Homemade Onion Soup Mix

This Copycat Lipton Onion Soup Mix is definitely a money saver, it is easy to make and can replace an Onion Soup Mix Packet in a recipe! Homemade versions of this store-bought staple can be really useful, Perfect for french onion dip, potatoes, chicken and meatloaf!

Ingredients:
2 Cups of Dehydrated Onions
2 Cups of Beef Broth Base Powder
2 Tablespoons of Onion Powder
3 Teaspoons Garlic Powder
1/2 teaspoon Celery Salt
1/2 teaspoon Black Pepper

Some brands of bouillon may be a bit clumpy, In this case, break up the clumps. The onions i used were ones i dehydrated. I tossed everything in a bowl and mixed well.

I fill jars or use my foodsaver bags and seal this up for later use.

Use 4 Tablespoons Onion Soup Mix in a recipe in place of 1 packet of onion soup mix.

Tortillas - Flour

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
3 Tablespoons oil
1/2 cup hot water

Combine flour, salt, & baking powder in a bowl.
Stir in the oil until well distributed.
Stir in hot water, and keep working the dough, until it starts to form a ball.

Transfer to a flat surface and knead for about 30 seconds until it forms a smooth ball.

Cut dough into 8 equal pieces, i cut it into half, and then in half again until i got 8 equal pieces.

Form each piece into a smooth ball, i keep them covered with a piece of plastic wrap, while i work with 1 piece at a time, this keeps them from drying out.

Start preheating an ungreased pan to medium-high.

Roll each ball super thin, i use a small 6 inch saucer for a template, and use sheets of wax paper to separate them, until i get them all rolled out.

Place each one on the pan, it only takes about a minute on each side to turn them golden brown.

Set your oven to just "warm", and place a plate inside to hold your finished tortillas. when you are finished, wrap in wax paper or plastic wrap to keep them from drying out. Warning: after you make these from scratch, you will never buy them pre-made again! lol.

Mini Chocolate Chip Cookies - Low Sugar

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup SPLENDA® Sugar Blend
1/2 cup cup SPLENDA® Brown Sugar Blend
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Mini Morsels
1 cup chopped nuts, (optional)

Heat the oven to 375° and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Mix flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, sugars and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto parchment lined baking sheets.

Place about 2 tablespoons of SPLENDA® Sugar Blend on a paper plate and using the bottom of a glass, dip the glass onto the sugar, Gently press down on the cookie dough, dipping the glass before each one.

Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Jack Skellington Halloween Pumpkin

Carving Halloween pumpkins is an old tradition that is easy to learn how to do. My husband decided this year he was gonna carve a simple Jack Skellington Jack 0' Lantern type pumpkin, He did a great job, and we had a lot of fun doing it! Scroll down for some awesome pumpkin stencils, print them out and get carving!

Select a healthy pumpkin. When you're choosing a pumpkin, try to pick one that's free of nicks, bruises, and cuts. Wash the Pumpkin Thoroughly, Whether your pumpkin came from a pumpkin patch or the grocery store, give it a good scrub with soap and water. This will give you a clean surface to work on, and it will eliminate any mold spores that might be lurking. Ours was homegrown it came out of our Pumpkin Patch.

First make a lid by cutting a circular hole on top, around the stem. This is one step where a sturdy serrated kitchen knife is probably preferred. Cut at a slight inward angle toward the middle, so the lid won't fall inside. Making the lid a unique shape will help you line up it up perfectly when you replace it. Make sure this hole has plenty of room to fit your hand through.

TIP: Sprinkle cinnamon onto the inside of the lid. When lit you will get a lovely pumpkin pie smell.

There are two ways to transfer your design onto the pumpkin. One is to copy it freehand, Washable Crayola markers work well, if you’re drawing the design freehand, and they wipe off easily when carving is complete. If the design doesn’t work out exactly the way you wanted, you can just wipe it off and start again.

The other is to tape your template to the pumpkin, then score the design into the skin by poking holes through the template with a nail or plastic poking tool that comes in some pumpkin carving kits. I walked into my local Dollar Store and this one was readily available, and they are so cheap!

Select the paper stencil you want to use and trim the excess paper from it with scissors. Be sure to leave at least a 1/2 inch border for the tape to go on. Attach the stencil to the face of the pumpkin with tape. Top first, then the bottom and lastly the sides. Because of the uneven and curved nature of a pumpkin, the stencil isn't going to sit flush against every bit. Use your one hand to flatten a small piece of a stencil at a time, and work your way around it.

