Make a Mix Monday: 6 Reasons to Make Mixes and Places to Find Them

 I make mixes to save myself time and to know what is going into my family's food.  But I found a list of these 6 reasons at the Utah State University extension website.

I've listed them here too, but their website has so many great ideas and recipes!  Did you know how to keep your pickles crisp when canning them?  I found out there - but I digress...

Here are 6 great reasons to make your own mixes:

1. Time Saver - Taking time to make master mixes allows you to prepare several recipes at the same time which, according to USU, can save you about 3/4s of the preparation time! 
2. Better Nutrition - It seems that there are so many reports popping up about the genetically modified foods that we are eating and the things that we can't pronounce going into our daily food.  So, when you make your own, you can create mixes without preservatives and additives! You can also put in less sugar or salt or other ingredients than the recipe calls for according to your dietary needs!
3. Economical - Commercial mixes do save time too, but many times they are expensive and making your own mix can save you lots of bucks!  In fact, USU suggests that by making your own mix you are saving half of the cost of commercial mixes!  AND if you buy your basic commodities on sale, or in bulk, (or, when they aren't on sale, at Aldi), you'll save even more. 
4. Versatile - Often you can use one mix in a variety of ways.  They can be an opportunity to use your creativity and imagination to make delectable meals for your family. 
5. A chance to utilize your food storage - Before I started making mixes I had gobs and gobs of food storage sitting in my basement waiting for "an emergency".  I finally figured out that because we are living on just one income, that my food storage could be used often and rotated through, if I add them to mixes.  Especially powdered milk!  It's just not a favorite to drink (There's even a song about how awful it is: Powdered Milk Man)
6. and they make great gifts! - From the above five we know that mixes save us time, money and are more healthy; so, of course, they make fantastic gifts to give to your friends and family!

For the so many wonderful places to find mixes, here are a few:On-line:

• This woman's blog and her review on mixes and preparedness
• Utah State Universities Extension 
• Budget101 has a listing of mix recipes here.
• And of course, there is always Pinterest for a plethora of mix recipes. 

 And in Books, such as Make-a-Mix Cookery by Karine Eliason.

There are so many great mix cookbooks to choose from which you can find on Amazon or at your bookstore or library. 

The book above is amazing and got me started over 10 years ago using mixes and I have LOVED having it! It is chock full of mixes and then gives countless recipes to use from those mixes! 
The one below is the new edition: