Thursday, July 31, 2008

Making Mixes Is Easy and A Time Saver Too












In preparation for getting out of town for a few days my daughter has been making up some mixes- pancake, muffin, biscuit etc. We have found this is a wonderful way to speed up meal preparation so we all can take a vacation.

It's easy-take your favorite recipe and a zip lock bag. Write the mixing and baking instructions from your recipe on the bag with a sharpie marker - be sure to list the wet ingredients and items you'll be adding later that aren't in your mix. Next add all the dry ingredients to your bag and zip it up. The bag can either be stored in the refrig or freezer until your ready to go. We have found the bags pack neatly and tightly.

While we are making our mixes we keep two lists on hand one for other grocery items we want to take from home and another for our grocery list to purchase once we arrive. This way we ensure that all the ingredients needed to mix up our dish are on hand. We also make seasoning packets for spaghetti sauce, tacos or other dishes we'll be preparing that week. My daughter likes to label her mixes with the day she'll be preparing them- so while the mixes are being made the menus are all planned out.

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

Write on the bag -Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a separate bowl combine- 1 2/3 cups honey; 1 cup oil; 3 eggs; 1 3/4 cups milk; 2 teaspoons vanilla flavoring; 2 teaspoons lemon flavoring. Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Pour into greased muffin cups and bake for 20-30 minutes.

Place in bag- 3 3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour; 1 Tablespoon baking powder; 1 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1/4 cup poppy seeds.

Note: this makes a lot you may want to half the recipe.

Enjoy!!

6 comments:

Jen in Al said...

I am just loving every single one of your posts!!! great ideas! looking forward to seeing you! :)jen in al

Anonymous said...

Thanks for this great idea! We are going to the beach next week and we will be preparing alot of our meals at the condo. I wanted to take as many items from home as possible, to save on money, so this will help alot. Thanks again and I hope you have a great vacation. Susan

Helen Ruth said...

I purchased some fresh blueberries today and hope to tackle those oatmeal muffins you had listed. I've noticed you mention whole wheat pastry flour. I'm assuming my King Arthur bag of Whole wheat flour is the same? I had intended to bake some wheat bread this weekend.

Have a safe trip and glad to hear you're feeling better. My daughter just got over a flu like illness. She had a fever for 8 days. She rested with hot tea and honey, lots of fruit juices, and chicken noodle soup!

Jane said...

Texas mom-
I have used the King Arthur flour before when I was out of wheat berries and I really liked it. I think my bag said hard red wheat which is more suitable for bread baking, but it still should work for the muffins. If your family is not used to whole wheat flour another option is to use 1/2 white flour and 1/2 whole wheat flour. Blessings, Jane

Helen Ruth said...

I think I'll try out your idea on the half white/wheat.

Thanks! =)

Anonymous said...

Oh, those sound delicious. When I get back on my feet, I'll add those to my muffin list.