Shambo- If you like, and normally use, Condensed Canned Soup, you should include them in your food storage rather than trying to replicate it. Condensed soups are common food storage items and used in lots of food storage recipes. However, if you are trying to avoid the high-sodium content and "odd-ball" ingredients found in most commercial canned soup, or want a reasonable substitute from storage ingredients, then there are recipes you may want to try - just don't expect the same thing (taste-wise) as Campbell's Soup. There is a number of Cream of _______ Soup base mixes to choose from if you are trying to avoid canned soups (see the link below). Augason Farms even has a #10 can of soup base, which is probably similar to what we make in our mixes. Creamed soups are really nothing more than white sauce plus added ingredients like chicken and bouillon, cheese, mushrooms, tomatoes, celery, etc. - just like we learned to make in Home Economics all those years ago. We've just gotten out of the habit of making it from scratch and reach for a can of soup instead. I like to use "Magic Mix" (a mix developed by the Utah State Extension Service), and I use the gluten-free version that uses cornstarch instead of all-purpose flour. I use cornstarch because I don't store all-purpose flour, but I DO store cornstarch - which has a long shelf-life. I also use coconut oil instead of butter called for in the recipe so it's shelf-stable and doesn't require any refrigeration. MAGIC MIX 2-1/3 c. dry NON-instant powdererd milk* (I use Morning Moo's Whey-based Milk Substitute) 1 c. all-purpose flour, OR 1/2 c. cornstarch 1 c. butter, at room temperature (I use LouAna Coconut Oil) Combine dry milk, flour or cornstarch, and butter into a large bowl. Mix with electric hand mixer until it looks like cornmeal. Keep mix tightly covered in the refrigerator for up to 8-months. Yield: 5-cups. *If all you have available to you is INSTANT non-fat dry milk, you can blend the dry milk powder until it's a fine powder, and then it will measure the same as NON-instant dry milk powder. To make Condensed Cream of Tomato Soup: 1 c. Magic Mix 1 15-oz. can diced tomatoes 1 t. dried parsley flakes (optional) salt and pepper to taste Combine Magic Mix and diced tomatoes. Stir constantly over medium-high heat until mixture thickens. Add parsley, salt and pepper. Blend in blender until smooth. Serve immediately, or use in any recipe calling for canned cream of tomato soup. Cream of Mushroom Soup - using Magic Mix 1 c. Magic Mix 1 can (4-5 oz.) can mushroom pieces and stems, undrained (you can also use rehydrated freeze-dried or dehydrated mushrooms + the water used to rehydrate them 1/4 c. water 2 drops Kitchen Bouquet (optional, for color only) dash onion salt dash pepper Combine Magic Mix, mushrooms and liquid, and water. Stir constantly over medium-high heat until mixture thickens. Add Kitchen Bouquet, onion salt, and pepper. Use in any recipe calling for canned cream of mushroom soup. Other recipes using Magic Mix found in the book - "I Can't Believe It's Food Storage" by Crystal Godfrey... -Pesto Alfredo Sauce -Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup -Condensed Cream of Broccoli Soup -Condensed Cream of Celery Soup -Magic Mix Gravy -Magic Mix Fudgsicles -Magic Mix Pudding -Magic Mix White Sauce Recipe found on\-line. Tomato Soup Mix \- Single Serving by: Budget101 4 T. Non\-fat dry milk 2 T. Powdered dry tomatoes (you may want to start with 1 T. and add more if needed) 1/8 t. Basil Salt , Dash Pepper, Dash Measure all into jar or ziploc bag, shake to combine. Add mix to 1 Mug of Hot water, stir, let set 2 minutes, enjoy. TOMATO BASIL SOUP (source: Jan's Fabulous Food Storage Recipes - Converting Stored Foods into Useable Meals - by Jan LeBaron) 3 T. dehydrated chopped onions 1 t. dried garlic granules 1 t. dried basil 1 c. tomato powder 4 c. water 1 c. diced freeze-dried tomatoes (optional) In a large pan add 4 c. water, bring water to boil, lower heat and then add garlic granules, basil, whisk in tomato powder until smooth, if you are adding tomatoes dices add last 5-6 minutes. LOW\-FAT CREAM SOUP MIX (source: "Use It or Lose It" (food storage cooking school) \- by Rebecca Low and Deloy Hendricks \- Utah State University Extension) http://extension.usu.edu/files/publications/publication/FN_503.pdf 2 c. INSTANT dry milk (or 1\-1/4 