In the kitchen with Kelley: Quick and easy trail mix for one

My children and I love to hike. Luckily, we’re blessed to live in North Alabama. It’s absolutely beautiful here, and there are so many places to explore. Just this past weekend, we went hiking at the Walls of Jericho nature preserve on the Alabama/Tennessee line. Luckily, we packed snacks. It was a 6-mile hike up and down a mountain.

One of the snacks we took was trail mix, which we packed in individual bags and each kept in our own backpacks. We keep the ingredients for this trail mix on hand at all times, and it’s simple to mix up a batch if you’re heading out the door for a quick hike — something that happens frequently at our house.

Almonds are among the four ingredients in this trail mix. Known as a superfood, almonds are packed with vitamins, minerals, protein and fiber. And they’re associated with a number of health benefits, including lowering bad cholesterol and blood sugar.

Don’t be tempted to switch the dark chocolate chips for milk chocolate. Dark chocolate contains some potent antioxidants and is linked with improving vascular function, increasing insulin sensitivity and decreasing inflammation in the body.