Homemade Mixes Tips

Funny thing with certain food allergies...  You can't buy many things that are premade or packaged.  One of the worst offenders is dry mixes and sauces.  Being corn free is especially tough.

One of the first things I made from scratch was Worcestershire sauce.  Its pretty darn good to, if I do say so myself.  I look forward to the day when we can add/try a bit of anchovie paste in it to really, really make it.

The next mix I mastered was taco seasoning.  It is so good, and you know what?  I can make it cheaper and healthier then premade/premixed.   

One of my favorite mixes is my homemade bread.  People are always surprised when they try it and will tell me how good it is.

I recently taught a class on mixes and thought I'd share a few and some timely tips that really help.  Today's post focuses on tips and tricks.

Tools needed for making homemade mixes

Measuring cups

Measuring spoons

Variety of sizes of clean and sanitized glass jars with fitted lids

Mason jars with lids and rings

Permanent marker for labeling

Labels

Large gallon or two gallon Ziploc

Tips for making homemade mixes

If you are making a mix and come up short, ALWAYS label what is missing until you can add it.  Then when you do add it… CROSS off the item you had listed so you don’t add it twice.

Run jars and lids through your dishwasher on the sanitizer cycle if you have one.

Use a tally mark system on a pad of paper so you don’t ever lose count.

Measure accurately, especially in really large batches.

Label baggies and jars before you start measuring.

Assemble and line up ingredients before you start assembly.

Have fun, experiment, and enjoy!

Best to use organic, quality spices.  Dried spices last for 6-12 months.  For safe spices look at brands like Organic, however most Trader Joe spices, and McCormick spices are “safe.”  However, always double check.  Blends are not usually safe, but single spices usually are.

Check back for more mixes!

Steal of a DEAL!

I love good products, I love them even more when they are on sale!

Our favorite chocolate chips are the Enjoy Life ones.  They are basically EVERY allergen free.  They contain (listed straight from their package) Evaporated cane juice, chocolate liquor (non-alcoholic), and non-diary cocoa butter.
Made in a dedicated nut and gluten-free facility.
The facility also processes dairy and soy; however, this product is produced on a dedicated dairy-and-soy-free line. Ingredients have been additionally tested to ensure strict allergen control standards are met.




If you visit Vitacost and join up, following this link, you'll get a heck of a deal on them.  Buy one, get one 50% off!  That brings these yummy bits of delicious chocolate to only $3.06 a bag.  Plus $10 off your first order of $30 or more!  Making them even cheaper!  They do freeze well, if that last that long! 



PS  If you follow my link I do get a $10 referral credit.  Just keeping it real folks!  

Happy Shopping!

25 pounds of WHAT?!?!?

One of our new favorite grains is Teff.  Read more about it here.  My poor, wonderful dearest, you should have seen his face when I asked him to lug these beasts bags inside.

We love Teff pancakes.

We love Teff hot cereal.

We love Teff in our bread mix.

As far as gluten free flours go, it is pretty inexpensive.  But I snagged a deal for a 25 lb. bag of the grain and 25 lb. bag of the flour.  I mean it was a great deal.  Saving me about $1.75 to $2.50 a pound.

What's a 25 lb. bag look like?  Well, bigger then I thought.  Here is a comparison to a 5 lb. bag of flour.

Now to just find a way to safely store it and keep it from going bad.  But I'm not really all that worried.  Those boys eat... A LOT!  Hope they don't get sick of it anytime soon!

Dutch Oven Roast

In case you can't tell, I am really digging my Dutch oven and cast iron pans lately.  They have become a new staple for me and I love my recipes I'm using them for.  My posts the past few months were, well, non existent.  Why?

Well, here are a few reasons:

My sweet birthday boy

Umm, can you say stitches?

Conservatory field trip as we learn about flowers

This pic is just 'cause it's plain ol' pretty....

Hockey, hockey, hockey

Oh and more hockey!

Oh, and this... Don't ask.  But it is called living with boys.

Celebrating 15 years of marriage.... 

To this handsome guy!

 *************************************************************************************************


Oh, wait!  This was supposed to be about food... right.  Let's get on with it shall we...

Dutch oven pot roast

Ingredients

Pot Roast
Coconut oil
Portobello Mushroom Soup
onion (sliced into quarters
garlic
salt 
pepper
Thyme
Rosemary

(this is more of a guideline, then a recipe, feel free to experiment)

Brown in olive oil

Brown in olive oil

remove from pot

generously season a roast with salt and pepper on both sides

Brown both sides of roast in juices left behind from veggies and remove.

place veggies in bottom of pot

place roast on top of veggies

season with Thyme and Rosemary (fresh if you have it)

Add portobello mushroom soup

Cover and cook for 3-4 hours at 300 degrees

I don't have any pictures to share because I was at work when my sweet babies ate it ALL!  That's right, not a morsel left for the hard working mama.  (But, that's ok because I was teaching a cooking class and may have had some sweet treats!)  And I just love that they loved it THAT MUCH!

French Toast that Delights

French Toast 

Preheat cast iron skillet and coat with coconut oil.  Preheat oven to 350.

2 eggs well beaten until frothy
1 cup (or so) coconut milk (unsweetened or vanilla sweetened work)
1 tsp. vanilla
Dash of salt
Cinnamon (optional)

Mix eggs and milk.  It will get nice and thick.  Add vanilla and cinnamon if desired.

Dip frozen bread into mixture and brown both sides of the bread.  Place browned bread on rimmed baking sheet.  Bake french bread for 10-20 minutes.  Serve with real maple syrup.

Braised Beef Ribs in a Dutch Oven

Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Preheat cast iron skillet to medium high

Brown 4 pounds boneless beef short ribs, cut into 3-inch long pieces in coconut oil in cast iron skillet

While browning ribs and mix together the remaining ingredients 
 
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2/3 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon  paprika
 1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon dried ground thyme
2/3 cup tomato paste or ketchup
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce



Mix ingredients   

 Remove ribs and add to Dutch oven 
Put sauce in cast iron pan with dripping and mix

Pour sauce over ribs in Dutch oven

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.
Reduce heat to 300 degrees cook for 2 hours 

 

2013

I think everyone does a bit of reflection at the end of the year and the beginning of the New Year.  We get that post holiday let down... sometimes it is the empty house after it was prettily decorated, a gift not received, goals not reached for the year, dealing with the result of indulging for the whole month of December on treats and goodies... whatever it is, we can bring all that into our new year.

Often we get the idea to make lofty resolutions or even just small ones.  Then. we. don't. do. them. not. one. bit.  Then we get the new year blues.

This year, I went with a new tack.  I am claiming a scripture verse for our family and each member.  My resolution is to use that for a praying point for them.  I started small.  I hope this grows into a mighty life changing work for us, but for now, this is what it is.  While I won't be sharing them all with you, I will share the simple, yet hard verse I am using for our family verse.

Luke 10:27
... You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.

also found in the Old Testament

Deuteronomy 6:5
  Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

The creche puzzle my grandpa made for me and a Cross my son made me. 

While this blog entry doesn't deal with food or allergies, in an abstract way it does.  Food nourishes us.  It nourishes our souls.  We gather together and break bread together.  Food is social.  This verse (I hope) will be nourishing to our family as we continue to eat allergen free and deal with how it impacts us.  We can look to God to sustain us and to give us knowledge to use food to heal our boys.

Not our fireplace, but oh, I wish it was!

New tradition of the boys playing Christmas Carols for us.

Wishing you and your family a very blessed 2013! I look forward to continuing to share recipes and life with you.