Easy Snack Mix

Turn Leftovers Into Treats

Looking for an easy snack that your kids will love but that doesn’t break the bank? Mix up a batch of tasty treats with food sitting in your cabinet.

Take some dry cereal (I like Rice Chex or Cheerios), salted nuts, dried fruit, and chocolate chips, and voila! You’ve turned several ingredients your kids either won’t or shouldn’t eat alone into one big bag of tasty goodness.

We always have chocolate chips on hand thanks to my kids’ penchant for yogurt splits. And we often have nuts lingering in a bag after my kids get tired of eating them on their own. Once I combine those two ingredients with some dried cereal, we get the perfect combination of crunch, sweet, and salty to satisfy any craving and not have hungry kids again ten minutes later.

For this particular batch, I used Rice Chex, almonds, cashews, chocolate chips, and peanut butter chips. We didn’t have any raisins, dried cranberries, or apricots languishing in the pantry, so I skipped the fruit. But it still tastes great and I feel good about my kids chowing down, while they think they have scored a treat. Best of all, with no liquids, it works great for travel as long as you don’t mind finding pieces later. And on hot summer days, you should skip the chocolate unless you want a big melted mess.