Keep the stress out of the holidays!

Holiday parties make the season. Gatherings with family and friends enable us to share our most precious time together and make the season extra fun and exciting. Snacks and food are a big part of the entertainment whether you are starting a new holiday tradition or adding to one. Creating those holiday memories doesn’t have to drain your energy or your wallet. In fact, you can save time by simply adding your own personal spin to holiday staples, like Chex Party Mix, and save money by using an online shopping service like Kroger’s ClickList. Learn how you can keep the stress out of the holidays.

Many of us are already preparing for the big holiday meal, but we are also preparing for the parties. Do you have any hassle-free ideas you can share?

I’ve got so many of them for you! We’re going to start off with two though. So first of all, this is the formula, you’ve got to write this one down for the perfect holiday playlist. So, you want to do 70 percent non-holiday songs and 30 percent of your holiday favorites. It’s just a really nice way to balance it out keep it festive, but it’s not super overboard and it’s just a perfect way to create the perfect holiday party mood. Another idea, which keeps pressure off the host, is to go DIY as often as possible. So, I love doing a DIY drink station. Something like a punch bowl or you can do a large pitcher with a signature cocktail so that as your guests arrive, they can just serve it themselves, and it kind of gives you a few extra minutes to finish up in the kitchen. You can even pour yourself a drink and just kind of mingle and have fun with everyone. It’s just a nice hands-free kind of way to entertain.

What about snacks? You’ve got a quick and easy holiday recipe that you are going to share with us today.

I do! So, you need an amazing snack and what I’m going to share with you today is Chex party mix. It’s a classic! It’s something that people love, it’s a crowd-pleaser and I think that when they see it, they just get really excited, because so many of us grew up eating it but it’s so simple to make. Less than 15 minutes and you can do it in advance which again is what you want to do. You want things that can be done in advance so that you’re not busy cooking the day of the party. To make it, all you have to do is combine three of your favorite Czech cereals, and then you can add some little bagel chips. You can add pretzels, you can add some nuts and then season it up. I love some melted butter, a little bit of Worcestershire sauce or you can do soy sauce and then some garlic powder. You can do paprika, you can do whatever you want.

Mix that all up pop it in the microwave for about five minutes and then it is done. Another good tip, because again you want to keep stuff hands off, is do groceries online. There’s a great service called ClickList from stores like Kroger depending on where you are but what it does is it lets you do all your groceries right from the comfort of your own home. So you just sit at your laptop on your computer and you put everything you need in. They will actually deliver it to you so especially when the weather is bad or if you’re just so busy with other activities It’s just really nice time saver to kind of get everything that you need without having to leave your home.

How about tips to enjoying our holidays without the stress?

So, here’s another trick for you. Try to keep stuff that go with things that do double duty. I love doing edible decorations. For example, you can repurpose things that you already have in your home. I love like some home walnuts. You can do some beautiful oranges or clementine. It’s to have the leaves attached. You can do pomegranates, which are beautiful and all these you can get from the grocery and its just kind of nice because they’re beautiful. You can create a really nice simple table scape, but it also does double duty as a nice snack. When you are kind of sitting around the table lingering after dinner just with that really great conversation, you can snack on them and it’s just really nice festive, cozy but so simple. Make sure to check out chex.com for more information.

SHARE ON FACEBOOK SHARE ON TWITTER

Tags: DCypher Studios

About the Author

David Morales is the Executive Editor of The Hype magazine. A graduate of Eastern Michigan University, David has a background as an artist manager, writer, blogger, drummer, and in the human services industry. He is passionate about helping others, learning and has a deep empathy for the creative process. You can follow his social media @dcypherstudios