c. NON\-instant) 3/4 c. cornstarch 1/4 c. chicken bouillon granules 2 T. onion flakes (dried) 1 t. basil (dried) 1 t. thyme (dried) 1/2 t. pepper Combine all ingredients and mix. Store in air tight container until ready to use. Equivalent to 9 cans of cream soup. To substitute for 1 can condensed soup: Combine 1/3 c. dry mix (use 1/4 c. if made with NON\-instant dry milk) and 1\-1/4 c. cool water or liquid from vegetables. Cook over medium heat, stirring until thickened. Add thickened mixture to casseroles as you would a can of soup. Do a search and you will find many more recipes on\-line for creamed soup substitute mixes to try. Powered butter can be reconstituted to make a spread, and I add a little coconut oil to it to add back some fat. When used in baking it is not necessary to reconstitute. Simply add it to your dry ingredients and increase the liquid the amount it would take to reconstitute. For home food storage I prefer coconut oil for cooking and baking to powdered butter, and that's the main source of fat I store. I store some powdered butter, but I only occasionally rotate it into the pantry and use it mostly for homemade mixes and baking. I also store grass-fed organic ghee (mostly for it's nutrition) and commercially canned butter (Red Feather Pure Canned Butter). --------------------------------------------------- Sweet Dairy Whey- I worked with Sweet Dairy Whey years ago as a substitute for some of the sugar in recipes. I've never used it since..... I do, however, store and use whey protein powder (and as you suspected, they are not the same thing). I often increase the protein profile of baked goods and snacks by adding protein powder - especially when we have a vegetarian day. I also use a whey-based milk substitute (Morning Moo's) which has a shortening-like effect on baked goods, so you can often use less fat in a recipe. I've made low-carb cream cheese frosting using Morning Moo's powder instead of powdered sugar and sweetened it with a little agave nectar or stevia. -Grainlady Here is a link that might be useful: Making Magic Mixes

I'll be the odd (wo)man out here. I love to cook, but I've been doing since I was 11 yrs old, and frankly cooking 7 days a week is drudgery. Add in breakfast and/or lunch and it's a pain. I loved my career and it wasn't unusual to be gone 12-13 hrs, 5 days/wk. Weekends were crammed with errands and family/friends. We are fortunate to live in one of the greatest restaurant areas in the world: the San Francisco Bay Area. There is great food at all price points. You can eat for $5 or $500, but either way you could eat well -- check out NYTimes' Seth Kugel's visit last month to Portland, where he gave himself an $8/meal budget and was wowed by the amazing meals he got from the local food trucks. When I worked it wasn't unusual for us to go out 4-5x/wk. The question was, "What country do you want to eat today?" We could do Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Thai, Cal-Mex, American, Moroccan, Korean, French, Italian, Burmese, Greek, and more - all within 1 mile walk, and usually several iterations of each one (you couldn't even count how many Chinese restaurants of various regionalities there were). Now we're retired. We have both money and time. When I feel like cooking, I make the dishes that took too much time when I was working - long slow braises or slow-roasting, or dishes that just require an enormous amount of prep. But we still go out 3-5x/wk, When we travel around the area as we like to do (we just got back from Napa last week and will be in Sonoma next month), we travel specifically to eat. In Napa, we had amazing, elegant, fabulous Cal-French food that I would never bother cooking in a million years. There were brilliant combinations, such as the black cod served with a seafood sabayon, roasted matsutake mushrooms, and the tiniest perfect baby turnips that had no bitterness at all. Or an amazing carpaccio, dressed with nothing but a touch of Meyer lemon EVOO. I cook when I want to, but dining out is simply more fun. No shopping, no prep, no dirty dishes, no leftovers, no fuss. Yes, I could grow my own piquillo peppers and buy Ceylon cinnamon -- but why? I'd rather go to the great Spanish tapas restaurant a few minutes away and have them roast, skin and stuff the peppers with fresh chevre; roast, skin and sprinkle the cinnamon