Chicken Tortilla Soup Mix

I needed a quick soup for the service event and this one fits the bill great.

I made up this recipe from the back label of a great purchase from a gourmet farmers market in 2010.

Try it.  Replicate your favorite purchase --and save bucks!   Remember, food manufacturers list ingredients from largest to smallest.

Good Luck!

-----------Chicken Tortilla Soup Mix-----------------------

2 T. chicken bouillon

1 t. onion powder
1/4 cup masa harina (corn flour w/lime)
4 T. powdered cheese (like in Kraft Mac & Cheese) (or 1 cup sharp cheese chunks)
¼ tsp. oregano,

1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup nonfat dry milk,

1 tsp. parsley
1 t. minced garlic

½ t. chili powder
1 t. lemon pepper

½ tsp. dry cilantro

Add MIX to

1 can diced chicken or 1 c. shredded cooked chicken

1 can diced tomatoes

1 cup milk (powdered or non-dairy creamer works great)

4 cups water

Heat to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and cook 10-15 minutes stirring often. Serve with tortilla chips, shredded cheese, sour cream or diced avocados.

Reality Bite: Or in a pantry pinch, serve it all by itself. It's delicious.

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First posted 12-4-08 More Mixes for Christmas

GF Mixes for soup, spice mixes.

My daughter, away at college, can't wait for her care packages. She wants GF Mixes from home.

Don't forget the appeal of quick mixes for friends. I sent a basket to a basket swap and it was the prize gift.

These seasoning packets are really great and this soup mix is really fabulous.

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I haven't pulled together many soups for Winter, yet we love them.

(Unless you count the one I threw together the day we left Utah out of leftovers--ham, quinoa, broccoli, onion, cauliflower, spaghetti sauce-- from the refrigerator. That one was another once-in-a-lifetime gastro-piphany. Delicious! Anyway...)

While it's nice to fly home from vacation in two hours instead of driving here in 20, the home cupboards are still just as bare and until I go shopping, there seems to be naught to eat! Yet, without a visit to the grocery, and in just two minutes I can mix up soup and then merely wait for it to heat.

I can't seem to get into the jive of January cooking yet--too much cooking done over the holidays--yet family still has to eat. Phew! So I'm rooting out the staples and the easy mixes that I already have made up.

My Kind of January Cooking!

Wholegrain GF Flour Mix

first posted 6-1-08, second posted on 10-10-10

GF Flour mixes are intended to replicate wheat's properties. Most gluten-free mixes available on the market now are mostly starches with little or no nutritional value. Some of us with CD have lived for years without nutrition and now we need food! We need good, wholegrain, healthy food.

No gluten-free grain can substitute alone for the properties of wheat flour (it's had years of biogenetics to make it the perfect baking flour--that will kill us, but that's another topic), but a combination of alternate whole grains can substitute beautifully.

Mix up some flours and use them as your flour in your pre-gf days, your favorite cookies, brownies, spice cake, muffins, banana bread. This mix will substitute beautifully.

I like mixes that use up what I have on hand. If I'm out of one flour, I substitute with a different kind. I try to end up with at least eight flours total. Most recipes are fairly forgiving, as are my husband's and children's tastebuds.

I've modified this mix since 2008 and now it's as follows:

One cup sorghum flour
One cup millet flour
2  and 1/2 cups brown rice flour
2 cups tapioca starch/flour

1 cup potato starch
1 cup corn starch
1 cup buckwheat

Now, in 2012 I use this mix in many, if not most of my recipes.  It's very versatile and delicious.  

Sometimes I add one cup of whichever other flours are on hand: coconut flour, almond flour (or almond meal--made from raw almonds in the food processor,) soy flour, wild rice flour (Montina), gar-fava flour. The following alternate supergrains have most of eight essential enzymes and can help to form a complete protein. Try them as alternatives in your flour mixes: quinoa amaranth, teff, buckwheat or flax.

I mix this up when I want a universal substitute for typical wheat flour and I substitute it one for one in muffins and quick breads, fruit breads (banana, applesauce, pumpkin) cookies, brownies, etc.

Be warned that flours that have bean flour aren't as delicious eaten raw as mixes with just sorghum.

I'm just saying if you intend to sit and eat the cookie dough and don't care about freezing capability, use straight sorghum. It makes dough yummy raw.

