Chicken Noodle Soup Mix in a Jar

We all have struggled to think of something to prepare for our meals. If we haven’t prepped ahead of time and want a meal in a hurry, we end up with a pizza or take out.  Even myself, who has all the time in the world, wants something quick most of the time. We have to eat.  I like to know what I am eating so I like making my own food.

I have made Hamburger Helper in a jar including the lasagna version. I have jars of side dishes like rice-a-roni and herbed rice, cream soup mixes, vegetable bouillon mix and a variety of freezer meals, but today I made chicken noodle soup mix in a jar.  It is so easy to just open a can of high sodium soup but as I have said many times real food is the best tasting and the healthiest. This process does require a little prep work, but I think it’s worth it. I will freeze this batch in individual servings. I don’t really like to freeze soup because the texture changes a little, but it’s what I have to do with leftovers.

This is the recipe. I divided it in half which is enough for 2 jars. I put 1/4 cup of the spices in a plastic ziplock bag and 1/4 cup in another. Then I put 1/2 cup of the dried mixed vegetables* in each bag. I put 1 1/4 cup pasta in the jar with the plastic bag containing the other ingredients. I sealed the lid with the lid sealer. 

Chicken Noodle Soup Mix

1/4 t. garlic powder
1/4 t. celery seed
1/2 t. black pepper
1 t. parsley flakes
1 T minced onion
4 1/2 T. chicken bouillon*
1 cup dried mixed vegetables**

2 1/2 cups pasta (I like to cook the pasta noodles separately and add them to the soup at the end. I think they are less starchy and it takes a while for the dried vegetables to reconstitute. If you put them in together the noodles would be overcooked.) That is why I separate them in the jar.

Bring 12 cups (6 cups for one jar) water to a boil
add in soup mix from the plastic bag.
Reduce heat, cover and
simmer for 30 minutes.
Add in 3-4 cups of cooked cubed 
chicken (I bake several chicken breasts and cube them to use in recipes. I freeze the cooked chicken in 1 or 2 cup portions. Sometimes I buy the rotisserie chicken off the bone at Costco and separate it into portions) and add the cooked noodles. 
Simmer 5 more minutes

* This is the bouillon I found. It is gluten free and doesn’t have any high fructose corn syrup.  It does have corn protein which is a by-product during the manufacturing process of corn starch. I am not really sure of its function except it is 50% protein and maybe a flavor enhancer.  If you want to eliminate this ingredient just cook the dried veggies and other spices in boxed chicken broth instead. You may need a bit more salt to taste.

 **If you can’t find dehydrated vegetables, it’s easy to make your own. 

I diced 4 cups of carrots with the Vidalia Chop Wizard http://www.thecabincountess.com/search?q=vidalia, and spread them on a parchment lined cookie sheet. I have a dehydrate setting on my toaster oven but basically it’s the oven set at 150 degrees. The carrots took 4 hours to dry. Then I diced 4 cups of celery and did the same. It’s amazing. 4 cups of carrots will dehydrate to 3/4 cup and 4 cups of celery will equal 1/2 cup. I also dried 5 cups of frozen mixed vegetables. That made about 3/4 cup. Bottom line is 13 cups of produce dries to 2 cups. 

The Pheasants In My Neighborhood

I have lived on my property for over twenty years. Once in a great while I would see a pheasant, but they were few and far between. For the past three or four years, in September, I am seeing a dozen or more. At first I didn’t know what was going on, but in talking to others it seems that someone is releasing them in bunches. I don’t know who, but I am very happy to see them in my yard. 

For a couple years, only a few would hang around. I don’t know if they were hunted or if they left to find a mate, Sometimes in the Spring the males will lose their minds and start flapping their wings and puffing up to look huge. They also make very strange loud sounds. Then they would disappear. I always figured there was a girl in the neighborhood they were trying to impress. For the first couple years I never saw females, but now there are a few. I think it's a ratio of about five to one.

This year is very different. They showed up as usual but instead of leaving or spreading out, they are spending the winter as a group. One day I saw three males under the bird feeder, then two females showed up. The guys were showing off by strutting their stuff and suddenly five more males came out of the woods. Then three more females.  I was watching but couldn’t get videos because they were all running around and posturing for the girls. As I am watching more male pheasants came running out of my side yard as fast as they could. It was a circus and reminded me of the phrase "herding cats". In this case it was pheasants. They can run very fast when they want to.  

