Fiber One Trail Mix

My kids and I have been coupon clipping.  Really more for fun than savings since I can't seem to use the darn things like those women on "Extreme Couponing."  But we make a big game out of it at the grocery store and they seem to get into it.  Two bonuses:  1) Lessons in math and value 2) Gets them really excited about saving money (who knew???).

One trip we got a great deal on Original Fiber One Cereal.  Two boxes for like $2.00!!!  Well, it turns out that our enthusiasm got the best of us.  Apparently, Original Fiber One Cereal, while extremely nutritious, has a flavor that is...shall we say...subtle.  We tried it with honey, with straight up sugar, with raisins, one of the girls even tried putting syrup on it.  Nothing.  So there it sat...for like a week. 

Not one to waste, I desperately tried to think of something I could do with these sad boxes of unloved cereal.  After scrounging through the cabinets, I came up with an idea for trail mix using cereals.  With a big sporting season upon us, it seemed like a great solution.  There is a good bit of sugar in the mix, but for active kids and adults, the healthy trade-off is fair.  Not only was I able to use up the leftovers, but now they make sure to add Fiber One to the list when we go shopping. 

I usually portion the mix into plastic baggies or containers so they can grab a bag for breakfast on the go, lunch boxes, or after-school/pre-sports snack. See the bottom for a variation to turn them into cereal bars and don't be afraid to mix and match the cereals to your family's taste.  All the dry ingredients are optional/interchangeable so have fun and experiment. One note, the cereals you use should be rather hard because of all the mixing and crunching, so rice and puffed cereals probably won't work.

Fiber One Trail Mix

Ingredients
3 cups Original Fiber One cereal
3 cups granola (we used a vanilla flavored one with almonds)
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2-3/4 cup raisins
1/2 cup M&M's or chocolate chips

1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup corn syrup (or honey)
3/4 cup peanut butter
2 tsp vanilla

Directions

1. In a plastic bag, beat up the Fiber One a bit so that some of the pieces break and crush, you just want some variation in the sizes.  It's harder than it looks.
2. Add all the dry ingredients, except the chocolate, to a large bowl and toss together until uniformly combined.
3. In a small saucepan, heat the sugar and syrup together on medium low until the sugar has melted.  Stir it frequently so it doesn't stick and/or burn. Add the vanilla and the peanut butter and stir until heated through and thoroughly combined. 
4. Pour the peanut butter mixture over the dry mixture and stir in.  The sugars will begin to harden as they cool and stirring will be nearly impossible. Now it's time to get your hands in there and mix it up.  It will take a few minutes but try to get all the cereal coated with the peanut butter but crunching and mixing between your hands. 
5. Once you're just about done, incorporate the chocolate (it would have melted if you'd added it earlier. 
6. Pat the mix into a greased 9x13 pan and allow to cool and harden at least 30 minutes or so.  When cooled, break the mix up with a knife or fork and store in an airtight container.

Variation 1 - Cereal bars: To make bars, decrease the amount of dry ingredients by about 10%.  When putting in the pan, be sure to pat down tightly so that it binds while it cools.  When cooled, invert the pan into a cutting board and carefully cut into the desired sized bars.  Store in airtight containers.

Variation 2 - Chocolate bars: To make the bars very chocolately, omit the peanut butter and increase the amount of brown sugar by 1/2 cup.  Add 3/4 chocolate chips and melt into the sugars. 

Variation 3 - Fruit and Nuts: Decrease the amount of peanut butter by 1/4 cup, use honey instead of corn syrup.  Add in Craisins or other dried fruit.  Decrease the amount of Granola and use additional chopped nuts.