Make Your Own Onion Soup Mix

One of my goals has been to quit buying all those packets of mixes and learn to make my own. It saves money and is better for my family and I.

Today I made a jar of Onion Soup Mix. I use onion soup mix when I cook my roasts, for dips and gravies.

ONION SOUP MIX
1/3 cup plu 2 tsp. dry minced onion
8 beef bouillon cubes or 8 tsp.
2 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. celery salt or crushed celery seed

This will make 18 tablespoons.
It fit perfectly in my empty bouillon cube jar.
5 Tablespoons of this mix = 1 pre-packaged mix

Mix 5 Tablespoons with 4 cups water for soup.
Mix 5 Tablespoons with 16 ounces of sour cream for dip.
Add 5 Tablespoons to your water when cooking a roast.
Add 5 Tablespoons to your beef stew!

TIP The best thing to remove onion odor from your hands is to rub a stainless steel spoon all over them. It works like magic! :D

CopyCat Instant Chocolate Milk Mix

It's always cheaper when you make your own mixes! Kids love chocolate milk (and so do I!)

This is so simple as well as quick!

2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup cocoa
Pinch of salt

The better quality cocoa used, the better the taste. I use Hershey cocoa.

Make Your Own Salt Substitute

Use this salt substitute on vegetables, salads, eggs or anything you normally add salt to.

1 tablespoon dry mustard
1 tablespoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons dried parsley
2 teaspoons dried dill weed
2 teaspoons onion powder
2 teaspoons dried savory
2 teaspoons dried thyme
2 teaspoons paprika
2 teaspoons ground white pepper
1 teaspoon dried finely chopped lemon peel

Blending your own Pumpkin and Apple Pie Spices, PLUS other substitutions

I love baking in the fall and into winter!

I've been taking an inventory of my spices; checking what needs to be replenished and what needs to be replaced.

But it always seems I find a new recipe to try and there is something I don't have on hand. Some things I use substitutions. But rarely do I buy blended spices. I like to blend my own. Why should I pay someone to blend basic spices I already have on hand?

Here is my favorite substitutions and blended spices.

Allspice (1tsp): 1/2 tsp cinnamon and 1/2 tsp ground cloves

Apple Pie Spice (1tsp): 1/2 tsp cinnamon and 1/4 tsp nutmeg

Baking Powder (1tsp): 1/4 tsp baking soda & 1/2 tsp cream of tartar

Buttermilk (1cup): 1 Tbl lemon juice or vinegar and 1 cup MINUS 1 Tbl milk
or 1 cup milk and 1 3/4 tsp cream of tartar
or 1 cup sour cream or yogurt

Brown Sugar Light (1 cup): 1 cup white sugar and 1 Tbl molasses

Brown Sugar Dark (1 cup): 1 cup white sugar and 2 Tbl molasses

Half and Half cream (1 cup): 7/8 cup milk and 3 Tbl butter

Milk evaporated (1 cup): 1 cup light cream

Milk, sweetened condensed (1 can): Heat 1/3 cup and 2 Tbl evaporated milk, 1 cup sugar and 3 Tbl margarine

Nutmeg ground (1 tsp): 1 tsp ground allspice or ground cloves or ground mace

Pumpkin Pie Spice (1tsp): 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp ginger, 1/8 tsp allspice and 1/8 tsp nutmeg

What's your favorite substitution? Do you have a favorite spice blend to share with us?

SAVE $$ - Make Your Own Easy Bake Oven Mixes

Every year the Easy Bake Ovens go on sale dirt cheap around this time. What's not cheap is the mixes! Learn how to make your own mixes. Both my boys had EB ovens. I just wish I knew with my oldest son what I learned when my youngest son received his oven.



Save yourself a TON of money with these recipes to make your child their own mixes for a fraction of the cost.

Quick Toy Oven Cake
~2 tablespoons commercial snack cake mix -- (any snack cake mix that you just add water to, we've even used regular cake mixes with good results even though the eggs & oil were omitted)
~1 tablespoon water
Mix cake mix and 1 tablespoon water (use only enough to make a cake batter consistency). Place in greased toy cake pan.
Bake for 10 minutes. Makes 1 serving

Don't have a cake mix? Here's a "scratch" recipe:

Toy Oven Chocolate Cake
6 teaspoons flour
4 teaspoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa
3/4 teaspoon shortening
1 Pinch salt
6 teaspoons milk
Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, cocoa, shortening and salt. Add milk. Pour into greased baking pan that comes with the toy oven. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes.
Note: If you don't want a chocolate cake, omit the cocoa and add a drop or two of vanilla with the milk. Makes 1 serving

FROSTING (for 2 cakes)
4 tsp Shortening 1/4 tsp Vanilla
2/3 c Powdered sugar 2 tsp Milk
Colored sugar crystals for decoration
Stir together shortening, powdered sugar, vanilla and milk until smooth and creamy. Spread 2 tsp. of frosting on top of 1st layer. Add 2nd layer and continue frosting. Sprinkle with colored crystal sugars. Frosts a 2 layer cake.

