Mix It Up-Date

I apologize for not posting a recipe today, but we've been mixing something else up around here lately- our DNA. The next little taste tester is due to join the family next June.

In the meantime I have been suffering through the most horrendous morning noon and night sickness, just like I had with my daughter. Knowing this was likely, I created and photographed a bunch of recipes before it kicked in so I could post them in the blog when I wasn't able to cook. This worked just great- until I ran out.

I normally love food. I spend so much of my life dreaming of food and talking of food, reading cookbooks and shopping and cooking and creating. But these past few weeks I can't even THINK about food without feeling incredibly ill. Even posting some of my pre-made recipes was hard on me, the pictures were making me woozy.

I'm in the worst of it now, where even getting out of bed is a struggle, but if this is anything like last time I'll soon be in the 'in love with starch' phase of things. I have some plans in the works already for when I'm feeling up to it- bread dipping oil mixes, baking mixes, instant potato mixes, oatmeal mixes. There won't be any meat for some time, but it's fall, with winter quick on its heels. It's time to get your carb on.

Be patient with me for now, great things are coming soon...

Sweet Chili Rub Mix

I discovered sweet chili sauce for the first time in Alaska. The boat I was living on had a giant bottle on every table at meal time and I discovered that it made the most delicious dipping sauce for chicken fingers. Later on in Australia I learned how they used it as a dipping sauce for potato wedge fries, which was equally tasty.

Recently I've been toying with the idea of creating a sweet chili rub for chicken and fish. I figured it couldn't be too hard. I was right! I got it on the first try!

Sweet Chili Rub Mix

2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon chili flakes
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon garlic flakes

What else you'll need

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 fish fillets or chicken breasts (I used fish since we have a giant bag of fillets from Costco in our freezer).

Combine mix and oil and stir into a thick paste.

Coat your meat with the paste and broil or grill it.

I was feeling lazy so I served mine with oven fries and frozen green beans. My husband was blown away by how tasty it was though and requested it on chicken next time.

I'm pretty sure this can be made into a dipping sauce as well, just substitute the oil with vinegar or water (or both). Buying the sauce itself isn't too expensive, but the mix is good for when you only want a little bit, especially if you're like me and don't like your fridge cluttered up with bottles of condiments!

Seasoned Long Grain and Wild Rice Mix

Since we've been eating a lot of fish lately we've also been eating a lot of potatoes. Because what side goes best with fish? I started getting sick of potatoes though and tried to think of a rice dish that would taste good with fish. I knew wild rice was often paired with it, so a new mix was born.

Seasoned Long Grain and Wild Rice Mix (single use)

2/3 cup uncooked long grain white rice
1/3 cup uncooked wild rice
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

What else you'll need

2 cups water
2 tablespoons butter or oil

Combine mix, water and butter/oil in a saucepan or rice cooker and simmer until rice is fully cooked. I used a rice cooker because I didn't want to burn it. If you cook it in a saucepan you have to check it and stir it and I don't have that kind of attention span when I'm trying to cook other things.

I served it with the fried fish mix from the previous post.

It paired very nicely with the fish and was a nice change from potatoes!

Fried Fish Coating Mix

My husband really likes when I cook fish, but recently told me that it's just not filling enough. How do you make something more filling? Bread it and fry it!!!

Fried Fish Coating Mix (Single Use)

1/2 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 teaspoon paprika
/14 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon thyme
1/8 teaspoon oregano

What else you'll need

4 pieces of fish (I used sole)
I egg, beaten (optional)
oil for frying

Combine the mix in a large bowl, stirring well. Coat each piece of fish in egg (if desired. I skipped this to avoid eggs) and then dip in the mix until fish is well coated. Pan fry each piece until both sides are brown and fish is properly cooked.

I served mine with a seasoned wild rice mix I created the same day (coming soon) and some salad. Delicious! (Filling too!)

