Life happens. There are times when just thinking about cooking a meal is stressful.  Or the non-cooking adult has to cook or resort to fast food.  Having a few of these homemade mixes on hand can help.  When you make these mixes yourself, you can use wholesome herbs, and whole grain ingredients.  You know there’s no msg or other preservatives.  You can control the sodium, fat, and sugar content.  To make it even better, these mixes are inexpensive and fast to throw together for the times when life happens.

Handi Spaghetti

8 oz broken spaghetti noodles (brown rice or whole wheat based pasta works great.)

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon garlic powder

2 teaspoons parsley

1 teaspoon basil

1 teaspon ground fennel (optional)

Mix these ingredients in a quart sized baggie.  To prepare bring 4 cups of tomato sauce and 3 cups of water to a boil.  Add 1 lb of browned and drained hamburger or ground turkey and the contents of the bag.  Simmer for 20-25 minutes or until the noodles are tender.  While you wait, warm up some green beans, tear some lettuce into a salad, and set the table.  (Variation:  If you can your own tomatoes, you can puree 2 quarts of tomatoes in a blender until completely smooth and use instead of tomato sauce and water.)

Bread Machine Mix

4 cups of flour (half white and half wheat if desired, or all wheat)

1 teaspon salt

2 Tablespoons sugar

2 Tablespoons butter

1 Tablespoon of yeast

Combine flour, sugar, and salt.  Cut in butter until very fine.  Stir in yeast. Package in a quart jar or quart sized baggie. Store in the refrigerator until ready to use.  To use Place 1 3/4 cups warm water in the bread machine.  Add mix and run dough cycle.  This will make 2: 14-15 inch pizza crusts, 2 loaves of bread, one large loaf of Italian style bread, cinnamon rolls, bagels, or dinner rolls.  I like to plop this in the machine in the morning and delay the dough cycle so that the dough will be ready right at prep time for dinner.

Pizza crust:  Divide dough into 2 balls.  Roll out on prepared pans.  Let rise for 15 minutes.  Top with sauce, toppings, and cheese.  Bake at 415 degrees for 15 minutes or until cheese is golden on the top.

Bread:  divide dough into 2 balls, place into greased loaf pans.  Let rise Let rise until double 30 minutes-1 hour.  Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.

Dinner Rolls:  Divide dough into 24 pieces, shape into rolls.  Let rise until double 30 minutes-1 hour and Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.  Or divide into 2 balls, roll each ball into a circle 1/4 inch thick.  Cut each circle into 12 wedges and roll up crescent roll style.  Let rise and bake at 350 degrees fro 15-20 minutes. 

Bagels:  Divide dough into 10 pieces.  Roll each piece into a ball and poke your finger through the center to create a large hole.  Set on a floured counter to rest for 1 minutes.  Boil 2 quarts of water and 1 Tablespoon of sugar in a stock pot.  Boil each bagel for 1 minute on each side.  Drain on a dish towel.  Bush with beaten egg (optional) and sprinkle with seeds (poppy or sesame, chopped sunflower seeds, or a combination).  Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Cinnamon rolls:  Divide dough into 2 balls.  Roll each ball ina rectangle 8″ x 15″.   Or about 1/4 inch thick.  Spread each with 4 oz cream cheese or butter.  Sprinkle with 1/4 cup brown sugar combined with 1 teaspoon cinnamon.  Roll up making it as long as possible.  Use dental floss to cut each log into 12 pieces and place in a greased 9 x 13 pan.  Let rise for 1 hour and bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until golden brown on the top.  Frost with a powdered sugar and milk drizzle if desired.

(Non-sour) French style bread:  Turn the whole piece of dough onto a well-floured (or use cornmeal) pizza slide.  Without punching it down, gently stretch it into a long loaf, tucking the edges to the underside so that the top is smooth.  Let rest for 30 minutes while the oven preheats.  Place a bakers stone on the top rack of your oven and a broiler pan on the bottom rack.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  When the oven is preheated, brush the top of the loaf with water, then sprinkle with parmesan cheese or seeds if desired.  Use a serrated knife to cut 5 slits across the top of the loaf.  Slide the loaf onto the preheated stone and quickly pour one cup of water into the broiler pan.  Shut the door immediately to trap the steam.  Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a nice dark crust has formed.  Transfer to a cooling rack and cool before slicing.

Skillet Lasagna

This is the recipe that started the Grocery Shrink Blog!  And you can get it here.

Fettucini Alfredo Mix

8 oz Fettucini, broken into pieces (whole grain pasta works fine)

2 T flour 
2 T powdered instant skim milk
1/2 t basil 
1 t lemon pepper
1/2 t garlic powder 
1 t salt
1/2 C parmesean cheese

Mix all in a quart bag.  To prepare.  Pour mix into a skillet with 2 cups of water and 2 cups of milk.  Stir well until all the powders are blended and noodles are well moistened.  Bring just to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer.  Simmer for 15-20 minutes or until noodles are tender.  Remove from heat and allow to cool for 3-5 minutes.  Sauce will thicken as it cools.  If you like, stir in sauteed vegtables, cooked chicken cubes, turkey sausage, or shrimp.

Taco Seasoning

1 teaspoon cornstarch

1 teaspoon sugar (optional)
2 teaspoons garlic salt and pepper (or 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon dried minced garlic, 1/4 teastpoon pepper, and 1/4 teaspoon parsley)
2 teaspoons cumin 
1 Tablespoons chili powder
1 Tablespoon dried onion flakes
1/2 teaspoon Mexican oregano

Mix together 1 pound browned and drained ground beef, 1/4 cup water and mix. Cook and stirr until hot and bubbly.

Leftover Stew Mix

 When we have leftover bits of beef, gravy, or vegetables (with cooking liquid) I put them in a large container in the freezer  and add to it as the leftovers appear.  Our container is a washed 4 lb yogurt container from Costco, but use what you have.  When 2 containers are full, I thaw out the contents put it in the slow cooker with 2 cups of tomato sauce and enough water to make it soupy and cook it all day.  The last 20-25 minutes, I add the contents of this mix for a wholesome barley beef stew.

2 Tablespoons dried mince onion

1 teaspoon garlic salt

1 teaspoon dried parsley

1 teaspoon black pepper

2 bay leaves

1 cup pearl barley

(Note:  pull out the bay leaves and put them in the slow cooker at the beginning.  Wait to add the rest until the end or the barley will absorb all the liquid and flavor and make a mess of your stew.)