nature valley trail mix

diamondpete · 07-08-2005, 08:56 PM

Looking for an easily available "healthy snack". Comments on Nature Valley Trail Mix. I know I can look up the nutritional values:
http://www.generalmills.com/corporat...=71&itemID=885

BUT my question is I suppose is it better than nothing? (as other snacks are not easily available and I do not have time to make my own bars using JB's recipe, as I am sure someone will advise)

Thanks

Peter

BamaDave · 07-09-2005, 12:34 PM

I eat those occasionally when I need a snack on the way home from work before running in the evening, and my choices are severely limited by what's in the vending machines at work. They have decent stuff in them, obviously, but would be healthier of they didn't lard them up with so much sugar. I lump these in with the pseudo-healthy foods marketed to people who think they're eating healthy because it's "granola."

Lost Dog · 07-09-2005, 01:13 PM

I know it's not as convenient, but I make up my own trail mix. You can make it EXACTLY the way you want it. Then I put it in those snack size ziplocks and put them in places where I might need an "emergency" snack (desk drawer, glove box, etc.).

It's kinda fun to cruise through the bulk section of a health foods store and pick the things that I want.

My typical mix is something like this...

walnuts
roasted/salted soy "nuts"
filberts/hazelnuts
roasted/lightly salted pumpkin seeds (in shell)
"candied" almonds "candied" almonds
dried apple rings (chopped up) or some raisins

I like the sweet/salty thing, so I make sure that some of the nuts and/or seeds are salted. I add just enough dried fruit for sweetness and flavor, but it's actually very little in the mix. Typically, 20-30 cals of dried fruit, per serving of the trail mix. The "candied" almonds have helped to keep the fruit levels down (not that there's anything wrong with fruit...).

They have all sorts of crazy things in the bulk foods section. I've tried roasted garbanzos/chickpeas, too. Adding some oatmeal makes it more like granola.

diamondpete · 07-11-2005, 11:27 AM

thanks for comments. Bamma, I am in that situation sometimes so I have been looking at them as the lesser of two evils. I sometimes drink a low cal wieder vitamin jelly as well.

Lost Dog,
I know trail mix is a better way to go, if I bring something it is usually muesli.

But I was thinking about the upcoming trip- I have about 60 million hours in airports and on airplanes and I was thinking of bringing a bunch of these bars for when I get stuck. I will bring a small box of muesli (aplen) also but I do not want to carry suspcious looking trail mix. LOL

Thanks for your comments. BTW Bama, is there an easily available brand of "power bar " you would recommend as NOT a psedo health food .

Thanks again

Peter

kelly · 07-11-2005, 06:59 PM

For healthy snacks I'll eat chopped up fruit or trail mix a lot. In my trail mix I put dry-roasted peanuts, raisins, almonds, dried pineapple, dried apple, dried banana slices, you can just pick up the ingredients at your grocery store, and just mix them into a bunch of small bags for the week. It's really good and has less sugar than the nature valley trail mix stuff.

cappuccino · 07-11-2005, 09:09 PM

The nature valley trail mix bar is one of the few I'll eat. Don't eat them often, but all in all, they're much better than the other granola bar choices. No partially hydrogenated oils, and the sugar is only about 12g per bar.

I've also found some of the organic options that have even less sugar. Nature's Path has one with pumpkin seeds and flax, and only 8g of sugar.

Both of these have much less sugar than the normal protein bar....Of course need to supplement with some protein on the side.

Now if you're really daring, you should check out some of Johnka's protein bar recipes. They are my prefered home away from home/ road trip treats.

diamondpete · 07-11-2005, 09:46 PM

Kelly and Cap,

Thanks for the added input. Making my own barsw is a "future project" for now I just try and eat a meal (5-6 per day) and when I am stuck...

I will look into Nature's Path and see if I can get them here in Japan. Japan too has a lot of pseudo health food, but they like them with lots of calories (read SUGAR)

Thanks again

Peter

ShannonC · 07-12-2005, 01:43 AM

Those are sooo good!! haha...I'm a granola bar addict though. Have you tried the regular nature valley granola bars? Those are also good as well and I think a little lower in sugar (still quite high) but lower for the amount of calories in them.

cappuccino · 07-12-2005, 06:55 AM

Peter, I thought of another one...Kashi has a new granola bar out. 5g sugar/20 carbs. The bars are smaller though.

can you tell I've searched for the perfect granola bar myself?

BamaDave · 07-12-2005, 01:39 PM

Speaking of granola... I'm going to attempt to make homemade granola sometime soon. Has anyone tried this?? There are lots of recipes on the internet that look easy to tweak to make them more in line with what I want... and not to mention far less expensive than the boxed versions. If it comes out good, the hard part will be not eating about 5,000 calories of it at once!!

Peter, I eat some of the protein bars occasionally -- I usually go for the ones with the least sugar, but I don't know how healthy they really are. Frankly, I think most protein bars taste marginal at best, and most are downright objectionable. LOL. I think a homemade trail mix is a great way to go if you want this for a regular snack. Last year before vacation, I made an enormous batch of trail mix before our flights out of town, and my whole family almost survived on this stuff for the first day of our trip. Much better than being starved by the airlines!

gobbla · 07-12-2005, 01:54 PM

I made some one time out of a better homes and gardens "light" book. Was good, don't remember if it was healthy or not though [img]smile.gif[/img] . Kind of like granola crack.

diamondpete · 07-12-2005, 08:57 PM

Cap, thanks again, and so did you find tghe perfect bar and just keeping it a secret. Only let me know about the marginal ones... LOL

Bamma, I know how you feel about the airlines. I have about 50 - 6- in plane hours coming up and I do not look forward to the 8-12 servings of shit they will try to pass of as meals. So they URGENT quest has begun. As I said, I will pack some mueseil (how the hell do you spell that??) and soem granola bars- the first leg will be Nature Valley and the i will see if I can find something better in LA.

Thanks again everyone for you comments.

Peter

cappuccino · 07-12-2005, 09:00 PM

don't forget to pack protein powder. It mixes quite well with the free alcohol (I mean juice) on international flights.

I like to stash up on the individ packets for moments like that.

The best bars are the ones I make with Johnka's recipes.

diamondpete · 07-12-2005, 10:09 PM

Thanks Cap. I never even thought about bringing whey because my workouts will be limited to what available at the hotel (a nautilis if I am lucky) and body weight. I am planning top print out death by bodyweight to bring along. But P. powder is always good in a pinch.

I also will get some arm work in lugging suitcases

Peter