Savory TV snacks---Bits that Bite!

I'm ashamed to admit that I'm a snacker. If I watch TV, which I do very little of (luckily), I either have to have something to do with my hands or else I get the munchies and then... My favorites are plain popcorn, sunflower seeds or pistachios but then I'm always hunting around for a change. Savory snacks are on top of my list. To be honest I try to be good (almost always) and only have healthy snacks but...

Last week it was my turn to host our once a month movie night where usually four or five of us get together for a 'double feature' and everyone brings some type of 'muncheroos'. Nine out of ten times these snacks are something home-made and healthy. This time around one of my friends cheated and brought a couple of boxes of 'Nut's and Bolts' instead. I had forgotten about those snacks and didn't even know they still made them. (To be honest my movie-cronies emptied those bowls first) Seeing those old forgotten treats again, which had been a favorite when my kids had been teenagers, reminded me of my version which they had called 'Bits-that-Bite'.  

Knowing that my kids were all coming home on the weekend I dug up my old recipe yesterday and put the ingredients onto my shopping list. It had been many years since I made that recipe and it sure brought back many happy memories of the times when I used to make it by the bucket fulls for all the hollow-legged teens (my kids and their friends) that used to camp over at our house.

I'm happy to report that making the 'Bit's-that-Bite' recipe was a success. Each of my three children really enjoyed it and it set us all onto memory lane. My granddaughters are at that age now when they love to hear about some of the old funny escapades of their Mom, Uncle and Aunt.

Try it you might like it too...

Once upon a time it took me many tries to get the recipe just right and as you can imagine I had to twist the arms of those poor children of mine along with their buddies to dispose of the trial batches weekend after weekend... This makes a massive batch and to be honest I've never made a smaller version but then I guess it would be just as easy to make just half a batch.

• 1 large box Shreddies
• 1 large box Cheerios
• 1 large box Special K
• 1 med box bugles
  
• 1 1/2 cups Pecan or Walnut pieces (available in baking dept)
• 1 1/2 cups sliced Almonds (available in baking dept)
• 1 1/2 cups cashew pieces (available in baking dept)
• 1 1/2 cups Sesame sticks
• 1 1/2 cups small twisted Pretzels

• 1 1/2 cups Margarine (the kind used for baking, not the spreadable whipped with water type)
• 1/2 cup Worcestershire Sauce
• 2 Tbs. Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 whole dried red chili pepper
• 3-4 cloves fresh garlic Garlic (finely minced in a garlic press)
  
• 1 Tbs. Onion powder
• 1 Tbs. Lemon or Lime juice (freshly squeezed)
  
• 3/4 tsp. Hot sauce (Tabasco...)
  
• 1/2 tsp. ground Thyme
• 1/2 tsp. black Pepper
• 1/2 tsp. Celery salt
  

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. In a bowl mix pecan, cashew pieces and sliced almond with the 2 Tbs Worcestershire Sauce. Spread evenly on a cookie sheet and plop in preheated oven about 5 minutes. (Until dry) Remember to keep checking on them because they will burn from one second to the next. (Then they'll taste bitter--not nice)
3. Lower oven temp to 225 degrees F.
   
4. In a small saucepan combine Worcestershire Sauce with crumbled-crushed up red chili pepper and heat to just about boiling then remove from heat, let steep while preparing the rest of the ingredients
5. Melt margarine on low heat and combine with the rest of the spices
6. Strain Worcestershire Sauce then add to margarine-spice mix, stir well
7. In large mixing bowl or turkey roasting pan mix together all cereal, nuts and pretzels and gradually add the margarine mix while constantly stirring cereal so it all gets covered with some of the spice sauce
8. Pour into large roasting pan and bake in oven with lid on for 20- 25 minutes
   
9. Remove lid, stir well
10. Taste test, at this point you can still add a smidgen of salt, garlic or thyme powder if needed
11. Return to oven for an additional 55 minutes uncovered stirring every 15-20 minutes
12. Let cool
    
13. Store in an airtight container (if there is any left )
    
14. Freezes well in an airtight container, just needs to be crisped up in a 350 degree F oven for 10-15 minutes once thawed