Ever Been Overwhelmed?

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The feeling your eight year old self got when Mom said, “Go clean your room?” The feeling you get when you pick up the kids from school and realize it’s ballet night, soccer night, and your turn to provide snacks, and you still aren’t sure what’s for dinner?

The feeling you get when 2 foundation companies concur that 23 piers not 15 are necessary to repair your house and that the bad news you thought would cost you $20,000 is really going to cost you $30,000. You know, stuff like that.

Do you want to cook healthy, affordable food at home, that your family will love but have other things to  think about too?

Do mixes and frozen prepared foods sometimes fill in the gap on the table?  And while the family seems to love them, they come with a side serving of guilt?

I’ve got the perfect thing for you!

Focus on a small boy-dinner was in progress.

First of all, no more feeling guilty for providing food that allows your family to sit down and eat together.  It doesn’t matter what the food is, family dinner is a win!

But there’s more. Two of the menus from my popular Grocery Shrink Plus program are dedicated to helping you fill your pantry and freezer with healthy homemade mixes and pre-made meals.

Everyone needs some simplicity once in a while. You can give that gift to future you!

Introducing:  Mix Week and Freezer Week!

Each week includes recipes for homemade mixes or freezer recipes that you prepare to use right away and enough to use again in the future, saving time and giving you peace of mind.

What you’ll get:

  • • More than 27 recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks
  • • Adjustments for gluten free, dairy free and weight loss
  • • A categorized shopping list
  • • A one page week at a glance menu
  • • A one page action plan at a glance—never forgot to turn on your slow cooker again!
  • • Recipes pre-adjusted for servings of 2, 4, 8, or 12
  • • Bonus sections with homemade recipes for commonly used items like pitas and spice mixes
  • • A taste of what GSP subscribers get EVERY week.  We’d love to have you join us!

Each weekly plan will eventually run $5 each, but for a limited time:

Buy them both and save 50% With the coupon code: 23Piers

EXPIRES NOVEMBER 11, 2013

$10

$5

Add to Cart

 

It’s a foundation repair fund raiser sale.  Buy now!  Our sanity thanks you 🙂

3 More Quart Size Spice Mixes

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Fajita Mix:

3/4 c seasoned salt

3/4 cup oregano

3/4 cup cumin

1/2 c garlic powder

1/2 c chili powder

1/4 cup paprika

Yield:  3 1/2 c

To use mix 2 Tbs oil; 2 Tbs fresh lime juice with zest; and 2 Tbs fajita mix to marinade 4 chicken breasts overnight.

Spaghetti Sauce Mix #1:

1 1/4 cup onion powder

1/2 cup garlic powder

3 Tbs dry mustard

2/3 cup brown sugar or stevia

10 Tbs salt

3 Tbs celery seed

1 cup bay leaves, crushed (or leave these out and add 4 bay leaves to each batch)

2 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 cup basil, dried

1/4 cup oregano, dried

To Make: Simmer together 2 lbs browned ground beef; 8 ounces chopped mushrooms; 12 oz tomato paste; 2 pounds (canned) chopped tomatoes; 2 tsp of Worcestershire sauce and 2 1/2 Tbs of mix. (This is an untraditional spaghetti sauce that is delicious!)  See below for a more traditional one.

Spaghetti Sauce Mix #2

2 1/4 cups stevia in the raw

3/4 cup parsley flakes

6 Tbs celery seed

3/4 cup salt

6 Tbs garlic powder

6 Tbs  onion powder

6 Tbs oregano

6 Tbs  basil

12 crushed bay leaves (or leave out and add 1 bay leaf to each batch)

To Make: Combine 5 1/3 Tbs to 18 oz of tomato sauce; 1 lb browned ground beef or Italian sausage and 6 cups of water.  Simmer for 45 minutes or until thick.

 

 

 

 

3: Quart Jar Spice Mixes

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Update:  For even more mix recipes check out my new post here.

I’ve been out of town and there’s so much to catch up about.  But first I’d like to give you a post that’s actually useful :).

Our large family uses a lot of spice mixes especially ranch dressing mix; taco seasoning; and onion soup mix.  I’ve never purchased a packet of seasoning from the store–it’s too expensive for my sensitivities :).  But I have gotten tired of running out of seasoning and having to make it on the fly.  Life is much easier since I’ve put together a whole quart of stuff at a time.

Quart Spice Mixes

Read more…

Vlog: Creating Your Own Homemade Mix Recipes

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When making your own mixes, start with a scratch recipe that you love, and make several mixes the same time you are making this dish for your family.  Place each dry ingredient from the recipe in single batch containers as you are adding that ingredient to the one you are cooking right then.  This saves time because you already have your ingredients out and the proper measuring spoon in your hand.  (I had a bad headache when we were filming this–and had trouble with my train of thought. Hopefully you’ll still get something you can use from it.)

Recipes that work great this way are: bread recipes like pizza crust, pancakes, muffins, biscuits, cornbread, etc.  Or sauce recipes such as spaghetti sauce or Alfredo.  You can also premix marinades (even the liquids for these) and herb rubs, or seasoning blends–such as for fajitas or tacos.

You can substitute ingredients to make the recipe more mix friendly.  For example, substitute powdered milk for fresh milk and then only add water when using the mix.  You can also substitute sugar (even turbinado)  for honey and cut in solid fat such as butter or coconut oil to replace oil.

Mixes with perishable ingredients such as whole grain flour, yeast, or parmesean cheese should be stored in the refrigerator.  Be sure to label your mix well with the title and preparation instructions.  You can save the labeled mix containers to refill when they are all empty.

Skillet Lasagna Mix

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My daughter’s church girl’s club (Handmaidens) used to sell jar mixes (Handmaiden Helpers) as a fund raiser.  One in particular was a favorite of mine, Skillet Lasagna Mix.  I don’t have the original recipe, but here’s a close second.

Lasagna Skillet Mix

6 T instant dry milk

2 T cornstarch or 4 T flour

2 t chicken or beef bouillon (optional)

1 t Italian seasoning

1 t dried parsley flakes

1/2 t garlic powder

1/4 C dried minced onion *

1/4 C Parmesan cheese

3 C egg noodles (or Farfalle pasta)

Layer the ingredients in a 1 quart canning jar.  Gently shake the jar to settle the ingredients.

*Dried minced onions can be expensive!  Look for them at your discount chain for $.50 a jar or substitute fresh onions cooked with your ground beef.

Directions:

Mix the lasagna mix, 1lb ground beef (browned and drained), 2 C water and 2 C tomato sauce in a large skillet.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes stirring occasionally.  Top with 2 C mozzarella cheese and cook until melted.  Remove from heat and let stand 5 min.  Serve.

Note:  If you left out the bouillon in the mix, use broth instead of water in the final preparation.  This avoids MSG.