Spice Combinations

Since Mom happened to mention in her post yesterday that I've never met a spice combination I didn't like, I thought I would share with you two spice mixes you can easily make at home.  Ranch dressing mix and onion soup mix - Why would you want to make these at home?  One could argue that it might be cheaper in volume over time, but I prefer to do it because I know exactly what is going in my spices and food!  I know exactly how much salt goes into these mixes and the quality of the products used.  Plus, to be honest, it is fun to have jars of spice mixes that I put together myself.  :)

Now, as to where I get the volume of bulk herbs/spices needed to create these mixes - We are fortunate to live about half an hour away from an Amish grocery store and about 45 minutes away from another Amish community with a bulk store.  I love to go "long distance grocery shopping" as my husband calls it.  I enjoy going and stocking up on the products I know I can use for a good while in many different dishes.  If you are a gardener, you could always dry many of your own herbs to use in spice mixes.  The main advice I would give is - Do not buy the spices in the small little containers from the normal grocery store.  These would most likely be far too pricey to have the amount of herbs/spices you need to make these mixes.

When I made these two spice mixes today, I doubled each recipe to fill up the canning jars I used.

As always, please feel free to leave me comments or questions on the blog, or if you aren't able to leave comments on here, please look up our facebook page - "Chicken Soup for the Bowl" and "like" us so you get updates of when we post on the blog! :)
-Olivia

Onion Soup Mix:

2/3 cup dried, minced onion

3 teaspoons parsley flakes

2 teaspoons onion powder

2 teaspoons turmeric

1 teaspoon celery salt

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground pepper

Mix all ingredients in a jar, then give the jar a good shake.  I’d recommend shaking the jar to mix the ingredients well before each use. 

Use 4 tablespoons in a recipe in place of 1 packet of onion soup mix.  Store this in a dry, cool place. 

Onion soup mix ingredients piled in before being mixed up -

Onion soup mix finished and ready to use (on right) along with some of the bulk ingredients I used to create it-

Ranch Dressing Mix:

5 tablespoons dried minced onions

7 teaspoons parsley flakes

4 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon garlic powder

Mix together and store in an air tight container.

For dressing: Mix 2 tablespoons dry mix with 1 cup mayonnaise and 1 cup buttermilk or sour cream.

For dip:  Mix 2 tablespoons dry mix with 2 cups sour cream.

Mix up a few hours before serving, so the flavors all blend.

Just shake for ranch dressing mix-

Ranch dressing mix all ready to be used (on the right) and some bulk items I used to create the mix-