Tropical Island Chex Mix

This was a really great combination. I did change up the proportions quite a bit. I mean, I understand that Chex wants to highlight their cereal, but I wanted to highlight all the extra yummy ingredients. I reduced the amount of cereal and increased the other stuff.

TROPICAL ISLAND CHEX MIX
adapted from Chex

6 cups rice Chex cereal
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup dried banana chips
1 (6 ounce) package dried tropical fruit mix
1 (6 ounce) package dried pineapple pieces
1 (6 ounce) jar macadamia nuts
3 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup frozen pineapple or orange juice concentrate, thawed

In ungreased large roasting pan, mix cereal, coconut, banana chips, dried fruits and nuts.

In a one quart saucepan, heat butter, brown sugar and juice concentrate over medium heat until hot.

Pour over cereal mixture, stirring until evenly coated.

Bake at 300 degrees, uncovered, 30 minutes, stirring after 15 minutes. Spread on waxed paper or foil to cool, about 15 minutes. Store in airtight container.

Chex Barbecue Snack Mix

This recipe is straight from the Chex website. In fact, just follow this link to see the complete recipe.

There's just one thing that I would change for next time. I used a vinegar based barbecue sauce, which is a little thinner consistency. A thicker and sweeter sauce would probably be better for this.

Spicy Bourbon Bacon Chex Mix

My picture doesn't do this justice! Check out the picture over here where I found the original recipe! (I made a couple of changes.)

SPICY BOURBON BACON CHEX MIX

7 1/2 ounces Corn Chex cereal

7 1/2 ounces Honey-nut Chex cereal

1 pound bacon, crisply cooked and chopped

1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar

2 cups small pretzels

2 cups lightly salted roasted peanuts

1/2 cup butter

1/4 cup light corn syrup

3 tablespoons bourbon

1 teaspoon chipotle chili powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Line two 15 x 10 x 1 - inch pans with foil. Spray foil with cooking spray. In large bowl, mix cereals, pretzels, peanuts and bacon. Set aside.

In 2-quart saucepan, heat brown sugar, butter and corn syrup over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until bubbly around edges. Cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally; remove from heat. Cool 2 minutes. Carefully stir in bourbon, chipotle chili powder and cinnamon. Pour over snack mixture; toss until evenly coated.

Spread snack mixture onto pans. Bake at 300 degrees for 15 - 25 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, to caramelize mixture. Cool completely, about 1 hour. Break into pieces.

NOTE: The original recipe said to store in the refrigerator. NOT necessary! It will be GONE before you have a chance to do that!

By the way, I made this snack to take to the VA Hospital as it was the last day of this most recent clinical rotation there. I have been on a rotation in the operating room for the last couple of weeks. Don't you just love the camouflage lead aprons??!!

Pumpkin Pudding Snack

This is not a pumpkin pudding dessert that you would serve to guests, just my new favorite healthy snack.

Just mix a container of vanilla yogurt (I use one that's fat-free or "light") with 1/2 cup of pumpkin puree. Add a little cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice. I also add one packet of Splenda to sweeten it more.

Half a cup of pumpkin is only 40 calories and has 5 grams of fiber! So, it adds alot of volume without adding many calories. In fact, if you are a "weightwatcher", the pumpkin will not add any points to your yogurt.

I had one can of pumpkin left over from the holidays. I hope I can find some more, I heard there's a shortage.

Chipotle Honey Roasted Peanuts

This is a recipe I ran across at FoodGawker, a great website devoted to pretty pictures of food. Of course, they link you to the website with the recipe. This recipe came from a blog called Recipe Rhapsody.

I've tried a few spiced nuts recipes in the past, they never worked out like I expected. This one came out perfectly and it's really, really good. Might be a bit spicy for some people, so adjust if you prefer less spicy.

CHIPOTLE HONEY ROASTED PEANUTS

1/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons chipotle chile powder
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon salt
1 pound lightly salted dry roasted peanuts (16 ounce jar)

Stir together the sugar and next 3 ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside. Stir together the butter, honey and salt in a large saucepan over medium heat until the butter has melted and the mixture is bubbly. Remove from heat and stir in the peanuts until well-coated, then pour into a 9 x 13 x 2 baking dish. (I used a glass dish sprayed with a little non-stick spray.)

Bake at 325 degrees about 30 minutes, stirring 2 or 3 times to ensure even cooking. Once done, pour the peanuts into a large metal bowl and sprinkle with the spice mixture; toss until well-coated. Pour onto a large baking sheet to cool completely; stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.

Note: I later tried with unsalted roasted peanuts, the spice mixture did not stick to the peanuts as well, so stick with the lightly salted or salted roasted peanuts (the salt provides a rougher surface for the spices to stick to). If you use salted, reduce the added salt by half.

Winter Apple Snack

When it's cold in the winter, I don't like to eat fruit quite as much as I should. So, I came up with this warm apple snack.

Just slice up your apple, layer it in a bowl with Splenda (or sugar) and either apple pie spice or pumpkin pie spice. I like pumpkin pie spice, it has ginger in addition to the apple pie spice ingredients.


Cover it with plastic wrap and microwave. For a Granny Smith apple, I microwave for 2 minutes. For other apple varieties, usually only 1 to 1 1/2 minutes. Stir and let cool just a bit before eating. I cooked a McIntosh apple for 2 minutes one time and ended up with warm applesauce.

It always feels like I'm eating more and getting fuller than when eating a cold apple.