Mixes, Mixes, Mixes by Melissa at RedFly Creations!!

My brother, sister and I all have "twin" cousins.  Meaning we are the same gender and same age. My sister's twin cousin also has a website redflycreations. I love her quality posts. You can read more about her on her website.  She recently had a post on Mixes that I thought would be a wonderful compliment to our Meal Swaps and Once a Month Cooking. She is graciously sharing with us!!

Take It Away, Melissa:

In my attempts to save money and streamline my meal planning I decided to investigate homemade baking mixes. I decided that I was going to invest the initial costs and see if it saved me money in the long run, hoping as well, that all the mixes once baked, tasted good.

I decided that I would invest $20 and purchase these containers at Walmart. I am very thankful I did. I believe they were each about $3. All but one of the mixes did not fit in the 1 gallon containers. The baking mix was about double. So, I put the remainder of the mix in a tupperware and stored it in the freezer.

Because these mixes were to put together to make baking quicker and easier, I decided to also print out the recipes for each one on these tags and hang them on the back of the mix jar. Then I would also have the recipe handy, and wouldn't have to take the time finding the recipe each time I wanted to use it.

Using the same template, I created labels for the front as well. Feel free to print the recipes and labels out for your own personal use. I printed the labels on label paper and the recipes on card stock so they would hold up better.

I settled on 6 mixes that I thought would be helpful to our family. So far the only mix I haven't tried is the cornbread mix. We are very happy with all the rest!

Brownie Mix:

8 cups sugar
6 cups flour
2 cups cocoa powder
1 1/2 Tbsp baking powder
1 Tbsp salt

To Make:
(this is the recipe that is on the tag)
(just lightly mix the ingredients, if you beat them a lot it gets too much air in the eggs and gives more of a cake-like texture.)

2 1/4 cups brownie mix
2 eggs beaten
1/3 c melted butter
2 tsp vanilla
Pour into an 8x8 " pan. Bake for 30-35 min at 350*



All Purpose Quick Mix:
5 lbs flour (20 cups)
4 c. dry milk
3/4 cups baking powder
2 Tbsp salt
1 Tbsp Cream of Tartar
5 cups vegetable shortening

(you should not use margarine or butter in substitution for the shortening unless you are going to refrigerate your mix)

To Make:

Biscuits3 cups quick mix
3/4-1 cup water
Bake for 10-12 min at 450*

Shortcake
3 cups quick mix
2 Tbsp sugar
3/4 cup water
Bake 10-12 min at 450*

Coffee Cake
3 cups quick mix
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup water
1 tsp vanilla
(optional: add 1/2 cup sour cream to make it creamier)

Filling1 cup flour
1 cup brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup butter

Preheat oven to 350*. Combine quick mix and sugar. Mix in egg, milk and vanilla. Add dry ingredients. Prepare filling by mixing dry ingredients then cut in the butter. Spread half of the cake mix, half of the filling, then the other half of the cake mix, then the other half of the filling in an 8x8 pan. I used a 2" deep pan and it filled the pan to the top. So, you could probably use a larger pan and the cake would be just a little thinner. Bake for 40-50 min. (mine was done in 30 min.)

The original recipe I found only had half the filling recipe and used it only in the middle. The coffee cake really needed some sweetness sprinkled on the top though. So I double the filling and sprinkled the other half on the top----much better!!




Homemade Tortilla Mix: (I just made half of this recipe)
16 cups flour
2 Tbsp baking powder
2 Tbsp salt
1/2 cups shortening

To make:
2 cups of tortilla mix
1/2-3/4 cups of water

Divide dough into 15 little balls and cover with plastic wrap. Let them rise 10-15 min. Roll them out as thin as you can get them. Fry on a dry, hot griddle, about 2 min. on each side or until little brown spots begin to appear.

The consistency you are looking for in the dough is almost like play dough. If it is too crumbly they will not roll out well. That is why the water amount is so varied. Depending on the humidity of the day, you will need more or less.



