Welcome to

Homemade Jar Mixes

A wonderful jar wrapped up with a pretty country fabric topper,

ribbon, raffia, and homemade labels. A wonderful

way to decorate your country kitchen or given as a gift for any occasion.

Here are some wonderful homemade jar mixes~

Simply mix the ingredients together and put into jars,

decorate for the occasion. Add a decorate label for the contents

and an instruction label for preparation and cooking instructions.

~Double Fudge Brownie Mix~

¨  2 cups sugar
¨  1 cup all-purpose flour
¨  1 cup cocoa
¨  1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
¨  1 cup chocolate chips
¨  1 quart [1.1 litre] canning jar
¨  paper and pencils to make a label
¨  ribbon to decorate

WHAT TO DO:

Mix all the ingredients together and store in a the jar. If you are feeling adventurous, you can layer the ingredients like this in the order they a listed above.Tie a ribbon around the neck of the jar for decoration.

Now add a decorative label for your jar and a label for preparation and cooking with the instructions below written on it.

- DOUBLE FUDGE BROWNIES INSTRUCTIONS-

¨  1 cup butter or margarine, softened
¨ 4 eggs
¨ 1 jar Double-Fudge Brownie Mix

Preheat the oven to 165°C [325°F].

Grease a 28cm x 18cm [12" by 9"] pan.

In the large bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the Double-Fudge Brownie Mix & continue to beat the mixture until it is smooth.

Spread the mixture into the greased pan, & bake for 40 to 50 minutes.

This mixture has no preservatives, so please store in the refrigerator. 

Make sure you bake your brownies within one month

~M&M Cookie Mix in a Jar~
 
 1 1/4 cups white sugar
 1 1/4 cups M and M's candies
 2 cups all-purpose flour
 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

WHAT TO DO

  1 Mix together flour, baking soda and baking powder.
  2 Layer ingredients in jar in order given in a 1 quart ''wide mouth'' canning jar. Add the flour mixture last. It will be a tight fit when you add the flour mixture so be sure to pack everything down firmly. Add a piece of fabric to the top of the jar and tie with raffia.
  3 Instructions to attach to jar:

M & M COOKIES INSTRUCTIONS
1. Empty jar of cookie mix into large mixing bowl. Use your hands to thoroughly blend mix.
2. Add 1/2 cup margarine or butter softened at room temperature. DO NOT USE DIET MARGARINE Mix in 1 egg, slightly beaten, and 1 teaspoon vanilla.
3. Mix until completely blended. You will need to finish mixing with your hands.
4. Shape into balls the size of walnuts and place on a parchment lined cookie sheet 2 inches apart. Do not use wax paper.
5. Bake at 375° for 12 to 14 minutes until edges are slightly browned. Cool on cookie sheet for about 5 minutes then remove to wire racks to finish cooling. Makes 2 1/2 dozen cookies.

~Peanut Butter Chocolate Cookie Mix in a Jar~
 
 1 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 cups packed confectioners' sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

WHAT TO DO:
  1 In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and salt.
  2 Layer ingredients in order given in a 1 quart ''wide mouth'' canning jar. Clean the inside of the jar with a dry paper towel after adding the confectioners' sugar and after adding the cocoa powder. Be sure to pack everything down firmly before adding the flour mixture, it will be a tight fit.
  3 Instructions to attach to jar:

PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES INSTRUCTIONS
1. Empty jar of cookie mix into large mixing bowl. Use your hands to thoroughly blend mix.
2. Add: 1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened at room temperature. DO NOT USE DIET MARGARINE. Add 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter, 1 egg, slightly beaten, and 1 teaspoon of vanilla.
3. Mix until completely blended. You will need to use your hands to finish mixing.
4. Shape into walnut sized balls and place 2 inches apart on a parchment lined baking sheets. DO NOT USE WAXED PAPER. Press balls down with a fork.
5. Bake at 350° for 9 to 11 minutes until edges are browned. Cool 5 minutes on baking sheet then tranfer to a cooling rack to finish cooling. Makes 3 dozen cookies.