BROWNIES (6 wedges)
2 1/2 T Sugar 1/8 tsp Vanilla extract
1 tsp Oil 4 tsp Chocolate syrup
2 T Plus - 1 tsp Flour
Sir together sugar, oil, vanilla, chocolate and flour until the batter is smooth and chocolate colored. Pour batter into greased and floured pan. Bake 15 minutes. When cool, cut them into wedges or little squares. Makes 6 wedges or 1/2 inch squares.

ANGEL COOKIES
6 tsp butter 1 pinch salt
3 tsp sugar 1/8 tsp cream of tartar
3 tsp brown sugar 1/4 c flour
1/8 tsp baking soda
Cream together butter, sugars and salt. Add flour, cream of tartar, and baking soda. Divide into 12 balls. Flatten with thumb. Bake 8 minutes. Makes one dozen
one-inch cookies.

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Make your own Homemade Taco Sauce & Seasoning

When making enough burritos and tacos for a family of four or larger it gets expensive to buy everything needed. The meat and cheese alone is expensive.

So to make it more frugal, when I dont have these items stockpiled (from purchases using coupons to get them really cheap or free) I make my own. Making these two things from scratch shaves $4-$5 off the price of this dinner by itself.

Taco Sauce
1 small can tomato sauce
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon ground Cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon sugar

Mix all together and let sit for at least 30 minutes so spices wed.



Taco Seasoning
6 teaspoons chili powder
5 teaspoons paprika
4 1/2 teaspoons cumin
3 teaspoons onion powder
2 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Use 2 heaping tablespoons to equal one commercial packet.

When my oldest son and any of his friends are here for dinner, I will stretch the hamburger by adding 1 cup of cooked minute rice.

Let me know if you have a tip for making burritos and tacos more frugal. Or if you have a taco seasoning or sauce recipe that you would like to share, visit Sandy's place and share it with all of us. Every Sunday she has Share My Recipe Sunday.

Recession Buster Blast #1: Make your Own Season Salt

Tip: I save my spice bottles for when I want to make my own spice mixes.

2 tablespoons salt
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon cornstarch

Combine all ingredients well.

At my local grocery store this sells for $3. I figure making my own saves me at least $2.

For more great money saving recipes join Sandy in her Share My Recipe Sundays.

Bisquick Mix

Our society has been geared towards QUICK, EASY, and TIME-SAVING products. The store shelves are lined with convenience foods from pancake mixes, cake mixes, salad dressing mixes to biscuit mixes. These mixes will break a budget real quick. If you stop and think about what's in them, I bet you would find everything in your pantry already. So if you are having to already buy what's in the mix, what's the use of buying it already mixed up?

Your response may be, "Well it saves me time when I prepare my family meals". Why not mix these yourself on a day when you have a little extra time, say on a Saturday or Sunday? Then they can sit and wait for you to use them just as a store bought mix would do.

Bisquick Mix can be used to make more than biscuits. It can be used to make a quick cobbler, coffee cake, cookies, and more.

I've already posted my pancake mix and here is my recipe for bisquick mix. Save yourself some money!

9 c. flour
1/3 c. baking powder
1/4 c. sugar
3 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cream of tartar
2 c. butter-flavored shortening

Directions:
Combine first five ingredients in a bowl, then cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Store mix in an airtight container, in a cool, dry place for up to 6 months. Makes 12 cups

To make a batch of 10 biscuits, use 3 c. baking mix and add 2/3 c. milk, stirring just until moistened. Knead dough for 10-15 strokes, then roll out and cut into 2 1/2-inch circles. Place biscuits on an ungreased baking sheet and bake at 425 degrees for 12-14 minutes, or until golden.

Variations: try adding 1 tsp of Italian seasoning to the mix before you add the milk. Shredded Cheddar cheese can also be added at the end of Italian Cheese Biscuits.