GF Biscuit (BISQUICK) Mix

This is a repost of a recipe first attempted in March of 2010. I did not like it at the time as the finished product tasted a little prefabricated due to the starch content.

Since then, I have

purchased GF Bisquick and this recipe tastes and bakes up remarkably similar. So, here I am reposting it for everyone's monetary benefit--so that we can afford to make all those recipes that I have been using G-F Bisquick in.

ie., Cornbread and

Apple Carmel Bars

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4 1/2 cups healthier featherlight mix

3 tablespons baking powder

2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

2 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup dry buttermilk powder

3 Tablespoons Egg Replacer

1 cup shortning (I use butter)

Whisk together dry ingredients in a large bowl and then cut butter into dry ingredients with a pastry blender. Store in a 2 qt. container in the refrigerator for six months.

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This turned out to be one of "those" recipes. Pretty, but not to my taste. I bet it would be a lot better with the diversification of grains in the new healthier featherlight mix.

Somebody needs a good biscuit mix recipe. So here we go!

I tried a recipe from one of my favorite cookbooks - Bette Hagman's GF Gourmet Cooks Comfort Foods. The front of the book shows a beautiful chicken pot pie. (sometimes they lie--no one can make GF look like that--except maybe GF Girl and the Chef).

Bette's biscuit mix says, "keep this handy mix in your refrigerator for biscuits or pie topping in minutes," so I tried it. I remember now that I've made it before... before I began using more wholegrain flours. This was all starches.

Her recipe for pot pie is to top the standard chicken casserole with biscuit dough dropped from a tablespoon, baked at 40-45 minutes. I attempted to roll it onto plastic or wax paper and then turn atop the pie pan.

Our family didn't like the flavor after all was said and done. I'm sure it's because their tastes have refined beyond starches.

G-F Apple Caramel Bars

I do not bake desserts exclusively, but it does look like it from my blog posts.

If I ate all this stuff, I'd be huge. I bless the day mission-bound guy moved back home so he can eat all the experiments I'm baking.

It doesn't help to have Betty Crocker as my facebook friend. Today it's a g-f modification of her recommendation of a recipe on the DebiCooks blogspot.

G-F Apple Caramel Bars

Debi's recipe calls for a package oatmeal cookie mix so to make it g-f I used:

• 1 cup GF Bisquick (or a version of Bette Hagman's homemade cheaper mix),
• 1/2 cup sugar and
• 1 cup g-f oatmeal - whizzed in my coffee grinder to equal 3/4 cup

mix these together.

Into that cut, with a pastry blender,

• 6 tablespoons butter and then drop in
• 1 egg and stir until crumbly.

Press that mixture into a 9x13 pan--reserving 1 1/2 cups for the topping. Sprinkle

• 2 cups apples (I used granny smith) chopped fine. Then stir together
• 3/4 cup carmel topping with
• 2 Tablespoons rice flour and drizzle that mixture over the apples

Sprinkle on the reserved topping and pat down lightly. Bake at 350 20-25 minutes. Cool a couple hours to firm.

Reality Bite: I wonder if using Betty Crocker inspirations to create a recipe using a General Mills product is breech of some copyright law?

But to further confuse the attorney's, I used SimpleRecipes.com to make the caramel sauce?

Cream of Soup Mix #1

Our family broke records at the City of Home celiac blood testing. We had 22 samples taken in the space of three hours and of the 22 people tested, and aside from the eight already on g-f maintenance diets, three more of our family are unfortunate enough to have tested positive for celiac disease.

Yes unfortunately, yet fortunate to now know why they are sick and how to be healthy again.

I'm running this recipe again, because I think that in our food era, living without cream of something soup can be the most difficult. This particular mix is the #1 recipe I seem to run out of first. This makes it a must-have for new celiac survivors.

I use a scoop of it in gravies, casseroles, sauces, and soups--in chicken enchiladas, hamburger casserole, in fact, quick, spur-of-the-moment cooking couldn't be the same without it.

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Cream of Something Soup Mix GF/CF Version

I keep a container of this in the cupboard and just use a scoop of it with water whenever I need a can of cream of something soup. If it is a can of condensed soup that I need, I half the water as liquid and double the powder.