All these pheasants have become quite tame. I think having available food has made them very comfortable. I can walk outside within a few feet of them, and they just slowly walk away. When I go into the house, they are back before I close the door. I can hear them. Recently I heard one on the step to my porch. I think he was wondering where the corn was. A recent snowstorm covered a lot of their food. I really didn't want to go out to the garage in the cold for seed, so I made popcorn.

Has anyone made popcorn this way? I knew they couldn't have oil or salt so this was my technique. It is actually a really good way to make popcorn without any added calories. I don't eat much popcorn because I like it smothered in real butter. 

All you need is a cake pan, popcorn, water and plastic wrap. Put 1/2 cup of popcorn in the pan and add 1/4 cup of water. If you are making it for yourself add some salt to the water. I wanted it plain this time.

Cover the pan with plastic wrap and poke a few holes in the plastic to vent the steam. Microwave for five minutes. If it isn't starting to pop, then add one minute at a time until all the corn is popped. My popcorn was stored in the refrigerator so it took nine minutes to complete. No oil needed.

I took the popped popcorn and threw it outside. I didn't realize it isn't the best thing to feed birds. It doesn't have much food value and nutrition. It is probably true for humans too. Especially the way I eat it. I ended up adding some corn and seeds to the mix. The bluejays and Dark-eyed Junco's are loving it.

I look forward to seeing these birds everyday. They are in the yard and in my driveway to greet me when I come home. Hopefully this year they will nest nearby, and I will be able to enjoy seeing baby pheasants. The turkeys have become somewhat of a nuisance, but I doubt if anyone will complain if they see more beautiful pheasants in the neighborhood.

Homemade Rice-A-Roni

On the heels of my Hamburger Helper recipe http://www.thecabincountess.com/2024/01/make-your-own-hamburger-helper.html, I also tried one for Rice-A-Roni. I don’t buy that product either because of all the sodium and preservatives to give it shelf life. The box mix has palm oil, corn syrup and lactose. These are all ingredients we should avoid.  You have to be careful with dried soup base because some of them have corn syrup and high sodium also. 

In a clean mason jar add 1/2 cup of broken up vermicelli. You can make the pieces as small as you want.

Then add 1 cup of plain long cooking white rice (not instant), 4 t. of the best dried soup base you can find (either beef or chicken), 1 t. dried parsley, 1/2 t. Italian seasoning and 1/4 t. garlic powder.

Seal it up and keep it in your pantry.

To prepare brown 2 T. of butter in a pan. Add the dry ingredients from the jar and brown to your desired color without burning it.

Add 2 3/4 cups of water and simmer for 20 minutes. The liquid should be absorbed.

This can be eaten as a side dish or add some meat and vegetables for a hot dish.  It’s very good.

Baked Breakfast Egg Cups

If I actually had a job or somewhere to go in the morning, this recipe would be a perfect for on the go breakfast. I see them at Costco whenever I go but because these are so easy and less inexpensive to make, I don’t even consider it.  They are egg bites. I will include the original recipe, but I rarely follow a recipe exactly. I like to use what I have on hand. Most recipes have wiggle room. I had leftover ham cubes, green pepper from the freezer and some cheddar cheese leftover from Christmas. That is what I used. These are good right out of the oven or you can freeze them for later. If you freeze them either thaw first before heating or heat on a paper towel to absorb moisture. 

Bacon and Egg Breakfast Cups 

Ingredients:

12 slices of Canadian bacon (I used Ham cubes)

1 dozen eggs

2 T. grated parmesan (I used cheddar)

3/4 cup chopped grape tomatoes (I used green pepper)

1 T. chives (I omitted)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and spray or grease a 12-cup muffin pan

Arrange a bacon slice in each muffin cup. You might have to cut the circle half way through to fit

Crack 1 egg into each muffin cup (I mixed like scrambled eggs)

Sprinkle with salt and pepper

Put the cheese on top.  If you use chopped tomatoes, put them on top also.

Bake for 15 minutes at 400F.  When cool pop them out of the muffin cups and eat or let them cool before freezing.

