You can feel the excitement of Summer the air: Happier faces walking along the beach, extra bounce to the exchange of a smiley “Good Morning” while hiking in the mountains, uniformed bands of cyclists giving more way to their brothers and sisters as they buzz along the bike path, and swimming in the ocean is an energizing bath of joy that you share with all of your neighbors.


It’s also that time of year when we pack a few things in our rucksack to save time, money, and enjoy healthier options. As you relax and sun yourself on the beach, the last thing you want to do is race over the blazing hot sand for an unappealing and expensive slice of greasy pizza. I recycle my old plastic containers and jars to use for salads, dressings, and sandwiches. If I pick up some tortilla chips from the market, I know I’m not breaking the bank. After all, we are living in a recession, and every penny counts. I also bring my own stainless steel bottles of filtered water. Probably a good thing after reading in the New York Times yesterday that markets are now starting to ban some types of bottled water.


After years of paying top dollar for prepackaged mixes, only to pick out what I didn’t like, I finally started creating my own trail mix. Initially, you have to buy a few bags of ingredients, but when you think about the price of those wee sacks of trail mix (upwards of five to ten dollars), you will see the big pay off (financial and health wise) later. The ingredients in “Happy Trails Mix” are raw and organic, which means that nothing has been sprayed with pesticides, therefore killing off the vital nutrients. You are literally feeding yourself vitamin rich food and serving the temple that is your body.