~Soup Mix in a Jar~

Ingredients:
1/3 cup beef bouillon granules
1/4 cup dehydrated onion flakes
1/2 cup split peas
1/2 cup ABC, small shell, or ring macaroni (any small shape pasta will do)
 1/4 cup barley
1/2 cup lentils
1/3 cup non-instant white rice
tricolor spiral pasta
  

WHAT TO DO:
Use a canning funnel or any funnel that has about a 2-inch neck. This will make it easier to fill the jars with the ingredients. Be sure to use a wide-mouth, 1-quart canning jar.
Layer ingredients in the order given: bouillon, onion flakes, split peas, small shape pasta, barley, lentils, rice, and enough tricolor spiral pasta to fill jar.

SOUP INSTRUCTIONS:
In large kettle, brown 1 pound ground beef or stew beef cut into bite-size pieces in a little olive oil.

Remove pasta from top of jar and reserve. Add the rest of the jar contents to the kettle with 12 cups water. Let come to a boil and simmer 45 minutes. Add pasta and simmer 15 minutes more. Serve with your favorite bread or rolls and a tossed salad. ENJOY!

~Cake in a Coffee Mug~

( read all instructions before starting)

1 cake mix any flavor
1 ( 4 serving size) instant pudding mix , any flavor
Place dry cake mix and dry pudding mix into a large bowl and blend well with a whisk. This will be about 4 – 4 ½ cups dry mix and will make 8-9 coffee cup cake mixes. Place ½ cup dry mix into a sandwich bag. Place mix into the bag and tie it there with a twist tie or ribbon if you like. Continue making packets until all your dry mix is used.
Flavor suggestions:
Lemon cake mix- lemon pudding
Yellow cake mix- vanilla pudding
Devils food cake mix- chocolate pudding
Pineapple cake mix- coconut pudding
Butterscotch cake mix- butterscotch pudding

(makes 8)

WHAT TO DO:

Select a large coffee cup. Check it to be sure it holds 1 ½ cups of water. That way you will be sure you have bought the size the recipe calls for. It can't have any metallic paint on it because it will be used in the microwave. Use plain cups and paint if you like for that special person, with Gloss Acrylic Paint.

Glaze mix
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1 ½ tsp dry flavoring ( such as powdered lemonade mix, powdered orange breakfast drink mix, cocoa powder)
Vanilla powder sold by coffee flavorings (or use French Vanilla CoffeeMate)
Select the flavoring appropriate to the cake you are making; ie:.
For the pineapple coconut cake include flaked coconut in a separate bag with instructions to sprinkle it over the frosted cake.
Place the glaze mix ingredients into a sandwich bag and tie into corner of bag. Label this bag "glaze mix" and attach it to the other bag with a twist tie.

Place one baggie cake mix and one baggie glaze mix in each coffee cup. Now attach the following baking instructions to each coffee cup.

CAKE IN A COFFEE MUG INSTRUCTIONS:
Generously spray inside of coffee cup with cooking spray. Empty contents of large packet into cup. Add 1 egg white, 1 tbsp oil, 1 tbsp water to dry mix. Mix 15 seconds, carefully mixing in all the dry mix. Microwave on full power 2 minutes.( you may not get satisfactory results in a low wattage small microwave). While cake is cooking, place ingredients from "Glaze Mix" into a very small container and add 1 ½ tsp water. Mix well. When cake is done, pour glaze over cake in cup. Enjoy while warm.