When frozen warm in the microwave for a few seconds. They heat up quickly.

Make Your Own Hamburger Helper

You wouldn’t think it would be necessary for someone in my situation to make meals in a hurry.  For me it’s a waste of time to spend hours making meals. Not that I don’t have time but food has become a necessity more than an experience. Recently I watched the Tic Tok of someone named "The Organizer Man”. He helped me out by coming up with an idea. For a year I could not remove the bowl from my kitchen aid mixer. I tried anything I could find on the internet to solve the problem. Washing it was an ordeal, but I love the mixer so I had to make it work. Since this contributor was addressing how to adjust the height of the beater, I asked if he had any ideas on how to remove a stuck bowl. He said his sticks too but he whacks the handle until it loosens. Mine didn’t have a handle to whack so I told him that. He wasn’t sure but said to wrap a piece of electrical tape around the bowl and pull. I used duct tape instead. I made a little loop at the end and put the handle of a mallet through the loop for leverage. In less than two seconds the bowl released. I have since bought a mixing bowl with a handle in case it happens again, but it was a simple idea that I would not have thought of. 

Since I was sucked into Tik Tok by that time, I watched a few more of his videos. He likes to make dry mixes like ranch dressing, creamed soup mix and the one I made.  It’s a Hamburger Helper mix. I am not sure I ever made Hamburger Helper. Maybe I tried it back in the 1970’s because it was cheap so I really can’t say if this recipe is as good as the box mix but this fellow says it is better. I looked up the product and found the ingredients. I am not sure what flavor it was because there are many but it is very high in sodium, and it has ingredients not included in the homemade recipe.

"Enriched Pasta (wheat flour, niacin, ferrous sulfate, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), Corn Starch, Salt, Wheat Flour. Contains 2% or less of: Modified Whey, Onion Powder, Color (caramel color, annatto extract), Maltodextrin, Potassium Chloride, Hydrolyzed Corn, Soy, and Wheat Protein, Yeast Extract, Natural And Artificial Flavor, Vegetable Oil (canola, soybean, and/or sunflower oil), Spice, Monoglycerides, Sugar, Safflower Oil, Silicon Dioxide (anticaking agent). "

Here is the recipe. It is all real food. There is no oil, citric acid, whey protein or dyes. If you want to add cheese, just use “real” cheese. I don’t like things salty so I used scant teaspoons of salt and garlic. 

Hamburger Helper

1 1/2 cups mini lasagna noodles or egg noodles 
2 t. paprika
1 t. onion powder
1 t. garlic powder 
1 t. salt
1 t. cornstarch

Save in jar. When ready to prepare just add to

1 lb. browned ground beef
1 cup water
2 cups milk 

Boil and simmer until noodles are done. Don’t overcook the noodles. Add more liquid if necessary.
About 10-12 minutes.

You can add sour cream and mushrooms to make it taste more like stroganoff.

You can add peas or any veggie you choose.

The dry ingredients are put in a jar one ingredient at a time.  I made a label with how to finish making it.

When the jars were filled and labeled, I used a mason jar sealer. It pulls the air out of the jar and seals the lid. This way the mix will last for months on a shelf just like a box of Hamburger Helper. It will probably last even longer.

The prepared product doesn’t look very appetizing, but it tastes pretty good. Adding other ingredients like peas or mushrooms modifies the flavors and adds more bulk. This is a terrible recipe for those who won’t mix their food, but for me it’s great. This recipe isn’t huge. Some recipes I have to eat for five days or freeze it. This will only last three or four. It is really hard to cook small quantities. 

I make herbed rice mix, vegetable bouillon and dry cream soup mix which I also put in sealed jars. It is so convenient when you don’t know what to make for dinner. I have blogged about how I always have browned ground beef in the freezer. I buy big packages and brown it all at one time.  I have blogged different techniques but this is my favorite and easiest. 

http://www.thecabincountess.com/2014/10/different-technique-for-browning-ground.html

When looking up the ingredients for Hamburger Helper, I noticed many different varieties. They have a taco flavor that I may try to duplicate. At least it will be more colorful. Stay tuned.

Life's Embarrassing Moments.