on fresh beets; and make that perfect paella 'tradicionale" for my spouse and the dreamy Fideua Negre, noodle paella with squid ink, for me. I mean, do I seriously want to buy a pressure cooker just for my octopus? Why should I bother cleaning and skinning a cephalopod when there's at least a dozen restaurants that make fabulous smoke-grilled octopus within 5 miles of our house? Should I want to soak the bacalhau in 8 changes of water over two days? It would just be so much easier to go to the Cuban or Portuguese or Italian restaurants, and have a couple of orders of really amazing salt cod fritters or roasted salt cod with polenta, instead! The take-out food these days is so much better quality than before. One place offers a marvelous frozen (bake it at home) chicken pot pie - perfect butter pastry, organic chicken breast and organic vegetables - all they offer is either a fried chicken sandwich on artisanal roll with housemade slaw, or the pot pie. That's it; they open 4 days/wk for 3 hrs a day and then go home to raise their baby daughter. Lines out the door every day. One specialty market with various food sellers (we lust after their pork tomahawk chop - wowie! What a hunk of meat!) has lovely little frittatas with artichoke, red pepper and Gruyere. My DH hates frittatas, so I buy one for myself while he gets the penne with San Marco marinara and Kurobuta pork meatballs; that way we both win. I loathe Food Network. When I write up reviews on the restaurants we've eaten at (I do it for my own archives, not to publish them), I often refer negatively to "Food Network chefs" - cooks who slop the food out as fast as possible, in ridiculous combinations of too many ingredients. They don't know the difference between a sauce Amoricaine and a Bordelaise. Bleh. It's taken me decades to get my DH off the crappy food he grew up with. But he's finally come around, so that when we drop $$$$ on the perfect dinner at Etoile or Spoonbar or La Folie, he says, "That was absolutely worth every penny." And you know, it is. Here is a link that might be useful: NYTimes Frugal Traveler does Portland on the cheap This post was edited by jkom51 on Wed, Sep 10, 14 at 0:17

Well, my first time posting this I had everything about done and my browser shut down for no apparent reason other than I was installing the latest Java update, which they bug me about nearly every day. I knew there was a reason I was ignoring it!! I'm really determined to post these recipes though, because they were really good and I think I mentioned that I would like to have a larger repertoire of Indian recipes. I like the idea of Indian food but am rarely pleased with my execution of it. I'm usually not crazy about the mix of spices, but these two dishes were so good I couldn't stop eating them. Easy peasy too, so give them a try if you'd like to try something Indian. However, be forewarned they are hard core vegegarian. The best BF could say about them is he didn't dislike them! Masoor Dal (Spiced Red Lentils), from an unkown blogger. Check out the link to the blog, the photos and description are what made this worthwhile. Prep Time: 10 mins Cook Time: 30 mins Serves: 6 Ingredients 1/2 teaspoon turmeric 1 teaspoon coriander powder 1 teaspoon cumin powder 1 teaspoon paprika (can use chili power for more kick) extra virgin olive oil 5 cloves garlic, grated 1 inch piece ginger, grated 1 small onion, diced 1 jalapeno pepper, seeds removed and diced 1 14.5 ounce can Petite Cut tomatoes, liquid drained 2 cups masoor dal (red lentils), rinsed 5 cups water 1/2 cup cilantro leaves, chopped salt and pepper to taste Directions Measure out the spices into a small bowl and set aside. In a large pot or dutch oven on medium heat, add olive oil. When the oil starts bubbling stir in spices and cook for a minute. Add garlic and ginger and cook for another minute. Add onions and peppers and stir until the onions starts to soften. Add in tomatoes and cook until the tomatoes start to breakdown and get pulpy. Add in lentils and water and bring to boil. Turn heat low, cover and simmer until lentils are soft and tender, about 20 - 25 minutes. Stir in most of the chopped cilantro, reserving a little to garnish. Serve with naan or with basmati rice or both. Lpink's notes: I had to cook it more like 45 min. but I used half brown lentils since I ran out of red. Also, I