#19 Taco Seasoning

This is one of those substitution recipes.....like I said in a previous post, there are a few recipes in the book "The Homemade Pantry, 101 Foods You Can Stop Buying & Start Making," that do not fit into my kitchen...one of them is Curry Powder pg. 124. What can I say, I cook pretty basic midwestern meals in my home and curry powder is never used. If you have an awesome recipe that requires this spice blend, by all means...share it with me in the comments:) Anyway, there is another spice blend that we use ALOT in my house and that is taco seasoning. So I found a pretty good recipe on pinterest.

Taco Seasoning
1 part chili powder
1 part ground cumin
1 part garlic powder
1 part onion powder
1/4-1/2 part crushed red pepper

If you do not know, one part means any form of measurement you choose. So you can make a lot or a little. For my first batch I used 3 tablespoons each of the first four ingredients and 1 1/2  tablespoons of the red pepper. After I used my taco seasoning for the first time, I noticed a lack of salt in the taco meat, so I just added salt to taste when I seasoned the meat, instead of adding salt to the spice mixture. I also noticed it was quite a bit more spicy then we are used to, so next time, I will cut down on how much red pepper I use.

 

I used 2 tablespoons taco seasoning with 1/2-3/4 cups water per one pound of hamburger. It's a pretty good tasting mixture and totally worth the tiny effort to get a mixture free of any additives and msg.

#18 Creme Fraiche

Before my hubby ate all my buttermilk, I was able to get one other buttermilk recipe made. Creme Fraiche.....so what is creme fraiche? It's pretty much fancy sour cream and if you have cream and cultured buttermilk on hand it could not be easier!

Creme Fraiche
1 pint cream (not ultra-pasterized)- most store bought cream is ultra-pasterized, so be sure to read the label.
3 Tb. cultured buttermilk (or 1 packet creme fraiche culture)

1. Pour cream into a clean jar. Stir in buttermilk or culture and set lid on top without screwing it on.

2. Leave at room temperature for 16-24 hours or until thickened. Refrigerate until ready to use. Store in the fridge in a covered container for 1 week.

 

 



 

You can see above that after I let it sit at room temp for 24 hours...it was spoonable thick. And smelled just like sour cream! Success!  Use it just like you would sour cream. I ended up using it in a muffin recipe. Jumbo Coffee Cake Muffins and they are super yummy! It is here.

#17 Buttermilk Pancakes

Still working through all the buttermilk recipes, so next is the pancakes...of course, using the homemade buttermilk. I actually will have to make more buttermilk before I can make the buttermilk waffle recipe because my husband mistakenly ate the buttermilk thinking it was yogurt....God Bless Him...*sigh*:)

Buttermilk Pancakes
Makes 4 cups, enough for 24, 3 inch pancakes

2 large eggs
2 Tb. butter, melted and slightly cooled (plus more for the pan)
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup whole milk
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups ready mix (previous recipe # 16)

1. Whisk together eggs, melted butter, buttermilk, milk and vanilla in large liquid measure.

 

2. Scoop 2 cups of ready mix into medium bowl and gently stir the wet mixture into the dry. Stir until the mixture is uniform, but there can be a few lumps. Let the batter sit at room temperature for 15 minutes.

3. Heat a skillet or griddle over medium high heat and melt butter over cooking surface. Using a 1/4 cup measure, scoop as many pancakes into your cooking pan as will fit. Cook until bubbles pop up on the surface of the pancake. Flip and cook for another minute or so. Repeat with remaining batter and add butter to cooking surface as needed.

J











Another confession...I'm not a big "pancake person." But where I lack...my hubby makes it up..he loves pancakes and he gave this recipe his official stamp of approval...and the kids loved them too. I will likely make these pancakes whenever we have buttermilk on hand, but my family eats so many pancakes that I think the Krusteaz Buttermilk (add water) mix will remain a pantry staple in my house. Either way, it's a great pancake recipe!

#16 Ready Mix

Here is a quick recipe for ready mix....great to have on hand for waffles and pancakes.

Combine the following into a large jar or container.

