Bake it, Make it & Take it.....Granola/Trail Mix to-go!

According to Wikipedia: Soul food is an American cuisine, a selection of foods, and is the traditional cuisine of African Americans of the Southern United States and of black communities beyond. In the mid-1960s, when the Civil Rights Movement was just beginning, "soul" was a common adjective used to describe African American culture, and thus the name "soul food" was derived.

I like to think of "soul food" as anything that makes my tummy, body and soul feel good. "Soul food" takes on a whole different meaning to me than what that term was originally intended for.

Granola and trail mix are two foods that get categorized as "soul food" for me. I love the combination of grains and sweet honey taste, along with added raisins, nuts and especially those chocolately M&Ms (because everything is better with chocolate).

Growing up, my mom always made the most delicious granola. She has an amazing recipe and that's what this Bake it, Make it & Take It post is all about!

You can check out my mom's recipe here: Honey Raisin & Nut Granola

And you can check out her website for more tantalizing recipes here: Spatulas, Corkscrews & Suitcases

By the way, if you're new to my blog and you're wondering what the BIMITI posts are about....here's a quick run down. Once a week, my mom provides me with one of her awesome recipes and I create the recipe, then find a fun way to package up the goodies that I've made. I give you a link to the recipe and provide you with the creative inspiration to put together your own packages.

The cool thing about granola recipes is that, with a few extra additions, you can turn it into a trail mix recipe without much work at all.

To create my trail mix, I simply added some raisins, peanuts and M&Ms.

You don't have to stop there, though. You can add other things like:

* shredded coconut
* dried pineapple
* dried cranberries
* almonds
* cashews
* banana chips
* dried papaya
* dried apricots

* sunflower seeds

and more!

I adore granola and trail mix. So does the rest of my little family. We take this with us on any camping or hiking trip. I eat a ton of it in the summer time because it just seems like the thing to eat in the summer. My son loves to pick out everything but the raisins....and makes sure to eat all the M&Ms first. Silly kid. I eat my trail mix with precision. Each handful has to be a perfect combination of oats, a couple peanuts, an almond, at least 3 or 4 raisins and the same amount of M&Ms. It just isn't the perfect mouthful if it's anything but this combination. Can you tell I'm serious about my trail mix?

For this Bake It, Make It & Take it, I chose to package up my trail mix in a little gable box for easy carrying....on the go!

I used a cellophane bag to package up my trail mix. I folded the top over and then tucked it behind and secured it with a piece of scotch tape. This makes a nice tight bundle of trail mix that is easily tucked into a box.

I used a small kraft colored gable box to hold my trail mix. You can find a ton of them HERE. I like to start with a "naked" box so that I can decorate it however I like. I especially like the kraft colored boxes because I don't feel like there's a ton of "white space" that has to be filled up. It also has a nice "earthy, crunchy, granola" feel to it for trail mix. Hey, what more could a dreadlocked hippie want than a kraft colored box, decorated in rainbow colors and filled with granola/trail mix? Now, if it were only warm enough to put my Birkenstock sandals on! So much for spring.....it was in the 30s today and we're supposed to see snow in the morning in the higher elevations. Blah!

I used one of Kitchen Sink Stamps newer stamp sets, the Playful Ovals set. I had thought about using an oval stamp around the window that I cut out of the gable box, but then I got stuck on those adorable little arrows stamps that come in this set. I HAD to use them. And the arrow inside the circle reminds me of the M&Ms. What can I say? It had to be done. It's just one of those things.

The box didn't come with an oval cut out of it.....I had to do that myself. It was extremely easy, though. I used my Coluzzle Cutting system with the oval template to cut my hole. I slipped the foam cutting mat that comes with the system into the box, then placed my oval template on top and cut with the cutting blade. To give the edge a nice smooth finish, I took a piece of fine grade sandpaper and went around the opening.

I used a sponge with some Old Olive ink and sponged around the edge of the oval opening, as well as all of the edges of the box. It softens it up and gives it a little bit of warmth, rather than having all those stark plain edges of the box.

Originally I had planned to use a piece of acetate on the box to make a window in the hole I had cut, but then realized it wasn't really necessary because the trail mix was already in a cello bag. Plus, I like the look of a little bit of bulk from the bag poking out of the hole in the box.

