Cream of Anything Soup Mix

(lasts for up to a year) www.hillbillyhousewife.com

Cream of Anything Soup Mix

• 4 c. powdered milk
• 1 1/2 c. cornstarch
• 1/2 c. instant chicken bouillon granules *
• 4 tsp. dried onion flakes
• 2 tsp. dried thyme
• 2 tsp basil – crushed dried
• 1 tsp. pepper

* For a vegetarian version of this soup, use vegetable broth bullion instead.

Measure all ingredients and pour them into a container with an airtight seal. I like to use a tupperware type container, but a larger freezer bag will work as well. Be sure to label your container.

To Use The Mix:

Combine 1/3 cup of the mix with 1 cup of water and heat it over medium low heat in a small saucepan until it starts to thicken. This is the equivalent of one can of soup.

Alfredo Sauce

Simple ingredients, scrumptious results!

Ingredients include: heavy cream, butter, mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese, garlic and pepper.

NOTE: I am making a quadruple batch!

First, melt the butter in a stock pot, and then add the garlic and pepper.

Next, stir in the Parmesan cheese a little bit at a time- so it melts right into the butter! I stand at the stove and continuously stir.

Once you are confident that the Parmesan cheese has been thoroughly melted into the mixture, pour in the heavy cream. Keep stirring!

You will know that it is time to add the mozzarella cheese when the previous step begins to haze, letting you know that the cold cream's temperature has been raised. Slowly add the mozzarella, and stir for an additional 5 minutes!

Lastly, I prepare several meal sized containers for freezing!

Technically, I have made 4 batches simultaneously, but each of these containers holds just over 1.5 cups of delicious Alfredo sauce- plenty to feed between 4 and 6 people.

Making a single batch is just as much work as making several batches- but since this sauce freezes well, I plan ahead for several meals!

Recipe Recap: (single batch)

16 ounces of heavy cream

3/4 cup of mozzarella cheese -finely shredded

1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese

1 stick of butter

2ish cloves of garlic

a dash of pepper

My quadruple batch's estimated cost:

64 ounces of heavy cream- $6 (Costco)

4 cups of mozzarella cheese- $1 (self shredded a single brick)

2 cups of Parmesan cheese- $2 (sale at Super Kroger)

4 sticks of butter- $1.50 (Meijer store brand)

garlic & pepper- nominal

Total: $10.50/ 8 meals!

Tomato Sauce

I shopped at Gordon Food Service for a few of the key ingredients. I wanted large cans of tomatoes that were purchasable without a warehouse membership.

The ingredient list for homemade tomato sauce: Canned tomatoes (I chose diced), canned tomato puree, Kosher salt, garlic (I chose fresh, but you could choose garlic salt and omit the Kosher salt), Basil, Oregano, Italian seasonings and spaghetti sauce seasoning packets (for thickening).

I first opened all of my big cans, and I scooped out just the tomatoes with a slotted spoon.

I placed the diced tomatoes into my blender and pulverized them!!!OK, I did accidentally use the crushed ice setting- and these bad boys were blended into oblivion in 4.3 seconds... literally! (If you happen to love tomatoes as much as I do... this step smells AWESOME!)

The more tomatoes that I sifted out of the large cans, the more difficult it became to separate the diced tomatoes from the liquid, so I pulled out my favorite little strainer (circa: 1997, my first purchased 'move out on my own' item!) and sifted the remaining tomato pieces.

I reserved the juice for later (even though I just wanted to chug it!!!) The remainder was surprisingly about 3 cups of juice! *NOTE: I only added one can's worth of tomato juice into the tomato sauce. I am saving the remainder for another recipe.

OK, I far over estimated how much tomato puree I would need, and to add cherry on top (so to speak) I underestimated the size of my stock pot (8 quart).I used 1/3 of the large can (4 cups) of the puree in my sauce. I still think that it was more cost effective to purchase the large can ($4.50) and use 1/3 and freeze the remaining 2/3 for another sauce making day!

We are HUGE fans of garlic in our house! One full head of garlic minced was yummy, but next time I may add more... or I may just add more when I add my ground beef or ground turkey to the sauce!

Along with the freshly pressed garlic (bottom), I added 1 1/2t. Basil(left), 3t. Oregano (top), and 3t. Italian seasonings (right). I also added 2t. of Kosher salt (not in the photo!).

Sheepishly, I'll admit that this photo is actually NOT the truth! I added just TWO packets, three seemed excessive, and after taste testing the final product... TWO was the perfecto amount!!!

Mix all ingredients well, and it looks beautiful... just like this!!! I wish you catch a whiff of this!!!

I simmered the sauce for 3 hours, happily stirring every half hour or so. I must admit, I snitched a couple of spoon-samplings... just to make sure it was STILL yummy! Rest assured, it was!

I daringly (since I've experienced Ziploc bag fail) measured out 3 cups (24 ounces since jarred sauce is portioned at 26 ounces/jar) of homemade tomato sauce per Ziploc.

I was pleasantly surprised to receive (10) 3 cup portions! I'm looking forward to making hearty pasta dishes like: lasagna, spaghetti, baked spaghetti, and chicken Parmesan.

Recipe Recap: (with my pricing)

(2) 6lb/6oz Cans of tomatoes. (3.49/can = $6.98)

4 Cups of tomato puree. ($4.49/can, 1/3 can = $1.50)

1 1/2 Teaspoons of Basil. (unsure of cost, we already owned this spice)

3 Teaspoons of Oregano.(unsure of cost, we already owned this spice)

3 Teaspoons of Italian seasonings.(unsure of cost, we already owned this spice)

2 Teaspoons of Kosher salt.(unsure of cost, we already owned this spice)

(2) Packets of spaghetti seasonings. ($1.01 for McCormicks = $2.02)

Total: $10.50 for (10) jar size portions.

Personal Notes: We make several cold weather dinner dishes that call for tomato sauce. Normally with coupons I can purchase sauce for $1-ish per jar pretty easily. But what I like about the homemade sauce is that it magically seems *special*! The 30 minutes that it took me to prep and package the sauce was time well spent!

***Thank you Beth and Patrick for sharing your yummy recipe with our family!