More pantry mixes; almost instant meals and snacks

Posted on April 12, 2012 by angathome

Our latest blessing is 3 weeks old today and while my husband is still on holidays and the children are having a break from school for Easter I have been making up and trying out some more pantry mix recipes. I am loving being able to get a meal ready in a matter of minutes, especially when I’ve left it all too late to put anything fancy together.

My absolute favourite so far is the onion soup mix. I love dip made from a packet of French onion soup mixed with sour cream but I don’t like the additives and nasties that come with the shop bought product. This home-made mix tastes the same as the commercial version and I know exactly what’s in it. There are so many quick and easy recipes that use dry French onion soup in a packet as a base that I had previously crossed off my list that I can now go back and add to my weekly menus. VERY pleased with this one!

Another base that is used in a lot of quick recipes is cream of chicken (mushroom etc.) soup in a can. Another selection of easy meal ideas that I love for the convenience but haven’t been using because of the additives in commercial soup products.  I’ll have to play with the amount of water to add to the mix for cooking because I didn’t factor in the thin soup noodles I added to the mix (I wanted chicken noodle soup in a cup) and they soaked up a lot of the liquid and by the time I served it it was too thick. Taste was still good but a bit gluggy. Still a keeper though as I’m sure with a better water ratio it will be fine.

Layered soup mix in a jar (Friendship soup mix) was next on the list. Again, 5 minutes to put together and pop into the slow cooker. Taste is great but it’s more like a thick casserole than soup. We are going to use it to make stuffed potatoes, put on top of rice and in tacos.

We tried the butterscotch pudding mix and I was disappointed to find that it tasted like a bland custard mix. The kids still liked it though. The chocolate pudding mix is still a favourite but I won’t bother with the butterscotch mix again.

The last one I’ve tried is corn bread mix. So quick and easy; 3 minutes total! Add oil, egg and water to the mix and tip into a cake pan. 15 minutes later fluffy cornbread is ready to eat. This will be great in winter to have with hot soup for lunch. We had it buttered fresh from the oven and it was delicious.

There are many more ideas out there and I will explore some in the future, but I’m done for now. I have several containers of nearly instant meals and snacks just sitting in the pantry and I’m sure these will be well used in the busy weeks ahead.

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