I used the Playful Alphabet set (also from Kitchen Sink Stamps) to stamp the word, "food," across the gable above my hole. I used Real Red, More Mustard, Old Olive and Blue Bayou ink for my stamped images. The word, "soul," and the dragonfly beside it were stamped using Basic Black ink and a Hero Arts mini alphabet set.

Here's a view of the back of the gable box. I used the little circle-arrow stamp all over the sides and top with my four colors of ink in a random pattern.

By the way, there's a number of things that could be put in a little box like this. You can even go with a bigger box and fill it with cookies, caramel corn, chocolate covered pretzels, etc.

I added a tag to my box using an aluminum metal edged vellum circle. I punched a hole near the edge with a 1/16 inch punch, which is an ideal size to run silver cording through. I wrote the words, "for you," with a fine tipped black marker, since I didn't have any stamps that said those words that were small enough. Only after I wrote the words out with my marker, I realized that I could have stamped them out with my little alphabet set, but oh well. :) The marker worked just as well.

I added some "bling" to my tag in the form of buttons. I actually had buttons that match the Stampin' Up colors of ink I used on my box. The buttons are Stampin' Up buttons and I attached them to my tag using Mini Glue Dots. They carried over the theme of the colors I used, the round size of the circle-arrow stamp I used and the shape of the M&Ms. It's a simple touch but isn't subtle at all.

I tied the tag around the handle of the box using the silver cording that I threaded through.

If you want to see any of the pictures in this post in a larger size, simply click on the pictures themselves and a box will pop up with a larger view.

Here's that recipe again:

Honey Raisin & Nut Granola

You can opt to do this as trail mix or just as granola. I promise you that this will be one THE BEST granolas you've ever tasted. It's amazing in milk as a breakfast cereal. Most granolas have a very bland taste to them, but this granola will have you begging for another bowl. Even your kids will be asking for more!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Happy Creating!

-Stampin' Mama

Comments

[Serena Lingo]

Oh man do I want some of that yummy trail mix! haha

Those boxes are so cute- I have a few of them that I should decorate and use for gifts- what a cute idea.

[Maria from Kitchen Sink]

Too yummy for words! Love the arrows pointing to all the yumminess inside!
Thank you Erika for sharing all your mom's wonderful recipes....
I am so hungry right now! :D

[Carol]

Oh YUM!!! This granola looks so good! I'm going to have to try making it. I LOVE your packaging too! What a great way to present a little healthy snack to someone you love:) TFS!

[suzanne]

Mmmmm....yummy! I was reading this post as I was eating my homemade granola with vanilla yogurt for breakfast. I love homemade granola and am going to try out your mom's recipe. I like your turning it into trail mix with M&M's and peanuts added in. Gonna have to try that to...Also your box is so cute. I have a lot of folks ask for some of my granola after making it for an event and this would be a wonderful way to present it to them. Thanks!

[kim3timemom]

Yum Yum...can't wait to try your mom's recipe. Granola from the store is so expensive. I really love the packaging you designed..so cute. Thanks so much for the inspiration! Have a great weekend!

[Bee]

Yum, I could go for a bowl of this right now! :-P

[Tara]

Thank you! I've been looking for a good granola recipe for sometime now! This looks yummy and I could add stuff my little guy likes and he won't care that it's healthy too!!!

[LuvLee]

What a fun gable box!! And yummy trail mix!!! I have to admit though.....I'm the one that picks out the raisins!!! LOL

[Mary C. Anderson]

Another wonderful Bake it, Make it and take it. I love hoe you put oval shape in the box. I like being able to see what is inside. Although I am not a fan of Granola your trail mix does lookk delicious. I love how you decorated the box Erika. As always you have managed to come up with a wonderful project.

Mary

[Christina Fischer]

I always look forward to this feature! Love this project -- the gable box is the perfect packaging for the granola! I love the way you stamped it! Thanks for the recipe -- it looks fantastic! :)

[Nicole]

Way cute!

[Cate O'Malley]

Oh wow, how creative, and what a great gift! Years ago, I was majorly into rubber stamping, even making the trip to Boston for the annual rubber stamp convention. My goal is to get myself organized enough to be able to get back into a bit by the end of the year. Love this project!

[Jordan Sneakers]

This blog makes me realize the energy of words and pictures. I am grateful that you let us look in! Keep coming up with ideas.