As shrinkflation continues to suck dry family grocery budgets and as increasing numbers of food manufacturers resort to using cheaper ingredients—including bug flour (yum!)—in their products, more families are turning to making their own mixes. Before going all in on such an endeavor, consider the pros and cons and how they might apply to you and your situation.
Pros
The number one consideration for many is that they are in control of exactly what goes into their food. No MSG, no bugs, no high fructose corn syrup, no soy. Or whatever else it is that you’d like to avoid. Likewise, artificial preservatives and other artificial ingredients can be eliminated from the diet.
Using mixes helps the family rotate through their long-term-storage food more efficiently.
Using mixes means that much of the measuring can be reduced or even eliminated, and that means fewer dishes, especially when soap and water or time for washing them may be precious. Along the same lines, mixes make meal preparation significantly more efficient.
In addition, using mixes means that children or elderly family members can assist more easily with making dinner, possibly freeing you to perform other essential tasks. Getting more members involved in meal prep allows them to contribute to the good of the group and makes people a little less likely to complain about the quality of the food.
All of these advantages will be substantial enough to motivate many families make their own mixes, despite the cons, which must also be kept in mind.
Cons
While “no artificial preservatives” is viewed positively by most, it must be remembered, that without preservatives, mixes will go bad more quickly. You can’t just mix up a batch for a year and forget it. Even though the individual ingredients may store well for years, many mixes won’t last longer than three months, as ingredients go bad faster in combination than in isolation. Yes, Aaron and Becky were not pleased with the brownies I made using a homemade mix that was two months out of date.
In addition, mixes occupy space in the pantry. They need dedicated containers. And they have to be labeled and dated. Don’t tell yourself you’ll remember what’s in there. (Trust me, I do it all the time and I never remember.)
And, after making a mix, you might decide you don’t like it, and it doesn’t get used.
Finally, the taste sometimes isn’t as good as with dedicated recipe, especially if that recipe is a family favorite.
Like with many things in life, there is no one size fits all answer. Ultimately, you’ve got to choose what’s going to work for you and your family. Magic Mix and SOS Mix are staples for me. I use them all the time. They save me a lot of time and never go bad on me because I rotate through them quickly. Quick Mix is not used as frequently, but it still saves time. The chocolate milk mix is to die for, but I only make small batches of it because I shouldn’t have it often. Italian salad dressing mix means I can have dressing ready in two minutes instead of ten.
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