Healthy Trail Mix or Granola

There are those times when everything is happening at once and you find yourself eating on the run. You could just hit the nearest drive-thru or you can have something already made to take along.

CRUNCHY GRANOLA: 3 cups oats; 1 cup wheat germ; 1 cup sesame seeds; 1 cup unsweetened coconut; 1 cup chopped nuts; 1 cup raisins or other dried fruit; 3/4 cup honey; 1/4 cup vegetable oil; 1 tsp. vanilla. Mix oats, wheat germ, sesame seeds, unsweetened coconut and nuts in large roasting pan. Mix oil, honey and vanilla and drizzle over dry ingredients, mixing with a fork as you pour. Bake at 350 degrees, stirring every 5 minutes for 30 minutes or until toasted. Cool completely and add raisins or dried fruit as desired. Store in tightly covered container. Makes 3 quarts. You can also eat this as your morning cereal.

PEANUT BUTTER GRANOLA: 1/3 cup butter; 1/3 cup peanut butter; 1/3 cup honey; 2 1/2 cup uncooked oats. Melt butter, peanut butter and honey together in saucepan; remove from heat and stir in oats. Bake on a cookie sheet for about 15 minutes at 350 degrees or until golden. Cool and store, tightly covered, in refrigerator. Serve as a cereal with milk, or grind to a fine crumb in the blender and use in crumb crusts or to coat a frozen chocolate covered banana.

CURRIED SNACK MIX: 1 (8 oz.) package corn chips; 1 cup broken walnuts; 1 cup broken pecans; 2 quarts freshly popped corn; 1 stick butter; 1 1/2 tsp garlic salt; 1 tsp. curry powder. Mix the corn chips, walnuts, pecans and popcorn in a large bowl. Melt the butter in a small saucepan, then add the garlic salt and curry powder. Drizzle the butter mixture onto the popcorn and nuts, stir until the seasonings are mixed well. Bake in a large roasting pan for 30 minutes at 300 degrees, stirring every 10 minutes. Cool and store in tightly covered container.

POPCORN SNACK MIX: 2 quarts freshly popped corn; 3 Tbsp. butter or margarine; 1/4 cup honey; 1 Tbsp. lemon peel; 1 tsp. cinnamon; 1 cup raisins; 1 cup cashews; 1 cup sunflower seed kernels. Melt butter with honey, lemon peel and cinnamon in small saucepan. Drizzle melted butter mixture over popcorn and stir until popcorn is coated with butter. Add raisins, cashews and sunflower seeds; stir and serve.

PEANUT BUTTER BALLS: 1/2 cup peanut butter; 1/2 cup powdered milk; 1/2 cup honey; 1 cup sunflower seed kernels; 1/2 cup uncooked oats; 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut. Place peanut butter, milk and honey in a saucepan and heat slightly. Do not boil, just heat to a point where it is easy to stir. Add sunflower seeds and oats and stir well. Butter your hands and shape mixture into small balls. Roll the balls in unsweetened coconut and refrigerate. You can also dip them in melted chocolate chips. YUM!