One of the items on The Ultimate Autumn Bucket List I compiled was to have a family game night. I have already written a post about my favorite games to include in a family game night, but I have said mum about the snacks…
These snacks are great to share with family and friends (or even to impress the guests when it is your turn to host Bunco).
Homemade Game Night Snacks
Want to be the “Hostess with the mostest”? (Or, “Host with the Most”?) Try these five super easy homemade game night snacks that are sure to be crowd pleasers!
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First up we have Texas Trash! (Or just “Trash” as it was called by my grandma.) Don’t let the name deceive you, it is really tasty, and nothing comes from the trash….in fact, it is so addictive, none goes I the trash either. It is a homemade trail/Chex mix that you can add pretty much anything to – except the kitchen sink.
TEXAS TRASH
The only part of this recipe that you need a recipe for is the sauce… the rest you can tailor to your tastes.
Here is a list of components you might want to add (as many as you want, or come up with your own):
Crispix
Oyster Crackers
Mixed Nuts
Cheez-it Crackers
Shoestring Potatoes
Cheerios
Goldfish Crackers
Pretzels
Corn Nuts
Sesame Sticks
Bugles
Fritos
Now for the seasoning –
Ingredients:
½ cup Butter
2 tsp Garlic Powder
1 ¼ tsp Season Salt
1 Tbs Worcestershire Sauce
Directions:
Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
Melt butter and mix all the ingredients into a small bowl.
Mix all the other ingredients (your choice of what was listed above, or your own additions) into a large bowl.
Pour the butter mixture over the contents of the large bowl and gently fold it in – so that everything gets covered, but you don’t crush all the crackers and pretzels, etc.)
Pour the mixed and butter coated contents of the large bowl out onto a large pan (preferably a cookie sheet with edges) and spread the mixture into an even layer.
Bake for 1 hour – but stir the mixture around every 15 minutes.
Let it cool, then serve.
Store any extras in an airtight container.
Next on my list is another Chex mix, but this one is sweet (and even more addictive) – Puppy Chow.
Yin and Yang, Sweet and Savory, Trash and Puppy Chow.
Note: I have heard some people call Puppy Chow “Muddy Buddies”.
PUPPY CHOW
Ingredients:
8 cups Crispix Cereal
1 cup Chocolate Chips
½ cup Smooth Peanut Butter
¼ cup Salted Butter
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 ½ cups Powdered Sugar
Directions:
Measure out your Crispix cereal into a large bowl.
In a microwave-safe container, measure out your chocolate chips, peanut butter, and butter. Using intervals of 30 seconds melt these three ingredients together. Stir between each interval. When thoroughly melted and mixed add the vanilla.
Pour the chocolate, peanut butter, butter and vanilla mixture over the cereal. Fold (gently stir) it in so that each piece of cereal gets coated.
Measure 1 cup of the powdered sugar into a large plastic zipper bag (Ziploc). Add the evenly coated cereal to the bag, then add the other ½ cup of powdered sugar on top. Seal the bag – be sure to leave air in the bag, the contents will need room to move.
Shake the bag to coat the cereal with the powdered sugar.
Once everything looks coated, pour the mixture out onto a foil lined cookie sheet and separate any large clumps.
Once it is cooled, serve/enjoy. If there are any extras, store in an airtight container.
Next up I have two dips. These themselves happened to be Keto. They can be enjoyed on crackers (the garlic Triscuits crackers are delicious with both) or you could use cheese crisps or bacon to scoop if you are wanting to keep it Keto. For my fellow picky eaters out there, no fear – this is TEXAS Pâté – thus made with beef. (It ain’t pretty, but it sure is tasty.)
TEXAS PATE
Ingredients:
½ pound of Roast Beef or Corned Beef from the deli
½ cup room temperature Butter (1 stick)
Directions:
Put both ingredients into a food processor and run on high until well combined.
Serve.
If you are making this one in advance, make sure to get it out of the refrigerator in time for it to be up to room temperature when you serve it. The butter in it causes it to solidify more when cold.
Notes:
-I recently made this with corned beef, and I think I like it eve more than with the traditional roast beef.
–This is the food processor I have and love.
CHEESEBALL
Ingredients:
2 bricks (8 oz) room temperature Cream Cheese
1 bunch of Green Onions
½ pound of Ham
Directions:
(You can either use a mixer or your hands for this one.)
Place the unwrapped cream cheese into a medium sized bowl.
Chop the green onions and dice the ham.
Add the green onions and ham to the cream cheese.
Mix until well combined.
Serve either in a bowl or on a plate.
Aww, nuts! How about some seasoned pecan halves?
SEASONED TEXAS PECANS
Ingredients:
2 cups Pecan Halves
1 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
1/8 tsp Season Salt
1 Tbs Garlic Powder
1 Tbs Butter
Directions:
Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
Melt the butter in a microwave-safe container.
Add the garlic powder, Worcestershire Sauce, and season salt to the butter and stir to mix.
On a foil-lined baking pan pour out the pecan halves and arrange them into a single layer.
Pour the butter and seasoning over the pecans and stir to make sure every pecan is covered.
Toast in the oven for 7-10 minutes.
Once removed from the oven, set them aside to cool, then serve. They are very tasty when warm (but not fresh-out-of-the-oven-hot.)
Do you have a go-to game night snack? If so, drop a line in the comments to tell me about it.
You are making me hungry!
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