Scramble {a.k.a. Chex Party Mix}

I have a confession to make. I’ve been on a farmers’ market health kick. {That’s not the confession.} In addition to trying to eat well, I’m working on stocking up on foods made with my fresh-finds. Today I had a big block of time to tackle my organize-the-extra-freezer project. So I juiced a mango, apple, cucumber and a handful of fresh spinach and pridefully made my way to the freezer with my energizing green drink to begin.

The goal was to inventory what I had, ditch anything I didn’t recognize, organize said freezer so that stuff would be easy to find, and make room for new creations. That meant pulling everything out. There were meatballs, enchiladas, oven-roasted tomatoes, pizza crusts, pesto…

It was all going fine until I pulled out a one-gallon Ziplock bag of Scramble.

Wait, what? “Scramble?”

Yes, Scramble. Also known as “Chex Party Mix.” But this stuff is homemade.

{Darn you, you see-through gallon bag with the Zip”LOCK” that yields to the slightest tug.}

So {here’s the confession}, I found myself sitting on the laundry room floor with my healthy drink in my left hand, and my right hand shoved in the bag, making blurringly fast trips between that Ziploc and my mouth. All I can do is express my gratitude that there’s no YouTube video of the horror.

You can have your sweet confections. Just don’t get between me and my salty snacks!

If the only “Chex Mix” you’ve been exposed to is the packaged kind on the grocery shelves, you’ve been missing out. A big batch of this, warm from the oven, may cause you to skip the snack aisle entirely on your next shopping trip. You can tweak the recipe to include your favorite cereals. My sister adds Kix. I add Honey Nut Chex for the sweet/salty combo. Some people leave out the pretzels or nuts.

Keep in mind, I’m NOT touting this as necessarily “healthier” than the stuff on the shelves. Yes, the cereal and pretzels would be considered “processed” foods, which I generally stay away from. However, sometimes you need a little taste of nostalgia.

When my Uncle Jim was serving in Vietnam in the 60’s, my Mom would fill an empty Charlie Chips canister {remember those?} with a fresh batch and ship it to him and his buddies.

Make a batch and enjoy it warm… then keep it in an airtight container. It makes a great homemade hostess gift {fill a clear gift bag and tie with a ribbon or jute}. I always make a big batch during the holidays {or rely on my sister to make some}, so I have some on hand. And I usually freeze most of it so that it’s not on the counter as a constant temptation! {This recipe filled three 1-gallon freezer bags, one of which I am about halfway through as we “speak”…}

Scramble {a.k.a. Chex Party Mix}

I've adapted my mom's recipe a bit by adding Honey Nut Chex - I love the hint of "sweet" in this salty mix.

Ingredients

4 cups Wheat Chex cereal
4 cups Rice Chex cereal
4 cups Corn Chex cereal
6 cups Honey Nut Chex cereal
6 cups Cheerios cereal
1 box pretzel sticks
1 can mixed nuts (optional)
1 cup butter
1 cup canola oil
2 Tbs Worcestershire
1 tsp Tabasco
1 Tbs seasoned salt (like Lawry's)
¼ tsp garlic salt
1 tsp Accent

Instructions

Mix cereals, pretzels and nuts (if adding) in very large shallow pan.
Melt butter in saucepan with oil and seasoning. Spoon over cereal mixture and stir gently until thoroughly mixed.
Bake at 225-250 for about 2 hours, stirring and rotating pans every 20 minutes.
Spread onto newspaper or kraft paper to cool and drain.