Homemade Mixes: How To

Last week I shared with you all the benefits of making your own mixes. Hopefully that sparked your interest and you gathered up your ingredients because today we are putting our mixes together.

You can use this same basic process for any sort of mixes. Here are some ideas:
-Spice mixes
-Bread (savory or sweet: banana, zucchini, cinnamon rolls, pizza crust, dinner rolls, etc)
-Desserts (cakes, cookies, pie crusts, etc)
-Snack mixes

1. Gather your supplies for the first recipe (it's best to do one at a time)
This includes:
-The recipe
-Gallon size ziplock bags (or you can use mason jars if the mix is small enough)
-Snack and sandwich size ziplock bags
-Ingredients
-Measuring utensils
-Index cards & pen OR printed recipe
-Sharpie or printed labels

2. Decide how many mixes you'll be making
Label the bags you'll be using and open all of the bags. Prop them up for easy access to the opening. Also decide if you'll be making 1/2 or 1/4 size protions. If so, then write out the correct amounts you'll need for those variations on your recipe card so you don't have to do the math each time. Be sure to also adjust the liquid amounts to match the amount you've decided on so that your recipe will be correct when it comes time to make the mix.

3. Read the recipe carefully. Be sure to look over all the directions so that you know if there are specific things that you'll need to do with some of the ingredients when it comes time to prepare the mix or something you should do now. For example, my cookie recipe calls for my oatmeal to be blended, so I do that before adding it to my mix. If there is anything that needs to be combined separately with a liquid ingredient, then you will need to keep that/those ingredients in a separate ziplock bag. For example, my cookie dough recipe calls for the sugars to be combined with the butter, so I keep the sugars in a smaller bag within my mix. Once you've paid careful attention to the recipe and made sure you made special arrangements when necessary, then you can move ahead to the next step.

4. Start adding your ingredients
First, put any special ingredients in individual bags so that you don't forget to that later and add them to the gallon sized bag. Then, start at the top of recipe and add the required amount of each DRY ingredient to your bag. I like to do one ingredient at a time. So if I'm making 3 mixes and my recipe calls for 2 C of flour, I'll add the 2 C of flour to each of my 3 bags before moving on to the next ingredient. Then I'll do the same for all the remaining ingredients. This helps me make sure I don't miss any ingredient in each mix. It also helps me keep a cleaner area, once I've finished with all 3 mixes, I can set that ingredient aside or put it away.

5. Finish your mix
Once you've added all your DRY ingredients to your mix, then add your printed or written out copy of the recipe to the bag. Seal it up and put it away.

You can follow this exact same process for the remaining recipes you're making. It's not hard to make several mixes in just a few hours, especially if they have similar ingredients.

Have fun stocking up!

If you come across a great recipe that works well for a homemade mix, please share it with us!