In college my friends and I had a slight obsession with Quaker® Oatmeal Squares. It really intensified when we moved off campus senior year. I don't know what it was but for some reason this often seemed to be the only thing we had in our pantry besides boxed mac & cheese. We would eat them for breakfast, lunch, dinner and even a late night snack after a night out.
When someone would question our decision to eat Quaker® Oatmeal Squares at odd hours my friend Kath would always say "Whole Grains" as if that was the answer to any question. In fact even though I hadn't purchased them in a while I could still see the front of the box with the wording about whole grains clear as day.
Now that I am out of college, I still eat cereal for meals/snacks other than breakfast. With my job as a teacher, I am always on the go and feel like I am always trying to find snacks that are easy to make and pack but fill me up too. Recently I have been making a Quaker® Oatmeal Squares Snack Mix that I am in love with.
It only has four ingredients, all of which can be easily found at your local Walmart: Brown Sugar Quaker® Oatmeal Squares, air popped popcorn, dark chocolate chips and dried cranberries. It is the perfect mix of crunchy and chewy, sweet and salty. I have been making it for a snack for myself but recently I put some out at party with family and friends and my mom loved it so much she took home all the left overs and then called the next day asking for more.
It travels easily, fills me up and satisfies all my different cravings at once. It can easily be modified depending on what you have on hand or what Quaker products are your personal favorites. I used the Brown Sugar Quaker® Oatmeal Squares but you could switch it up and use Quaker® Real Medleys®, Quaker® Simply Granola, Quaker® Life, or any other variety of Quaker® products too.
Oatmeal Squares Snack Mix
- 2-3 cups of Brown Sugar Quaker® Oatmeal Squares
- 2 cups of air popped popcorn (you can add a little salt if you like but I skipped the butter)
- 1 cup of dark chocolate chips
- 1 cup of dried cranberries
Mix all the ingrediants together in a large bowl. Store in individual serving plastic bags or in a large air tight container. Best if eaten in a few days of making it.
Enjoy!