Poppin Pretzels

Finals are over and I have to say that I feel human again.  It's hard to explain this phenomenon and I don't realize how stressed I am until the semester is over.  PT school puts me in a constant state of high stress, no matter what the week looks like or how well I'm doing in classes.  Anyway, Stephen is glad that the old me is back for a week and we are headed to Chicago to enjoy the time off.  We are really excited to visit the Murrill's and we've always wanted to go to Chicago so it will be a fun week!

Whenever we travel, I try to make some kind of snack for the trip.  I think it's important to cover all your bases when planning snacks: sweet, salty, chocolate, crispy, fruity, and nutty :) These pretzels are so good and a perfect snack to accompany the other snacks.  They are one of Stephen's favorites and he creatively named them "poppin pretzels" haha :) You can call them whatever like, just go make some - they only take about 10 minutes.

Poppin Pretzels

1 1/2 lbs of pretzels (this is about a bag and a half)
2/3 cups canola oil
1 Tablespoon Ranch seasoning
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon creole seasoning
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (you can add more or less depending on how much kick you want)

You could also add other seasonings like lemon pepper, season salt, or whatever else you can think of.

Decide on your seasonings

 Pour the pretzels in a large bowl

 Mix together the oil and seasonings until they are well combined

 Pour the mixture over the pretzels and stir

Let the pretzels sit for about 3 minutes then stir again.  Do this for about the next 10 minutes and you will see them go from shiny to more dry... I don't know how to explain it but you will see the change.  Then they're done, Enjoy them! Note: You do not have to bake these, but you can if you feel like turning on the oven and heating up your house :)  (200 degrees, bake for an hour stirring every 15 minutes)