Sifting Through Trail Mix

I know the latest rage is creating your own personal granola, trail mix or energy bars for those long excursions across the woods and road trips to visit friends and family.  Sometimes it's best to just pick up a big bag of trail mix to have on hand or maybe there isn't the desire to make a big production when you're buried in planning and preparation for that long weekend getaway.

At one of my local grocery stores, Winco Foods, there is a significant bulk foods section, which has a number of various trail mix types, including traditional to more exotic mixtures and varying prices.  Today, I grabbed a selection of four and thought I'd share a little bit about them.

4 Trail Mixes

Super Deluxe Trail Mix 

Ingredients 
Raisins
Pinepple
Peanuts
Papaya
Dates
Apricots

Caribbean Trail Mix

Ingredients 
Honey Roasted Peanuts
Honey Glaze
Pineapple
Peanuts
Papaya
Dates
Apricots
Coconut
Almonds
Pumpkin Seeds

 
Mt. Hood Trail Mix

Ingredients 
Toffee Peanuts
Yogurt Raisins
Yogurt Peanuts
Chocolate Peanuts
Coconut
Almonds
Pumpkin Seeds



 

Mt. Rainier Organic Trail Mix

Ingredients 
Cranberries
Raw Sunflower Seeds
Raw Almonds
Raw Cashews
Raw Pumpkin Seeds
Raisins






Now, taking a look at these trail mixes, you'll see that some are a probably considered healthier than others.  I prefer the Mt. Hood mix when I'm looking for something sweet, but I wouldn't recommend that as a health recommendation just because it's labeled as a trail mix.  Some of the benefits of a trail mix are obtaining a quick snack to provide energy in the form of proteins, fats and sugars when energy stores are low.  Getting a solid snack with almonds, pumpkin seeds, peanuts, and sugars from friuts and a boost from chocolate can give you the energy needed to continue that last mile or recover some before moving on to your next game plan.

Winco Foods does offer quite an array of trail mixes and as you can see from the picture to the left, there are many more to try.  Additionally, there are other quality products and that are a great value including Costco's Kirkland brand trail mix which comes in a 4lb. bag, or as snack packs ready to tear and share.

Have a look at your favorite store and see what is offered in bulk; it is often quite a better deal than finding the packaged products on the cereal or health food aisles.  Enjoy!

Subway

I have a confession to make; I love Subway sandwiches.  I eat 3 to 4 Subway sandwiches every month and I have never been disappointed.  The bread is always fresh and so are the vegetables.  My three favorite sandwiches are the meatball, the Italian and the sweet onion chicken teriyaki.  I have not had a meatball in years due to the calorie and fat content, but it is still my favorite.  My second favorite (the Italian with pepperoni and salami)  is high in fat as well, so my go to sandwich is the sweet onion chicken teriyaki.  It is delicious.  I load it up with all of the vegetables except onion and green pepper and it never disappoints.  Often I  split the foot long sandwich with my wife for dinner.  It is affordable, tastes great and is a healthy choice.  If you have not enjoyed a Subway sandwich lately I suggest you give them a try.

Perfect Boiled Eggs

 About a year ago I stumbled across this blog post and found it had a great method for cooking hard boiled eggs that were easy to peel, we're not over cooked, and tasted great. The one significant difference between what I am writing about today and Simply Recipe's post is that I am cooking on a gas stove. 

 The significance is the retained heat in the coils, referred to in the posting, which is a valid point with electric stove tops with coils or even glass tops. I started off with the same process and have modified the steps after boiling begins and found that the eggs have turned out really tasty, with bright yellow yolks, are fully cooked, and easy to peel.

Perfect Boiled Eggs

1. Start with a pan of cold water, straight from the tap.
2. Place the eggs in the pan.
3. Turn on the stove and allow the water to begin to heat up.
4. Add about a 1/2 a teaspoon of salt
5. Since the eggs are sitting on the bottom of the pan, move them around every couple of minutes
6. When the water begins a rolling boil, let boil for 3 minutes.
7. After 3 minutes turn off the stove top and let the eggs sit in the hot water for 5 minutes
8. Transfer the eggs to a bowl of ice water so they can begin to chill and cool down for serving
9. Periodically drain the warmer water, so the eggs are always soaking in cold water

After they have fully chilled peel them for your toasted egg salad sandwich, or favorite hard boiled egg dish.  Please note that the cooking time may need to be extended when cooking more eggs.  For this, I was cooking two eggs, and found the times above to work out perfectly.  But, for the most part, the cooking time was related to the getting the water from tap to the boiling point.  I'd experiment a little and see how much length needs to be added to the cooking time after the water is boiling.  I don't think it'll be much.  

I hope this helps a bit.  I have learned that there are many strong beliefs posted in the comments of the Simply Recipes entry on the Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs, but the ones related to salt and the easy peeling aspect of hard boiled eggs were the most beneficial to me.  Give this process  a shot on your gas stove and see if you don't end up with perfect boiled eggs.

Thanh Thao - Thai Restaurant

If you are visiting Portland and get the craving for some good Thai food look no further that Thanh Thao on 4005 SE Hawthorne Blvd.  After leaving my cousins on Sunday afternoon we decided we needed to eat before hitting the road for Spokane.  My cousin lives in very unique area of Hawthorne street with many different types of businesses and strange people.  There are many food options up and down Hawthorne including a couple of Thai restaurants.  This was our first visit to Thanh Thao but it will not be our last.  It is situated in an old structure that has been decorated in the typical Thai décor.  The cleanliness was adequate and the table was clean and well organized.  As soon as we sat down we were greeted with a smile and hot tea.  We perused our menus and as soon as we closed the menus and placed them on the table we were asked to place our order.  I choose peanut chicken and my bride ordered chicken and vegetables with wide noodles.  The restaurant was half full when we arrived at 12:30pm.  By the time our food arrived the restaurant was completely full.  Our delicious food arrived in a timely manner.  My peanut chicken consisted of lots of chicken breast, peanuts and a few white and green onions slivers.  There was a thin broth style light peanut sauce that had a very mild spice taste.  On the side of the table you will find squeeze bottles of hosin sauce and chili sauce.  The chili sauce provided an added  kick making my meal perfect.  My brides meal was fresh broccoli, tomato, basil and chicken with perfectly cooked noodles.  I would describe the taste as a typical oyster style sauce that is a popular item at many Thai restaurants.  Mindy added a little hosin and chili sauce and we both ranted and raved about how good it was.  The portion size of our entrees were very generous and the total cost of our meal was $17.99!  Excellent food for an inexpensive price, my favorite type of meal!  If you make it to Portland, I highly recommend it.

Thanh Thao

Written by: Todd

Thanh Thao

Date published: 10/03/2012

4.5 / 5 stars