Homemade Cream of Chicken Soup Mix Recipe

March 12, 2019 sweetfrugallifeLeave a comment

Did you know that you can make your very own Cream of Chicken Soup Mix? Yep! You can! And guess what, it’s also incredibly easy, quick and frugal to whip up. (hooray!)

I really don’t like buying the canned soup in the store, but sometimes I just want a good old fashioned recipe with Cream of Chicken Soup in it, ya know???

I came across this recipe years ago and have been using it regularly ever since. It tastes so much better than the cans, and is a lot less processed. I use it in soups, stews, casseroles, etc. All you need is a little water added to the mix and you’re ready to cook!

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Cream of Chicken Soup Mix Recipe

Ingredients:

1 3/4 Cups Flour

1 1/2 Cups Dry Milk Powder

3 Tablespoons Chicken Bouillon

1 1/2 Tablespoons Dried Chopped Onion

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl.

And you are done! I like to store my mix in a quart sized mason jar.

To Use:

When ready to use, just mix 1/2 cup of soup mix with 1 1/4 cups water and substitute in any recipe calling for a can of Cream of Chicken Soup. Be sure to write the instructions on the jar lid, so you’ll always remember! 😉

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You might also like a few of my other recipes:

What to do with your bulk chicken; including 6 Freezer Chicken Recipes

Homemade Graham Cracker Recipe

What I Learned From the July Pantry Challenge

Whole Wheat Banana Chocolate Chip Muffin Recipe

January 21, 2019 sweetfrugallife2 Comments

My friend shared this whole wheat banana chocolate chip muffin recipe with me years ago and I have been hooked on them ever since! We eat them for breakfast, for after school snacks and I add them in my kids’ school lunches.

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These muffins are quick and easy to make, fairly healthy thanks to the whole wheat. They are also super easy to make a large batch to freeze for later….and my ENTIRE family LOVES them. So, basically just a win all around!

I will usually double the recipe and put half of them in the freezer. To freeze you simply place the baked muffins in a ziplock freezer bag and throw them (or I guess gently place them….either way works 😉 ) into the freezer.

When you are ready to eat the muffins, just take them out of the freezer and thaw on the counter. You can even just pop them into the microwave for a minute if you don’t want to wait for them to thaw. (this is my kids’ fave trick!)

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Whole Wheat Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

2 eggs

1/4 cup honey

3 ripe bananas mashed

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat the butter, sugar, vanilla, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg together until smooth.

Add the eggs, honey and mashed bananas. Beat well.

Next, mix in the flour and chocolate chips.

Fill greased muffin cups 3/4 full.

Bake for 23-28 minutes.

This recipes yields 12 regular sized muffins.

You might be interested in a few of my other recipes:

Light and Fluffy Pancake Recipe

Homemade Graham Cracker Recipe

Quick and Easy Overnight Oatmeal
Continue reading “Whole Wheat Banana Chocolate Chip Muffin Recipe” →

Family · For the kids · Frugal Life · Frugal Living Challenge · Homemade · Parenting · Recipes

Light and Fluffy Pancake Recipe

January 17, 2019January 15, 2019 sweetfrugallife6 Comments

I love to make my kids pancakes for breakfast! They are easy to whip up, VERY cheap to make, and always a huge hit with everyone in my family. The only problem is that I am extremely picky about my pancakes!

I have spent YEARS (seriously.) trying dozens and dozens of different pancake recipes. Some have been to sweet, others have ingredients I don’t commonly have in my house. A few of the recipes had pancakes turn out way to flat.

I came across this recipe about 8 years ago…and we haven’t looked back since! The pancakes are easy to make, ingredients are always stocked in my cupboards, and they turn out light and fluffy every single time! It is a winner!

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Light and Fluffy Pancake Recipe

Ingredients

2 cups flour

2 Tbsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

4 tsp baking powder

2/3 cup oil

2 eggs

1 1/2 cup buttermilk (if you don’t have buttermilk you can use milk, but I recommend buttermilk)

Instructions

In a large bowl stir all of the dry ingredients together. In a separate bowl mix the oil, eggs and milk.

Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir just until mixed.

Pour 1/4 cup batter on hot griddle. Bake until bubbles appear. turn. Bake the other side until golden brown.

Enjoy!

These pancakes are also so easy to freeze! Find out how here: Stock Piling your Freezer: How to freeze Pancakes for a Quick Frugal Breakfast

You might also enjoy my overnight oats recipe: Quick and Easy Overnight Oatmeal

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Stock Piling your Freezer: How to freeze Pancakes for a Quick Frugal Breakfast

January 15, 2019January 21, 2019 sweetfrugallife1 Comment

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for all ages

I really think my mom was supermom. Granted, I didn’t think that when I was growing up….but now that I have become a mom myself, I am able to look back and realize just how hard she worked for our family.

