How to Make Your Own Staples Instead of Buying Them

January for my family usually means getting on track with savings and finances for the new year. Shopping and making some staples (like chicken broth) at home really helps with cutting our food bill down to size... no more christmas cookies to spurge on. Is it just me or does your grocery bill start expanding around late October/early november and then by December 31 it's an animal all its own? 

When I plan ahead a little and maintain these kitchen staples in my freezer and pantry, saves me room in my shopping cart, it saves me money, and gives me the comfort of knowing exactly what is in the food I am eating and feeding to my family. I love the spice isle at the grocery store. I love the huge amount of packets we can add to meats and veggies and create huge flavor. I grew up on sloppy joe seasoning packets and taco packets. But trying to be healthy and looking out for my family I have noticed there are so many convenience types foods that we add to our recipes that have vague ingredients such as "spice", "spices" or "flavorings". Those ingredients make me nervous. 

Some many think eliminating these processed foods from their diet means cooking all day in the kitchen, creating a long complicated substitute, or giving up recipes they have been cooking for years, but I assure you it doesn't. Start with one or two of these easy homemade staples, and you'll find yourself getting into the pattern of keeping them on hand because of the convenience of not needing to add them to a list. Saving a $5 bill here and there. Those pesky cans of cream of whatever add up. These homemade staples that we all use in our cooking can be safely stored for months or even up to a year in the pantry or freezer and ready for when you need them. 

4 of my favorites homemade staples:

1.Cream of Celery Soup 
2.Flour Free, Sugar Free Easy Enchilada Sauce
3.Pizza Dough (freezable & customizable)
4.Flour-Free, Corn-Free, Sugar-Free Taco Seasoning Mix

Another staple is how to make homemade chicken broth. Chicken broth is easy and affordable. You can save yourself some sodium and cash at the grocery store by doing it yourself with a little planning. They both freeze beautifully for months! You can even make it in a crockpot!

In my chicken broth I use 3 vegetables (celery, carrot, onion), a whole chicken, a large pot of water, salt, pepper, and a lemon or lemon juice in a pinch. That's it. No mystery ingredients. Here let me show you: 

one whole chicken 3-4 lbs - I am removing the stuff in the cavity

I put the chicken in a very large pot of water with salt & pepper

2 stalks of celery in very large pieces

one whole lemon sliced in large chunks

one or two cloves garlic and one whole onion cut into 4 pieces 

Chop up 2 carrots. Scrub them good and you don't even have to peel them. Put all the veggies into the pot and turn it on to boil - its like a hot tub party

I added a handful of fresh parsley. Let it boil on medium high.
Then reduce and let it simmer with a lid on for an hr or up to 2 hrs depending on the weight of your bird. The chicken should be cooked through at temp 165 degrees.
Once I determine the chicken is done.... Let everything cool down. 

First I use a slotted spoon and a bowl to "fish out the cooked and softened vegetables" and disgard them. They are mushy and are of no use to anyone. Second I remove and shred the chicken meat into 1 lb portions. I store this in the fridge knowing I can always throw it in the freezer later if I don't have a use for it. This wonderfully moist chicken doesn't stand a chance though. Then I strain the broth. This takes awhile as it is ALOT of broth. Once I have it just as clear liquid I can store it in bowls in the fridge overnight.

The broth's fat will rise to the surface in a solid white form. I will remove most of the fat the next day and then store the chicken broth in freezer bags in 1 cup and 2 cup servings for later use.

This chicken gave me over 12 cups of chicken broth plus 3 lbs of meat for different lunches and meals throughout the week. Not bad for a $7 whole chicken. That would've been 3 boxes of "broth or stock in a box" from the store..... the math is astounding. 

Meals you can make with the shredded chicken:

Chicken Pizza

Chicken Soft Tacos

Chicken Salads

Chicken BBQ Sliders

Chicken & Cheese Quesadillas

You can add Chicken to Mac & Cheese

Chunky Chicken Veg Soup

Chicken Chipotle Toasted Corn Fettuccine

Making your own staples to use while cooking can save you money and is easy as pie. Most recipes just need 10-15 minutes of hands on attention. 

From my January 

"getting back on track" kitchen 

To yours

Flour-Free, Corn-Free, Sugar-Free Taco Seasoning Mix

Greetings! This post is elementary, but I think its helpful just the same. Saturdays should be relaxed anyways right? Just nod and follow along it will be an easy ride, I promise. No huge 3 course meals in this post. 

As a novice cook, it never occurred to me that the "helpful" single serving flavor packets on the seasoning isle at the grocery store, aren't as good as they seem. Here are a several reasons why I am so passionately against them.