~Chunky Chocolate Cookie Mix in a Jar~
 
   3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 cup jumbo chocolate chips
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
 
 WHAT TO DO:
  1 Mix together the flour, baking soda and baking powder and salt. Set aside.
  2 Layer ingredients in order in a 1 quart wide mouth canning jar. Make sure you pack all down firmly before adding the flour mixture - it will be a tight fit. NOTE: Wipe down the inside of the jar after you add the cocoa powder.
  3 Instructions to attach to jar:

CHUNKY CHOCOLATE COOKIE INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Empty jar of cookie mix into a large mixing bowl. Use your hands to thoroughly blend mix.
2. Add 3/4 cup butter or margarine softened at room temp. DO NOT USE DIET MARGARINE Add 1 egg, slightly beaten, and 1 teaspoon vanilla.
3. Mix until completely blended. The dough is sticky. you will need to finish mixing with your hands.
4. Shape into walnut size balls and place 2 inches apart on parchment lined baking sheets. DO NOT USE WAXED PAPER.
5. Bake at 350° for 11 to 13 minutes . Cool 5 minutes on baking sheet. Remove to racks to finish cooling. Makes 3 dozen cookies.

~Oatmeal Raisin Cookies in a Jar~

3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
3/4 cup raisins
2 cups rolled oats
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

 WHAT TO DO:
 1 Mix together flour, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
 2 Layer ingredients in order given in a 1 quart wide mouth'' canning jar. It will be a tight fit, make sure you firmly pack down each layer in place before adding the flour mixture.
 3 Instructions to attach to jar:

OATMEAL RAISIN COOKIE INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Empty jar of cookie mix into large mixing bowl. Use your hands to thoroughly blend mix. 2. Add: 3/4 cup butter or margarine softened at room temp. DO NOT USE DIET MARGARINE. Stir in one egg, slightly beaten. Add in 1 teaspoon of vanilla. 3. Mix until completely blended. You will need to finish mixing with your hands. 4. Shape into balls the size of walnuts. Place on a parchment lined cookie sheets 2 inches apart. DO NOT USE WAXED PAPER. 5. Bake at 350° for 11 to 13 minutes until edges are lightly browned. Cool 5 minutes on baking sheet. Remove cookies to baking racks to finish cooling. Makes 3 dozen cookies.

~Chocolate Chip Cookies in a Jar~
 
1 cup brown sugar
 1/2 cup white sugar
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
 2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
 
WHAT TO DO:
 Mix the salt and baking soda in with the flour, then layer the ingredients into the jar. Use scissors to cut a 9 inch-diameter circle from calico. Place over lid and secure with rubber band. Tie on a raffia or ribbon bow to cover rubber band.
 Enclose a card with the following mixing and baking directions:

  CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES INSTRUCTIONS:
Preheat oven to 375°
Sift dry ingredients through a colander to separate the chocolate chips from other ingredients.
Beat 1 cup of butter or margarine in a medium bowl. Beat sifted ingredients into butter until blended.
In a small bowl, beat 1 egg with 1 teaspoon of vanilla.
Mix beaten egg mixture into butter mixture until blended. Stir in chocolate chips.
Drop teaspoonfuls of batter, spaced well apart, onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake 8 minutes or until lightly browned. Makes  4 dozen

~Spiced Cranberry Cider Mix~


½ cup dried cranberries
12 cinnamon sticks
½ tsp. crushed whole cloves
2 Tbsp. whole allspice
In a small bowl, stir the cranberries and spices together. Store in an airtight container.

SPICED CRANBERRY CIDER MIX INSTRUCTIONS:
Serves 12 to 14
2 quarts apple cider
1 quart water
1 package Spiced Cranberry Cider Mix
2 oranges, sliced
In a large saucepan combine the cider, water, and Spiced Cranberry Cider Mix. Heat through but do not boil. Add most of the orange slices. Serve warm, garnished with the remaining orange slices.

~Just as lovely, a jar of a special luxurious potion~

~Bath Salts~

• 1/2 cup Sea Salt

• 1 cup baking soda

• 1 1/2 cup Epsom salts

• 45 drops of fragrance (optional)

Combine all ingredients together in an extra large ziploc bag and toss until thoroughly blended.

If you want to add color, add a dab of food coloring inside the bag and work the color into the salts.

