With a little bit of sweet and salty goodness in every bite, GORP is a snack mix that my family devours every time we make it. Lucky for all of us, it’s an easy hassle-free trail mix to make.
GORP is the classic trail mix you probably recall from childhood and I’m happy to report that it’s just as tasty as I remembered. Whether it’s for a quick road trip, a movie night, or a longer camping trip, GORP has long been a favorite for all of us.
What Is GORP?
GORP is an acronym for “good old raisins and peanuts” which was, according to some, the very first trail mix. Chocolate is traditionally included in most recipes for GORP. Today, GORP and trail mix are more or less synonymous.
I grew up munching on GORP whenever my family was road tripping. Some variation of this recipe was always our trail mix of choice. Typically, my family made their trail mix with peanuts, raisins, and m&ms or chocolate chips.
I’ve been traveling a lot over the past 6 weeks and am constantly in need of quick, easy, and tasty snacks to enjoy on the go. There are so many pre-packaged snacks available these days but GORP has remained the travel-friendly snack I reach for the most.
GORP
Trail mix is the perfect sweet and salty snack for long driving days, or for days spent on the go exploring a new city.
GORP probably became THE travel food (and the snack hikers took on long trails) because it’s easy to pack and carry and doesn’t spoil. Luckily, it also happens to be pretty nutritious for a convenience food!
The blend of dried fruit for energy and nuts for protein and fat helps keep hunger at bay and keeps you going all travel day long.
That said, GORP is also one of my favorite snacks for a night-in or to have in my bag on a long day of running errands. Easy to proportion into ziploc bags or small serving containers, this trail mix is also ideal for packing in lunches and tucking into backpacks.
This handy square canister of snack mix has a regular place in my camper kitchen and we all reach for it often. I have probably mixed together a batch of GORP at least once if not twice a week all summer long.
Sweet bits of pineapple and spicy jalapeño combine to make this easy pineapple salsa one of our favorite condiments and snacks.
If you’ve been reading this blog for very long you already know that there are not many recipes that I label “the best”. This salsa is well qualified for that title.
There is a Mexican restaurant in my city that serves a pineapple salsa that I have enjoyed for a while now.
I have no idea why it took me so long to try making my own, but a sale on pineapples finally pushed me to try. What was I waiting for? This pineapple jalapeno salsa absolutely smokes my former favorites.
Jalapeno Pineapple Salsa
I ate this salsa three days in a row and I am not even going to pretend that I shared more than a taste or two with my family. They all liked it, but I lucked out and was able to hide it away.
Most of it, I ate straight out of the bowl with tortilla chips (and, if I’m being honest, a few times with a spoon). I also spooned some on top of some leftover chicken and salad for lunch.
I am making more of this today and will have to share this time because I promised. My oldest son was not happy that the first batch “disappeared” so quickly.
Pineapple Jalapeno Dip
Over the past ten years, this spicy pineapple salsa has become a solid favorite with family and friends. I’ve given this recipe out countless times after sharing the salsa with friends.
We love this salsa on Hawaiian Hot Dogs, Carnitas Street Tacos, and Carnitas Salad Bowls. I make a double batch of this salsa almost every time we’re barbecuing with friends and it disappears fast. Eaten with a spoon, scooped up with chips, or piled over burgers,
This cake. Hershey’s Chocolate Cake is the most versatile and the easiest perfect one-bowl chocolate cake recipe I have ever made.
As long as I can remember, I’ve seen the well-known chocolate cake recipe on the side of the Hershey’s cocoa box and I’ve made it countless times. On a whim, I decided to try making a gluten-free version of the famous Hershey Cake a few years ago.
WOW. It turned out beautifully the very first time and I have made this cake many more times since then, both the original recipe and the gluten-free variation.
There is nothing quite like having a lightning-fast homemade cake recipe that turns out perfectly every single time.
Hershey’s Perfectly Chocolate Cake
The cake is sturdy enough to hold together in layers, as cupcakes or to slice as a bundt cake. I’ve made this recipe into cupcakes and topped them with Fresh Strawberry Frosting.
I’ve made a layer cake filled with strawberry frosting, and a layer of berries, and then topped the cake with chocolate frosting.
I’ve made bundt cakes and simply poured the warm frosting over the cake. Every way I’ve served this cake, it has disappeared in no time at all!