Using the Transfer Tool, press the pointed tip into and through the design lines on the paper stencil spaced about a 1/8 of an inch apart. Complex and thin designs might require the dots to be a little closer together. The tip of the Transfer Tool should be pushed in just enough to go through the paper and the outer skin of the pumpkin.

Take your time and follow the pattern edges carefully, Using the Carving Saw, push the tip of the saw-blade into a pattern hole and saw through the design lines with short back-and-forth motions.

Battery lights are great for pumpkin lighting, and cheap at your local Dollar Stores. However, if you really love candles, use these to light your pumpkins. Light your candle and then, about a minute or two later, blow it out and observe the inside top of your pumpkin. You’ll see a dark area singed by the candle’s flame. Carve a chimney hole into this area, just over an inch wide, to allow the flame’s heat to escape. Now, relight the candle and watch your pumpkin Glow, Be careful in using candles.

Simply click on one of the following design stencils, print it out and create your own frightfully fun jack-o-lantern.

Mini Corn Dog Muffins

An easy way to make the favorite treat from the fair. They are basically just like corn dogs. Except they’re not on a stick, they’re in muffin pans. And they’re not fried, they’re baked. And the hot dogs aren’t whole, they’re cut into pieces, But other than that, they’re exactly like corn dogs!

Ingredients:
2 Boxes of 8 1⁄2 ounces corn muffin mix
2 Eggs
2/3 Cup Milk
Package of Hot Dogs cut into 1 inch bite size pieces, (cut them into smaller chunks for kids), or You can substitute cocktail wieners for the hot dogs.

Pre-Heat oven to 375ºF.
Spray a mini muffin tin very well with nonstick spray

Let's start by making the cornbread batter. In a large bowl, mix together the corn muffin mix, eggs and milk.

Fill each mini muffin cup about 2/3 full of batter, place a hot dog piece into the center of each muffin tin.

Bake 10 to 12 min. or until golden brown. Cool 5 min. before removing from pans. Serve warm with mustard.

For Cheesey dogs, add a teaspoon or a cube of cheese to the each muffin before baking.

Sweet Pickles

Here's everything you need to know to make your own batch of homemade Sweet pickles right now. We had an abundance of Organic Straight 8 cucumbers so that is what we used, you can use whatever you have on hand as long as it is firm.

Ingredients:

14-16 large cucumbers
2 medium size sweet onions
1.4 oz mustard seed (small jar)
1 1/2 Tablespoons Tumeric
1 Tablespoon Celery Seed
2 Tablespoons Canning Salt
4 Cups White Vinegar
5 Cups Sugar

Wash cucumbers well with cold water. Trim blossom ends and cut cucumbers lengthwise into spears. To make paper thin slices of the onions i used a kitchen Mandoline Slicer.

Add vinegar to dry ingredients to a large stock pot, heat the brine to a boil and pour over your cucumbers and onions.

Cover and let sit overnight, stirring often.

Remove the cucumbers from the brine and firmly pack the wedges vertically into pint jars. Next pour the brine into a large stockpot, Re-heating to a boil, then ladle the boiling brine over the cucumbers, leaving 1 inch head space in the jars. Run a thin, non-metallic utensil down inside of jars to remove air bubbles, Wipe rim of jars clean with damp cloth. Cover jars with metal lids and screw on bands.

Prepare your water bath canner and process for 20 minutes. After processing jars, remove from water bath canner. Cool at room temperature on towel or rack for 12 to 24 hours.

Bread and Butter Pickles

This was my first attempt on canning pickles, we had a lot of cucumbers this year and my husband wanted me to try and make pickles. I did learn a few things along the way, like packing the pickles tightly. I did not use pickle crisp, but next time i will for crispier pickles, But these turned out wonderful!

Ingredients:
12 medium cucumbers
5 medium onions
1/4 cup canning salt
2 cups vinegar
2 cups sugar
1 cup water
3 tsp. mustard seed
3 tsp. celery seed
1 tsp. curry powder

Wash cucumbers and slice, Peel onions and slice, in a large bowl or large stockpot, whatever type you have big enough to hold ingredients in. Arrange cucumbers and onions in layers, sprinkling salt between each layer and ending with salt.

Let stand 4-6 hours. Drain and rinse well.

Combine remaining ingredients to a large stock pot and heat to boiling.

Pack the cucumber/onion mixture tightly into sterile hot jars.Cover the cucumbers with the boiling brine, leaving 1 inch head space.

Process in a water bath canner for 10 minutes.

Yields about 5 pints.