Quickie Crunchie Trail Mix
Chocolate, peanut butter chips, and fried noodles. A snack bag built for eight people and a long float.
- calories
- 760
- weight
- 5.3 oz
- cal / oz
- 143
- protein
- 15 g
- serves
- 8, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 0 min
- total time
- 5 min
- water
- none
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Snack
- No cook
- Canoe / raft
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Backpacking
- Vegetarian
- Eat in the bag
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Dump and stir
Ingredients
| M&M's or other candy-shelled chocolate | 16 oz | the shell is what keeps it from smearing |
|---|---|---|
| Peanut butter chips | 10 oz | |
| Chow mein noodles | 3 oz | the crunchy canned kind |
| Raisins | 1 1/2 cups | |
| Shelled peanuts | 1 1/4 cups |
Method
- Put all five things in a gallon zip bag at home.
- Seal it with air in it and shake until the noodles stop sitting on top.
- Press the air out, seal, and pack it somewhere it will not get crushed.
- Pour a handful at a time. Do not eat out of the big bag with wet hands.
This is a ratio, not a recipe. Two thirds of the weight is chocolate and peanut butter chips, which is where the calories live, and the rest is there for texture and to keep it from being straight candy. The chow mein noodles are the odd ingredient and the reason it works: they are fried, salty, and shatter instead of chewing, so the whole handful stops tasting like dessert halfway through.
Nothing here needs cooking or cold, which is the point on a river trip where the cooler is full of dinner. The only real enemy is heat. The candy shell buys you a lot of margin, but a bag left on a hot rock still fuses. Stow it in the dry bag, not on the deck.
Packing
Mix at home, then split into eight sandwich bags. A gallon bag opened on a raft gets damp, and damp noodles go soft in a day. Keep it out of the sun on the boat or the chocolate welds itself into a brick.
Variations
- Swap the peanut butter chips for butterscotch chips if you want it sweeter and less savory.
- Pretzel sticks in place of the chow mein noodles hold their crunch longer in humidity.
- Leave the peanuts and peanut butter chips out and add sunflower seeds and dried cranberries for a nut-free version.
https://oregonriverrunners.org/recipies-snacks.php