I seem to be on a cooking spree. It could be that I am working late every nite this week and cooking is on my mind. Or rather short cuts that help us get to the eating part of dinner much quicker.
Earlier this week I wanted, needed, had to have chicken enchiladas. The recipe that I have calls for cream of chicken soup mix. If you are watching your sodium, cream of chicken is not a healthy alternative. Most cream soup mixes seem to be a salt lick. I had found a recipe a while ago for a make ahead mix that allowed you to control the amount of salt in the mixture. I had not tried it but now was a good time. I had a newly acquired half gallon storage jar that was begging for something to store.
I tried the recipe, but of course I had to tweak it to my tastes. I don't like the flavored bouillon because it is so salty. The recipe makes 3 cups of dried mix.(I doubled the recipe) It takes 1/3 cup mix and 1 1/4 cup of liquid to make the same amount as a purchased can of cream soup. A substantial savings, even with the powdered milk.
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| Those specks are bits of chicken from the chicken stock. |
Cream Soup Mix
2 cups powdered milk
2/3 cup cornstarch
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp seasoned salt
1/2 tsp pepper
Toss everything into your mixer bowl and mix for a minute or two. Or better yet toss it into your blender or food processor and pulverize away.
Store in an airtight container.
Use 1/3 cup mix and 1 1/4 cup liquid.(I wrote the recipe on the lid of my jar.) Cook on stove top for 3-4 minutes, until mixture is thick,stirring frequently. Or you can cook in the microwave for 5 minutes, stirring every minute until thick.
To make my condensed chicken soup I used 1 1/4 cup of homemade chicken stock I had in the fridge and 1/4 tsp of bullion. I really could have left the powdered bouillon out but it gave it a nice, rich yellow color and I liked that. If I had thought about it I could have used a drop of yellow food coloring, but didn't think of it.If you don't use chicken stock, water is fine. I just had some chicken stock.
The original mix recipe called for chicken bouillon to be added to the entire mix. I did not want to limit my condensed soup to just chicken, although that is what I use the most. I wanted to be able to have a basic mix and make whatever kind of soup I needed when I needed it and not have beef, chicken and vegetable mix sitting around. The most expensive part of this mix is the nonfat powdered milk and I felt leaving the bouillon out was a way to be more versatile, economical and control the salt content.
If you use cream of onion or celery or cheese soup in cooking this would be perfect to use on a regular basis or keep on hand for an emergency when you run out of cream of soup. For celery, use 1/4 cup chopped celery or grind up some celery seeds, about 1/4 tsp. For onion you could use 1/4 cup fresh or add more powdered onion. For cheese, about 1/2 cup of grated cheese should be enough. Experiment to find what works best for your recipe.
Mix on...
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