Snack food

Once in awhile I post a healthy, low-fat, veggie filled recipe. This is not one of those times. This is one of those foods that you just don't really want to know, but damn it, it tastes good.  What delicacy am I whipping up this time? Chex Mix. One of my favorite snack foods ever. The kind you buy in the store is pretty good, but I like making it myself because A) it's hella cheaper, B) I can put in it whatever I want, and C) the kind in the bag is never seasoned enough for me.  This "recipe", is more like a description of how I do something that is stupid easy, but people seem to like mine, so I am sharing.  Now I know this is nothing special, but I love it, and I like sharing things that make me happy.

Like many things that taste good, this will involve butter. I suppose you could use the fake stuff, but given that I live with a French-ish trained chef, nothing but the real thing ever enters my home. I think I might get left behind if I ever tried to slip fake butter into the cart at the store. So butter.  Here's what all you're going to need:

2 sticks of melted butter
1 tbsp garlic powder
heaping tsp seasoned salt
1/4 c Worcestershire sauce
some cumin
some chili powder
more salt if you think it's not salty enough, but mine usually is
if you're feeling frisky throw in some hot sauce

Mix all this together in your 4 c pyrex measuring cup you got from your mother. Pour over: approx one box corn chex, half a box wheat chex, most of a box of Spicy Cheez-It's. I usually pour half, then stir it good, then the other half, stir again. You want everything good and coated with the butter-y deliciousness.  I usually cook it in my roasting pan, because that's the only thing I have big enough. Sadly, I think Chex mix is the only thing my roasting pan has ever really seen.  Bake at 350 until it's all crispy, stirring every 20 minutes or so. It might take awhile. Mine has taken anywhere from 45 minutes to a couple of hours. Stirring is important though, otherwise it gets super crispy on top and is mush on the bottom.

One of my other favorite things about Chex mix is that you can use up stale stuff in it, cause it crisps back up in the oven. For instance, this time I used half a box of stale-ish cereal we had kicking around, and half a bag of stale pretzels that have been in my pantry for god knows how long. And it will be delicious.  So the next time you want something salty, make chex mix. You won't regret it. And hey, you don't like my way, make up your own!