I feel fairly confident when I say that many of you are supermoms as well. You wake up early, spend all day serving your family, and go to bed late worrying about your kids. My goal is to be supermom! I fail about everyday, but I continue to try!

One of the many “supermom” traits from my mom was her willingness to make us a hot breakfast every single morning before school. I knew that when I walked upstairs after getting dressed the table would be set, and a fresh warm breakfast would be served. I TRY to do the same with my kids….but I REALLY struggle some mornings to find the energy and motivation.

I’ve recently started batch cooking many breakfast items and stocking up my freezer for quick breakfasts for my kids before they head out the door for school.

Making large batches of pancakes not only saves me time in the morning…it is also a VERY frugal breakfast! You can spend 30 minutes one afternoon each week making a large batch of pancakes for the freezer, or the next time you make pancakes for breakfast simply double the batch and freeze the extras! Here’s how!

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Make your pancakes following your favorite pancake recipe. You can find my fave recipe here! Let them cool completely.

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Place pancakes on a cookie sheet in a single layer making sure the sides aren’t touching.

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While the pancakes are in the freezer you can prepare your freezer bags. All this takes is writing what “pancakes” and the date on the bag.

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Put the cookie sheets in the freezer for 30 minutes. Once frozen take the pancakes off of the cookie sheets and place them all in your freezer bag. It can be full as large as you need to. Because you pre-froze them, they should be easy to break apart when you need to use them.

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Stick the bag of pancakes in the freezer and you are done! Yay! Easy peasy!

When you are ready to use the pancakes, simply take out the number of pancakes you need and microwave them until they are warm. I usually microwave them for about a minute.

These are also easy for the kids to get out of the freezer themselves! If I’m busy getting ready in the morning I sometimes tell my oldest to get out a few pancakes for all of the kids.

You might be interested in my other INCREDIBLY easy and frugal breakfast recipe: Quick and Easy Overnight Oatmeal.

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Christmas Hard Candy Recipe

December 19, 2018December 17, 2018 sweetfrugallifeLeave a comment

I was introduced to Christmas Hard Candy when I married my husband. It is a Christmas staple in his family. It’s also so easy to make, and even more fun to eat! 😉

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I made Cinnamon version. But, you can also make a peppermint version (tinted green) which is equally as good! It’s fun to make both and have both red and green candy to give to neighbors.

You will need cinnamon oil or peppermint oil. These are not usually found at a grocery store. I buy mine at a craft store in the cake decorating section. I also found them for you on Amazon. Do not use cinnamon or peppermint extract, it won’t turn out as good! (I promise, I tried!)

Christmas Hard Candy Recipe

3 1/2 cup sugar

1 cup light corn syrup

1 cup water

1/2 tsp cinnamon or peppermint oil

1 tsp red (for cinnamon) or green (for peppermint) food coloring

In a large heavy saucepan, combine sugar, corn syrup, and water. Cook on medium to high heat until candy thermometer reads 300 degrees (hard crack stage), stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat. Stir in oil and food coloring, keeping face away from mixture as odor is very strong. Immediately pour onto an oiled cookie sheet. Cool and break into pieces. Store in air tight container.

Let me know if you try it and like it! It puts a big smile on my husbands face every year!

Check out my other Christmas Recipes:

Christmas Tree Cookie Recipe

Easy Hot Cocoa Mix Recipe

Christmas · Family · For the kids · Free Fun · Frugal Life · Gift Ideas · Good Ideas · Holidays · Homemade · Recipes

Easy Hot Cocoa Mix Recipe

December 5, 2018December 6, 2018 sweetfrugallife22 Comments

Hot cocoa is such a fun staple to have in your home during these cold winter months. My kids will spend hours playing outside in the snow and the first thing they ask for when they come inside is some hot chocolate!

Back in my “spender” days I use to buy hot chocolate mix at the store like it was nobody’s business! Once I started learning how to save and live a frugal life I learned how to make hot chocolate mix from scratch and I have never looked back!

Not only does making your own hot cocoa save you money, it is also so quick and easy to do. It also tastes much better than what you will buy from the store!

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Hot Cocoa Mix Recipe

2 cups nonfat dry milk powder

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup cocoa

1/2 cup powdered creamer

1/8 tsp salt

Combine all ingredients and mix well. Store in a tightly covered container.

To make hot chocolate: Stir 1/4 cup mix with 3/4 cup boiling water. Enjoy!

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We usually make this mix for our family to enjoy all winter, but it would also be a really frugal christmas gift for friends and neighbors. Whip up a large batch, portion it into cute jars and tie a bow around it. Done!

