Magic Mix Soups: Creamy Chicken Noodle and Cheesy Potato and Broccoli

Magic Mix is really pretty versatile stuff.  We've already covered how it makes a fabulous substitute for cream of whatever in a can.  (Actually, I think it's way better, so it's not fair to call it a substitute.  That suggests it's not as good as the original.)  However, you can also just skip the part of making the soup substitute and go straight to making a creamy soup.  And you can do it really quickly.   

Cheesy Potato and Broccoli Soup

1 cup Magic Mix
2 1/2 cups water
3/4 cup sour cream
2-3 baked potatoes, diced
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 1/2 cups chopped, cooked broccoli
1 teaspoon salt
Garnishes--bacon bits, green onions, additional shredded cheese

Combine Magic Mix and water in saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly until it begins to thicken.  Stir in remaining ingredients and heat through.  Ladle into soup bowls and garnish, if desired.

Family reviews:  Husband thought it was a bit on the rich side.  I loved it and had seconds.  And I really loved that it was very quick to make.  The kids weren't around to try it.

Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup

8 cups water, divided
3/4 cup Magic Mix
2 tablespoons chicken bouillon
1 pint canned chicken
2 cups sliced fresh carrots (or 1 cup dehydrated + 1 1/2 cups water)
2 cups chopped celery (or 3/4 cup dehydrated + 1 1/2 cups water)
3/4 cup chopped onion (or 3 tablespoons dehydrated + 2/3 cup water)
4 cups uncooked noodles

In a large pot over medium-low, whisk Magic Mix into 2 cups water until smooth, stirring until thickened.  Add remaining water, bouillon, chicken, vegetables, and noodles.  Cook until vegetables are tender.

Links to related posts:
Dry Milk
Magic Mix 
Banana Cream Pie with Magic Mix
Magic Mix Beef Stroganoff and Cheeseburger Mac
Magic Mix Fudgesicles
Coconut Oil for Butter in Magic Mix 

 © 2019, PrepSchoolDaily.blogspot.com

More Magic Mix Entrees--Chicken and Rice Casserole and Macaroni & Cheese

Up for today are a couple more recipes to try with Magic Mix.  All ingredients for the first are food storage items in this house; for the second, only the cream cheese isn't food storage, but even that can be substituted with some yogurt and butter powder.

Both recipes were adapted from entrees found at StoreThisNotThat.com.  They have some fantastic recipes there using food storage items.  They're just more focused on regular conditions and simply rotating food rather than being able to prepare good meals under the more challenging conditions the interesting times ahead may present.

Chicken & Rice with Green Beans
2 pints canned chicken, drained, with juice reserved
2 cups Magic Mix
1 can (15 oz) cut green beans
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, divided
3 cups rice
water

Measure reserved chicken juice and add enough water to make 1 1/2 cups.  Pour this into a saucepan over medium-low heat and stir in Magic Mix.  Cook until thickened, stirring frequently.  Remove from heat and gently fold in chicken, green beans, rice, and 3/4 cup of the cheese.  Pour into 9x13 pan.  Sprinkle with remaining cheese.  Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Macaroni & Cheese
 2 cups elbow macaroni, cooked according to package directions and drained
1/3 cup Magic Mix
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
4 oz cream cheese (or 4 oz plain yogurt with 1 tablespoon butter powder)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/8 teaspoon paprika

Combine Magic Mix and water in a large saucepan over medium-low heat.  Stir rapidly until mixture thickens.  Add the cheeses and seasonings, and stir until cheese is melted and sauce is smooth.  Gently fold in macaroni.  Pour into a 9x9" greased casserole dish and bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. 

Alfredo Sauce Entirely from Food Storage

A few months ago when I started into researching about other ways to use Magic Mix, I came across a recipe for Alfredo sauce.  I absolutely love a really good Alfredo sauce.   

Here's my recipe for a perfect Alfredo sauce.  You'll notice it's not very conducive to a societal collapse situation, unless you happen to have a dairy cow at your disposal.

