The Holiday Season stretching from Thanksgiving through New Year’s Day is a time of family fun and joy. It’s also a time to eat as much food as you can possibly handle.

Many family gatherings are all-day events where people arrive early, or sometimes the night before. You have to keep them fed and happy throughout the day, which means filling the hours between breakfast and lunch, lunch and dinner, then dinner and leftovers.

Having a steady supply of snacks and finger foods at the ready will make sure your family won’t have an empty stomach during the holidays. Being able to make them in bunches will help you enjoy the time and not be stuck in the kitchen during all of the festivities.

Here are a few great options for simple and delicious holiday snacks. Be sure to let us know what you’re planning on providing for your get-together in the comments.

Salty and Sweet Candy and Pretzels

For one treat, take a baking sheet and cover with a layer of pretzels. Put a Rolo candy piece on each pretzel and place in a 250°F oven for a couple of minutes until the Rolo pieces start to melt. Remove from oven and place a walnut on some of the pretzels, or all depending on how much your family loves walnuts. So simple, so good.

Another sweet treat is to mix pretzels with M&M’s. Try pretzel chips instead of traditional curly pretzels for a change of pace.

Chex Mix

This is a party staple, and for good reason. It’s easy and delicious. You can buy premade Chex Mix bags from Marsh or you can make it at home yourself with these instructions straight from the chex.com website.

• 3 cups Corn Chex^® cereal
• 3 cups Rice Chex^® cereal
• 3 cups Wheat Chex^® cereal
• 1 cup mixed nuts
• 1 cup bite-size pretzels
• 1 cup garlic-flavor bite-size bagel chips or regular-size bagel chips, broken into 1-inch pieces
• 6 Tbsp butter or margarine
• 2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1-1/2 tsp seasoned salt
• 3/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder

Heat oven to 250°F. In large bowl, mix cereals, nuts, pretzels and bagel chips; set aside. In ungreased large roasting pan, melt butter in oven. Stir in seasonings. Gradually stir in cereal mixture until evenly coated. Bake 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Spread on paper towels to cool, about 15 minutes. Store in airtight container.

For more Chex Party Mix recipes, like Muddy Buddies and Cinnamon-Apple Chex Mix, click here.

Meatballs

If you have a large crock pot, it’s a great idea to have a big pile of meatballs always hot and reedy to eat. Simply buy a 2-5 lb bag of frozen meatballs from the Marsh frozen food aisle, a 32 ounce jar of grape jelly and two 12 ounce jars of Heinz Chili Sauce. Put the jelly and chili sauce into a slow cooker and mix. Add the frozen meatballs and simmer for 45 minutes. Be sure to provide toothpicks for people to quickly grab and enjoy this tasty treat.

Fresh Fruit

This is an easy one. Just swing by the Marsh Produce section and grab grapes, bananas, strawberries, apples and more. Wash, and if necessary cut into pieces and encourage a healthy snack.

Marsh Party Trays

Of course you can always have Marsh do the work for you with one of our party trays. Vegetable trays, sandwich trays, shrimp rings and more. Visit us online or stop by the Marsh Deli to browse the selection and pick out the one that’s right for you.

Don’t get caught with a house full of hungry people this Holiday Season. Be sure you have everything you need from Marsh to keep everyone’s belly full.

Tagged as: Christmas, holidays, New Years, snacks, Thanksgiving