A bag of onions in the kitchen

I’ve had this bag of onions sitting in my kitchen. It’s a 10 lb. bag. I bought it so that I could chop them up and dehydrate them. You’ll guess by now that since they are still sitting in my kitchen tat I never got around to it. Well, today, thanks to all the frugal sites I visit and made me feel guilty   I did it. I got myself nice and comfy at my kitchen island and started chop-chop-chopping away. With eyes streaming down my face, and luckily no fingers included in the pile of choppings, I made quick work of that 10 lb. bag. Now my dehydrator is running and the air in the entire house is onion saturated. I’ll burn some vanilla candles later, but it would be pointless to do it now.

I came into my room to put some distance between me and the worst of the fumes and started looking through homemade mix recipes. I used to have basics on hand all the time, but over the years I got lazy and just bought them pre-made. But the prices of food, and ingredients, has just gone up and up and I decided to start making my own again. That said, there are some things that its just worth the few extra pennies to buy than to make. Not all mixes are cheaper, or really even healthier, than the store bought ones. I think I touched on this in another post so I won’t go into it here.

I did find some that would be a good deal to make and am looking forward to having them on hand again.  I thought I would share a few of them here.

Chai Tea Mix

INGREDIENTS:

masala chai (Photo credit: Premshree Pillai)

1/2 cup powdered creamer
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 cup granulated sugar
15 teaspoons instant black tea (or pekoe)

PREPARATION:

Combine all ingredients together and store in a tightly sealed container.

To Make a Cup of Chai Tea:

1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon Chai Tea Creamer Mix
1 cup boiling water
1 1/2 teaspoons honey (optional)

Combine the Chai Tea Mix with the boiling water and honey, if using; allow to steep for 2 to 3 minutes. The Chai Tea mixture will dissolve much better when vigorously stirred into hot water.

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Creamed Soup Base

Use instead of condensed canned cream soups in recipes. Just add the ingredient that forms the basis of the soup. Chop mushrooms, saute in a bit of olive oil and add for cream of mushroom soup. Add chicken for cream of chicken soup. You get the idea!   Prep Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients: •2 cups nonfat dry milk powder •3/4 cup cornstarch •1/4 cup instant reduced sodium chicken or beef bouillon granules •1/2 tsp. dried thyme leaves •1/2 tsp. dried basil leaves •1/4 tsp. white pepper

Preparation:

Combine all ingredients and mix well with wire whisk until blended. Store mix in an airtight container.  To prepare as a substitute for one can of condensed cream soup in recipes, stir together 1/3 cup dry mix and 1-1/4 cup water in a saucepan. Cook and stir until thickened. Mix a total of nine cans condensed soup substitute.

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Onion Soup Mix  (I buy tons of this so looking forward to making my own in bulk.)

Make your own onion soup mix to use for soups or dips.

Ingredients:
•3/4 cup instant minced onion •1/3 cup beef flavored instant bouillon •4 tsp. onion powder •1/4 tsp. celery salt or celery seed •1/4 tsp. sugar or Splenda •1/8 tsp. white pepper

Preparation:
Mix all ingredients together well, and store up to 6 months in cool, dry place. Stir before each use. Five tablespoons of the mix equals 1.25-oz. pkg. of purchased dry onion soup mix.

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Cafe Bavarian Mix

Give this wonderfully sweet and rich coffee mix as a gift in a tightly sealed shiny new coffee tin and finish it off with a big bow.

Ingredients:
•1 cup powdered non dairy creamer •1-1/3 cups sugar •1 cup instant coffee granules •1/2 cup cocoa powder •10 hard candy peppermints

Preparation:
Place all ingredients in bowl of blender or food processor. Process until well blended and particles are fine. Store in tightly covered container in a cool dry place. To use, dissolve 1-2 Tbsp. of mix in 1 cup boiling water or to taste.

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If you try any of these let me know how they turn out! Do you have any recipes for homemade mixes to share?

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