Chocolate Cranberry Muesli Mix

We've been on a big muesli and granola kick in our house lately, but it bothers me that those tiny little boxes cost so much money when most of the ingredients are so inexpensive. I also don't like how much added sugar some of them have, so I decided to have a go at making my own using my favorite ingredients!

Chocolate Cranberry Muesli Mix (single use)

1/4 cup bran flakes
1/4 cup oats
1/4 cup corn flakes
1/4 cup rice crispees
2 tablespoons almond slivers or bits
2 tablespoons dried cranberries
2 tablespoons semi sweet chocolate chips

Big Batch (makes about 8 good sized bowls)

2 cups bran flakes
2 cups oats
2 cups corn flakes
2 cups rice crispees
1 cup almond slivers or slices
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Mix it well

Serve with milk. I used almond milk for mine!

I created this mix by copying the main ingredients listed on the box of my favorite store bought kind but even though some costly (or unhealthy) ingredients were left out my version still tasted far better! It only took moments to make but the money saved and improved taste were certainly worth it!

Burger Seasoning Mix

We totally love the meat we've been ordering for the past year and find it very delicious, but somehow the burgers don't taste very good. It's probably because the meat is so lean and we're used to fatty burgers, but it really defeats the purpose of eating organic free range meat if every time we're craving a burger we run out for fast food instead. The whole point of ordering this food was to avoid factory farmed, chemical laden meats!

In this beautiful warm fall I took on the challenge of coming up with a burger mix that would make the ground beef we order taste like fast food... and here is the result:

Burger Seasoning Mix Single Use

1/4 cup corn starch
1/4 cup bread crumbs
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

What else you'll need

1 pound ground beef
4 hamburger buns or rolls
various toppings

Combine the mix with the ground beef and form into patties, then cook them on a grill pan or BBQ.

We served ours with salad and lots of yummy toppings!

I found the biggest challenge in making a burger mix was making burgers that didn't taste like meatloaf! But we didn't mind doing a few test runs until we got a fast food tasting burger that was still made at home with organic meat.

Dill Cream Cheese Seasoning Mix

I used to think I hated cream cheese, but then they came out with those flavored ones and suddenly I was in love. Is there anything better than a toasted bagel slathered with a savory flavored cream cheese?

Recently only the plain kind of cream cheese was on sale. It was an outrage, I mean what am I going to do with THAT? It turns out, season it myself!!!

Dill Cream Cheese Seasoning Mix (single use)

1 tablespoon dried dill
2 teaspoons dried onion flakes
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon dried mustard powder

What else you'll need

1 250 gram tub or brick of plain cream cheese

Combine mix with cream cheese and stir well.

I had mine on crackers because we had no bagels or bread in the house that day.

Delicious!

This would be a good recipe for the times those double sized tubs go on sale and you wanted different kinds, or if you have some plain cream cheese left over from baking cheesecake.

Ramen Noodle Seasoning Mix

Ok admit it. We all eat ramen noodles sometimes. They are cheap, they are tasty and they are fast. I love those tasty noodles, but that little seasoning packet is loaded with MSG, so much that it gives me the shakes. I tried a few other options- topping the noodles with a bottled sauce like plum or hoisen, but it just doesn't satisfy the ramen noodle craving. So I knew I had to create something that would taste the same!

Ramen Noodle Seasoning Mix (Single Use)

1 teaspoon nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon dried chives
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon sugar
¼ teaspoon dried onion flakes

Big Batch (makes 6 uses)

2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
2 tablespoons dried chives
1 tablespoon salt
1 ½ teaspoons sugar
1 ½ teaspoons dried onion flakes

What else you’ll need

1 packet ramen noodles
2 cups boiling water

Remove the noodles from the package and place them in a large bowl, discarding the seasoning package. Add 1 tablespoon of mix to the noodles and pour in water.

Let it sit covered for 3-5 minutes before eating.

They tasted like real Mr. Noodles only better, because they didn't have that metallic aftertaste. Now I can enjoy Ramen noodles whenever I like with less sodium and no twitching limbs!