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Meet Noreen!

Hi!  I'm Noreen, wife, mother of two amazing, almost grown, daughters, content creator, cook, baker and sister in Christ. Welcome to my Kitchen!   I hope you stick around, enjoy the recipes and share them with those you love!

Noreen's Kitchen

1 teaspoon salt
 ¼ cup orange juice concentrate
¼ cup candied ginger
2 cups dried cranberries

1 cup golden raisins

Preheat oven to 275 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine cereals, cranberries, raisins, candied ginger and almonds and mix well. Set aside.

In a microwave safe bowl, combine melted butter, sugar, salt and orange juice concentrate.  Whisk to incorporate.  Microwave on high for 30 seconds and stir well.  Be sure the granulated sugar is dissolved. 

Pour the liquid mixture over the bowl.  Stir well, being sure to coat all the cereal with the liquid mixture.  This is best done by hand.

Pour the mixture into a large, deep roasting pan.

Bake for 45 minutes to, up to an hour and a half, depending on your oven.

Remove from oven and stir well every 15 minutes until the liquid has absorbed and dried out.  You will want to monitor this closely because of the high sugar content could cause burning.  With a little close attention this will be delicious.  The mixture is done with the cereal is coated and dry.  If you notice the raisins begin to swell like they will pop, it’s time to take this out of the oven.

Spread out on two rimmed baking sheets that have been lined with either foil or parchment paper and allow to cool in one single layer.  This will help the mixture to attain the desired crispness.  If you allow this to cool in the deep roaster it will become soggy and clump together.

When the mixture is cool, transfer to a large, airtight container or pack into gift jars or bags and seal well to ensure crisp deliciousness.

This can be made up to two weeks prior to giving or serving.  Store in a cool dry place.  

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Step By Step Instructions

Today I am sharing this cranberry orange cereal snack mix.  My all time favorite of the cereal snack mix world.  This one hits all the notes for me.  Tangy orange, a bit of sweetness and the dried cranberries and raisins tie everything together with a great crunch from silvered almonds.  Everyone in my house loves this one and I know you will too.

The secret here is low and slow.  You will want to set your oven at 275 degrees and this will bake for a long time.  Depending on your oven, anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour and a half.  You will want to make sure to give yourself plenty of time when making this and don't get on the phone and don't do your nails.  Focus on the task at hand and you will have a fantastic snack mix for eating and sharing this holiday season.

I started mine off with both rice and corn cereal squares.  You can use whatever brand you like.  Toss these in a large bowl along with the cranberries, raisins, slivered almonds and my secret weapon, candied ginger.  This is optional but if you like ginger you are going to love this!  I usually buy my candied ginger in the produce section throughout the year but at holiday time you can also find containers near the fruit cake fruit.

Mix all those ingredients up well together and set aside.  Make the glaze by mixing up orange juice concentrate, you know the frozen kind and some sugar, butter and salt.  Now pour the glaze over the goodness in the big bowl and toss this with a big spoon or with your hands.  Be gentle, you don't want to break the squares, but be sure to coat all the pieces with glaze so every bite gets a delicious coating.

I like to make my cereal snack mix in a large, deep roasting pan. Today I am using my new Wonder Cooker from Copper Chef.  They were kind enough to send me this set and I have been using it for a few months and I LOVE it!  It is the perfect pan for this job today.  I put all that snack mix in the Wonder Cooker and placed it in the oven for an hour and 15 minutes.  I took it out every 15 minutes and stirred it well, bringing up all the mix from the bottom so it would all bake evenly and get delicious and glazed and orangey!  

You will want to start to closely watch the snack mix at around the 45 minute mark.  If your oven runs hot you may wish to stop there.  If not, continue until the glaze beings to give the cereal a nice caramel sheen.  You will know when it is time to stop when the raisins begin to look like they are going to pop.  Careful not to burn them because this mix will be ruined if it is in the oven for even an extra five minutes.  I know this from experience.

When you are satisfied with the doneness of the mix, remove from the oven and spread it on two sheet pans to cool.  This will allow everything to cool quickly and dry out instead of remaining in the deep roaster and potentially get soggy.   When cool, you can store in an ain airtight container for up to two weeks.  If it lasts that long!  

I hope you give this snack mix a try this holiday season or any time and I hope you love it!

Happy Eating!

 6 cups crisp corn square cereal
 6 cups crisp rice square cereal
 1 ½ cups slivered almonds       

½ cup butter, melted

¼ cup granulated sugar

Cranberry Orange Snack Mix

Noreen's Kitchen
Cranberry Orange Snack Mix

1 Cup good quality mayonnaise
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper

Today we are going full swing into holiday preparation.  Decorating the house and then the tree and when you do that you need some yummy snacks!  Popcorn is nice but this delicious cranberry orange snack mix is even more delicious!  Packed full of corn and rice cereal squares as well as dried cranberries, golden raisins and flavored with orange juice and a bit of sugar this snack mix will have them coming back for more!  This is also a great way to spread the holiday cheer this time of year by sharing a pretty bag full of this with friends and neighbors!

You know the traditional snack mix that has been around from the 1970s right?!  I grew up with it.  A holiday season never passed without that making an appearance in our home.  My mother especially liked it and she liked to tweak it to her liking by adding extra nuts and pretzel sticks.  In the 80s we were adding rye chips and bugles.  We have added a bunch of different things over the years.  Cereal snack mix is a super versatile recipe and can be fixed to suit your tastes.  No matter what they are.  Sweet, salty, savory or a combination of all three.

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