Anytime (or Holiday) Chex Party Mix

It's an age old holiday treat... seasoned Chex Mix. I've tried many recipes and feel I've finally perfected one that everyone seems to love. The thing is, you can make your own best or favorite too. Feel free to get creative and experiment to find your own personal favorite mix! Here is the one I make that my friends usually ask me for.


But let's talk about a few of these ingredients first. CHEX CEREAL... the rice, (while gluten free) is really fragile and breaks apart very easily. Corn chex is also gluten free (if that matters), and sometimes you can find a honey corn Chex - the sweetness of it usually adds a nice compliment to the spicy. I usually use half or less of the honey corn version. Wheat chex is the most hearty of all, an absorbs the most seasoning, though not gluten free.

NUTS - pick your favorites, the seasoning coats them pretty nicely and you can make your own special blend of what you like best.

PRETZELS - The square kind I like the best, it seems to grab the most seasoning flavor, but the regular twist kind work fine too. I don't find that the sticks are very user friendly.

JALEPENO PRETZEL PIECES - I don't usually add these to the mix that gets seasoning added to it, it has enough flavor on it's own.

CHEEZ IT's - I usually add these to the mix that gets the flavor, even though they have enough good flavor of their own. You can choose to add seasoning or leave them be. They absorb the seasoning mix well so I add them.

CHEETOS - I don't add them to the part that needs seasoning, they are plenty flavorful all their own. I like to use the jalepeno cheetos.

THE SEASONING MIX: I usually use one full batch and another half batch to coat what I want seasoned. And I don't follow a recipe exactly, I sometimes just "eyeball" how much of each "looks right" for my mix. This will make two large rectangles containers full. You have to decide how much you want to use, based on how strong you want it to be. There are some ingredients I don't throw into the mixture until the rest is out of the oven.

So here you go:
3 C corn chex
2 C honey corn chex
3 C wheat chex
1 C or 1 medium can of nuts
1/2 - 3/4 bag of pretzels
1 box Hot N Spicy Cheez Its

8 TB butter
2 TB Worchestershire
1 TB soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp Season salt (Lowry's)
1 tsp garlic powder or salt
1/2 tsp onion powder

Melt the butter in a microwave safe dish, stir in the seasonings. Pour over parts of the above that will fit in a large roaster or electric skillet. I use my electric skillet to stir and coat the mixture. Then I put in shallow cookie or bar pans or a roaster to bake. Bake at 250 for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. Once it's done, I add the following ingredients to take it up a notch:

1 bag jalepeno pretzel bits
1 bag jalepeno Cheetos

So that's it, I hope you feel inspired to make your own special mix or even copy mine.

Also posted on my "everything" blog: http://extraordinarylifenotordinary.blogspot.com
Kodi

Smoked Chicken Fajita Soup

This is super easy, and a great one to use those leftover veggies in your freezer!

1C fajita-style veggies: red pepper, green pepper, onions
1C smoked chopped chicken
1 can fiesta cheese soup (or 1 can cheese soup & 1 can rotel)
4C chicken stock
2 ears corn grilled corn, cut off cob (or a can of fiesta corn or regular corn)
1 can rinsed black beans
fajita seasoning
bacon grease (trust me)


Use 1/2 tsp bacon grease to saute the vegetables until thoroughly tender, season generously with fajita seasoning. (I use Bolner's Fiesta brand - I especially like the Mesquite variety). Then add the corn & chicken until heated through, then add the chicken stock and black beans and condensed soup.

I serve with shredded cheese & sour cream topping. Husband discovered we also like topped with some crushed Doritos.