2 cups of dry powdered milk or gf/cf nondairy creamer
3/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup bouillon granules
1 Tbs dry onion flakes
1 teaspoon each basil and garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 Tablespoons dry celery flakes (optional)
1 tsp salt

To make the mix, combine all ingredients in a bowl. Mix them up, distributing everything evenly. Stored in a quart size container, well sealed, this mix will keep for several months.

To prepare as soup: combine 1/3- to 1/2 cup mix and 1 cup cool tap water in a small saucepan. Stir in well and bring to a boil over medium heat. Boil and stir for a full minute. Remove from heat. It is now ready to use in any recipe calling for a can of Cream of Mushroom, Celery or Chicken Soup. This works in any casserole.

Microwave instructions - reduce the liquid to 1 cup because it does not evaporate during the cooking process.

This recipe contains no added fat - a benefit. But if you want you can add a tablespoon of margarine or bacon grease for more flavor, but it really doesn't need it. This recipe makes 9 cans of soup and may save you about $8.00 if you used to use Campbell's brand... and 80% more than that if you discover a stash of Progresso Cream of Mushroom . (Stores never have it!)

REALITY BITE:

Our diet isn't weird--it's progressive! It's green (saves the world from metal cans) and healthy (preservative free) and inexpensive!!!

http://gluten-free-reality.blogspot.com/2008/06/condensed-cream-of-something-soup.html

GF Oreo Mix

I have found a way to make homemade GF Oreo's even better and that's share them with a friend. Take that wonderful recipe from Gobsmacked and put all the dry ingredients into a ziplock, label it with simple directions and take it to your new G-F friend. That person will love and adore you and you will feel so successful!

Here is a copy of the simplified directions for the bag label:

Take one egg and a stick of butter and this packet and blend until the dough combines into a ball and pulls away from the mixing bowl. This takes a few minutes and looks pretty crummy until you work it long enough. Just keep mixing.

Separate into 50 small balls and place on cookie sheet. Press flat with the bottom of a drinking glass atop plastic wrap.

Peel plastic wrap away and bake at 350 for 10 minutes.

Remove from the oven and press even flatter with the flat of a hotcake turner, cool and frost. Delicious as usual.

Homemade Mr Dash Spice

I make my own recipe of what I call Mr. Dash and this is one recipe that you probably will never make, but that's what blogs are all about, making us read about things that we'll probably never make, but it's nice to know that you could do it, if you ever did put your mind to it.

So, here's the recipe:

4 Tbs. green/red pepper flakes

4 Tbs. dried carrots

4 Tbs. dried onion flakes

1 bay leaf

2 Tbs. lemon pepper

1 Tbs. paprika

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 Tbs. parsley flakes

1/2 teaspoon of marjoram, celery seed, cumin, thyme, oregano, basil and

2 sundried tomato slices

Whew! (The original has 23 ingredients.) Who in their right mind would make this rather than buy it?

Okay, that sentence is perhaps very telling.

Gluten Free Casein Free Pancake Mix

Some recipes become your absolute favorites. This is one of mine. I originally posted it 6/17/06 and since then, I have used pounds and pounds of this mix interchangeably for pancakes and waffles. It is the one that I give to newbies first off. It really is a keeper.

By popular demand, here are the wet increments: I use about 1 1/2 cup mix to 1/2 of whatever milk (or milk substitute), one egg and 2 Tbs. oil. If I have applesauce, bananas, or blueberries, I toss them in too. YUM!

My best pancakes use a scoop of this mix, an egg, oil and milk. I stir it up and add more liquid if it needs more until it reaches pourability. When it sits for a minute and thickens, I add a drop more milk for better pourability.

If your doctor has you avoiding eggs and proteins for a while, you can use egg substitutes and dairy substitutes in these.

Pancake Mix
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tsp. xanthum gum (guar gum)
1 T. whole egg powder or egg replacer
1 T. buttermilk powder (opt.)
2 cups rice flour
1 cup sorghum flour
4 T. sugar
1/2 cup garfava bean, or buckwheat, or whatever flour (optional)

Mix and keep in a tightly sealed container. We use this same mix for waffles.

HOT POCKET Wrap Bread

I'm reposting the wrap bread recipe because for the last two tries, my new mix isn't working for me! It doesn't make enough to roll out onto my standard cookies sheet. I don't know what's wrong?

