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Cream of "Something" Soup 1 cup non-fat dried milk 3/4 cup cornstarch 1/4 cup bouillon 4 Tablespoons dried onions 1 teaspoon dried basil 1 teaspoon dried parsley (or Thyme if you can find it) 1 teaspoon pepper Mix all ingredients together in a jar. For the equivalent of one can of condensed cream soup, mix 1/3 cup dry mix with 1 1/4 cup water. Cook until thick.

Muffins are a fun, tasty, and sometimes semi healthy breakfast. There are premade mixes that you can buy at the store but don't you wish you could provide your family a delicious healthier option? Well, one that is still pretty simple to make on a hectic morning? Have no fear as I show you how to make your own muffin mix. This muffin mix can be used with the "add on" of your choice so they can be blueberry muffins, raisin muffins, pecan muffins, or my family's favorite, Chocolate Chip Muffins. I grind my own grain for whole wheat flour. Wheat starts to lose it's nutrients the second you grind it into flour so the flour you buy in the store that has been sitting on the shelf probably doesn't have many nutrients in it. Since I grind my own flour, I store my mix in the freezer. If you are using normal flour, storing it in the pantry should be just fine. Basic Muffin Mix 8 cups flour (white flour, half white - half wheat, or whole wheat pastry flour) 3...

One of my projects this summer was re-stocking my mix supply.  I've never been a "health nut" but I do like knowing what ingredients are in my food.  I also like saving money vs. pre-packaged food.  However, when I'm busy I still want something quick and convenient.  So, I make my own mixes for many different things.  It only takes about an hour and then I have healthy cheap mixes ready to go for months.  Here I have mixes for Muffins, Quick Mix (for biscuits, etc.), brownies, and pancake mix.  Once I get all the ingredients out for one, I might as well make up several. I put my mixes on zipper bags, label them, and then stick them in the freezer to keep the whole wheat fresh. I use a big blue plastic bowl that was given to me for popcorn.  It's the largest bowl I have.  Since all the ingredients are dry, I just use a whisk to mix them all together. (Except for the shortening in the Quick Mix - I use my clean hands.)  I keep m...

 With summer winding to an end, a new job teaching a new subject and grade level, and in the middle of a bathroom remodel.  I realized I need to stock up now on healthy dinners before I'm totally worn out. I went to the store to just buy these ingredients for my freezer crockpot meals.  (Okay, yes, I also bought frozen pizza for dinner that night.) I spent quite a bit of time planning.  So, if you want, you may use my plans and save yourself a lot of time, please do.  Then, I went to the store to buy just the ingredients for my meals, and then came home and put them all in zipper bags.  Now, I have 6 healthy chicken dinners waiting for my crockpot. I wrote the name of the meal, any needed ingredients to add, and the directions on the bags before filling. I found stole most of my recipes on the internet, tweaked them a tad and here they are.  Also, instead of using cans of cream of chicken soup, I use Cream of Something Soup that I have alr...

It all started back in high school when I would go over to my best friends house.  Her mom made the most wonderful cookies.  I mean what were these things?  They didn't taste at all like the cookies you cut off the roll that I made.  They weren't like the burnt things my older sisters used to make and let me have.  These were cinnamony deliciousness like no other.  The were called "Snickerdoodles."  I don't know if my friend and her mom were tired of me coming over and eating all their cookies or what but, they gave me the recipe.  Every year since then, at Christmas I make a batch of Snickerdoodles. Yummy Snickerdoodles fresh from the oven. Why just at Christmas, you ask?  Well, they are just too much darn work.  They rate right up there with ginger people and sugar cookie cutouts.  First, you mix up the ingredients, then you roll the dough up in a ball, then you roll the ball in a bowl of cinnamon-sugar to coat, then ba...

I helped my boys put together this little gift for Dad for Father's Day.  I found the popcorn bucket at Dollar Tree.  Inside, we put a box of Pop Tarts, a bag of popcorn, some Pop Rocks candy, a giant lollypop, and some Coke Zero, his favorite "pop."  The tag says, "You're the top pop!"  Afterwards, I thought I really should have put in a picture of Coach Pop from the San Antonio Spurs (our favorite team).  I just added some tissue paper and ribbon.  It turned out really cute.

I have to admit it.  I make the best corn on the cob in the world.  And, I also make the easiest corn on the cob in the world.  I did a brief search on the internet and didn't find my recipe in the first few links I tried so I've decided to share it with you. First buy corn on the cob.   Second, soak corn in water for about 20 minutes.  Place corn on the grill.  Rotate once or twice.  Cook for about 45 minutes.  (Experiment with the time.  Usually, I cook corn with some kind of meat and just take the corn off when the meat is done.)  Next, peel husk and silks.  Last, eat!  It is so tasty and sweet that it doesn't need salt or butter.

Chris thinks I'm crazy.  He came home today to find that I had made homemade laundry detergent.  He said in his wildest dreams, he never would have thought that is what I would be doing today.   Chris thinks I've gone off the deep end.  But, this really isn't that absurd for me.  When the boys were babies, I made homemade baby wipes.    But, I didn't stop there.  I made Cream of Something Soup Mix, Taco Seasoning Mix, Dry Onion Soup Mix, Chocolate Cake Mix, Cornbread Mix, and Tortilla Mix. And, I have homemade pancake and muffin mix that I use all the time.  Of course, I've never actually made homemade tortillas before.  No excuses now:  I have a mix!  I need to figure out which type of containers I like best.  If you go to the blogs with the original recipes you'll see all matchy and cute containers.  Oh, well.  I just gotta be me!  I'll have to remember to tell all of you how these work out later....

So, I'm having a hard time with my second post.  If I post about card making all you non-card makers out there will be turned off and never come back.  If I post about fashion, I'll seem too shallow.  If I post about theatre, I'll seem like a theatre geek.  If I post about school, well that's not happening this week because it's Spring Break.  However, since I haven't told anyone I have a blog yet, I guess I can write about anything. A few weeks ago, I went camping with the Boy Scouts to Enchanted Rock.  It was beautiful and we had a great time.  One of the dad's brought chocolate - chocolate chip muffins to eat.  The were wonderful.  He told me the secret ingredient was pumpkin.  So, I googled chocolate pumpkin muffins and found several websites with the simplest of simplest recipes.   Knowing that this dad made the muffins and didn't have his wife make them or buy them, I figured he probably used the simple recipe.  Mine ...