DIY Soup Mix

I love using soup mixes in my recipes, but I don't love all the added yuck!  In my family of 5, 3 of us have special dietary needs.  No, they aren't all the same.  So, if I truly make something that we can all enjoy, boxed, canned, pre-made foods are definitely not the place to go.  Not to mention that once you get used to cooking a certain way, the canned/boxed/pre-made stuff just doesn't seem as appetizing.  You can see the difference in this post where I compare pictures of canned vs homemade soup mix.  Wow!  Just look at the difference!  Now, tell me which one you would choose.

That's why I was super excited to find a way to make my own.  Here's the recipe I currently use. Eventually, I plan to find a fully dairy free version to better suit my family's needs.  

Since we are mostly dairy free, when I mix this up I use almond milk.  Even though there is powdered milk in this recipe, it seems to be mild enough that we can still tolerate it.

DIY Soup Mix

Ingredients
  • 2 cup powdered milk
  • 3/4 cup cornstarch
  • 2 Tbs chicken bouillon (see notes)
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 1/2 tsp thyme
  • 1/2 tsp parsley
  • 1/2 tsp basil
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper

Instructions
Measure ingredients and place in glass container.
Shake well to combine.
Store in cool dark place in airtight container.

To use: Mix equal parts of soup mix and preferred liquid (almond milk, water).  Heat over medium heat in saucepan, whisking continually.  Bring to a boil and cook for 2 minutes.
To use as a thickener, combine 1/3 mix with 1/4 liquid and add to desired recipe.

Note:
Find the recipe I use for bouillon here.

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Tater Tot Casserole From Scratch

Tater Tot Casserole From Scratch
On Friday mornings I make meals for shut-ins, elderly, or those recovering from a medical procedure.  I have a list of meals I choose from.  Most of them are meals my family used to enjoy.  However, our diets have changed so much that I end up making a totally different version of the meal for my family.  It's amazing the differences I now see in foods.  Food that I once considered home-made from scratch, I now laugh at because I know the difference.  Here's an example:  
The first picture is using canned soup mix.  The second picture shows the same recipe, but made with a homemade soup mix, totally from scratch using dried herbs, seasonings, and almond milk. 
Now for the good part!  Below, I will share with you the recipe I make for my family.  Enjoy!

Tater Tot Casserole

Ingredients
  • 1 lb ground hamburger meat
  • 1/2 medium onion, chopped
  • 1/3 cup DIY soup mix (see notes below)
  • 1/4 cup almond milk (or water)
  • 32 oz frozen tater tots
  • salt & pepper to taste

Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  2. Brown ground beef, season with salt and pepper.
  3. Add chopped onion, cook until tender.
  4. Meanwhile, mix soup mix with almond milk and set aside.
  5. In a 9x13 casserole dish, combine ground beef mixture and soup mix.
  6. Top mixture with tater tots.
  7. Bake, uncovered, for 30-40 minutes, until bubbly and tater tots are golden brown.
Note:  If you are not dairy free, you can add cheese to the top and return to the oven to melt it.
You can find the soup mix recipe here.






Search For Better Health

Search For Better Health

A huge part of our path to better health and wellness started over 15 years ago. We just had our 2nd baby, a beautiful baby girl. She started out healthy, but after just 1 month she fell below the charts. It took some time (and trying to convince the doctor) but we finally figured out what the problem was. She had severe thrush, which is why she wouldn’t nurse or take a bottle, it hurt too much. This lead her to become undernourished, which I believe to be the root cause of many of her current dietary needs. 


Fast forward a few years…It was fairly common for her to have out-of-the-blue high temps for no apparent reason. By high I mean 104-105 temps. That’s pretty scary for a mom, especially when you have no answers. The doctors didn’t seem too concerned. This happened until she was about 3 years old. By the time she was 5 she was getting blood in her urine, another problem that took time to figure out. 


I won’t go into the rest of the story here, instead I’ll direct you to my daughter’s blog (here) where she gives more details about her diagnosis. After reading her post, you will see why it became so important for us to do what we could to take her health, the health of our whole family, into our own hands. We have done loads of research and lots of trial and error. We now feel that, thanks to a few life-changing events back in 2014 (more on this later), we are on the right track.  We still have our moments of not knowing what to eat or what steps to take next, but we're making progress! 


Read my daughter’s story here. 


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