I'm back to the original brown rice, tapioca flour recipe. Here it is the original, untampered with by me.

1 cup of (the original recipe used only one basic flour, either brown rice or sorghum--I've been using my whole-grain GF flour mix)

1/2 cup tapioca starch
1 T. yeast
2 T. sugar
2 t. guar (xanthum) gum
1/2 tsp salt

1/3 to 3/4 cup warm water (depending on your city's humidity level)
2 tsp. cider vinegar
2 eggs
2 T. olive oil - I used butter today

Blend dry and wet ingredients separately. Add together and mix on high for 3 1/2 minutes til light and fluffy. The dough should make a light dough, neither stiff nor runny.

I rolled it out onto a greased, regular sized cookie sheet (11x17) using a flat-sided glass atop a layer of greased plastic wrap. I then let it raise for 20 minutes. I baked it at 425 for only 5 to 7 minutes and let it cool only two minutes. I then cut it or rolled it and wrapped it in plastic. It is delicious and it seems to last days on the shelf.

Or it would, if I didn't have teenagers who love this stuff!

My daughter rolled a slice of it with ham and cheese and nuked it for 20 seconds and cried, "HOT POCKET, MOM!" She couldn't have been happier.

CHIPOLTE Rice

I asked the husband to make this Sunday to serve with enchiladas and the smoky flavor of chipolte even goes well with the smoky taste of the husband's overdone-burnt-on-the-bottom rice.

Make it a Great GF Day and give a packet of this to a friend. It's a great make-and-take-mix for gifting.

Mix ingredients: 1 TBS chipolte seasoning, 1 tsp. salt, 2 Tbs. dried green peppers and 2 cups dry rice.

Instructions:

In a Rice Cooker, add packet to 2 cups water and a half of a can stewed tomatoes. Cook until done.

Conventional Stovetop Method: Add ½ can stewed tomatoes and 3 ½ cups water. Simmer 25-30 minutes.

Why GF Homemade Mixes?

Make Gluten-free mixes!

I have always been an adventurous cook, who rarely measures anything. I toss together various ingredients and enjoys the excitement of what results. Rarely do my recipes ever turn out disasters. My children and husband will eat about anything. If it's really bad, I consider taking it to the neighbor who has quadruplet teenage boys (4 right?).

But there is something to be said for tried and true and the convenience of mixes. Gluten-free mixes are newly available in health food stores, but most are made from starches like potato, corn and tapioca that have little nutritional value and can be very expensive.

Gluten-free prepared food is also available, but expensive. I bought a box of wheat-free ice cream cones for ten dollars, hot dog buns are $5.75 for a package of four, and rice crackers and bean pasta can cost $5.00 for a small box. If I order online from my favorite gluten-free shop in Canada, shipping doubles the price.

So I bake. Bakery foods are healthier and taste better when they are fresh. There are some really great cookbooks out there that use alternate exotic grains and I like to experiment.

I don't sell mixes. That would cut into my therapy/writing time, but more than once I've delivered a basket of homemade gluten-free mixes to someone that has developed my same intolerance. I don’t make it up and send it right away. I wait a couple of weeks until a person is really desperate. I call and ask them if they've cried in the supermarket yet. When they admit that they have stood in the middle of the aisle and couldn't find anything to eat, then I know they are ready to try new foods and really appreciate them.

So many people are being diagnosed that major food manufacturers will eventually catch on. In the future the market will be flooded with new foods, but until then we will continue to bake from mixes.

Ranch Dip Mix, Crockpot Chili Mix, Cornbread Mix, Pumpkin Pie Spice Mix, Onion Soup Mix, and more!

Click on the Mixes label (17 choices) and jump to the bottom of the posts. Sorry, I can't take you there automatically... yet!

HOT COCOA MIX

1 cup nonfat dry milk
1/2 c. nondairy creamer
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 cup quick chocolate mix drink mix (Nesquik)

Mix together and store in an airtight container. Add tw0/three heaping spoonsful to a cup of hot water.

Sloppy Joe Mix

1 tablespoon instant minced onion
½ teaspoon minced garlic
¼ teaspoon celery seeds
¼ tsp. chili powder
¼ teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon dry green pepper flakes
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon corn starch

Combine all ingredients. Stores 6 months in an airtight container.

