Laura’s Couch Potato "Trail Mix" Recipe (Like a No-Bake Oatmeal Cookie)

This is a great way to recoup some of the calories and energy you’ve lost while hiking all the way to the sofa (bring a cup and spoon and beverage). Or, to stock up on calories for no reason other than this tastes really good and actually IS very high in fiber and other good stuff.

1 Cup firmly packed brown sugar

½ Cup granulated sugar

1 ½ Cups all-purpose flour

1 to 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon (add cinnamon to taste)

3 Cups uncooked oatmeal, either quick or old fashioned

1 Cup Benefiber (Optional)

½ Cup Nuts (walnuts or whatever are your favorites), shelled peanuts, or shelled sesame seeds (Optional, but make sure no one is allergic if you include nuts or seeds)

Measure all of these ingredients into a large mixing bowl and stir until the mixture is of a consistent texture. Note that it will be completely dry—no wet ingredients were added—so don’t expect a ball of dough, for example.

To eat this, pour or spoon it into a bowl or empty cup and use a spoon to eat it with. Water, tea, or another favorite beverage will be needed to properly complement this recipe.

If you’re going to make this for a party or other “eat-it-now” occasion, you might want to also add 2 sticks of softened butter, but don’t add that unless you are planning to eat it all before the butter gets rancid. Without the butter, this has a long shelf life if kept in a sealed container. I often divide the recipe in half and leave half for eating near-term and freeze the other half for some later date.

• Brown sugar (light, medium, or dark)—1 standard baking size package
• Granulated (white) sugar—Small sack
• All-purpose flour—Small sack
• Ground cinnamon—or stick cinnamon that you grind yourself
• Oatmeal (quick or old-fashioned)—medium to large container
• Benefiber (optional)—large container
• Shelled nuts, peanuts, or seeds (optional)
• Butter (optional