Life is full of embarrassing moments. Being an introvert I have had more than my share.  Every generation has those moments. As new parents it is embarrassing to have your toddler have a meltdown at inopportune moments. We feel it's a reflection on our parenting abilities. Then the tables turn and many teenagers get embarrassed by their parents. A thirteen year old rarely wants a kiss goodbye from their mom. A lot of my childrens embarrassing moments are based on me sharing too much with others. One of my daughters would get embarrassed when I told how many garbage bags of what she considered  treasures I took out of her closet. I didn't mean to throw away her collection of dryer lint in many beautiful colors. I won't site anymore examples but we have all had them and many will never be forgotten. Most aren't embarrassing anymore but beautiful memories. Even me sharing too much on this blog causes some eye rolling.

I am 76 years old and I thought I was beyond being embarrassed, but I was wrong. Recently I attended a play in Baraboo Wisconsin that my grandson was in. I decided I would try to look a little appropriate so I got some dress shoes out of the closet. They were Born brand and even though they were probably out of style, they looked in excellent shape. I have no idea how old they were, but they were probably quite old. These aren't the real shoes, but similar. I don't have a picture of the real shoes and I will explain why.

Before the play we decided to go for dinner in Wisconsin Dells. It was the day after my birthday and my family wanted to treat me to a birthday dinner. We were a bit early and decided to check out the Root Beer museum.  I didn't even know such a museum existed. I was walking around and started feeling a little unsteady. I thought that is just great. I hope I don't fall. When I got back in the car, I looked down. On the floor board it looked like someone had dropped a chunk of chocolate. On further inspection, it was a sole from a shoe. I was still oblivious. I said "someone lost part of their shoe".  Then the light bulb went on, and I realized that it was ME. Part of my shoe bottom had come off. I took off the shoe and inspected it. Oh my gosh, the whole sole was cracked. I looked at the other shoe and it was in the same condition. No wonder I was unsteady on my feet. I was walking on an unlevel surface. I had no choice but to pull both the soles off the bottom of the shoes right down to the foam insole. Now what to do? Fortunately Wisconsin Dells has an outlet mall. I put my shoes back on and walked into the mall. It felt like I was wearing bedroom slippers. I made a beeline for a shoe store. The first one I saw was the Sketcher store.  I tried on a couple pair and settled on the new Sketcher slip-ins,  I kept them on and went to pay for them. The sales person looked at me like I was a bit strange when I gave her my old shoes and an empty box. I asked if she could put them in the trash. She then had to make sure the shoes I had on matched up with the empty shoe box. When I passed inspection, I paid for the shoes and we were on our way. It was a blessing. I love my new shoes. They work as advertised. Just slip your foot in. No bending over or sitting down to put on my shoes.  Was this embarrassing at the moment? Yes, but as with most of these situations,  it made a fun story and I probably have the most comfortable shoes I have ever had. At the restaurant they offered me a birthday shot which I declined. I didn't want to be unsteady in my new shoes too. Lesson learned, even expensive shoes have a shelf life.

2023 Christmas Crafting Project

My family loves traditions especially my youngest daughter. As the years go by and families change it becomes increasingly difficult. We have to create new traditions. Children grow up and some move away. Eventually they create families of their own and then there are great grandchildren, grandchildren and in-laws. It can get really complicated with these extended families and travel schedules. Everyone has to be flexible. This is why we try to maintain just a few traditions. Most years around Thanksgiving my daughter comes to my house. We go out in the woods and cut pine and cedar boughs for decoration. It is a simple tradition but always fun. Afterwards we may go downtown and look around for new ideas, but mostly it's about spending time together. 

Another tradition is planning a Christmas craft we can do together. We decide on something that can be done in a few hours. This year we wanted to try folding a paperback book into the shape of a Christmas Tree. Thrift stores are the perfect place to find supplies without a huge cost. If it doesn't work out, we don't want to invest a lot of money. For this project we looked for Christmas stories in a paperback book of about 350 pages. The resale stores usually save the Christmas books until the holidays and put a lot of them out together. They are usually 50 cents to $1.  There are also a large variety of picture frames for under a $1. A book, a frame, scrapbook paper and some glue is all we needed for this project.

The plan was to come to my house, but we changed the location to my daughter's house. She has a She Shed full of paper, trimmings and about anything we needed and even some things we didn't even know we needed. 

