Menu-a-Menu Mixes

Mmmmm….. Can you smell it? It’s the smell of comfort and love. It’s supper bubbling in a skillet on the stove or a roast slow cooking in the oven, full of beefy oniony aroma. Growing up, my mother always seemed to make the most flavorful, scrumptious meals using a small set of spices, along with fresh items such as onion, garlic, green peppers. She still cooks with her basic set of flavors, and I’ve never once seen her pull a package of taco seasoning or onion soup mix out of the pantry.

I have such good memories of Mom’s cooking. I remember my friends saying my mom cooked the best, but I remember ungratefully wishing my mom would cook Hamburger Helper like my friend’s moms did!   I was so jealous of their boxed food!  Can you believe it??? We still laugh about that.

Mom still cooks with her spice list, making her cooking long and slow. Everyone knows that my mom still cooks the best!  Her grandchildren and their friends are absolutely spoiled on her specialty, old fashioned tex-mex cooking.

In my kitchen, on the other hand, I am always looking for a fast and healthy way to get the same result, but in less time. I love the idea of packaged seasonings, but hate the idea of strange unpronounceable ingredients and mega doses of salt and msg. I'm not sure what "natural flavorings" are, and I'm not sure about "artificial colors or flavors" either.  I want to do what my Mama did, only faster! My mixes taste “almost” like Mom’s, are as fast as a package mix, are void of most harmful chemicals, and while they do have salt, it is much less than in a typical package. Give them a try! 

Tip #1: I buy the large containers of minced dried onion, sea salt, and beef or chicken-flavored bouillon at a wholesale warehouse such as Costco’s or Sam’s. Buying tiny bottles would definitely add up quickly and destroy your budget!

Tip #2:  Don't throw out those small jars from pickles, picante sauce, etc.  They are perfect for storing your mixes!  You can almost see (sorry this is a photo taken with a Blackberry) that I am using a former olive jar, a small pickle jar, and a Smuckers ice cream topping jar.

Here are a few mixes to get you started.  Use them just like you would a store-bought packaged mix. 

Onion Soup Mix

¾ cup dried minced onion

1/3 cup beef-flavored instant bouillon

4 tsp. onion powder

¼ tsp. celery seed, ground

¼ tsp. sugar
Mix all items together and store in a jar.  5 Tbsp = 1 package of onion soup mix

Shake-n-Bake
2 cups flour
2 sleeves saltine crackers, crushed
2 tbsp. salt
2 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder
2 Tbsp. paprika
¼ c. vegetable oil
Stir up very well until the ingredients appear mixed and the vegetable oil is completely mixed in.  Store in a jar, indefinitely in the refrigerator.

Italian Dressing Mix
5 tsp. dried minced onion
5 Tbsp. dried parsley leaves
1-¼ tsp. ground dried oregano, ground
2-½ tsp. dried basil leaves, ground
1-¼ tsp. dried thyme, ground
1-¼ tsp. dried marjoram, ground
2-½ tsp. celery seeds, crushed
1-¼ tsp. garlic powder
½ tsp. dried mustard
1 tsp. chicken bouillon powder
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
2-1/2 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. of salt
1 tsp. of pepper
Mix everything well in a bowl. Store in a jar for up to 6 months in your pantry. Makes 5 recipes of Italian Dressing.
To make dressing: Mix 4 tablespoons of the mix with 1/4 cup red wine vinegar, 2 tablespoons water, and ¾ cup canola oil.

Chili Seasoning Mix
3/4 cup chili powder
2 Tbsp. paprika
3 Tbsp. seasoned salt
1 Tbsp. garlic powder
2-1/2 tsp. black pepper
2-½ tsp. red pepper, crushed
2 Tbsp. ground cumin
1-½ Tbsp. ground oregano
1-½ Tbsp. onion powder
1/3 cup flour
Mix very well and store in a jar in your pantry. Use 5-1/2 Tbsp. per chili recipe of 1.5 pounds of meat.

Taco Seasoning Mix
5 Tbsp. Chili powder
3 Tbsp. onion powder
2 Tbsp. salt
1-1/2 Tbsp. garlic powder
1-1/2 Tbsp. black pepper
1-1/2 Tbsp. ground cumin
1-1/2 Tbsp. paprika
Store in a jar in your pantry. Use 5 tablespoons per taco recipe of 1 to 1-1.2 pounds of meat.. Makes 5 recipes.