Perfect Pancake/Waffle Mix:

8 cups of unbleached flour
2 cups nonfat dry milk
1/2 cup sugar
3 Tbsp baking powder
1 1/2 Tbsp baking soda
2 tsp salt

To Make Pancakes

2 cups mix

1 3/4 cups of water or milk
1 egg
2 Tbsp vegetable oil

To Make Waffles
2 1/2 cups of mix
2 cups of water
3 eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil



Corn Bread Mix:

4 cups flour
4 cups yellow cornmeal
2 cups dry milk
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup baking powder
1 Tbsp baking soda
2 tsp salt

To Make:
1 1/4 cups Cornbread Mix
1 egg beaten
1/2 cup water or milk (butter milk is even better!)
2 Tbsp oil

Pour into 8x8" pan. Bake 12-15 min at 425 *



Muffin Mix:
12 cups flour
4 Tbsp baking powder
1 Tbsp baking soda
2 tsp salt
4 1/2 cup sugar

To Make Plain muffins

2 3/4 cups mix
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/4 cup oil

Bake 15-18 min at 400*

Optional Streusel Topping

1/2 cup of flour
1/2 cup of brown sugar
2 tbsp butter

Cut the butter into the flour/brown sugar mix. Pour half of muffin mix into half of muffin cups. Sprinkle half of the streusel, then cover with the rest of the muffin mix, and finally top with the rest of the streusel.

To Make Blueberry Muffins
2 3/4 cups of muffin mix
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup milk
1 cup blueberries
1 tsp vanilla

Bake 15-18 min at 400*



The final cost:

$20 for the containers @ $3 each
$ 6.36 for the 20 lbs of flour
$2.38 for a large container of Baking Powder
$2.19 for 4lb sugar
$4.00 for shortening

All the other ingredients I already had on hand. Probably the most expensive item, if you don't already have it in your pantry, is the powdered milk.

So about $35 total. Only about $14 if you take out the containers. Not bad considering you have the equivalent of about:

8 brownie mixes
6 muffin mixes
8 cornbread mixes
5 pancake/waffle mixes
8 tortilla recipes that make at least 15 tortillas each
8-9 shortcake/biscuit/coffe cake mixes

So, let's say I spent a total of $20 (because of counting in the cost of the items I already had on hand) then it would be about $.46 a mix. Not bad!

How about you? What mixes have you used? Are there many that you continually make?

Menu Swap or Once a Month Cooking: Bird's Nest Pie

Are you ready to have 11 meals ready to go in an hour and a half!! Bird's Nest Pie (aka a Fancy Spaghetti) is on the menu today.

2 Cups Finely Chopped Onion sauteed in 8 T. Butter I used less of both because we have a family that does not enjoy onions.

Cook 64 oz of spaghetti. I chose to do it in two batches. The first time I did once a month cooking I  did all of it at once and it was too mushy, so I had to throw out the whole batch 

I also chose to do half regular spaghetti and half whole grain.

Make sure that after you drain your pasta if you are not ready to add ingredients, you add oil to keep your spaghetti from sticking together.

I mixed 8 eggs beaten, 2 C. finely chopped onion, 32 oz. sour cream, 4 lbs. hamburger (optional sausage) ends up being 2 1/2 C. browned, 24 oz tomato paste, 4 C. water.

Then I added 16 oz. mozzarella cheese.

To ensure complete mixing, I keep the spaghetti divided in half (the way I cooked it). Then I pour half of the mixture in each pot. I take a spaghetti utensil and take one scoop from each side and put it in the middle pot. Stir the middle pot.

I filled the pyrex measuring cup to 4 cups. I used the wide mouth funnel from my canning kit, and had my daughter help me hold the bag. Do not pack it in or it will pour out in a huge clump.

My little helper. If you do not have extra hands, using another measuring cup to place your bag in will hold it for you.

I like to do things in steps, so I filled all the bags with 4 cups and put them off to the side.

Then I laid them flat and pressed the air out of them. A straw can be helpful to suck the air out, too. You want them as flat as possible. Also, write instructions on the bag. Bird's Nest Pie 350 for 40 minutes. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. You could also add Tomato Sauce as desired when you pull it out.

The quadrupled recipe made 11 quart bag meals or 44 cups of Bird's Nest Pie. Ready to Freeze!! Take one out the night before you want to eat it and throw it in the fridge. Goes well in an 8 x 8 pan or 8 x 6. 

These are my dirty dishes outside of the 3 big pans shown above.

Then entire process took me about an hour and a half. That included taking pictures and testing how much would fit in a quart size bag. 

You can do it!!