didn't drain the chopped tomatoes, I used the juice as part of the liquid to cook the lentils, but added towards the end, as acids make bean skins tough. Easily cut in half but I forgot to do that at the outset. Ethiopian Cabbage Dish by stamarex. I made it Indian by adding garam masala Ingredients 1/2 cup olive oil (I only used 1/8 cup in the crockpot) 4 carrots, thinly sliced 1 onion, thinly sliced 1 teaspoon sea salt 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper 1 teaspoon ground cumin 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric 1/2 head cabbage, shredded (I diced) 5 potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes (I used chunks of red potatoes with the skins mostly on) I added 1/4 tsp. garam malsa to the mix. Directions Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Cook the carrots and onion in the hot oil about 5 minutes. Stir in the salt, pepper, cumin, turmeric, and cabbage and cook another 15 to 20 minutes. Add the potatoes; cover. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook until potatoes are soft, 20 to 30 minutes. Lpink's notes: I made this in the crockpot. I layered the veggies with the spices, except I didn't use salt and pepper I used seasoned salt, which had garlic, onion and lemon in it too. I used much less oil and mixed it with an equal amount of veg. broth at the bottom of the crockpot. I had to sprinkle a little more broth over it as it got closer to being done, so I used maybe 1/3 cup of broth overall. I put this in the crockpot initially on low, but turned it up afte a while since I only had 3-4 hours to cook it.

Bisquick (or the lower-priced store brand version), or a homemade baking mix for even more $aving$, can be used for pancakes, muffins, waffles, Impossible Pie recipes, biscuits, pizza crust, cakes, cookies, quick breads, etc. A more versatile choice than "pancake mix". The link below is for the base recipe plus recipes using it. If you don't have enough ingredients to make a large batch: Bisquick Substitute By-the-cup: 1 c. flour 1-1/2 t. baking powder 1/2 t. salt 1 T. fat ------------------------------ If it's pancakes you want... Light-as-a-feather Hot Cakes 1 egg, slightly beaten 3/4 to 1 c. milk 2 T. melted shortening, butter, margarine or cooking oil 1 c. flour 1/2 t. salt 2 T. baking powder 2 T. sugar Combine egg, milk and oil. Add dry ingredients; mix until smooth. Freeze any extra pancakes. --------------------------------------------------------- Although oatmeal is a great low-costing breakfast food, not everyone likes it. These recipes may improve plain old oatmeal. PEANUT BUTTER GRANOLA great as a snack or breakfast cereal Melt together: 2 T. butter 1/3 c. peanut butter 1/3 c. honey Add: 1/2 t. vanilla 1/4 t. salt Mix in: 3 c. oatmeal Spread on a baking sheet. Bake 325-degrees for 10-15 minutes, until lightly browned. ----------------------------------------- If you have leftover COOKED oatmeal, try this scone recipe. I often make 1/2 a recipe. They freeze well. COOKED OATMEAL SCONES source: http://www.food.com/recipe/cooked-oatmeal-scones-46876 2 tablespoons butter 2 tablespoons honey 1 cup cooked oatmeal 2/3 cup milk 1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour ( or a bit more) 4 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt Melt the butter and honey together, and mix them into the cool, cooked oatmeal. Mix in the milk, half at a time. Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt. You may wish to adjust the salt depending on how much was used in cooking the oatmeal- I am assuming not very much, if any. Mix the flour into the oatmeal. If the mixture seems too moist, add a little more flour. (This will depend on how moist your cooked oatmeal was. When enough flour has been stirred in, the dough will form a rough ball.) Roll out to 1" thick and cut in wedges, or scoop it out with an ice cream scoop and flatten it to 1" with dampened hands. Bake on a greased and floured sheet at 350�F for 15 to 20 minutes. --------------------------------- There are lots of recipes for oatmeal pancakes, or oatmeal banana pancakes, which would be a nutritional improvement over regular pancakes. I make oatmeal/sprouted lentil waffles - no flour, no eggs, no leavening. They are a complete protein since they are a mix of grain and legumes. -Grainlady Here is a link that might be useful: Ready-Quick Mix