Easy Snacks to Accompany Your Adirondack Chair

The image of an Adirondack chair brings up happy memories for many people. Carefree summers; visits with cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents; rapidly melting but oh-so-good ice cream cones. In fact, one of the ways people use the wide armrests of the Adirondack chair is to place drinks or snacks on them.

The first Adirondack chair appeared because a man was attempting to create a comfortable chair for his family to use as they vacationed in the mountains. People have associated the Adirondack chair with outdoor relaxation since its beginning. In favor of carefree vacations-even if you spend them at home-and more time for relaxation, let's go for easy homemade snacks you can enjoy in your Adirondack chair, or wherever your fun takes you.

Flavored Applesauce: All you need is a jar of regular applesauce and your desired flavorings.

Option 1: For cinnamon applesauce, sprinkle a bit of ground cinnamon over your applesauce and mix it thoroughly. If you wish, you can also stir in other spices, such as a dash of nutmeg and a pinch of cloves.

Option 2: Try mixing a tablespoon or so of jam with your applesauce to achieve different flavors.

Option 3: Mash a couple strawberries (or another fruit) with a fork and add the mashed fruit and its juice to the applesauce.

Yogurt Parfait: Wash fresh berries or cut up other fresh fruit to fill a large bowl. Some good choices include strawberries, blueberries, bananas, peaches, and raspberries. Store the bowl of fruit and a carton of vanilla yogurt in the refrigerator. Keep a box of granola cereal in the cupboard. At snack time, spoon yogurt into a cup or bowl. Add some fruit and sprinkle the top with granola cereal.

Veggie Pockets: Choose a couple fresh vegetables to slice and store in containers. Cucumbers, broccoli, carrots, or onions might make good choices. At snack time, open a pita and spread a thin layer of your preferred salad dressing inside. Arrange some of the sliced veggies inside the pita.

Trail Mix: This snack is extremely versatile because you can throw in whatever ingredients you want in whatever quantities you want. Mix and match from the following list of suggested ingredients, or think up your own: peanuts, cashews, almonds, mixed nuts, banana chips, dried berries, raisins, chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, butterscotch chips, white chocolate chips, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, toasted rice cereal, coconut, marshmallows, pretzels. 

Save your hours in the kitchen for another day. Instead, fix these quick snacks so you can enjoy your relaxation in your Adirondack chair. Make the most of your day off. Read a good book, host a potluck cookout for your friends (with your snacks made already), watch your children play, bask in the sunshine, make good memories. However you spend your vacation, stop to focus on the pleasure of a carefree day. Remember happy times with your loved ones in the past and create more of those times. You only have this day once.

Rachelle Dawson is a freelance writer who enjoys outdoor getaways. She writes about the famous Adirondack chair and Adirondack accessories.