Perfect Alfredo Sauce

• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 tablespoons cream cheese
• 1 pint heavy cream
• 1-2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 2/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
• dash nutmeg
• salt and pepper to taste

In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, melt the butter and then whisk in the cream cheese.  Whisk in the heavy cream and garlic powder.  Simmer and stir frequently until the sauce thickens, about 10 minutes.  Stir in the cheese and nutmeg and add salt and pepper to taste, stirring until cheese is completely melted.  Serve over noodles.  

Every other Alfredo sauce recipe gets compared to this one.  

Here's the Magic Mix version of Alfredo sauce:

• 2/3 cup Magic Mix 
• 1 cup water 
• 1 cup Parmesan cheese 
• dash of salt, pepper, and nutmeg

Combine Magic Mix and water in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir rapidly until it starts to bubble.  Reduce heat and stir in cheese and seasonings.  Serve over noodles.

For me, this was kind of a fail.  The taste was acceptable, but the texture wasn't so great.  No one's running to the sink to vomit, but no one wants to finish it, either.  It's just too starchy, and not really smooth and creamy like our grid-up and happy days sauce above.

So here's the next attempt at a long-term food storage Alfredo sauce.  It's pretty good, especially for being low-fat.

Long Term Food Storage Alfredo Sauce Using Yogurt

• 2 tablespoons butter (or coconut oil)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 1/4 cups homemade yogurt (using this recipe)
• 1/2-2/3 cup Parmesan cheese
• dash nutmeg
• salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter in a medium saucepan over low heat.  Stir in garlic powder and yogurt, and then add in cheese and seasonings.  Serve over noodles.

Note:  It is very important to keep the heat low.  If the heat is too high (or your noodles are too hot when serving), the sauce will curdle.

This sauce comes together super quickly.  Much more importantly, it actually tastes pretty good.  I could serve this to friends and family without any embarrassment at all.  It's not at all starchy like the Magic Mix sauce above.  Yeah, you know you're missing out on the fat of a perfect Alfredo sauce, but  knowing that it's lower in fat makes up for it (a little bit).  What is super amazing to me is that this is all from what I consider long-term food storage ingredients.  The yogurt is all food storage, Parmesan cheese can be stored at room temperature for at least a year, and coconut oil keeps for at least five years.

Give it a try, and adjust it to your tastes for your own perfect Alfredo sauce.

Links to related posts:
Making Thick, Creamy Yogurt
Magic Mix   

Magic Mix Gravy

When we think of holiday celebrations, what we most cherish about them are being with family, and eating good food. And I want to be able to provide the best food possible. Unfortunately, that may not always be the most fresh and the way I would prepare it under normal conditions. Like our topic for today.

I like to make my gravy from the drippings of whatever cut of meat it is that we're having. Add a little water if necessary, salt, pepper, and flour, and cook as usual. I loathe those envelops of gravy mix or the canned stuff.

But there will be times when I can't just pull a roast out of the freezer, like, because there hasn't been any electricity for months, and we still want to have as normal a Thanksgiving or Christmas Eve or Easter dinner as possible. Here's where Magic Mix comes to the rescue again. It's not my first choice for gravy, but it's a good second. Make the basic gravy below, scaling the quantities to fit your group (as written below, those amounts will serve 4-6 people), and then add desired seasonings.

Magic Mix Gravy (basic)
1 cup broth or 1 cup water added to meat drippings
1/2 cup Magic Mix
salt and pepper to taste

Beef Gravy Seasoning options
1-2 drops Kitchen Bouquet, (for color)
1/2-1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2-1 teaspoon onion powder

Chicken or Turkey Seasoning options
1/2-1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1 teaspoon dried parsley

Bring broth or water and drippings, to a boil over medium-high heat. Add magic mix, stirring continuously until mixture thickens. Remove from heat and stir in additional seasonings, if desired.

Related posts on Magic Mix:
Magic Mix
Cream Soups and Recipe Replacements
Banana Cream Pie

© 2019, PrepSchoolDaily.blogspot.com

Magic Mix Entrees--Beef Stroganoff and Cheeseburger Mac 'n' Cheese

A couple of weeks ago, one blog reader asked for more Magic Mix recipes.  I immediately tried out making a banana cream pie and posted that.  It was pretty darn good.  I'm still thinking about it and considering the purchase of more freeze-dried bananas.

As fun as dessert is, though, dinner dishes are probably a bit more important for survival.  So first up for your consideration is a recipe for beef stroganoff.

