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| View of Mt. Hood, Oregon along US-26 |
V and I love taking road trips and I can’t wait for the day when electric charging stations are ubiquitous around our country so that I don’t have to feel so guilty about it. We usually pack enough food to last us for a few meals. Our favorite lunch/dinner is pita pocket sandwiches – we carry hummus and sliced vegetables like bell pepper in the icebox, and whole wheat pita bread and marinated tofu slices. They are easy to assemble on the go and makes for a very filling meal.
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| Crunch hiking snack with puffed rice and nuts |
And of course, snacking is de riguer on car trips! One of our food bags is packed with snacks such as chips, cookies (don’t judge!), nuts, cherry tomatoes, fruits, etc. This bag and a bottle of water is kept within reach of the person sitting in the passenger seat whose job is to attend to every whim of the driver (including providing sparkling conversation on those sleepy stretches)!
A staple of ours in the snack department is a crunchy homemade mix made with puffed rice and nuts. This snack is also very satisfying for long hikes when the body craves something salty!
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| A crunchy snack made of puffed rice and nuts ideal for hiking and road trips |
So, here is the recipe for the crunchy puffed rice snack with nuts that will leave you craving for more and more!
Recipe for a crunchy hiking snack mix with puffed rice and nuts
[Printable Recipe]
Ingredients:
- 1 cup puffed rice (for eg. Quaker Cereal Essential Puffed Rice Cereal. If you are sensitive to gluten, make sure it is certified gluten-free)
- 1 cup flattened or beaten rice (for eg. Organic Beaten Rice (Poha – White) (If you cannot find this, substitute with another cup of puffed rice)
- Note that both can be bought in an ethnic Indian grocery store as well as on amazon.com
- 1 cup chopped nuts like almonds, walnuts, peanuts, pecans or any other nut you like
- 2 Tbsp organic peanut oil or any oil of your choice
- 1 inch piece ginger grated
- 4-5 thai green chilies split in to two (optional if you can handle the heat)
- A few sprigs of curry leaves, washed and patted dry (optional only if you can find it in an ethnic Indian grocery store)
- 1 tsp rock salt or Himalayan Pink Salt (You can find Himalayan Pink Salt in natural foods stores also)
- 1 tsp black pepper or paprika or a pinch of both
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| Ingredients for making a delicious crunchy snack |
- Preheat the oven to 325F
- Combine the nuts on one tray and put it on the bottom shelf of the oven
- Combine the puffed and flattened rice on one tray and place it on the top shelf of the oven
- Bake for 10 mins and check once in the middle to make sure nothing is burnt. The rice should be golden brown but not burnt.
- Turn over the contents on each tray with a spatula
- Bake for 5 more mins if needed. Set both trays aside to cool
- Heat the oil in a wok and add the grated ginger and green chilies
- When the moisture is cooked out of the ginger and chilies in about 2-3 minutes, add the curry leaves and cook for about 2 mins
- Add the baked contents from the two trays (puffed and flattened rice, and nuts) to the wok and mix and switch off the heat
- Season with salt and pepper (add more or less per your taste) and mix thoroughly
- Store in airtight containers or in little baggies to carry on your road trip!
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| A crunchy snack made with puffed rice and nuts ideal for hiking and road trips |
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| A crunchy snack made with puffed rice and nuts ideal for hiking and road trips |
July 9, 2015 at 1:32 pm
Our road trip snacks are often just bags of crisps from the service station O_O not very healthy haha! I wish I was as organised as you and made healthy snacks like this. The flavours sound SO delicious! The view on that road is incredible too!
July 9, 2015 at 3:28 pm
thanks for visiting our site! Give it a try,Hannah! It is super easy to make and looking at your blog, you are used to making more complex stuff!