Gumbo Seasoning Mix

My favourite thing to make with leftover roasted chicken is gumbo. You can make all those tiny little bits of chicken into a hearty meal with very little effort.

Gumbo Mix

3 tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon pepper
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon oregano
1 tablespoon thyme
1 tablespoon cayenne (this makes it spicy, use less if you can't handle heat)

What else you’ll need

4 cups of water
1 bag of frozen okra, sliced
1 28 oz can of diced tomatoes and their juices
1 cup uncooked rice
2 cups leftover cooked chicken

Combine 2 tablespoons of gumbo mix with all other ingredients in your slow cooker and cook on low for 6-8 hours, stirring once or twice. I love this recipe because it’s just a matter of dumping everything in the cooker and turning it on.

I buy my frozen okra pre-sliced which means I only have to open the bag and pour it in. The rice semi dissolves making it more of a thick broth than actual rice, but that's part of what makes the dish so good.

It was pretty spicy and I worried about feeing it to my daughter, but she's turning out to have a real taste for hot foods. Every time we have Indian food she goes nuts and she ate three bowls of this gumbo!

Southern Spice Chicken Rub Mix

Some days I just want to be as lazy as possible, so I make the laziest dinner I can think of. I stick a whole chicken in the oval slow cooker and let it cook all day. I can make 20 seconds of work seem like a fancy meal by using my famous chicken rub mix.

Southern Spice Chicken Rub Mix

2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon pepper
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon dry mustard powder
1 teaspoon cayenne

Use about 2 tablespoons of rub for every 4 pieces of chicken or for one whole chicken. I have used this on chicken pieces in the oven or on the BBQ, but mostly use it to season a whole chicken in my slow cooker because that requires not only the least effort and attention, but also the least amount of fuel used to cook it.

I tend to spoon mine onto the bird to avoid touching the yucky raw meat as much as possible. Then I put the chicken in the slow cooker and dump whatever mix has fallen on the plate on top.

I cook it on low for 8-10 hours. After a few hours it starts to make the house smell delicious and the cats start yowling and jumping on things.

I served it with peas and roasted sweet potatoes. If I’m really lazy I just microwave frozen veggies and boil potatoes. My family never notices. I’ve found that there is an inverse relationship between my cooking effort and their enjoyment. The less work I put into a meal, the more they like it. Go figure.

The most amount of work of making this is picking the little bits of chicken off the carcass once we’re done eating the breasts and legs, especially when you have two cats and a toddler clawing at your legs like rabid wolves trying to get to the meat. It's worth the effort though because it makes cooking the next day so easy you barely have to do a thing. I use the chicken bits to make the next day’s meal, which is another great mix.

To be continued….

General Tso's Chicken Mix

Lately when I look at cookbooks and recipes my first thought is 'can this be changed into a mix?' Usually it can, so I saw a recipe for General Tso's Chicken I knew I had to try to mix it up!

General Tso’s Chicken Mix

1 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons garlic flakes
2 tablespoons ginger powder
3 teaspoons red pepper flakes

What else you’ll need

1 pound of boneless skinless chicken cut in cubes
2 tablespoons soy sauce
Oil for frying

Combine ¼ cup of mix with soy sauce in a bowl and add chicken. Let it marinade for 30 minutes to 2 hours.

Stir fry it in the oil on medium high.

I served it with rice and broccoli. My daughter loves broccoli and screams 'Ock-lee! Ock-lee!' when she sees me take it out of the fridge to cook for dinner. We gobbled the whole meal up in seconds, it was that good.

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Hummus Dip Mix

We celebrated my father in law’s birthday at our house this weekend so I decided to make hummus to serve to our guests.

Hummus Dip Mix

2 tablespoons onion powder
2 tablespoons paprika
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon citric acid powder
1 ½ teaspoons pepper

Citric acid powder can be purchased in small bottles at bulk food stores. It seems expensive but lasts a long time. This is because it’s 8 times the strength of lemon juice! If you can’t find any you can omit it from the mix and just lemon juice to your hummus, but it does save time to use it instead.

What else you’ll need

1 14 oz can of chick peas, drained
¼ cup oil
¼ cup tahini

I used tahini in this recipe but it's a little known secret that peanut butter works just as well and is a LOT cheaper. I actually find that hummus made with peanut butter tastes even better because I find tahini to be a little too bitter.

Mix 4 teaspoons of mix, the chick peas, oil and tahini and blend until smooth. If the dip is too thick, add cold water a little at a time until you reach the right consistency.

Mine is a bit lumpy because the only thing in this world that my daughter is afraid of is our blender and she cries whenever I use it. As a result I blend things for as little time as possible.

I served it with baby carrots and whole wheat pitas cut in triangles.

Fettucine Alfredo Sauce Mix

My husband has been on a real pasta kick lately. I think this is because he finally got sick of eating peanut butter and jelly between meals. He's been boiling himself pasta and using various no-fuss toppings- salad dressing, cheese, Ragu... so I decided to try making a mix for alfredo sauce to mix it up.

Alfredo Sauce Mix

2 cups powdered milk
1 cup corn starch
1/2 cup parmesean cheese
3 tablespoons onion powder
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper

The little flakes are dried onion flakes. I didn't like the texture of them in the sauce though so I modified the recipe to use onion powder. When substituting onion or garlic powder for flakes only use 1/3 of the amount.

Mix 1/4 cup of mix with 2 tablespoons melted butter and 1/4 cup of water. I used the leftover boiling water from cooking the noodles so the butter would melt easily because I'm a genius like that.

I used whole wheat fettucine noodles. It tasted great (except for the onion bits) and was very garlicky, but that's how alfredo sauce tends to be.

My daughter didn't really know what to make of the long floppy noodles. I think next time I'll make it with more kid friendly pasta shapes like bow ties or rotini.

French Onion Soup Mix

This wasn't the greatest mix, so an improved version can be found here.

I didn’t have anything defrosted in time to make dinner the other night, so I decided to try this mix for French onion soup.

French Onion Soup Mix

2 cups dried onion flakes
1 cup bouillon powder
2 tablespoons onion powder
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon celery seed

Use 1/3 cup of mix with 2 cups of boiling water

It wasn’t as brown as I picture onion soup to be, but I realized this is because I used homemade vegetarian bouillon mix instead of regular beef bouillon like most recipes call for. I also found it very oniony, but was assured it tasted right. I am not much of an onion person, I tend to pick them off my burgers and only really like them if they are caramelized to the point where they are practically candy.

Serve with shredded cheese melted in and hunks of bread for dipping.

Taco Seasoning Mix

When I worked in Alaska it didn’t matter if I was on a boat or at a shore plant, every Wednesday was taco day. I’ve been thinking a lot about Alaska lately so I decided to make my own taco day.

Taco Seasoning Mix

¼ cup corn starch
3 tablespoons onion powder
2 tablespoons chili powder
4 teaspoons salt
4 teaspoons paprika
4 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons oregano
½ teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon cayenne

Add 3 tablespoons of mix to one pound of ground meat. I mixed mine in advance and let it sit in the fridge for a few hours to let the flavors really infuse.

Fry up the meat, then drain the excess fat. Serve on hard or soft taco shells with your favourite toppings. I used whole wheat tortilla shells with chopped tomato, onion and shredded cheese. They were the best tacos I’ve ever eaten.