Why I DIY: Seasoning Mixes

A sampling of my seasoning mixes. I know the Sharpie writing on the
jar doesn't look nice, but it actually makes washing the jars
easy as it comes of in the wash but has good staying power
with normal handling.

The other day I was attending a four year old's birthday party and my sweet friend was bragging on me and all the homemade things I make. One of the things specifically that came up was seasoning mixes. And I received a legitimate question (ok, two) from some of the attendees that were listening in: Why make your own? and How long do they last?

Now, to be honest, I hadn't given it much thought specifically. Most of the time I just roll seasoning mixes into a lot of the other things I make at home with my standard reasoning of: if I can make my own, why buy it? The second part to that is typically that in a lot of cases, you can make things from home for a lot cheaper than buying it. While this isn't always the case, usually making your own means losing more time than money. Also, prepackaged items are notorious for having preservatives (mostly artificial) to prolong shelf life which pinpoints the purpose for the second question about how long they last.

Let's delve into this a little deeper...

I never actually make veggie broth. This mix is a stand-in
for bouillon when I'm out.

When I was young I remember my mom having a well stocked spice cabinet. There was almost never an ingredient she didn't have. And while she didn't always make everything from scratch (even I don't do that), she still had the ability to do so in more than enough situations. It was always something that I wanted to make sure I established in my own home and I slowly but surely added herbs and spices to my collection. Certainly the big ones like garlic powder, chili powder, and oregano were some of the first along and usually purchased in larger containers. As a young adult with my own place, I did have some seasoning mixes that I purchased. Convenience was certainly a factor, but also, some of the more obscure seasonings I may not have had. Also, to be honest, in some cases, it never occurred to me to even try to make my own. There was almost that voice in my head saying this was a proprietary blend only available through manufacturers. It wasn't until I got much more into homemade foods that I really began to look closer and realized, "hey, I could make these."

I think the bug first hit me when I started my foray into pumpkin baking. Anyone who knows me knows I go gaga over almost anything pumpkin. I was looking forward to roasting my very first pumpkin for pumpkin purée and thus, I was looking for various recipes for pumpkin pie (among other pumpkin goodies) and realized that some called for pumpkin pie spice while others called for a variety of individual spices. While at first it seems like I should go for the premade spice mix so I didn't end up buying six different spices, I felt I didn't want to limit myself when it came to which recipes I could use. After all, looking at the ingredient list of pumpkin pie spice revealed that it actually had a selection of those other spices in it. That meant, that if I bought the individual ones, I could mix my own pumpkin pie spice and still have the other ones to add to my spice collection to use in other dishes.

A new batch of fajita seasoning prior to mixing it up.

After this revelation, it was like falling down the rabbit hole. One thing lead to another and another. In reality, I'm still working on using up some of my old (really old, but more about that later) mixes and either doing without or replacing them with homemade mixes, but most of the time, I make up the mixes myself. Now, if I run into a recipe I want to use that calls for a mix or a package, more often than not, I go searching for a recipe for the mix (assuming I don't already have it) rather than just buying it outright. After all, with as well stocked as my spice cabinet is, I probably have most of the ingredients I need anyway. If not, it's an opportunity to add a new one or two.

So let's go back to the inquiries that were presented to me. Why do it? and more to the point I'm getting to, how long do they last? I will be the first to admit that I don't care much for expiration dates. It's a bad habit, I know. That being said, I can't say I've noticed a decline in flavor of my spices since nine times out of ten I season to taste. Given that spices don't really go rancid or start growing things (obviously there are exceptions), I tend to keep them way longer than recommended. It hasn't killed me yet. I'm not saying everyone should do this, but it's a bad habit I will fully admit to. Granted, I've been known to toss several that get all caked up and chunky, but this is more an issue of humidity than it is the product actually going bad. Regardless of my bad habits though, making my own mixes actually helps me do a better job of keeping my seasonings "fresh." Because I'm using things I have on hand, it actually increases the turnover rate of my seasonings. Most of my mixes are for things I use on a regular basis, so I'm frequently mixing up new batches. I can't say that any of them have actually gone bad. While this was never a reason I started to make my own mixes, as I talked with the party goers, it became and awesome perk I hadn't even realized existed.

So, that's how it goes around here. I may as well use what I have on hand, right? Not to mention bragging rights. I like the bragging rights: Hey, I made that! =D

Ok, so, what you may be looking for after reading or skimming or skipping my blathering entirely, is some recipes. Well, I'll share them. I don't want to take credit for any of them since I didn't develop these recipes. Most came from books, blogs, and Pinterest. I'll add links to the appropriate ones that I can to give proper credit.

Here is a list of some of the most common mixes I use. If you are interested in another one that I didn't list, just let me know and I'll be happy to add it.

Barbecue Rub (came from a cookbook from a friend. I don't know the book.)
1/4 c packed brown sugar
1/4 c sweet paprika
3 Tbsp black pepper
3 Tbsp coarse salt
1 Tbsp hickory-smoked salt or more coarse salt
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp onion powder
2 tsp celery seeds
1 tsp cayenne pepper
(Keeps for 6 mo in airtight container according to the book.)

