Nuts and Bolts Snack Mix: Cheaper Than Chex Mix

Don't you just love homemade Chex Mix? I made a big vat of it last Christmas, and it was wonderful. Not a crumb was left! However, by the time you assemble the ingredients that are necessary, you have run up a big bill at the checkout. Did you ever make Nuts and Bolts? It is an old recipe that is much cheaper to make, and it uses fewer ingredients that require a purchase. You can use store brands of everything to make this treat very cheaply.

Great snacks

If you place your nuts and bolts mix in small, ziplocked bags, it makes perfect snacks for people to grab for lunch packing or just surviving until dinner. It is a nutritious snack, and it packs a hearty punch at those hunger points in your day. You will save a lot of money, too, if you have these little snacks prepared.

Fall in the air

This makes a festive Fall party food when poured into an inexpensive orange jack-o-lantern. You can add whatever you want to the mix: candy corn, banana chips, popcorn, m & m's, or just about anything. The recipe can be doubled easily.

Ingredients:

• One tablespoon butter or margarine
• Two tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
• Two cups salted peanuts
• Two cups Cheerios or toasted oat cereal
• One cup of pretzel sticks

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Melt the butter.
3. Add the Worcestershire sauce.
4. Add the cereal, nuts, and pretzel sticks, but add other ingredients at the end after cooling.
5. Toss to coat.
6. Spread evenly over a shallow baking pan.
7. Bake for around 8 minutes, or until golden brown.
8. Spread to dry on paper towels or waxed paper.
9. Store in a tightly sealed container.

As originally published on the Knoxville Cooking Examiner column.