8 cups all-purpose flour- or sub 4 cups with whole wheat flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 Tb. baking powder
1 Tb. baking soda
1 tsp. salt

Whisk together until thoroughly combined. Store in covered container for 3 months...one month with whole wheat flour. Or in the fridge 4-5 months.....3 months if using whole wheat flour. Or in the freezer 6-8 months in freezer safe container. Use directly from freezer.

#15 Buttermilk Ranch Dressing

Now that I have a couple quarts of buttermilk in the fridge, I need to use it before it expires. Since a nice leafy romaine salad was on the menu for supper last night, I thought I would start with dressing. My hubby and oldest daughter love ranch dressing...so if they liked it; I knew it was a good recipe...so here it goes!

Buttermilk Ranch Dressing (Adapted from "Homemade Pantry")

1/2 cup buttermilk (I used my own)
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup plain yogurt ( I used my own)
Squeeze of fresh lemon juice, to taste ( I used the left-over 1/2 lemon from my ricotta)
1 tsp. dried parsley
1/2 tsp. gradulated garlic (or 2 cloves fresh)
1/2 tsp. onion powder
Salt and Pepper to taste

The original recipe called for fresh parsley and fresh chives..but I refuse to use fresh unless I can get them out of my own garden...so it will have to wait until summer:)

 

I put my ingredients in my handy, dandy Pampered Chef dressing maker...really great investment of $12.50 if you make a lot of homemade dressing! It works slick:) There are even recipes right on the container and the plunger works great to mix igredients! Super easy!

So...how did it taste? It was really, really good.Tasted just like store bought without all the junk..like MSG.....totally worth the itty bitty time and effort! I'm more of a Poppy Seed or French dressing girl myself, but I had to try this and I really liked it....and so did Hubby and my oldest. So it's a keeper! Can't wait to use my fresh herbs this summer, along with my fresh greens right out of my garden:)

#14 Car Snack 1

The weekends are when I have the most time to try new recipes...so this past Saturday I decided to also try "Car Snack 1." There are three car snack recipes in the book and I think of them all as alternatives to granola bars.

Car Snack 1
1/4 cup canola oil- plus more for greasing the pan
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 1/2 cups puffed millet
1 1/2 cups loosely packed chopped dried fruit
1 1/2 cups toasted sliced almonds
1 Tb. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
3/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup brown rice syrup (at health food stores)
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 Tb. vanilla extract

I tweaked this original recipe to suit my own taste. I used cherry-infused craisins, dark chocolate chips and pecans instead of almonds. I like that combination better. But feel free to suit your own taste buds:)

1. Lightly grease a 9x13 baking dish. I used a glass dish and canola oil. In a medium mixing bowl combine the oats, puffed millet, dried fruit, nuts, cinnamon, salt and chocolate chips.

 

2. In a medium saucepan, combine brown rice syrup, brown sugar, oil and vanilla. Stir frequently over medium high heat, until 1 minute past boiling.

 

3. Pour syrup over dry ingredients and stir to coat thoroughly.

 

 

4. Spread the mixture into your prepared pan, press down with a spatula, and refrigerate for one hour. Cut into bars and wrap to have them ready to eat or pack. They keep for 10 days in a covered pan. You can wrap them individually and store in a freezer bag for 4 months.

 

The chocolate chips melted...not sure if I was to somehow avoid that, but it's all good to me!



My family loved these and said they were the best granola bars they have ever had. I know that these cost more....a lot more. The way I cut them...I got 1 dozen bars. Even though they are worth it based on taste alone, I know I will not be making them weekly to replace the store-bought granola bars....but these would be great for that special day trip, camping snacks, long car ride snacks...you get the idea. Now that's just me! But hey...if you only have a couple kids and they would last longer then a week...or if you made a bunch at a time and stored them in the freezer, they are worth it! Really yummy with wholesome ingredients.

#13 Buttermilk

Back when I bought my yogurt culture from Cultures For Health, I also purchased a direct-set buttermilk and sour cream culture. The difference between direct-set and a traditional culture is that with direct-set you cannot use the buttermilk to make more, like I can with my yogurt culture. This is where I got it. Eight foil culture packets come in the box. I store it in the freezer and I can also make sour cream with it....I just need to use cream instead of milk. I followed the directions that came with my starter, not the directions that were in "The Homemade Pantry."


