Winter slogs on. The Super Bowl and Olympics beckon; time for a cozy snack.

For weeks now, I’ve craved Chex Mix. This craving has come from I-don’t-know-where. Was it the prominent holiday displays of Chex Mix ingredients at the grocery? Beats me. I rarely eat the snack because it’s unhealthy.

I decided to tinker with the original recipe to see if I could make it less of a nutritional minefield. Usually, the recipe ingredients include a hefty amount of butter, refined carbs and salt. Heart- and blood-sugar healthy, it is not.

I browsed through a few recipes, did a little tinkering and came up with a Chex Mix that is healthier, but still has that savory, addictive crunch. It would be good to serve at a winter gathering, or to tuck into packed lunches as a healthier alternative to chips.

This is one of those recipes that doesn’t taste “healthified.”  My friend Linda requested that I make her a big batch of my healthier Chex Mix for an upcoming road trip. Her husband constantly eats refined carbs while driving, she explained.

“My husband will like this,” she said. “It will keep him from eating all the junk he  usually eats.”

I slashed the saturated fat by subbing olive oil for butter. I increased the amount of Wheat Chex, because it contains more fiber than the other Chex cereals. Finally, I added more nuts for protein, which makes the Chex Mix much more filling.

This Chex Mix is healthier, but not low calorie or low salt. I want to stick to a reasonable portion. I know myself, so I packed the Chex Mix in individual portions and stored the bags in a cabinet that’s inconvenient😀

Chex Mix recipes call for a lot of ingredients.  Since that can be expensive, feel free to use this recipe as a general template and make substitutions depending on taste and budget. The entire recipe as printed contains about 15 cups of ingredients, so just try to keep the same volume.

Enjoy!