This Sweet & Salty DIY Trail Mix featuring ALMONDS is the perfect way to “snack naked.” This recipe is zero waste from field to jar. 

“Snacking naked” is the phrase I use to motivate my clients and community to focus on snacks with real, whole food ingredients. It involves making your own snacks with ingredients – like nuts, seeds, whole grains, dried fruit, fresh fruit and vegetables – that come package and plastic free. Those ingredients just so happen to be some of the healthiest foods available and you can find them in the bulk and produce sections of your local supermarket. Snacking on these ingredients leaves you with the most nutrient dense snacks with the smallest footprint!

Recently I’ve learned so much about the sustainability of almonds. It’s made me even more excited about returning to the bulk section of my supermarket and making zero waste recipes with this powerhouse ingredient. Why? Because incorporating almonds into your “naked snacks” takes snacking naked to the next level!

Let’s talk nutrition first! Almonds are nutrient rich. They contain 6 g of plant-based protein and 4g of fiber in one serving, as well as good fats, calcium, magnesium, vitamin E, manganese, copper, iron, and riboflavin. One 28g serving of almonds (~ 1/3 cup) has 13g of unsaturated fat and only 1g of saturated fat! This combination of nutrients makes almonds perfect for snacking because they fill you up with long-lasting energy and are super satisfying to munch on.

Onto the sustainability of almonds. Although you might have heard that growing almonds is inefficient from a water-use perspective, the California almond community (which accounts for 80% of the almonds grown worldwide!) has already reduced the amount of water needed to grow one pound of almonds by 33% and is committed to reducing it by an additional 20% by 2025. And, they’re also committed to achieving zero waste orchards by 2025, which is only a few years away!

To achieve zero waste orchards, California almond farmers are researching optimal ways to use the almond shells, hulls, and trees – all coproducts of growing almonds – that have traditionally been used for livestock bedding, dairy feed, and generating electricity. Newer and higher value uses are also being researched as the California almond community continues to innovate in its sustainability journey.

California almond farmers have also taken a regenerative agriculture approach to farming to address climate change. Through whole orchard recycling, some almond farmers grind up old almond trees and incorporate them back into the soil. This innovative practice improves soil health, increases water retention and yields, and reduces greenhouse emissions.

The more sustainability research I do, the more hopeful I am that regenerative agriculture and carbon sequestration (getting carbon back into the soil) can actually help solve our climate crisis. By sequestering carbon through whole orchard recycling, these California almond farms can sequester 2.4 tons of carbon per acre. That’s equivalent to living car-free for one year!

These are just a few sustainability initiatives the California almond community has implemented, and there are so many other ways that growing almonds is a sustainable practice. But, now it’s time to share this AMAZING Sweet & Salty DIY Trail Mix featuring ALMONDS.

You and your family are going to love this recipe! Pick up all your ingredients from the bulk section of your supermarket using your own produce bags and store the trail mix in a glass mason jar to make this recipe zero waste from field to jar.

And, don’t forget to check out my instagram feed to see a video of me making the recipe!

Sweet & Salty Almond Trail Mix

Ingredients:

• 2 cups almonds

• 3 Tbsp low sodium tamari

• 2 Tbsp hemp seeds

• 1 cup raisins

Instructions:

1. Add the almonds to a pan over medium heat. Pour over the tamari and mix until evenly coated.

2. Sprinkle the hemp seeds over the tamari almonds and continue to mix every few minutes for about 10 minutes.

3. Transfer the almonds to a plate and let cool. (If you don’t want them to stick together make sure they don’t touch while cooling).

4. Once cool, transfer to a mason jar and add in the raisins. Cover the jar and give it a good shake to evenly disperse the raisins. Enjoy!

5. Store in an airtight glass container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

This post was sponsored by the Almond Board of California.