Buttermilk

1-4 Quarts milk (I used whole milk)
1 packet direct-set buttermilk culture

I used about 2 quarts of milk...because you cannot use less then a full packet of starter...so I thought I might as well make enough for all the recipes that I will now make with my fresh buttermilk.

So here we are back to my trusty heavy bottom stainless steel pot and candy thermometer. I have used that candy thermometer more in the last 3 weeks, then I have all the 10+ years before it:)

1. I first iced the pot....check back at my yogurt post to find out how. Here.

2. Add your milk and heat it over medium heat to 185 degrees. Once it reaches 185 you need to hold it at that temperature for 30-60 minutes. This is not an easy task....I was literally strapped to my kitchen watching that thermometer and adjusting the flame temp up and down to try to hold it. It did end up going down to about 165 at one time when I got busy....but then I let it climb back up. I figure there must be an easier way to hold a temp, but I don't know what it is. So I only fussed with it for the minimum of 30 minutes. I just rearranged the furniture in my kitchen and dinning room, so it was not wasted time:)

3. After the 30-60 minute temp hold, I took it off the stove, set it on a cooling rack and allowed the milk to cool to 77 degrees. It takes a while! No fear...I just made two more recipes during that time...I will post those in the future:)

4. Once the milk temp drops to 77 degrees, add the culture and dissolve fully and distribute it well into the milk by gently stirring.

 

5. Add your milk/culture mixture to a clean jar, cover and incubate at 74-77 degrees for 16-18 hours.

I'm not sure how warm your house is, but wherever it might be a constant 74-77 degrees in your house, is the spot. I have heard of people putting it on top of their TV. Search the internet to figure out how to use an insulated cooler, heating pad, crockpot...I'm not sure what will work for you.
For me the place was in our basement furnace/storage room. We have an outdoor woodstove, so the hot water coming into the house keeps it constantly pretty toasty in there.

You can see the hot water hose in the foreground of the above photo. I set a thermometer with it so I could monitor the temp. I set it at 5pm. Before I went to bed I checked it and saw that it creeped up to 78 degrees, so I moved it further away from the hose.

I checked my buttermilk at 9am...which was the 16 hour mark...and it was perfect!

 

You can see I rolled it around in the jar and the thick buttermilk coated the jar. And it smelled great! Buttermilk success! It is now in the refrigerator where it will keep for 7-10 days. You can freeze it in 1 cup portions for 4 months. Just thaw in the refrigerator and shake before using. But, you better be sure that I will be making all the recipes in the book that container buttermilk in the next week. Can't wait to try it out!

#12 Ricotta Cheese

I have an update on my #5 post of making yogurt, in case you wanted to check that out. It's here.

Ok onto my next recipe, ricotta cheese. Yesterday lasagna was on the menu, so I thought it would be super fun to try the recipe for making homemade ricotta cheese. It is my goal to someday be able to make lasagna almost entirely homemade....we are talking, noodles, mozzarella, tomato sauce, and ricotta. But one at a time for now!

Ricotta
1/2 gallon whole milk
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice- 1 1/2 - 2 lemons
1/2 heavy cream (optional)
kosher or sea salt to taste (optional)

First you need to ice the bottom of your pot, like I described here. Then I used my handy, dandy wood reamer to extract the juice of my lemons. My lemons were small and I was able to get 1/3 cup from 1 1/2 lemons.

Then measure out your ingredients. I decided to use the 1/2 cup cream...what the heck, right! Add them to your pot. Stir for 5 seconds without touching the bottom of your pot.

 

Place your pot over low heat, with your candy thermometer and heat milk mixture to 175 degrees. This should take 40-50 minutes.

 

 

During this time your milk will start to curd and separate...this is a good thing. You can stir once or twice while it is reaching for 175 degrees.

