Mexican Spice mix for Fajitas or Tacos

The Kitchen Pixies discourage the use of packaged seasoning mixes because they are quite expensive compared to the few pennies worth of ingredients in them. Additionally, making your own allows you to control salt and other additives your family may not want to eat. 

Mexican Spice Mix
(Yield: approximately 5-1/2 tablespoons) 

Approximately 2 tablespoons equals 1 store-bought seasoning packet. 
 

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoon cornstarch
• 4 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon cumin

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients in a small bowl.
2. Use as needed in recipes calling for fajita or taco seasoning.
3. Store in an air-tight container. 

Pumpkin Pie Spice Mix

The Kitchen Pixies aren't huge fans of those bottles of "spice mixes" because they clutter up the cupboard and rarely add to variety in the kitchen. The ingredients are usually found in other bottles and pots. At the same time, they can be convenient, so we're posting some of our recipes for common spice mixes so you can mix up your own when needed. Feel free to change the amounts as you need or desire.

Pumpkin Pie Spice Mix 
(yield 8 Tablespoons) 

Ingredients:

• 4 Tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 4 teaspoons ground nutmeg
• 4 teaspoons ground ginger
• 3 teaspoons ground allspice

Instructions: 

• In a small bowl, combine all ingredients and mix well. Store in air-tight container. 

Refrigerator Rolls

Refrigerator Rolls are a favourite in Our Greener Kitchen. Volunteers and guests always ask for the recipe. We like it because it's a time-saver. We make it the day before and the first thing the day's cook does is set the rolls out in pans to  rise and we can have them ready for lunch. 

4-1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

2 cups warm water (approximately 105 F)

2 Tablespoons white sugar

¼ cup shortening

1 egg

½ cup white sugar (scant)

6- ½ cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons salt

Directions:

1.	In a large bowl, dissolve 2 Tablespoons of white sugar in warm water. Add yeast and set aside to proof for 10 minutes.
2.	Melt shortening in microwavable bowl. In another bowl, mix together sugar, salt,  and egg. Add mixture to yeast, and stir in flour. If the mixture is very stiff, add a little more water.
3.	Cover dough with a damp cloth, and place in refrigerator. Punch down occasionally as dough rises. You can leave dough in refrigerator overnight.
4.	Two hours before baking, shape the dough into rolls. Place on greased pans, baking trays or muffin pans. Let rise 2 hours.  5.
	Bake at 400 degrees F ( 205 degrees C) for 8 to 10 minutes.

Vegetable stock or broth

This is a mildly flavoured stock. Essentially, it is an onion-garlic broth. It is used as the base for soups and other dishes throughout the week. It makes about 3 litres in my 7 litre pressure cooker. I don’t add strong tasting vegetables at this point because I want to retain the versatility of the mild flavour. Broccoli or anything from the cabbage family, asparagus, turnip, beets are avoided at this stage. Potatoes or their peels will make it cloudy. When I make a soup, all those vegetables (and more) can be added. This is also why we never add salt at this stage – salt is added to the final dish and this is just the starter.

Stock is a blessedly imprecise experience. Use what you have on hand. Feel free to add or delete depending on what is in your fridge at the moment. I usually make my vegetable stock in a pressure cooker but I’ve included directions for the stove top in an open stock pot for those who prefer those appliances.

Ingredients:

4-5 large yellow onions, cut in quarters, yellow skin left on

1 head of garlic, cut in half through the cloves

2-3 carrots, scrubbed but not peeled

3-4 stalks of celery – some leaves left on but not too many (bitter)

Dark green trimmings from leeks if they are on hand

2 bay leaves

A jalepeno pepper – remove the seeds and inner membranes if you’re not a “heat” fan

Several sprigs of thyme (or use some dried thyme)

1 large sprig of rosemary (or dried rosemary)

6 dried shitake mushrooms (available from any of the Oriental grocery stores)

Several sprigs of parsley if I have it on hand

NO SALT

Pressure cooker: add water to the maximum fill line, close up the vessel. Heat until it comes to pressure and cook for 30-40 minutes. Allow the cooker to lose heat/pressure naturally. When contents are cool enough to handle, strain out the vegetables and discard them!! (All the taste was just cooked out of them and they’re mush. Compost it – fresh veggies for the soup).

Stock pot on the stove:  depending on the size of your pot, you may want to reduce the quantities by half. Add enough water to fill your pot at least 2/3’s full and not more than 3/4s full. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer about an hour. Remove the lid and let it simmer another 20-30 minutes. Remove from heat. Once cool, strain the vegetables from it and like the previous version, toss those soggy now-tasteless vegetables.

Variation: Toss your vegetables in a bit of olive oil and roast in the oven at 400^o oven for 20 – 30 minutes. Remove the roasted vegetables to pressure cooker or stock pot and proceed from there.

Tip – if you have more than your family will use in a week, freeze some in ice cube trays. Pop them out when frozen into a Ziploc bag for use in other dishes. Since there are no preservatives in this, it can go sour in the fridge. Take it out every second day and bring to a rolling boil for 3 minutes to keep it fresh. What isn’t used inside a week should be discarded.