Pantries and Preparedness. Money (and space) saving dry mixes.

I love this subject!  We can really expand our pantries,  our recipe selection, we can save a lot of money, time and pantry space... all with making our own dry mixes.

Actually I am amazed how much these save and help.  Equally... how much a jar of mix saves space wise.  One of my big jars of mix is equal to over 20 cans of chicken soup. The space difference is incredible.
At first I had to be convinced that these substitutes would really do the job.  The cream of chicken soup mix won me over as it is beautiful!

As the year has gone on and I have learned more I have been able to drop a lot of things from the shopping list.  Some of the things I not longer buy are bread, pizza bases (let alone pizzas!) Naan Bread, buns, raita, gravy, tinned soups, stock... and this doesn't include cleaning products as I hardly buy any of those.  Now I am eliminating the Butter chicken packet mixes I usually buy. They are just a packet of flavour base to add to the chicken as you cook. They are gone!  And also Enchilada sauce. This stuff is expensive!  And the whole family love it when I make Enchiladas. So Vicky has helped me with her family favourite recipe and I wont have to buy that any more either!  I am making progress!   Anyway on to some mixes and how they are a help and saver.

First I went to a Greek Wholesaler to stock up on herbs and spices.  The little jars in the supermarket work out about four times the cost of getting your supplies from an Indian or Chinese Supermarket or a wholesaler if you have one.   In Adelaide we have Gigannis Brothers and this is worth a trip. I also stocked up on things like tinned tomatoes.

I ended up with enough to make up lots of mixes and fill up some jars with some of the herbs I use most.

We had an earlier post on this subject.  You can find that here Jar Mixes.  There are some recipes in this post and in the comments. There is also a link to a wonderful free book of endless mixes to make and what you can then make from them.  Just follow the links!

The first mixI made up a new supply of was Cream of Chicken Soup.
This is the recipe I used:

2 cups powdered milk,
3/4 cornstarch,  (if you want to be gluten free I would just leave this out)
1/4 cup chicken stock powder,
4 tablespoons dried onion powder or flakes,
1 teaspoon basil,
1 teaspoon thyme,
1 teaspoon parsley,
1teaspoon papper.
Mix all together.

1/3 of a cup = 1 can of chicken soup or one packet of dry mix soup. To use in the place of a can of soup add 1 and a 1/4 cups of water.

I tripped this recipe so I got around 20 cans equivalent.
Over the weekend I made sweet potato soup using just onions, sweet potato and a third of a cup of this mix then blended.  It is so nice!

Then I made French Onion Soup Mix.  This is great in quiches, baked potatoes, in meat loaf and over pork chops.

This recipe is:
1 cup dried onion flakes,
2 teaspoons onion powder,
2 teaspoons garlic powder,
1 teaspoon celery salt,
1 teaspoon pepper,
2 teaspoons parsley,
1 teaspoon salt,
1 teaspoon turmeric.
Mix together.

One quarter of a cup = 1 dry packet of French Onion Soup.
I also made this x 4.

Last night I made a Sour Cream Quiche using my yoghurt as a substitute. I added  a couple of spoons of this mix to it.  This was really good! So fast!

We love Butter Chicken. This is a meal worth making up and left overs are even better. By the time you have rice, salad, yoghurt (or raita) and Naan Bread your meat component goes a really long way.
I am using this recipe which is simple and you can substitute low fat evaporated milk for the cream if you want. This is another recipe which will also use some of my yoghurt! Win!  Up to date I used a packet mix from the supermarket to make it!   These are not cheap and if you read the fine print there are some questionable ingredients.   So I found a recipe from a great home cook that I like and that is easy.  This is the one I am now using....  Butter Chicken. 

Following this recipe I made up my ready to go spice packets. I used dried ginger and dried garlic.  Remember dried is different to fresh so I used less as it is more concentrated.   But now I have them made up it is quick and easy to make this meal.

I stored all the little packets in a big jar labelled Butter Chicken.  The savings compared to the ready made packs from the supermarket are enormous!  We are having this for dinner tonight and Wednesday night.


I did the same with Vicky's Enchilada Sauce.  This was the same situation. I was buying jars of the sauce and they are expensive.  Now I haven't made this up yet!  But I trust Vicky!

Here is her recipe...

3 T. vegetable oil- I used olive

1-1/2 T. all purpose flour

3 T. chili powder

2-1/2 c. chicken stock

6 ounces tomato paste

1 tsp. dried oregano

1 tsp. ground cumin

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. onion powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. sugar

heat oil in a saucepan. Sprinkle flour over oil and whisk until mixture is smooth and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in chili powder and continue to cook for another 30 seconds.

Whisk in the rest of the ingredients and bring mixture to a boil then reduce heat to low and simmer 15 minutes.

The mixes I made up are all the dry ingredients plus I used dry chicken stock instead of the  2 and a half cups.  On my jar I have written to add that liquid in.

A while back I shared how easy it is to make Enchiladas! And they freeze really well.  The recipe and steps are on this post here.   Thank you Vicky!

We are having this next week so I can report back how it went! 

There are so many pre made mix recipes available, it is just a matter of working out which ones you would use the most!   I have made up the things I seem to used endlessly.  Cream of chicken soup is my number one... it goes into most of the soups I make and tuna mornay so I always need it. 

But as with the Butter Chicken and the Enchilada mix you can just take any recipe and make up the dry ingredients into ready to go packets or containers.  It will make busy nights easier and if you are like me and have been using purchased jars or packets changing over to a from scratch recipe will be healthier and save money as well.   It is a matter of what recipes your family loves.   Possibly think of things you would make more often if not for all the herbs and spices you need.  Your mixes ready would overcome that. 

These could also make lovely kitchen gifts.  I had a lot of extra ingredients so I have made up some jars of beautiful fresh herbs to go in the cooking themed hampers I make.  

Everything we learn to make ourselves helps our pantry.  As the year goes on I have been able to eliminate more things form the shopping list!  

Vicky wrote something that I have to share:

The reason I always add things I have been given into my savings total for the year is because we are supposed to count our blessings! So I literally do that. It adds to the household and saves and reminds me that I am to be grateful for what I receive. 

I hope everyone is having fun with their savings and are proud of their accomplishments. My husband has really seen the value in my endeavors and enjoys seeing the things he does as well and how much it saves us each year so he is quite on board and even says could you imagine how much more a year we would need if we didn't do the things we do? And he is right!

Don't underestimate the massive savings of doing things yourself. Each new thing you learn is a huge benefit!

I want to learn my own Tikka Masala recipe as that is another one I buy a packet mix of.  So that is next!

What would you like to learn to make from scratch?
What pre mixes would be most helpful in your household?
If you have any easy from scratch recipes or mixes you make up please share!

Have a wonderful new week.  We had a huge storm all weekend. Today it is much calmer thankfully. xxx