Slow-cooked pulled beef enchilada burritos

I promise to post a photo of these when I can, but let me tell you, if you have any steak hanging out in your freezer that you have forgotten to use - I strongly urge you to try this DEEEEEEE-LICIOUS recipe!! It started when I found some packaged steak nearly a year old behind something else in my deep freezer that kept it hidden. I know they wouldn't be fabulous on the grill at that point - so I decided to take a chance and try SLOW COOKING the steaks in enchilada sauce to use for nearly 7 hours. I took the 3 frozen steaks, placed them in the crock pot on high for 7 hours in a large can of enchilada sauce so that all the meat was fully covered. Then I let it cool & placed in the fridge to work with the next day. After living in the fridge, the meat was completely cooled & easy to pull apart by hand. I added in some of the enchilada sauce I cooked it in to give the meat a little moisture then warm it up a bit. I sampled some.... YUMMY!!!!! To finish off the most delicious burritos I have EVER made, here is what I did. Cooked up a packet of Spanish Rice & let cool. 1/2 package of cheddar or fiesta blend shredded cheese 10 Burrito size flour tortillas 1 can refried beans Use enough of the leftover enchilada sauce to place in the bottom of the casserole dish you will use to bake the burritos. Spoon & spread refried beans onto the burrito tortilla. Then spoon on some spanish rice. And then the pulled meat. Roll up on both sides & place in dish. Repeat until all meat has been used. Sprinkle 1/2 package of shredded cheese on top of the burritos. Bake in oven for 10 - 14 minutes until cheese is melted. To top them off, I used some rotel-cheese-dip!! Makes them HEAVENLY!!!! Enjoy!

Crunchy Toasted Parmesan Ravioli

My friend Doris told me how much she loved these. She loves the fried kind you get from a restaurant, so we thought we needed to try a baked, healthy version. Here is my version, that the hubs just loved. He wants me to try it on Baked Chicken Parmesan next... will do!!

1 bag ravioli
1 C panko bread crumbs
1 C italian bread crumbs
1/4 C flour
1/4 C parmesan cheese
Garlic salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Italian seasonings to taste
2 eggs
Marinara sauce

So take a cookie sheet, line it with foil. Place a wire rack on top of it and spray with oil. Preheat oven to 450. Bring a pot of water to boil, add ravioli. Boil for 2 minutes and let cool.

Beat eggs, dip ravioli in egg, then toss in the mixture of: panko, bread crumbs, and seasonings.

Bake 18 - 20 minutes. Serve with marinara.

Here is the original recipe: http://www.howsweeteats.com/2012/01/crunchy-oven-fried-cheese-ravioli/

Fish Pockets

Chef Kodi Wilson

I've made these before, but never thought to add veggies like corn and black beans! I saw the idea on Pinterest, so gave it a whirl. I had some leftover corn and black beans from a recipe earlier this week - so it was great to find a recipe to use up the rest. It was so easy, and my picky husband loved it!!

Tilapia filets or fish of choice
Veggies of choice - I used black beans, corn & some green peppers
2 TB frozen limeade (can also use orange juice or lemon - but I'd add some additional spice too, like Chipotle Tobasco for balance)
2 TB butter
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp freeze dried cilantro
garlic salt
fresh ground pepper
sea salt

Thaw fish, prepare foil, tear off about 16 inches for each piece of fish. Place veggies on bottom, add about 1 tsp of the liquid juice concentrate. Mix limeade, butter, garlic & cilantro. Place fish over veggies and top with a light dusting of garlic salt, then salt & pepper to taste, finish with butter mixture. The butter mixture will create a tender, juicy seasoning for the fish & veggies.

Bake in foil packets at 400 for 20 minutes.

If you wish to see the original recipe where the inspiration came from: http://www.pink-parsley.com/2011/06/foil-baked-fish-with-black-beans-and.html

Happy Eating!

Crockpot Chicken "Deelish"

Chef Kodi Wilson

So easy, so good. My favorite combination.

4 frozen chicken breasts
1 package vegetable dip/soup mix
1/2 a tub/pkg cream cheese
1/3 C sour cream
2/3 C italian dressing
2/3 C water
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Mix soup mix, cream cheese, dressing and water in a bowl. Drizzle crock pot with olive oil. Place chicken in pot. Pour mixture over chicken, ensuring chicken is practically covered. Cook on low for 8 hours. Mix well before serving. Serve alone or over buttered noodles or rice. DEE-LISH!

Cheesy Potatoes

3 medium potatoes, scrubbed, sliced
1 1/2 C milk
2 TB diced onion
1 1/2 C diced velveeta
salt & pepper to taste

Slice up potatoes & onion. Place in skillet over medium low heat with milk & stir constantly until potatoes are soft - about 15 minutes. Add cheese and keep stirring over low heat until smooth. Add salt & pepper to taste.