 

As soon as it reaches 175, you will raise the heat to medium high and watch the temperature as it rises to 205 degrees without stirring. It will take 3-5 minutes. The surface will look like moulten lava about to erupt...really fun to watch, but it should not boil.

 

 

Once it reaches 205 degrees, remove from the heat and let it sit for 10 minutes. You now have curds and whey. Meanwhile, lay a double layer of damp cheesecloth over a fine mesh sieve.

Using a large slotted spoon, scoop your curds into the cheesecloth. Let the cheese drain for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with salt if you like.

 







 

And now you can use your 1 1/2 cups of ricotta for your recipe...like lasagna:)

 

 

This is the whey that you will be left with. Do not throw it out. Use it within 2 weeks in place of water in your soup,  bread or corn bread recipes, or in place of milk in smoothies...it's packed with protein, flavor and nutrition. You can freeze it too...for up to 6 months.

 

So is it worth it? I must say it is a bit of work for a small amount of ricotta, but it was sooo good in my lasagna and the hubs and kiddos loved it! So creamy...excellent. Can't wait to try it again when I make my way toward COMPLETELY homemade lasagna!



#11 Peanut Butter

We got home from church yesterday right at lunch time. What do you make for lunch when the kids are starving & need something quick? Well, we make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Why? Cause they love them! But.....ut ohhhh! We were out of peanut butter. I was aware that "Nut Butter" was one of the recipes in "The Homemade Pantry," but I was not intending to make it when my kids were starving and I needed something quick...but guess what? It is quick and this is what I did.....

Nut Butter (but in my house there is no other then Peanut Butter)
1 lb. roasted nuts- unsalted
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
Honey to taste (I just squirted some in)
3-4 Tb. canola or peanut oil ( I used canola)

1. Dump your peanuts into a food processor fitted with the chopping blade. Make sure they are fresh by doing the smell test. I had some peanuts in my pantry that I was going to use but.....yuck....they went rancid. I used freshly opened containers....

 

I had a hard time finding unsalted dry roasted peanuts...I went to a few natural food stores but ended up with these from Wal-mart. The only other place I could find them was at Aldi's, but they were more expensive. This 14 oz container from Wal-mart was $1.88. The recipe in the book gives directions for starting from raw peanuts and roasting them yourself, but I could not find raw either. So Wal-mart it is!

 

2. Add your salt and honey at this time as well. Then start your food processor. While the motor is running add 3 tablespoons of oil through the chute.

 

 

I added the 4th tablespoon of oil, but that is only needed if your peanut butter is still dry.

 

 

3. Process up to a minute longer to reach the consistency that you like. Taste and adjust for salt and honey.

 

So there you have it....my version of a completely homemade PBJ. Homemade wheat bread, peanut butter and strawberry jam.

 

Store in a covered container in the refrigerator up to one month.

 

So was it worth it? The kids really liked it. My oldest said she liked the taste better then our PB brand but she likes the smooth texture of store bought. The homemade is a little gritty much like store bought natural peanut butter if you have ever tried it. As for myself...I have a confession to make....I'm not really a huge fan of peanut butter....I know! Shock! But I do LOVE natural peanut butter, so I will definitely make it again, but I don't think we will be able to make it 100% of the time. My kids eat WAY too much peanut butter. I will likely make it on the weekends for a little different PBJ experience. Cost wise....it's cheaper to buy from Sams club...but not by much! 

 

 

I will post about my strawberry freezer jam next! So yummy!

 

#10 Granola

With all this yummy homemade yogurt around the house, it was time to make the perfect companion...granola. I'm not sure about you, but I love the taste of yogurt and granola together....the only thing that would make it better is raspberries picked out of my own garden....but I have to wait until late summer for that!

Before I share my granola recipe and how-to...I've got to share a quick note about buying from bulk dry goods stores. I am VERY fortunate to have one just a few miles from me. We have a large Amish population in our township, so it is owned by a really nice Amish family. It is small, but I can get many of the raw ingredients needed for all these homemade recipes at very good prices....see what I got yesterday!

