Melissa Macias - New York Campus

Happy Pumpkin Spice Season everyone! My name is Melissa Macias and I am an intern at Sodexo Dietetic Internship New York campus. I am a snack queen and I have gotten into the habit of packing a small bag of trail mix and keeping it in my lab coat pocket. Their have already been several occasions this year when my blood sugar has plummeted and there was no food (or at least healthy food) in sight. Thankfully, I always have a healthy snack or two on hand. I try to eat every 2-3 hours to keep my metabolism and energy up! Therefore, I recommend  keeping a snack in your lab coat at all times; carry things like trail mix, nuts and granola because they are small and mess free. If there is a refrigerator available, pack an extra yogurt. Its hard to keep something much bigger in your pocket when away from the office. Packaged trail mix is often nothing more than peanuts and candy-coated chocolate. But when you make it yourself, you can prepare a much more healthful snack with additive-free dried fruit, organic nuts and seeds and better quality chocolate. You can also add other ingredients for a different twist on typical trail mix, like spices. I got the opportunity to revamp the dietitian board and made it into a fall theme to kick off the season of All Things Pumpkin Spice! I shared autumn flavored trail mix recipe. It’s so good you’ll want to keep a stash in your lab coat pocket or even turn it into a thank you gift for preceptors! Click on the link for a free printable thank you tag to attach.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B4C7Cl5xlBKdLTlxZmJ6QVJoaEU 

Autumn flavored trail mix recipe

What You Need:

• ¼ cup pure maple syrup
• 1½ tsp pumpkin pie spice
• ⅛ tsp sea salt
• ⅔ cup pecan halves
• ⅓ cup pepitas (or roasted pumpkin seeds)
• ⅓ cup sunflower seeds
• ⅓ cup sliced almonds
• ⅓ cup dried cherries
• ⅓ cup dried apricots
• ¼ cup golden raisins
• ⅓ cup cinnamon chips (optional)

Get Cooking!

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
2. Add maple syrup to a large sauce pan and heat over medium-high heat until just beginning to boil.
3. Stir in pumpkin pie spice, salt, and nuts and cook, stirring frequently, until the nuts have caramelized and the syrup has reduced. About 3-5 minutes.
4. Spread mixture in an even layer on the prepared baking sheet and let cool completely. The candied nuts will harden as they cool.
5. Once hardened, and the cherries, apricots, raisins and cinnamon chips to the pan, and stir until ingredients are evenly distributed, breaking the candied nuts into clusters as needed.
6. Store in an air-tight container.
7. Enjoy!

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