Many college students all over the world have one burning question on the tip of their tongues... what is the snack that quells the never-ending finals munchies, that tastes good, is good for me, won't knock me out, and give me plenty of brain-powering energy for all of my monstrous finals!? Okay, so maybe that's more than one question, but I do have one answer for you... Trail Mix. Or as we used to call it back in the 'scouts, GORP. I've heard a couple things G.O.R.P. could stand for but I think basically for arguments sake we'll just say it stands for, "Good Old-fashioned Raisins and Peanuts." Oddly enough we always called it GORP regardless on if it always had both of the tittle ingredients in it...? (INFACT in my memory adding m&ms in was more crucial than either or both title ingredients haha) Odd, but hey if it floats your boat, call it trail mix... I don't see you on a trail right now either? (and don't give me that "I'm on the trail to my future" B.S. ;D ...Oh my goodness I've gotten so off-track, where was I? Oh yes, GORP.
Now you can be a loser and go buy some pre-made/pre-mixed Gorp from the store, or you could be awesome and make your own, deciding exactly what you want in it! Do you want that "A" on your final or are you cool just settling for a "B-"? Hey it's your future, I'm just trying to help you out here!
Now the cool thing about Gorp is you can decide exactly what YOU want in it, I'm gonna show you my usual, and give you a basis to go off of, and then you can experiment with your next couple tests/hikes and see what works best for you. Cause over time I've come to like just a really simple, basic blend of Gorp. But feel free to experiment to your hearts desire and create the best Gorp you can!
My ingredients are PEANUTS, CASHEWS, CRAISINS and CHOCOLATE CHIPS. (We'll at least it's got one of the recipe's name-sakes in it!) Peanuts are the best brain nut you can find (and cheapest), Cashews are just bomb, my personal favorite nut by far. Craisins beat out Raisins anyday of the year in my book, but if you're more of a traditionalist don't let me tell you any different, nothing wrong with raisins ('cept when your dirty dishes pile up so high that by the time you wash all of them your hands now contain 10 of the biggest raisins ON EARTH! lol) And chocolate chips, originally I ALWAYS had M&Ms in there but in search of a Vegan alternative, I found real "semisweet" whole chocolate chips and never looked back, you can find them in the baking isle of any market. AND TRUST ME, don't wuss out on getting the better chocolate (I.E. less junk in them!) A good chocolate needs just real chocolate and maybe some real vanilla in it. No milk or hi-fructose corn syrup thank you *cough cough* Nestle *cough* Hershey *cough* Uh wow, must have had something in my throat there! Where was I?
Alternative/Optional Ingredients?
M&Ms
Raisins
(any other kind of nut)
Ginger
Pineapple or other dried fruits
Shelled Sunflower seeds
Pretzels
[you get the jist]
Now seeing how you're kinda mixing it to your own liking, I'm not going to try and tell you how much to put in of what... I tend to keep a pretty equal blend... 'cept more cashews cause they're my favorite, less craisins AND a lot less chocolate (which I guess doesn't make it equal at all...) I'd just say try not to put TOO much chocolate, cause that's the only thing in there that isn't the best for you. Unless you think there's no such thing as "too much chocolate" in which case, just disregard what I said, hey it's your body!
Now if your hardcore you can use a bowl to ensure everything gets mixed perfectly, but I'm lazy and don't feel like cleaning whole bowl, and they all go into the bag anyways so you can just kind of mix in the bag. (I'm reusing an old plastic tortilla bag in the pictures.) Here's a picture before you mix...
...and after! you just just gotta add all the ingredients and seal and shake to your heart's content!
And WA LA! PURE BRAIN POWER IN THE PALM OF YOUR HANDS!
...now get back to studying you slacker.
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