Peace to you all!
The Menu Maker Mom
Feeding the family ~ One menu at a time

BEES!!!!

Take a look at that!!!  Do you know what it is?  BEES!!!!  Millions of them!!  And guess where they were?  On a branch of a tree in my front yard, right next to my driveway... where I had just parked my car!!!  Yes ~ They were right next to my car which held 3 noisy teenage girls, who poured out the doors, laughing, yelling, slamming those doors, and running.  YIKES!!!

The bees formed a dripping ball around the branch.  I'm assuming they were surrounding their queen.  They were calm and didn't to fly about much.  I prayed that if they decided to swarm about that they were not the aggressive type.  My mother-in-law had some bees chase her a couple of years ago.  She was mowing the lawn with the riding lawn mower, and the vibration must have aggravated some nearby bees.  As they began to swarm her, she hopped off the mower and ran toward the house.  All the while, the bees continued to chase her and swarm around her head.

She ran through the house toward the bathroom, still being chased.  A few bees still swarmed around her head as she ran.  After she dropped to the carpet and began to roll, the last remaining bees flew off.  My mother-in-law stood up shaken and stung.

As I looked at our buzzing, branch hugging bees, the thought of them possibly deciding to chase me gave me the chills, so I quickly went back into my house after snapping this photo!

After about an hour, I went back outside to take another look at our buzzing bees.  They were gone.  I guess our tree was just a rest stop for them as they travelled to their final destination.  Wherever they ended up, I hope the honey was good!

In honor of our flying guests, I offer my favorite bread recipe.  I make my bread in a automatic bread maker, and it makes my whole house smell so yummy.  Once done, it doesn't last long around here, as my hubby and daughters quicly slice the warm, yeasty bread and slather it with real butter and local, organic honey.  YUMMM!!!

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HONEY WHEAT BREAD

1 pkg. yeast

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

2-1/2 cups bread flour

1 tsp. salt

2 Tbsp. honey

2 Tbsp. butter

1 egg (room temperature)

1 cup plus 1 Tbsp. warm water

Put dry ingredients into automatic bread maker.  Mix wet ingredients in a small bowl.  Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the wet mix.  Bake the bread on the Whole Wheat setting of your bread maker.

Serve with butter and honey!

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If you enjoy making this bread, you might consider getting several Zip-Lock baggies and filling each with the measured out dry ingredients.   You can be making bread every few days, if you like, and your family will once again give you the MAMA!!!  (Don't forget ~ that means Most Awesome Mother Award!!!)

There are lots of bread makers on the market, and you can spend a little or a lot.  Here are a couple of examples:

SO YUMMY!!!! 

And Soooo  M-M-M Good!!!

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Menu Maker Mom

Makin' Yummies...  Stuffin' Tummies

FABULOUS FRUGAL FRIDAY

Being Frugal is Fabulous! I always give a High Five to the Good Lord for leading me down this path. This path has led me to meet so many wonderful people with so many awesome ideas for making life easier and saving our hard-earned dollars. If you're just tuning in to this blog, please introduce yourself so I can add you to my list of friends!

That being said, I hope we can put our heads together and start sharing some tried-and-true frugal tips and ideas. Oh, what the heck... Let's share the NOT tried-and-true too! Feel free to post your comments with ideas and links!

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Make-Your-Own Breadcrumbs

Why buy packaged breadcrumbs when you have the ingredients right there in your kitchen??? I always keep a stash of breadcrumbs in my freezer, and I NEVER buy breadcrumbs in the canister.

It's simple... When you have left over bread loaf heels, crackers, rolls, tortillas, hamburger or hotdog buns, biscuits, etc., just set them aside and let them dry a bit. Once they are dry, run them through the food processor or blender. Put the crumbs into a shallow baking pan (I use the bottom of the broiler pan) and lightly toast them by setting in a low oven (250) for about an hour.

Seasonings can be added as needed. I store the bread crumbs in a 1-gallon plastic ice cream container, but they could be kept in any freezer bag, a cleaned out coffee can, a jar, or some other plastic container.

So easy, so inexpensive, so waste-free.

Being Frugal is Fabulous!