This was the process. After choosing a book without a lot of cuss words or compromising situations, we started breaking down the spline so the book would lay flat. Finding the center of the book and pressing down in both directions was the best way to flatten it out. Next we started folding each page. First fold from the top right to the center and then fold again to the center. Continue folding about fifty pages toward the back of the book. Then in reverse and fold another fifty pages toward the front.

When all the pages are creased and folded they will stay in place. After the tree is finished, it's time to pick the background paper, decorate the tree and glue it onto the backing. 

These are our completed projects. Cute, cheap and fun to make. At first I thought it would take hours to fold all those pages, but it didn't take long at all.

These are a few of our crafting projects from the past few years. A painted gnome sign, a fabric Christmas tree, tee shirts and a candy cane vase. I still have most of them except for the candy cane vase. In the future we will not be making anything with real candy canes unless we store it in the freezer. You guessed it. Last summer that one melted into a sticky puddle. Good thing we have picture memories.

Next week we will be making Christmas cookies. All of my grandchildren want to come which makes me very happy.  

 

Make Your Own Traditions Whenever You Can.

My New Experience With Competitive Robotics

6o years ago when I was in high school there were basic boy's sports which were wrestling, football, track and basketball. Some schools had swimming. I'm not sure when competitive soccer started, but I hadn't even heard of soccer back then. Except for a girl's athletic club called GAA, girls sports in the early to mid sixties were non-existent. There were things like Forensics that have been around for a long time, but there were not as many activities as there are now. Today kids have access to many more competitive sports. I had my first experience with one of them today.

My two youngest grandsons are on their school Robotics team and my son-in-law is one of their coaches. Different schools compete with a team member controlling their robot to toss triballs to the opposing team’s side. Triballs are 3 sided balls. There are several 12' by 12' courts resembling a boxing ring set up in a gymnasium. There are officials keeping score. Different moves are worth different points. Then the teams are ranked by score. In the second half, teams choose which team to work with based on ranking. They compete and are eliminated until there is a champion. This was my first time attending a competition, and I hope I got it right. There is strategy and specific rules but that is way over my head at this point. This is the information on the back of the program. Many of you will understand it better than I do. 

I really enjoyed it. I was surprised this was the 10th year of competition at this school. I am really late to the party.  Robots were something I learned about in the old cartoon show The Jetsons but that was fiction. Now they are common place. My daughter told me that UW Eau Claire has robots deliver food to student dorms by using an app. 

This is normal to young people, but it is hard for me to comprehend. Robotics is a sport that anyone interested can participate in. Most kids are proficient at video games and using a remote control. I can open my garage door but that's about it. There are girl and boy participants. My grandson Jack broke his foot and was on crutches, but he could still participate. My other grandson Ewan is in eighth grade but could be on a team with high school teammates. The best part is that cousins could hang out together with Jack's uncle and Ewan's dad and both my daughters could spend time together.

Pumpkin Pie Squares

With Thanksgiving Day just around the corner I am reminded of a recipe I made over twenty years ago. I just basically forgot about it until recently when I was trying to sort through my recipe drawer. I never did get it sorted because I got distracted so many times by some of my old tried and true recipes. This is one of those recipes. I made it today to see if it's as good as I remembered it to be. It was very good. I think I would cut back on the sugar in the filling a bit, but otherwise it tasted as I remembered it. It saves the hassle of making traditional crust. 

Pumpkin Pie Squares

Combine:

1 cup flour

1/2 cup quick oatmeal

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

Cut in 1/2 cup of butter until crumbly and incorporated. Then press into an ungreased 9 x 13 pan. Bake it at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

While that is baking, combine

1 small (15 oz) can of pumpkin

1 can of evaporated milk

2 eggs

3/4 cup sugar (could be cut to 1/2 cup)

1/2 t. salt

1 3/4 t. pumpkin pie spice or (1 t . cinnamon, 1/2 t. ginger and 1/4 t. cloves)

Beat the mixture well and pour onto the warm crust. Bake at 350 degrees about 25 minutes.

While that is baking mix together:

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup brown sugar     

2 T. butter

Sprinkle the mixture over the pumpkin filling and return to the oven. Bake for 15 minutes more or until the filling is set.

When cool, refrigerate.