I adapted the following recipe from one I found at Store This Not That.  The original called for a can of cream of mushroom soup and a can of mushrooms and cooking in a slow cooker.  I modified it to using Magic Mix for the sauce and preparing it on the stove.

Beef Stroganoff
Serves 4-6

1/4 cup dried minced onion, rehydrated in 1/2 cup warm water
1 cup Magic Mix
1 can (4.5 oz) mushrooms, undrained, plus 1/4 cup water (OR 1/4 cup dehydrated mushrooms rehydrated in 1 cup water)
dash onion salt
1-2 drops Kitchen Bouquet, optional
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 lb cooked beef equivalent (canned, fresh, or dehydrated and rehydrated)
1 cup sour cream
Hot cooked noodles or rice


After the onions have rehydrated, prepare the cream sauce by combining the Magic Mix, liquid from the mushrooms, and water in a saucepan over low heat.  Cook until thickened and then stir in onion salt, Kitchen Bouquet, garlic salt, onions, and beef.  Just before serving, stir in sour cream and heat through.  Spoon over hot noodles or rice.

Now, for our evaluation.

Honestly, I didn't really care for the result.  However, I have to admit that I really like beef stroganoff, and I am particularly fond of my own recipe for it.  I prefer my stroganoff sauce to be primarily with butter, sour cream, and bouillon, and not the starchiness of the Magic Mix.  However, the kids all really enjoyed it.  They didn't like it better than mine, but they all ate the leftovers for the next two days, and that NEVER happens unless they really liked it the first time for dinner.  So, the recipe is a keeper for me, even though it's not my first choice for stroganoff if I have options.  (I would really like to try this recipe with dehydrated sour cream to see if it can truly be all from food storage, but I didn't want to sacrifice opening a can of dehydrated sour cream.  Sorry.)

Cheeseburger Mac 'n' Cheese is another recipe from Store This Not That which I adapted to use entirely food storage ingredients.  The original recipe called for a bag of frozen mixed vegetables in addition to everything else.  Everyone agreed that the veggies would be better eaten alone, and on top of that, none of us are planning on having bags of frozen veggies available post-collapse, though we do have dehydrated options as well as some Veg-All.

Cheeseburger Mac 'n' Cheese
Serves 6
2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
1 lb ground beef
1/4 cup dried onion, rehydrated in 1/2 cup warm water
3/4 cup Magic Mix
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup ketchup
2 1/2 teaspoons prepared mustard

Cook the macaroni in boiling water until tender and then drain.  While the noodles cook, brown the hamburger and onions in a skillet.  Combine the Magic Mix and water in the macaroni pot over medium-low heat, stirring frequently until thickened.  Stir in cheese, salt, ketchup, and mustard.  Add in the cooked hamburger and noodles and heat through. 

I have to admit, I was very skeptical about trying this recipe.  I'm not a fan of cheeseburgers, and the idea of making cheeseburger macaroni just didn't sound appetizing.  But I thought we should give it a try.

First off, it does indeed taste like a cheeseburger.  It cooked up pretty quickly, just like store-bought Hamburger Helper, which makes it nice for a busy day.  Every ingredient is a food storage item for us.  And with the exception of the Queen of the Picky Eaters, who objects vehemently to onions, everyone in the family liked it.  Even QOTPE admitted that she liked it, once she picked out the onions.

Links to related posts on Magic Mix:
Magic Mix
Cream Soups and Recipe Replacements
Magic Mix Gravy 
Banana Cream Pie

© 2019, PrepSchoolDaily.blogspot.com    

28 august 2021

Basic Food Storage--Powdered Milk--Magic Mix

Magic Mix is probably the best thing that ever happened to powdered milk.  Or perhaps I should say, to people who have to use powdered milk and their families.  It's used by everyone everywhere in the food storage world. In a nutshell, Magic Mix is simply dry milk, butter, and flour combined in a large batch and stored in the refrigerator until needed.  Mixed with water and cooked, it makes a simple white sauce, the basis for so many other sauces in cooking.

Here we have the recipe for the basic mix. 

Magic Mix

2 1/3 cups dry milk
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup flour

Combine all in a large bowl with a pastry blender or wire whisk.  Mix until crumbly, like cornmeal.  Store in the refrigerator.