 

It is worth it to find one in your area and make a trip there once a month or so. Our Amish store also takes orders for in-season fruit. We are talking boxes of oranges, grapefruits, cherries, peaches, blueberries...also for super great prices. Ok...on to the granola!

 

Granola

Dry Ingredients

8 cups rolled oat (not quick oats)

1/2 cup ground flax seed or wheat germ (I use flax seed meal, that I grind myself)

1 + 1/2 cups oat bran

1 cup chopped pecans

1 cup chopped walnuts

 

Ingredients for saucepan

1 + 1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

3/4 cup honey

1 cup oil (I use half coconut oil- half canola)

1 Tb. ground cinnamon

1 Tb. vanilla extract

 

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees and line two large jelly roll pans with parchment paper.

 

2. Combine the dry ingredients into a large bowl.

 

 

Combine the rest of the ingredients into a saucepan and bring to boil over medium heat.

 

 

This step is awesome because it smells so good! When it comes to a boil remove from the heat and pour over dry ingredients.

 

Now mix, mix, mix until there are no dry bits and all dry ingredients are well coated.

 

 

Divide granola onto the two prepared baking pans. Spread out evenly.

 

 

 

I have two ovens, so I can bake them both at the same time....unless you have a convection oven I would not put them both into one oven at the same time. I just do not think the heat would distribute evenly....that's just my warning to you...I would not want you to burn your granola.

 

This is the tricky part...{but I know you can do it}......heating it until it's crisp, but not over-doing it and burning your granola. There is a fine line between done and burned. The best advice I can give is to use lower heat (250 degrees) and stir every 15 minutes.  You will get the hang of it, the more you make it. At this low heat, it could take 45 minute-hour. If you stir every 15 minutes you can gauge the dry-ness. Just remember one thing....warm granola still seems moist, it will dry as it cools. So take it out even if it still seems a bit moist. The time is worth it because the house smells amazing while it's in the oven:) Also...while you are spending all that time in your kitchen, you could be making yogurt!

 

After your granola is completely cool, store in an air-tight container. It will keep for 3 weeks.

 

 







I'm keeping mine right on the kitchen table, ready to scoop on top of that creamy yogurt...I'm sure it will not last 3 weeks in my house!

 

So is it worth it? Absolutely! I'm not sure I will always be able to keep that jar full...it depends on time and whether or not we get sick of it and need to take a break. But remember this is a very basic recipe...you can add chocolate chips, dried fruit, shredded coconut. You can put on top of yogurt or eat like cereal with milk. I'm not sure of the cost break-down, but granola is not really cheap in the stores anyway, and making it at home will definitely taste better! My family loves it and I have to say....I've heard quite often lately..."You are the best mom, ever!"... So it's worth it to me:)

 

Guess what we had for breakfast this morning? Homemade yogurt, local honey, granola and banana!

#9 Fruit Gelatin

It never really occurred to me to make homemade gelatin...but doesn't is make so much sense? To make gelatin with 100% juice without extra sugar added. What a great treat! But first I had to find a good flavor of 100% juice....not juice cocktail, not juice with HFCS added. Let me tell you....it was not easy to find. I didn't really want apple gelatin, that just sounded weird...so I settled on fruit punch. But now that I think about it....orange and cranberry would be fun to try.

Fruit Gelatin

4 cups fruit juice (any will do)
2 envelopes unflavored gelatin
Optional- 2 cups fruit

In a saucepan heat 3 cups of fruit juice, just to boiling. Meanwhile add the other cup of cold juice to a bowl and sprinkle gelatin on top and let sit for 5 minutes.

Add the hot juice to the bowl and stir until gelatin is dissolved. Add fruit. Cover with plastic wrap and put into refrigerator for 6-8 hours or until set firm.

I have never bought gelatin in individual cups before, but if you do and want little cups, you can add a few pieces of fruit to the bottom of each cup (I would use little jelly canning jars- so cute) and pour your hot gelatin into each, cover and refrigerate.

 I just spooned ours out of the bowl....our family took care of the entire bowl! It was a hit....fruity but not too sweet.....very good. I look forward to experiementing with different juices and fruits...as long as they are 100% juice, otherwise....what's the point?