Recipes for condiments, spice packets, sauce packets, stocks, etc

[saysfaa]

I haven't seen a burrito spice packet in a grocery store for months. There is nothing wrong with tacos but they are different than burritos. And fajitas, I haven't seen that either.

I recently discovered it is less expensive to buy a jar of alfredo sauce and a box of noodles than to buy a boxed noodle-and-sauce side dish. It could be even less expensive to make alfredo sauce or noodles... I'm not that far down this path yet. Maybe someone else is.

I prefer foods to not have high fructose corn syrup. Or any corn syrup, for that matter. Or msg. It is hard to find salad dressings without these things. At least some dressings are very easy to make.

Apple crisp is so ridiculously easy to make that I have difficulty understanding why anyone would buy a box kit package thing unless they really didn't know how easy it is.

I'm also revamping my recipe system. I want no more boxes of recipe books, with each book having a couple of recipes I actually use. Instead, I want just my two most used recipe books and a 3-ring binder with my go-to recipes. And, maybe, one small box for solid reference books (like the Blue Ball canning book) and one 3-ring binder for recipes I might want to try.

So. This thread....

For these kinds of recipes or lists of what you would put in a go-to binder (not necessarily the recipes themselves of those on the lists - wow is this a sentence to make a grammar guru cringe, sorry).

 

[saysfaa]

Dressing for Greek salad
Mix 2 T olive oil, 1T lemon juice, 1 T red wine vinegar, 1/2 tsp dried oregano crmbled, 1/2 rsp black pepper

Dressing for Greek salad, metric measurements
Mix 30 ml olive oil, 15 ml lemon juice, 15 ml red wine vinegar, 2.5 ml dried oregano crmbled, 2.5 ml rsp black pepper

 

[saysfaa]

On my go-to recipe list
Salad ideas (it is a list; not a recipe)
Salad dressing for Greek Salad

Bread
Biscuits

Wild rice soup
Split pea soup
Spicy Corn and Sweet Potato Chowder
Beef Barley Soup

Chicken pot pie
Pollo Guisado
Habichuelas Guisadas
Thai yellow chicken curry with potatoes
Meat loaf
Lasagne
Potato salad
Aunt Kim's Chili Chicken

Pie crust
Apple crisp
Butterballs aka Russian Teacakes
Roll out Christmas cut out cookies
Custard

My previous attempts at a three ring binder recipe system didn't work well because I put more than go-to recipes in it. I put all the recipes I might want.

These on this list aren't necessarily what I make very often. They are the ones I would call my mother for because the cookbooks and internet didn't have the right one. Or that level of importance; not all of these came from family.

But if you want to share a list, it could be the recipes you use most often. Or whatever criteria you want. Not too long of a list, though.

 

[SheaLoner]

An Alfredo sauce is one of THE easiest cream sauces to make.
Add butter and minced garlic to a pan. Frying pan/saucee something wide with low sides.
Saute till fragrent.
Add 1-2c heavy cream. Can use half and half. If using whole milk add 1 tblsp flour per cup to the butter.
Heat till bubbly. Stir constantly.
Add handfuls of grated parmesean to taste or til thick when melted. Normally 1/4 - 1/2c. Per cup of cream.
Pepper to taste.

 

[saysfaa]

Basic Bread, makes 1 large loaf
2 c warm water
2 T honey
1 (4 oz) pkg yeast
Stir, allow to bloom
2 T fat (so far avocado, olive, and butter have all worked well)
1 tsp salt
2 to 3 c flour (so far freshly ground Bronze Chief has worked well) - as much as you can and still beat it easily enough
Rest 10 to 15 min so wheat can absorb the liquid
Beat minimum of 200 strokes
2 T wheat germ
1/2 c dry milk
1 to 2 cups white flour*
Knead**, let rise in buttered bowl, punch down
Knead a few times a to press out air
Divide if you want two smaller loaves or rolls
Rest 10 min, shape loaves, let rise
Bake

* or whole wheat if you let it rest another 10 min before kneading it; and want to risk it being too dry

** it will be stickier than dough made with white flour

First time baking with whole wheat: add a grated carrot when you add the flour. It will help buffer the moisture level

Softer crust: just before baking, brush top with 1 egg beaten with 1 T water

Not that the crust isn't good without being softer. We like it without being softer.

 

[WIchickMama]

Don't forget brownies and crazy cake! Two very easy and quick things to make which will satisfy a sweet tooth-plus the crazy cake (or depression cake as some call it) doesn't need eggs.

 

[saysfaa]

Drop Biscuits
Sift 2 c flour (freshly ground Bronze Chief works well)
1T baking powder (test it first)
1/2 tsp salt
Cut in 3T sweet butter, cold
Pour in 1 c cold milk
Mix gently
Drop by spoonful onto buttered baking sheet (or unbuttered silicon baking sheet)
375F 20 to 25 minutes

 

[saysfaa]

Don't forget brownies and crazy cake! Two very easy and quick things to make which will satisfy a sweet tooth-plus the crazy cake (or depression cake as some call it) doesn't need eggs.

I had to net search crazy cake... interesting! It looks good

 

[WIchickMama]

I had to net search crazy cake... interesting! It looks good

One of our go-tos as the oldest can't have nuts or eggs. Super moist and doesn't even need a frosting.

 

[igorsMistress]

I only have a couple of cookbooks, otherwise my favorite recipes are on cards in a box, or in my head.

Things that come to mind are curry powder, super easy to make at home and much tastier. Don’t forget the recipe for pastes to go with.

Gravy, no mix used here but I do keep two recipes we enjoy a lot.

Salad dressings are a good category. Sweets also.

Don’t forget batter recipes for things like fish and onion rings.

Noodles are different than pasta. Pasta holds its shape, is firmer than noodles and salt is added to the cooking water not the dough. Noodles usually have more egg, salt is in the dough and they become soft and fluffy when cooked. Both are easy to make, but noodles are simpler in my opinion.

I don’t know if a package of pasta and jar of Alfredo sauce is really cheaper than making your own sauce. The taste is worth the effort and expense to make it from scratch though.

Don’t forget a section for your own creations. I don’t use a recipe for chili, but sometimes I’ll try a new spice combo and if we like it I write that down. Also, if I find a recipe that sounds good but I want to try different spices, that modified recipe is what goes in the box.

Master recipes are another category. The basic recipe for the custard in a quiche is good, but that’s all you need, along with an idea of how much filling to use, because you can always use different fillings. The same for pot pie filling. The basic measurements are all you need, but you can change the meat, veg and spices. No chicken or turkey on hand? Use beef and the corresponding broth.