Soup Mix, Dip, or Topping - Fresh From the Garden

Granny Grumbles' Soup/Dip or Topping Mix

I hadn't planned on making my mixes so early in the harvesting season, but my SIL is going on a 10-day prove-yourself camping trip and wondered if I couldn't come up with something a little more appetizing than the usual fare. 'Usual' meaning that it cooks fast, has very little weight, and oh, yeah, tastes good! Time for Granny Grumbles! Those little packets hold 1.5 tablespoons of my own dehydrated vegetable mix with assorted herbs and spices (and, some with little pasta stars) that will turn any 12 ounces of boiling water into a delicious, nourishing, soup. It also makes a fire-baked potato very special and/or some sour cream or cream cheese into a great dip!

[Update: This has also been submitted to Grow Your Own, a monthly blogging event that celebrates the dishes we create from foods we’ve grown, raised, foraged, or hunted ourselves. You'll find chefs from all over the world sharing their recipes and, once the collection is posted, I'll be updating with that link. Meanwhile, there's still time (until June 30th) for you to share one of your recipes, too.]

The garden is producing lots of goodies and the dehydrator has been performing a yeoman's job. I wanted the mix to be nourishing and very tasty, so there was a little bit of this and a little bit of that put into the grinder and fine-powdered. The herbs were fresh from the garden, too, and dried beautifully. I made vegetarian (the ones with the ""V" on them) and then both chicken and beef based packets, using some powdered bouillion. And, for my own personal use, there will continue to be packets made for flavoring and thickening of soups, sauces, and stuffings.

I used equal parts of dehydrated broccoli, potatoes, carrots, baby limas, peas, summer squash, onions, and tomatoes. For added sweetness, I doubled the corn. That brought the powdered veggies to half the height of this jar (or just over two cups). The herbs and spices were also powdered. To the veggies, I added 1 teaspoon each of celery leaves, mace, arrowroot, marjoram, oregano; one-half teaspoon each of mint, lavender, garlic powder, salt, and sugar; one-quarter teaspoon of black pepper and one-eighth teaspoon of chipotle pepper. The soups got one tablespoon of pasta stars. I filled the vegetarian packets, first, then divided the rest in half and added the bouillions.  The packets were made from snack sized ziploc bags, reduced to three by using the sealing part only of  my vacuum-seal machine.

Making the packets

If you use a standard 8-oz cup, the full packet (1.5 tablespoons) could be a little too thick. These are dehydrated vegetables and the powder will expand. Try as I might, it seems impossible to totally powder everything, so there will be little bits of texture in the final result that is fairly close to a thick pea soup. Try reducing the amount or using a 12-oz mug/thermos. Blend the mixture into the water and bring to a boil and set aside for approximately a half hour to rehydrate. My SIL can fill his thermos with boiling water, add the mix, and let it do its magic while he does his thing.

Have I fulfilled the requirements? Let's see...

Does the mix cook fast? Check
Is it lightweight? Check
Does it taste good? Check

[Hmmm. Think I'll leave a little note in his bag about it being almost Christmas and how he can multi-task by using the steeping time to plan his MIL gift list.]

Now, that I've gotten you started, will you share the mixes you've created with us?