To use mix: Combine the packet of dry mix with 1 lb. of cooked, drained ground beef, and ½ cup water and one 8 oz. can tomato sauce. Simmer 10 minutes stirring occasionally.

Spaghetti Mix

1 tablespoon instant minced onion
1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
1 tablespoon corn starch
2 teaspoons dry green pepper flakes
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon sugar
3/4 tsp. of Italian seasoning mix

Combine all ingredients. Stores 6 months in an airtight container.
To use mix: Combine the packet of dry mix with 1 lb. of cooked, drained ground beef, and 2 ¾ cups water and 2 (8 oz.) cans tomato sauce and 1 (6 oz.) can of tomato paste. Simmer 30 minutes stirring occasionally.

Use for pizza and lasagna too.

Onion Seasoning Mix

4 teaspoons instant G/F beef bouillon granules
2 tablespoons dried minced onion
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon Bon Appetite Seasoning
1 teaspoon salt

Combine all ingredients. Stores 6 months in an airtight container.

To use mix: Use packet of dry mix in any recipe that calls for onion soup mix.

Ranch Dressing Mix

1 tablespoon dried parsley, crushed
1 teaspoon dried dill weed
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon dried minced onion
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper

Combine all ingredients in the container of a food processor or blender and process on high speed until well blended and powdery smooth.

To use mix: Combine 1 tablespoon dry mix with 1 cup buttermilk and 1 cup mayonnaise. Mix well. Makes 2 cups salad dressing.

Taco Seasoning Mix

2 teaspoons instant minced onion
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon crushed dried red pepper
1/2 teaspoon instant minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

Use to season 1 1/2 pound lean ground beef. Add 1/2 cup water and simmer 10 minutes.


I mix this up in large increments (36x) and keep it in my cupboard. I add 2-3 tsp. of the mix when I season ground beef.

I also use it in my Southwest Crockpot Pulled Chicken Recipe

GF Focaccia Bread Mix

Preparation Instructions:

Mix yeast packet with one cup warm water (set aside for 5 minutes).

Blend together 1 Egg or ¼ c. egg substitute and 1 Tbs. olive oil, then add it to the yeast mixture.

Blend in the flour mix in a mixer on high two minutes. Pour the very thin dough onto greased jelly roll pan. (10x15 or 12x18) Top with 2 Tbs. olive oil, salt and pepper and 2 Tbs. parmesan cheese. Add other toppings tomato, basil olives, onions,

Let rise 20 minutes. Bake 20-25 minutes at 400 degrees.

Yeast Packet:
2 tsp. sugar and 1 Tbs. dry yeast - Package this separately as yeast stored within dry ingredients soon loses it potency.

Flour blend:
1 cup rice flour ½ c. tapioca flour
1 ½ tsp. xanthan gum 1 Tbls. dry minced onion
1 tsp. fennel seed ½ tsp. salt

Cornybread GF Mix

To the mix add:
2 eggs beaten ¼ c. oil and 1 ½ to 2 cups milk
Mix quickly and pour into a 9 x 13 pan. Bake at 350 20-25 minutes.


MIX:

1 c. cornmeal (I grind popcorn) 1 cup GF flour mix
2 T. sugar 4 teaspoons bkg. pwdr.
½ t. salt 1 t. xanthun gum


(GF flour mix is Bette's (Praise be her name) 2 c. rice, 2/3 c. potato, 1/3 c. tapioca flour)

All Day Crockpot Chili Mix

This chili is as good as Hormels when I have time to cook it on low all day. When I don't, I use canned beans, ready after an hour of simmering.

Instructions:

Add chili flavor packet to bean packet ( 2 cups dry beans) in crockpot with 1 pound meat, browned, 2 cans diced tomatoes, with 6 cups water. Cook on high all day or all night. (6-8 hours)

Chili Seasoning Packet

2 Tbs. minced dried onion
1 1/2 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. seasoning salt
1/2 tsp. crushed dried red pepper
1/2 tsp. minced garlic
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 T. corn flour

Bean Packet
2 cups dry beans (kidney or pinto)

IMPORTANT: Add salt to taste after chili is cooked. Adding it before will make the beans hard.