Easy Holiday Entertaining Recipes

 

When it comes to holiday entertaining, I like to keep things simple.  Think The Dude’s vibe from The Big Lebowski when it comes to my cooking and baking.  So this holiday season when I was asked to put together a sweet and salty recipe on behalf of Betty Crocker and WinCo supermarkets all I could think was – let’s make this easy on us moms!  Don’t get me wrong, I love to scroll through Pinterest and Instagram eyeing the amazing recipes the other (and very talented) moms have put together but I just don’t have that in me.  I like easy!  But that doesn’t mean with a little creativity you can’t impress!

You only need a few things to make an awesome Holiday treat!

 

Growing up my mother always used Betty Crocker cake mixes.  Her saying has always been “why reinvent the wheel” and went on to elaborate how these companies spent a ton of money to get their recipes just right.  I have to agree with that and when you are pressed for time, Betty Crocker cake mixes come to the rescue!  I really like the super moist Yellow Betty Crocker Cake Mix.  What about you, what is your favorite cake mix flavor?

No matter the occasion, Betty Crocker has the perfect mix. Celebrate the holidays with SuperMoist cakes. Indulge your senses with Decadent Supreme cakes. Or, make either for those “just because” moments. There’s never not a good time to eat cake!

 

For this holiday recipe, I used vanilla icing and some cupcake gems perfect pearls.  I wanted to give the impression of snow topped mountains.   Now for the super duper easy way to give your next party or play date a wow factor – purchase or make some cute holiday cupcake toppers.  I found these at our local discount store and I am such a fan now!  Place them on top of a white (or red for the holidays) cake topper with some little holiday décor and you are set!  We did this for our Halloween party and the kids just loved them.

Corn Chex Holiday Recipe:

And while your guests are waiting for the holiday meal, why not give them the option for a yummy salty snack.    The Chex™ Party Mix mixes well with any occasion with bold variety as I’ve seen these mixes salty or sweet.  Most recipes are ready to eat in just 15 minutes via microwave. There’s always a new sweet or savory mix to try.

 

I wanted to make a Chex salty and savory party mix so I searched and searched for the best recipe that would fit our family’s taste buds and I think I have found one.  The food blogger at Half Baked Harvest mentioned that this is one of her mother’s famous holiday recipes and that peaked my interest as we usually all love our moms cooking don’t we?   Then I looked at the ingredients needed:

Three types of Chex Mix: wheat, corn and rice, mixed nuts, bagel chips, garlic and onion spice and Worcestershire sauce, and butter!  One of the things that is so great about this recipe is that you can find most of the dry items in the food bins found at WinCo. You can find WinCo supermarket stores in Arizona, California, Idaho, Nevada,  Oregon, Texas, Utah, and Washington. I love when stores offer food bins because it allows you to get just what you need.  There is nothing worse than having to buy something that you know is going to go stale before you’ll have time to finish it.

 

I made some adjustments to the recipe and this is what I came up:

2 cups Whole Wheat Chex cereal

3 cups Corn Chex cereal

2 cups roasted, unsalted peanuts

2 cups sea salt bagel chips

2 cups pretzels

1 1/2 sticks salted butter

3 tablespoons Wine & Pepper Worchestershire sauce

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

couple twists of the peppercorn

Melt the butter and then add in the spices and Worchestershire sauce. Drip over the dry mix and make sure everything is coated. Place on a cookie tray and bake at 250 degrees Fahrenheit for one hour.  Be sure to mix the Chex Mix about every 15 minutes. Take out and let sit until cool.  Add in a large jar or in individual containers and you are set!

I found these cute holiday photo props at our local discount store but you could easily make them.  There are a lot of free templates out there!  Put them in each of the popcorn containers for some fun!  Hope you enjoyed these ideas!

About WinCo:

WinCo Foods, Inc. is a privately held, majority employee-owned American supermarket chain based in Boise, Idaho with retail stores in Arizona, California, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Texas, Utah, and Washington.

 

Be sure to check out their coupon offers:

• Save $1 on Bulk Foods when you buy four Better Crocker SuperMoist Cake Mix or Ready to Spread Frosting (any flavors / varieties)
• Save $1 on Bulk Foods when you buy any two boxes of Chex cereal (any flavors / varieties)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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