And here is the White Sauce.  I've never even used it alone.  But I figure it's there for a reason.

White Sauce
Yields:  8 oz

2/3 cup Magic Mix
1 cup water

In a saucepan combine Magic Mix and water.  Stir rapidly over medium heat until it starts to bubble.


The real magic starts when you begin adding in other ingredients.

Vegetable Cheese Sauce

1 1/2 cups water
3/4 cup Magic Mix
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Combine water and Magic Mix in a pot over medium high heat.  Stir constantly with a whisk until it bubbles and thickens.  Stir in shredded cheese until melted in sauce.  Serve warm over vegetables.  (I personally like this best over veggies and spiral pasta.  It looks like you put a lot of effort into making a tasty side dish, when actually, you didn't.)


This pudding is seriously good.  I'm thinking I'm going to have to make it for dessert tonight.

Chocolate Pudding
Serves:  4

1/2 cup sugar
1 cup Magic Mix
3 tablespoons cocoa
2 cups water
1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine Magic Mix, sugar, and cocoa in saucepan and mix well.  Add water, stir over medium heat until pudding bubbles.  Add vanilla and beat.  Cover and cool.

The recipes above are just starting to  scratch the surface of possibilities for using Magic Mix in your daily cooking.  Coming soon will be a post on how to use Magic Mix to make your own condensed cream soups, you know, like cream of chicken, cream of mushroom, cream of celery, etc.

Links to related posts:
Cream Soups and Recipe Replacements
Magic Mix Gravy 
Banana Cream Pie
Beef Stroganoff and Cheeseburger Mac
Nutritional Analysis of Dry Milks
Emergency Baby Formula 

© 2019, PrepSchoolDaily.blogspot.com 
24 may 2020

Coconut Oil for Butter in Magic Mix

A couple of months ago as I was substituting coconut oil for butter in baking some cookies, I got to wondering whether it would work to substitute coconut oil for butter in Magic Mix.  It's one thing to make cookies and cornbread with coconut oil, but how would it work in cream soups?  Gravy?  Pudding?

The idea of it kind of even grossed me out.  It just seems like eating that much oil could not possibly taste good, even though butter is pretty close to oil.  It's a huge mental block for me.  But in the interest of trying this out before TEOTWAWKI, I finally made myself do it.  I mean, I've had the idea for this post in the line-up of articles for at least six weeks, maybe longer, and I kept pushing it out.

So here are the results:

• Magic Mix chocolate pudding--could not detect a difference, even though we knew it was coconut oil instead of butter.
• Magic Mix Banana Cream Pie--I wish I didn't have to share.
• Magic Mix cream of chicken soup--nobody noticed.
• Magic Mix cream of tomato soup--pretty tasty and the crackers don't get soggy immediately like with SOS cream of tomato soup.
• Cheeseburger Mac 'n' Cheese--nobody noticed.  

There is a con to this substitution.  When it is stored in the refrigerator, the coconut oil hardens up a bit much and cannot easily be scooped into a measuring cup, whereas Magic Mix made with butter goes right into the measuring cup without any problem.  However, the coconut oil Magic Mix combines perfectly well with water on the stove.  Of course, the solution is not to store Coconut Oil Magic Mix in the refrigerator.  There's no water in the oil, so nothing to get the milk wet and initiate conditions conducive to spoiling.  Thus, no refrigeration required.

Overall, I am now convinced that I need to store even more coconut oil.  It works beautifully in everything I've tried it in.  It's far cheaper than dehydrated butter, canned butter, ghee, and as of the end of May 2020 for me, cheaper than regularly priced butter at the grocery store.  And it has a good shelf-life--at least five years, in my experience.  With as crazy as things are getting out these and shortages of items that have historically been very inexpensive and easy to purchase for us, I really believe you just can't have too much oil right now, especially coconut oil.

Links to related posts:
Magic Mix  
Coconut Oil--Alternative Medicine
Coconut Oil--Health Uses  
Emergency Baby Formula
Basic Food Storage--Coconut Oil
Great Granola Recipes with Coconut Oil
Food Storage Items I Wish I Hadn't Bought (And What to Use Instead)
23 august 2024