Nuts and Bolts (AKA Chex Mix)

As a person that makes kidney stones, I follow a low sodium, low added sugar and low oxalate diet to avoid making them. I also try to minimize saturated fat and added trans fat. The recipes that I make and share will fit these criteria. Because many commercial products are high in added sugar and sodium and often contain foods that are high in oxalate, it's pretty hard to find snacks that fit my diet goals. So I've developed copycat recipes for snacks and other foods I like that had been off limits. I hope you'll find my tried and true recipes as enjoyable as I do.

A traditional Christmas family favourite, but good at any time of the year. This version uses cereals with fewer oxalates, has less butter, adds popcorn to stretch the volume and tastes just as good as my grandmother made for us every year since we were kids. For those that make kidney stones, this is a much healthier version

Servings: 14 x 25g servings

4 cups of plain popcorn

4 cups Crispix (one could use 2 cups each of Corn and Rice Chex)

2 cups Cheerios

1 cup pretzels (I used lowest sodium I could find)

½ cup butter (I use salted and this was half what the original recipe called for)

¾ tsp garlic powder

½ tsp onion powder

½ tsp celery salt (couldn't find celery powder)

3 TBSP Worcestershire sauce

(optional: a few drops of tabasco. I'm not a fan so I didn't)

We never added any cheese crackers or nuts, so they didn't need to be substituted for my tastes.

Melt butter; add spices; stir to mix. Slowly pour over cereal mix and stir to coat evenly.

Bake at 250 degrees for about 90 minutes, stirring every 15 to 30 minutes.

These keep well in the freezer for months.

This was the first time I'd had this with popcorn. This addition stretches the volume of the serving, giving the flavour without so much sodium and oxalates.

Makes about 14 servings of 25 g each.

As made, according to Cronometer:

Each 25g serving has 132 calories; 240 mg sodium; less than 1g added sugar; less than 3 mg oxalates; not a significant source of calcium or fibre.

Servings: 14 x 25g servings

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