Make Your Own Rice-A-Roni

UPDATE:  I've updated this recipe and provided instructions on how to can it.  You can read the new post HERE.

I love making my own mixes (as you may have gathered by now).  All the convenience of preprepared foods with all the goodness of homemade.  This recipe has become one of my favorites.  I made a few modifications to the recipes of my friend Stephanie Peterson (aka Chef Tess).

1 c. alphabet pasta (you can use broken spaghetti), 2 c. converted rice.  (Converted rice is also known as parboiled or preboiled.  Uncle Ben's makes it if you go looking for it at the store.  It cooks up faster because it's precooked.  It is also non-sticky, which is nice for rice-a-roni.  You could use regular rice, but it might take longer to soften.)

Chicken flavor:  2 T. dry onion, 1/8 t. celery salt, 1 t. dried garlic, 2 t. poultry seasoning, 2 t. dried parsley.
Mexican flavor (This one is really good):  2 T. dry onion, 1 t. garlic, 1 t. cumin, 1 t. oregano, 1 t. chili powder.
Oriental flavor: 2 T. dry onion, 1/8 t. celery salt, 1 t. curry powder, 1 t. Chinese five spice powder, 1/2 t. ginger, 1 T. garlic powder.
Curry: 2 T. dry onion, 1/8 t. celery salt, 1 t. dried garlic, 2 t. dried parsley, 1 t. saffron powder, 2 t. curry powder.

These mixes make enough to fit in a quart jar, but I usually only prepare half for our little family, otherwise we have more leftovers than we can eat.

To prepare, saute half the mix in 1 T. butter (or olive oil if you are conserving butter like I am).  Add 3 cups water and 3 bullion cubes (or I use broth if I have it, but as it happens, I am out).  If you are preparing a full recipe rather than a half, use 6 c. water and 6 bullion cubes.  Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce the heat until the rice is tender.  About 20 minutes.

For lunch yesterday, I prepared some of the Mexican flavor and then cooked an egg in the rice after it was ready.  It was very tasty.

Cookbooks I Love: Mix-A-Meal

I have had a copy of the Mix-A-Meal cookbook for probably 2 years (thanks to my sister-in-law Jill).  But I have only really been using it in the last year.  The book offers recipes for creating mixes, like Bisquick or cake mixes, as well as recipes to use the mixes.  When my in-laws gave us some powdered eggs, butter and cheese to use, I turned to this book to figure out what to do with those powdered products.

In this book there seems to be a mix for everything.  Since I wasn't interested in using all the mixes, I set out to find the ones that I liked that would work for the way I cook.  So far my favorites are the cheese sauce recipe, the hot roll mix (which we use for bread sticks and pizza) and what's called the Oriental Stir Fry recipe (which makes a good sauce for any kind of meat and veggies).

I had a friend interested in the tomato sauce recipes and since I had just acquired some tomato powder we made some BBQ Sauce Mix and some Tomato Sauce Mix.  I haven't had a chance to try them, but I will let you know how they turn out.

In the mean time, here is the hot roll mix.  I love this because I can get some garlic bread sticks in the oven even if I don't have time to let them rise.

10 c. flour
1 c. dehydrated butter
2/3 c. sugar (I like to use less)
1/4 c. powdered milk
2 T. salt

Combine 1 1/2 c. warm water to 1 T. yeast.  Add 4 c. hot roll mix.  Knead 5-10 minutes.  Let rise for 1 hour (optional--I will say if you let it rise the texture is softer).  Use cornmeal on a baking sheet and roll out.  Bake 375 for 15-25 minutes until edges are golden.

Four cups of the mix will make enough for 2 pizzas.  I often use half as much for one sheet of bread sticks.

What We Ate for Dinner: Cheese Sauce

I talked to Mom this morning on Skype and one of her first questions was, "What did you have for dinner last night?"  If we weren't doing this experiment, I doubt she would have asked that question.  Well, I'll tell you.  We had nachos with cheese sauce made from powdered cheese.  Although I am not totally out of cheese, (I have about a pound of shredded cheddar in the freezer and a pound of mozzarella in the fridge), I did not want to run out of cheese in the first week.

The chips were a bit of a gift from our dinner guests on Sunday.  The black beans were canned, seasoned with cumin and onion salt, smashed a bit and heated.  They were tasty.  The meat was turkey that was cooked, cubed and frozen from a previous meal.  I heated it up with salsa and some of the illicit yogurt.  Here is the recipe for the cheese sauce.  By the way, it makes EXCELLENT mac and cheese.  Kimball approves.

4 1/2 c. dehydrated cheese
2 2/3 c. powdered milk
2 2/3 c. dehydrated butter
2 2/3 c. flour
2 t. onion powder

Mix 1/2 c. mix with 1 c. boiling water.

As a side note.  I took the extra beans and turkey and put them in some flour tortillas, stuck them in the freezer and now I have a few frozen burritos for quick lunches.

Food Storage Swedish Pancake Mix

Growing up in our house, Swedish pancakes were a treat.  Grandma Norman or Dad would make them for breakfast on a Saturday or Sunday.  We would slather them in butter and sprinkle them with powdered sugar.  Yum!  The recipe, however, was a closely guarded family secret -- mostly because there was no recipe.  Throw eggs, flour, sugar, milk, vanilla, salt in a blender.  That was about it.  With a can of powdered eggs at my disposal, I set out to find a formula that would rival Dad's haphazard concoction.  Here it is, ladies and gentlemen (i.e. sibs).

Now I know fresh ingredients are nice, but you can't beat the convenience of a mix.  Especially a home made one.


1/2 c. powdered eggs

1 c. flour
1 T. sugar
1/3 c. powdered milk
1/2 tsp. salt

to that add 2 c. water and 2 tsp. vanilla. Blend in blender or really well by hand.

You can use all or part whole wheat flour and they are just as tasty and slightly more healthy.  You can double, triple, or quadruple the recipe and keep it in the fridge.  Use 2 scant cups of the mix to 2 cups water.

We will be having these quite often, even with fresh eggs around, because my mom asked us to use up her powered eggs.  Happy breakfast!