1. They have more salt than whats needed for most recipes. Save that extra sodium for that bag of popcorn at the movie theatre. Salt highlights and improves every flavor SO use it in meaningful ways like eating bacon.

2. The store bought packets actually contain sugar. What is sugar doing in there? Like with salt... I think we should be saving sugar for better things like ice cream or coffee or brownies. 

3. Some of them don't even list everything that they contain by using words like "flavorings" or even "natural flavors". Thanks but no thanks. No mystery flavors please. 

So why did I ever buy these problematic packets? Ignorance and time. It takes time to measure out the spices in each packet. I didn't know enough about cooking to understand how much extra money I was spending by not making my own. I didn't know what spices were used for what dishes. And I was way too reliant upon the little mystery packets. 

This recipe (below) is my solution to the time problem. It saves time because it makes a huge jar full - about 80-90 servings of taco seasoning mix. The jar is good for a year but I haven't ever had it last that long! 

It was important to me to have the "cleanest" seasoning blend possible to fit my family so I made sure it had no sugar and lots of great spices. It's mild because I didn't want it too spicy for my family - which is easy to tweak if you want it hot.  Its perfect for most proteins: chicken, beef, bison, or fish.

Stephanie's Mild Taco Seasoning Blend

Recipe is adapted from allrecipes.com

good for 1 year kept in a clean used or new jar with tight fitting lid

3/4 cup + 1 tsp mild chili powder (add 1-2 tsp for more heat)

2/3 cup + 2 tsp smoked paprika 

1/3 cup + 2 Tbs granulated onion powder, toasted or regular

3 Tbs + 2 1/4 tsp sea salt, fine ground

3 Tbs + 1 tsp granulated onion powder

3 Tbs + 2 1/4 tsp ground cumin

3 Tbs + 1 tsp of Mexican oregano or regular if in a pinch

1 Tbs ground black pepper (add 1-2 tsp for more heat)

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (add 1 tsp for more heat)

1/4 tsp chipotle powder (add 1 tsp for more heat)

Directions: Mix it all together into a used, clean, completely dry jar with a lid. Store in a clean dry place. 

Uses: 

1. Use as a rub... rub it on meat and grill, fry, or bake it. 

2. Use as a marinade with some oil and let the meat hang out in the fridge. 

3. Use as taco seasoning on ground meat. Add the seasoning mix (1-2 Tbs per pound of meat) to browned crumbled meat with cold water (1/2- 1 cup of water/per pound of meat). Stir it around with the spatula, bring it to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 3-5 minutes until sauce has thickened and water has decreased by half or so. These measurements are estimates based on my own family's preferences. 

Click below on the recipes' titles to find 5 additional ways to use THIS truly helpful make ahead spice blend:

Grilled Salsa Chicken Sandwiches

Corned Beef Salsa Verde Skillet Burritos

Tacos In A Sleeping Bag (freezer friendly)

Veggie Tamale Pie

Mexican Style Stuffed Acorn Squash 4 Two

Enjoy & Have a great weekend!

from my Az kitchen to yours

Bacon Guacamole

I stumbled upon something truly remarkable yesterday. Bacon is known to enhance flavor, but yesterday's discovery was nothing short of EPIC!!

Combining bacon and guacamole tasted soooo good it made me want to sing, and dance across the room. 

Overall, this recipe is remarkably easy, quick, and accessible, even for novice cooks. As football season approaches, consider preparing homemade guacamole instead of store-bought options, as it requires only a few ingredients and 10 minutes of preparation time.

Serves 3 or 4 or 2 

(depending on how hungry you are?)

Recipe from Kevin at Closet Cooking

Bacon Guacamole Ingredients

2 large ripe avocados
1/4 of a red onion approx 1/4 cup ( I didn't measure)
1 jalapeño ( I took the seeds out of mine since I have a youngster)
2 Tbs cilantro (healthy handful)
1 medium sized tomato, diced
1/4 tsp salt. kosher, course
1/8 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp cumin
1 tsp lime juice
1 tsp lemon juice (added this to the original recipe)
4 strips of bacon, cooked to a crisp

Directions

1. Cook the bacon until crispy. Pat the grease off and crumble it into a small bowl

2. Mash the avocados slightly, in a medium sized bowl, if you like chunky guac, just leave it all in chunks

3. Combine all the ingredients in the medium sized bowl.

4. Taste and adjust the seasonings as needed. This was pretty mild as far as heat. I kept it on the mild/medium side for my kiddo, but feel free to add heat by adding another jalapeno, more pepper, or even some red pepper flakes.

5. Serve with chips or on tacos or just grab a spoon! 

Enjoy! 

Steph ❤️