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Christmas Tree Cookie Recipe

November 29, 2018 sweetfrugallife3 Comments

One of my favorite Christmas Traditions as a young girl was my mom making these delicious Christmas Tree Cookies! I knew it was Christmastime when I came home to these delicious treats after school.

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My mom is no longer living, so I have continued on the tradition by making them for my kids. They are SO easy and I love the hint of almond flavor!

One of the best parts of making Christmas Tree Cookies is getting to use this fun Wilton Cookie Press. It’s really easy to use, and you can usually find one under $10! It comes with a dozen different plates with fun shapes for cookies. All you have to do is fill it with the cookie dough, turn it upside down and press the trigger! Out comes a cute little tree.

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Christmas Tree Cookies

Ingredients

1 cup butter

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tsp almond extract

1/4 tsp salt

2 1/4 cups flour

1/4 tsp baking powder

green food coloring

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cream the butter and sugar together in mixer.

Beat in egg and almond extract.

Mix dry ingredients together in a separate bowl. Gradually add to mixer.

Add a few drops of green food coloring. Mix well.

Fill Cookie Press with dough and insert the tree plate.

Use Cookie Press to make cookies on ungreased cookie sheet.

Sprinkle with red sprinkles.

Bake in hot oven for 8 minutes.

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They are so easy! Your kids will look forward to them every year, I promise!

Crafts · Family · For the kids · Free Fun · Frugal Life · Homemade · Parenting · Recipes

How to Make Homemade Butter

November 29, 2018November 17, 2018 sweetfrugallife1 Comment

I had a container of heavy whipping cream sitting in my fridge for a few weeks. I kept looking at it, knowing I needed to do something with it, but never knowing exactly what! My sister finally suggested to me that I should use the cream to make butter with my kids.

This actually turned out to be the best idea ever! Making butter was so so easy, cheap, and my kids absolutely LOVED it!

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My kids loved shaking their jars and checking every 5 minutes to see if the butter had formed. My daughter even said, “Wow! They use to have to work hard in the olden days! I can’t imagine doing this every time we needed butter.” This led into such a great discussion about the conveniences we have now and how hard our ancestors had to work in order to survive.

You can make your very own butter; all you need is a mason jar and heavy whipping cream.

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Pour some whipping cream into the jar. I filled our jars about half full, but if you are doing this with your kids I would recommend only filling it about 1/4 full. I think it would’ve been easier and quicker for the kids if the jar had less cream in it.

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Now, you shake it! Shake, shake and shake! This took us about 45 minutes of hard shaking. If I had done less cream I’m sure it would’ve been much quicker.

We turned on some music and danced while shaking our jars.

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The cream will slowly become thicker. You will eventually notice the butter separating from the cream. The butter will form together in a nice solid ball. Once this happens, you are done! See, so easy!

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Drain the leftover cream, rinse your butter, and then transfer it to a plate. Wah-lah! You have made butter!

Now is the fun part! Enjoy your butter on some fresh bread or rolls. It really is delicious!

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What to do with your bulk chicken; including 6 Freezer Chicken Recipes

November 25, 2018November 26, 2018 sweetfrugallife4 Comments

I will receive compensation from purchases made through links in this post. Thank you!

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I just tried out Savory Butcher for the first time, and I was SO impressed! The customer service was incredible! The meat was high quality and delicious! And the price is right!

I bought the 40 lb case of chicken for $1.99 lb, which is an awesome deal. Their chicken comes fresh from the farm, already trimmed, and no added hormones, anti-biotics, or preservatives. Savory Butcher also offers high quality bacon and ground beef.

Savory Butcher has limited delivery locations, so check to see if they will be delivering near you. Currently they deliver to areas in Washington, Oregon, Utah and Idaho. If you live in one of these areas, look into when they will be delivering near you.

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I just spent a couple of hours prepping my bulk chicken. I love stocking my freezer full of chicken for quick, easy dinners. I prepped 8 ready to cook dinners; and 6 bags of plain chicken. It does take a little bit of effort to prepare your bulk chicken, but the amount of money you save is SO worth it!

Freezing Your Bulk Chicken

When preparing chicken for the freezer I highly recommend using a vacuum sealer. The vacuum sealer will make the process simple and helps prevent any freezer burn. My sealer was not working (resulting in quite a bit of frustration on my part!). I decided to freeze my chicken in freezer bags instead. The freezer bags will work, just not as well as the vacuum sealer!

Separate your chicken into dinner sized portions, this resulted in about 2-3 chicken breasts per bag for my family. Place each portioned chicken into freezer bag, remove all of the air and seal tightly.

These will store well in your freezer for 6 months.