Hershey Chocolate Cake
Nothing sparks that warm fuzzy feeling like the aroma of chocolate cake baking in your home. Put something chocolatey in the oven and watch as all the members of your family suddenly flock to the kitchen like moths to an iridescent light.
Don’t get me wrong. I love an adventurous dessert ( hello, Flourless Hot Chocolate Cake) and sometimes you need an elegant showstopper like Chocolate Lava Cakes to wow a table.
But at the end of the day, it’s hard to beat the familiar pleasure of a simple Hershey’s chocolate bundt cake.
The BEST chicken tetrazzini recipe begins with chicken, mushrooms, and pasta tossed together with a creamy, garlicky sauce.
Layer that deliciousness in a baking dish and sprinkle it with just a handful of cheese before baking just long enough to melt everything together. Served with warm bread and a salad, this meal is a hit every time.
Almost 18 years ago now, my sweet friend Lisa brought my family a pan of this Chicken Tetrazzini. It was a night just a few days after my middle son was born; and in the midst of our new baby fog and sleep deprivation, we managed to eat an absurd amount of this dish.
You know those dishes you taste once and can’t stop thinking about? This chicken Tetrazzini recipe is one of those. When you’re exhausted from a new baby, a hot meal at the end of the day is extra divine.
I promised Sean I’d get the recipe as soon as possible. Lisa shared her recipe with me and this pasta has made regular appearances on our table ever since.
Best Chicken Tetrazzini Recipe
At the time, this was the best chicken and pasta dish we had ever tasted, giving it the honor of being christened “The Best Chicken Tetrazzini.” (And it still stands as one of the tastiest chicken pasta dishes you’ll ever make!)
It’s an easy and comforting dinner that I make so often I can just about cook it from memory at this point. And I have a feeling that chicken tetrazzini will be a meal my boys think of when they think of favorite family dinners from their childhoods.
My whole family enjoys this meal very much and one of my boys would happily do his best to eat this entire recipe on his own! As I began to make this for dinner last night, I was surprised to realize that I didn’t already have this recipe on the blog.
It’s become such a favorite, I
Strawberry cookies made with real strawberries! These cookies are soft with slightly crispy edges and a thick, chewy middle. You can top them with a light glaze or roll them in sugar.
I was about to make our lemon drop cookies a few months ago when I got the brilliant idea that if a candy could be blended to flavor a cookie, surely freeze dried fruit could as well. Sure enough, a summer strawberry cookie was born!
I thought strawberry was the absolute best flavor as a kid. Now I actually tend to go more raspberry out of the berry family (curious what you all would pick), but my kids are for sure on the childhood bandwagon of fresh, juicy red strawberries. They love that these cookies are dense and chewy but they have the pick of rolling in sugar or topping with a crackly glaze.
I personally prefer to make a lemon glaze to brighten up these sweet cookies, but you can do whatever makes you happy!
Ingredients for Strawberry Cookies
Most of the strawberry cookie recipes out there use strawberry cake mix or strawberry pudding to get the strawberry flavor (in fact we have our own strawberry pudding cookie recipe here on the blog), but I love using real strawberries in this recipe to get that true strawberry flavor. Here is what you will need to make these cookies:
For the Cookies
- Freeze Dried Strawberries: Don’t use fresh strawberries. They will add too much moisture to the dough and make the cookies cakey.
- Sugar: regular granulated white sugar
- Butter Flavored Shortening: You can also use regular shortening (you’ll lose a little richness in flavor) or just regular butter but they end up more dry with just butter.
- Unsalted Butter: softened, combined with the shortening, the cookies are tender and still rich in flavor
- Eggs: add structure to the cookies
- Vanilla: adds flavor
- Strawberry Extract: just for a little boost in flavor
- Flour: use all-purpose flour
- Baking Soda: leavening agent to give the cookies rise and fluffiness
- Baking Powder: leavening agent that works with the baking soda to help the cookies rise
- Salt: enhances all the flavors
For the Glaze
- Powdered Sugar: adds sweetness and structure to the glaze
- Milk or Water: milk will be a little more rich in flavor
- Lemon Juice: I love to add a little lemon juice to give a nice flavor burst to the cookie, but it is totally optional.
- BONUS: You could also add a little strawberry extract to the glaze if you want even more strawberry flavor.
Sugar
- Sugar: Roll the cookie dough balls in sugar before baking if you prefer that instead of the glaze.
The measurements for all the ingredients and the instructions for making these cookies can all be found in the recipe card at the