Cajun Blackening Seasoning Mix (by Flavor Mosaic)
Great with fish and chicken.

Celery Salt (seriously, why buy this?)
Equal parts celery seeds and salt. Grind the celery seeds if desired.
1/4 c celery seeds
1/4 c salt

Fajita Seasoning Mix 
(adapted from Budget Bytes Oven Fajitas recipe to create a bulk mix)
1/2 c chili powder
1/4 c paprika
4 tsp onion powder
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp cayenne pepper
8 tsp sugar
4 tsp salt
1/4 c corn starch
Mix well. Keep in airtight container. Use 3 Tbsp of mix per batch (for recipe linked above) or season to taste.

Italian Seasoning Mix (by Heavenly Homemakers)
Technically a mix for Italian dressing but also makes an easy go-to for spicing up Italian dishes. Bonus, the link above includes a recipe for Thousand Island dressing as well if you are interested.

Pumpkin Pie Spice (by My Baking Addiction)
I like this one because it has a more rounded out mix of ingredients. Some lack allspice, ginger, and/or cloves which I think is odd.

Montreal Steak Seasoning (from Field Guide to Herbs & Spices by Aliza Green as found on Chowhound)
This is my go-to steak seasoning. I absolutely love it. I use it most often on beef and venison roasts, but of course, it's great for steaks.

Taco Seasoning (by Kelly the Kitchen Kop)
Note: I tend to halve the amount of salt used for the whole jar recipe. I typically will salt my ground beef as I cook it and then I can always add more to taste.

Enjoy!

The Challenge

Using up some of our meat and poultry stores will admittedly
help prevent lack of rotation and tossing freezer burned items. 

At the beginning of the week, Hubs pointed out that we have a "full" pantry and a pretty well stocked deep freeze. He mentioned that we probably have at least a month worth of food. That may very well be accurate. I tend to shop sales and buy in bulk so that I maintain a well stocked pantry. I figure, that way, should our budget tighten or if I'm not able to get to the store for whatever reason for a couple of weeks, we are still usually in a pretty good spot and won't be hungry. Most of my cooking is based on using what I have on hand instead of deciding ahead of time what I'm going to make and then buying food to go along with it.

Thus enters the challenge. Could we actually make do with what we have on hand for a month? How about longer? Well, I'm going to start with a month. The challenge allows me to purchase some things that may not last or we go through quickly like bread (though usually I make my own), milk, and eggs.

Planning this month's meals, complete
with a few trash meals of not so healthy
foods. It's all about balance, right?

I've recently been trying to plan meals better. Not so much to buy for the menu, but create a menu based on what we have on hand. This helps me plan out our meals for the next month, especially if I'm not making purchases for things like meats and veggies. I can ration them out if needed.

No fears, I have plenty of tomato sauce.

One of the biggest challenges for me will be the lack of fresh produce. I'll have to depend on dry beans and frozen veggies for meals. I'll likely have to use some dried fruits for school lunches and snacks like raisins and fruit leather. It's a good thing I have a stash of frozen fruit - it's a great way to store fruit for future fruit leather or fruit snack use.

Another issue that made the timing of this challenge difficult is that I had several of the kids' snack items on my shopping list already. That means I'll have to get creative making snack items for school lunches and snacking at home. I probably shouldn't, but I rely on some crackers for easy, portable snacks, so we'll have to see what I can come up with.

We are nearing the end of the first week of this challenge. Typically breakfasts and lunches are easy, quick things, I don't usually cook for them unless I'm making something simple like an omelet or scrambled eggs. Over the duration of this challenge, I'll share the meals I've prepared and how I manage to make up for lack of easy snack foods for the kiddos.

This week's dinners were/are as follows:

Sunday - frozen pizza (no jabs about health factor here, sometimes I still rely on crappy food)
Monday - chicken chili (crock pot meal due to t-ball practice)
Tuesday - leftovers (I was feeling lazy and we had some red beans and rice and remnants of some other meals hanging out in the fridge)
Wednesday - burgers and fries (homemade burgers and buns)
Thursday - spaghetti and broccoli (ok, I used rotini instead of spaghetti, but it might as well be the same thing; homemade spaghetti sauce, of course)
Friday - teriyaki salmon and green beans (homemade sauce)
Saturday - chicken spaghetti

Homemade raisins, anyone?

Various things I've been working on in the kitchen to prep include finishing off the rest of our tomatoes for tomato sauce, started dehydrating the excessive grape stash for raisins (we were running out of raisins anyway), made two pots of shredded chicken/chicken broth, and made mango fruit leather. I have additional plans for more fruit leather, making fruit snacks, cooking up some dry beans for freezing, making apple sauce with some softening apples I have hanging around, making another batch of yogurt, making bouillon, and mixing up some homemade ice cream because I have some heavy cream that I don't want to go bad. It's ambitious and may not all get done before the week is out, but I'll get started on a bunch of it in the next couple of days.

Sadly, I couldn't even make it one week without a stop at the store. We were out of milk, so I stopped by yesterday to grab two gallons.

Stay posted for more updates as I see how this challenge works out for us!