Freezer Chicken Recipes

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Slow Cooker Honey Chicken

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2 lbs. chicken breasts

Salt and Pepper

1 cup honey

1/2 cup soy sauce

4 Tbsp diced onion

4 Tbsp ketchup

2 tsp garlic powder

4 tsp cornstarch

6 Tbsp water

Combine chicken, salt, pepper, honey, soy sauce, onion, ketchup and garlic powder in a freezer bag.

Let all air out of bag. Seal tight and freeze.

When ready to prepare take it out of freezer and allow to thaw.

Dump entire bag of chicken and sauce into slow cooker. Cook on low for 3-4 hours.

When finished cooking take chicken out of slow cooker and leave the sauce.

Combine cornstarch with water, stir well.

Add it into slow cooker with sauce. Cook sauce on high until it begins to thicken (5-10 minutes).

Slice chicken into small chunks. Return to slow cooker and stir with sauce.

Serve over rice.

Barbecue Chicken

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2 lbs. chicken breasts

1 container of barbecue sauce

Put chicken in a freezer bag. Pour entire container of barbecue sauce on top.

Let all air out of bag. Seal tight and freeze.

When ready to prepare take it out of freezer and allow to thaw.

Cook on grill. Top with barbecue sauce to serve.

Lemon Garlic Chicken

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2 lb. chicken breasts sliced thin

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 cup lemon juice

2 tsp garlic powder

salt and pepper to taste

Combine chicken, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic powder, salt and pepper in freezer bag.

Put chicken in a freezer bag. Pour entire container of barbecue sauce on top.

Let all air out of bag. Seal tight and freeze.

When ready to prepare take it out of freezer and allow to thaw.

Cook chicken on grill.

Serve with rice and veggies.

Balsamic Chicken

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This balsamic chicken recipe is available as part of my Free 14 Day Frugal Living Challenge. You can sign up using this link and my 15 favorite frugal recipes will be e-mailed to you on Day 3 of the challenge.

Sweet and Spicy Chicken Tacos

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2 lb. chicken breasts

1 14 oz. can diced tomatoes

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

Combine chicken, tomatoes, brown sugar and red pepper flakes in freezer bag.

Let all air out of bag. Seal tight and freeze.

When ready to prepare take it out of freezer and allow to thaw.

Pour chicken and sauce into slow cooker.

Cook in slow cooker on high for 5 hours.

When done cooking shred chicken in sauce.

Serve in flour tortillas with your favorite toppings.

Grilled (or baked!) Island Chicken

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This grilled island chicken recipe is available as part of my Free 14 Day Frugal Living Challenge. You can sign up using this link and my 15 favorite frugal recipes will be e-mailed to you on Day 3 of the challenge.

Favorite Baked Chicken

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2 lb. chicken breasts

3/4 cup olive oil

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

2 tsp garlic powder

Combine all ingredients in freezer bag.

Let all air out of bag. Seal tight and freeze.

When ready to prepare take it out of freezer and allow to thaw.

Bake in 375 degree oven for 30 minutes.

Serve with baked potatoes and veggies.

Honey Lime Enchiladas

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1 lb. chicken

6 Tbsp honey

4.5 Tbsp lime juice

1 Tbsp chili powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

10 oz. can green enchilada sauce

flour tortillas

shredded monterey jack cheese

Combine chicken, honey, lime juice, chili powder, and garlic powder in freezer bag.

Let all air out of bag. Seal tight and freeze.

When ready to prepare take it out of freezer and allow to thaw.

Pour chicken and sauce into slow cooker.

Cook on low for 8 hours.

Shred chicken in sauce.

Pour a small amount of green enchilada sauce on the bottom of a 9×13 pan.

Fill tortillas with shredded chicken and cheese. Place in pan.

Pour the rest of the green enchilada sauce over the tortillas. Sprinkle with cheese.

Bake uncovered in 350 degree oven for 30 minutes.

Family · For the kids · Frugal Life · Homemade · Parenting · Recipes

A Month of After School Snacks

October 22, 2018October 17, 2018 sweetfrugallife4 Comments

I try to have an after school snack ready for my kids each day when they get home from school each day. I’m not perfect at this, but I try!

The after school snack is a time for my kids to sit down, refill their bellies, and talk to ME! 😉

I will admit, a big reason I make the after school snack a priority is for selfish reasons. My goal is that as they eat their snack they will tell me all the highs and lows of their day. It doesn’t always happen this way, but sometimes I see success. There have been amazing days when they have sat down and poured their hearts out to me over the snack. And those days make it all worthwhile!

The after school snack is a slightly chaotic time in our household, but one I have come to cherish and look forward to.

I spent the past month taking a daily picture of our after school snacks. I am NO “pinterest mom.” My parenting thrives on simple and cheap. If you are looking for the healthiest, fanciest snacks…..this is NOT that type of blog. If you are looking for a few easy snack ideas, keep reading, you might find one here!

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