. The stores in my area are limited, so I substituted based on what was available locally. First, I had chourico sausage which I had purchased on clearance a while back, which I substituted for the smoked chorizo. Since my sausage was different than the once used in the recipe, I cut the chourico into cubes and quickly cooked it on the stove-top. Second, the only paprika I have been able to find at the grocery stores in my area is McCormick, so I used what I already had, instead of smoked paprika like the recipe states. I understand that the smoked paprika would have had an earthier undertone, but I like to utilize the ingredient which I already have in my pantry. Thirdly, I used dried dates. The recipe uses cubed pitted dates (which I assume are fresh). I have never seen a fresh date in my area, so I used what was available. The dried dates added a sweetness to the almonds, which I liked.

My husband absolutely loved this trail mix. His favorite part were the smoked almonds, which he has now decided are one of his favorite snacks. My youngest liked this recipe, my oldest was indifferent. I liked how high in good protein and fats this snack is, making it a better option than white bread, which is the snack my two boys usually go for first. This is an easy recipe, which could be substituted with a variety of ingredients and makes a delicious, higher protein snack.

For the recipe go to Bon Appetit Spanish Trail Mix.