Savory & Sweet Party Mix {Recipe ReDux}

It's been a busy month for us as we're getting used to the third member of our family (fourth if you count our dog Albert!). I'm sure it's been busy for many of you as you prepare for the holiday season, attend parties, and get together with family/friends. I still found time to take part in this month's ReDux by cooking while my mother-in-law had time with our little one.

The theme for this month was Grab a Book & Cook! It’s the end of the year and we’re taking a moment to reflect: ReDux has been around for 42 months! (Can you believe some of you have ReDux-ed 42 recipes?) To celebrate, we’re playing a little party game this month: Grab your nearest cookbook and ReDux the recipe on page 42 or 142. We can’t wait to see the books you’re cooking from these days – and how you make that recipe healthier.

I haven't taken part in all 42 months, and this was a unique challenge since I go on-line for many recipes and have a lot of healthy cookbooks, so the recipes didn't need much tweaking. I grabbed a cocktail cookbook since I'm not currently consuming alcohol, so I thought that would be a good way to change a recipe. As it turned out, there wasn't a recipe on page 42, but the one on page 142 was for party mix (not a drink), but I thought that was quite timely (and something I've never made before), so that's the one I chose! The book is Winter Cocktails by Maria Del Mar Sacasa and was a gift from a couple of our friends.

Savory Mix
Ingredients
4 cups Crispix cereal
2.5 cups air popped popcorn
1/4 cup butter
1 cup almonds
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 tsp paprika
1 1/2 tsp mustard powder
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

Directions

1. Put oven rack to upper-middle position and preheat to 250F.

2. Heat a frying pan over medium heat and toast almonds for about 5 minutes (until starting to brown).

3. In a large bowl combine cereal, popcorn, and almonds.

4. Melt butter in a small sauce pan over medium heat. Stir in garlic, paprika, mustard powder, salt, and pepper. Cook until fragrant (about 1 minute), then stir in Worcestershire sauce.

5. Pour spice mixture over cereal mixture and mix with rubber spatula to distribute. Pour into a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 45-60 minutes (stirring every 15 minutes).

6. Transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely.

Sweet Mix
Ingredients
4 cups Crispix cereal
2.5 cups air popped popcorn
1 cup pecans
1/2 cup cashews
1/4 cup butter
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1/2 Tbsp ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves

Directions

1. Put oven rack to upper-middle position and preheat to 250F.

2. Heat a frying pan over medium heat and toast cashews for about 5 minutes (until starting to brown).

3. In a large bowl combine cereal, popcorn, and nuts.

4. Melt butter in a small sauce pan over medium heat and continue cooking until the solids turn brown and sink to the bottom (about 6-8 minutes). Stir in sugar, spices, and salt.

5. Pour spice mixture over cereal mixture and mix with rubber spatula to distribute. Pour into a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 45-60 minutes (stirring every 15 minutes).

6. Transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely.

Happy partying!
See below for other dietitians' page 42 reduxes

Steph Langdon, RD
something nutrishus counselling & coaching
www.nutrishus.com


   

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