Add fragrance and or aromatic crushed herbs.

Spread the salts on a wax paper lined cookie sheets and let dry well, stir them once in a while. These should dry for 12 hours or so at least. Get all the moisture from the Scent and coloring out before you package or seal up.

Put salts into a decorative jar or plastic gift bags.

~Bath Crystals~

You Need:

• Coarse rock salt (from the supermarket)

• Food colouring (from the supermarket)

• Essential oil (from health food stores and chemists)

• Mixing bowl

• Spoon

• Containers for storage and display of the bath crystals

Place 1 cup of coarse rock salt into the mixing bowl, add 10 drops of essential oil and stir well.

Add 15 drops of the food colouring and once again stir well. Keep adding drops of food colouring until you reach the desired depth of colour. You’ll end up with “chunky” coloured crystals. It’s a good idea to choose a colour that suggests (matches) the chosen scent. To create bath crystals that have tone variation simply stir the food colouring in lightly leaving some of the crystals lighter than others. Display the crystals in a clear glass bowl for maximum effect.

Throw a couple of tablespoons into a hot bath to enjoy the fragrance and soothing qualities of the salts.

~Fizzing Bath Salts~

You Need:

• Bicarb soda (from the supermarket)

• Citric acid (from the supermarket)

• Cornflour (from the supermarket)

• Food colouring (from the supermarket)

• Essential oil (from health food stores and chemists)

• Sieve

• Mixing bowl

• Small mixing bowl

• Spoon

• Pot pourri or dried herbs

• Containers for storage and display of the fizzing bath salts

Sieve together 1/2 cup bicarb soda, 1/4 cup citric acid and 1/4 cup cornflour into the mixing bowl and stir until well combined.

In a separate small mixing bowl, stir together 10 drops of essential oil (we have used peppermint) and 30 drops of food colouring (5 drops of green and 25 drops of blue) to create an aqua colour.

Stir this mixture into the sieved powder mixture. Combine quickly so the powder does not start fizzing. Mix thoroughly using your hands so the oil and colour is evenly distributed throughout the powder. (The cornflour prevents the powder from “clumping” together.) Add some pot pourri or dried herbs for visual effect. Place the mixture into clear containers, making sure the lids are screwed on tightly. Layer different colours for a display effect. Sprinkle a handful of the powder into a hot bath just before getting in. These bath salts make perfect gifts for the Christmas season.

~Bath Bombs~

You will need:

• Bicarbonate (baking) soda (from supermarket baking section

• Citric Acid (from supermarket baking section)

• Sweet Almond Oil (from body shop, some supermarkets,or chemist)

• Essential Oils - Orange, Lemon, Lime (health food stores or chemist)

• Packets of food coloring (supermarket baking section)

• Mixing Bowls

• Mixing spoon

• Sieve

• Molds

To make a bath bomb you need to start with a base mixture to which you add different colours and fragrances to create individual bombs. Before you start, make sure that all your equipment is dry, because any drop of moisture will start the mixture fizzing.

Make the base mixture by sieving together 1 1/2 cups of bicarb soda and 1/2 cup of citric acid into the large mixing bowl. Stir well with a spoon until thoroughly mixed. This is enough to make four bath bombs. Any left over mixture can be stored in an air tight container ready for later use

Transfer 1/2 cup of base mixture into the medium size bowl and set aside.

Using the small bowl:

For an orange bath bomb:

• Mix together 6 drops of orange essential oil, 1/2 teaspoon of sweet almond oil, 5 drops of red food colouring and 7 drops of yellow food colouring. Mix well using the teaspoon.

For a lemon bath bomb:

• Mix together 7 drops of lemon essential oil, 1/2 teaspoon of sweet almond oil and 15 drops of yellow food colouring. Mix well using the teaspoon.

For a lime bath bomb:

• Mix together 6 drops of lime essential oil, 1/2 teaspoon of sweet almond oil and 15 drops of green food colouring. Mix well using the teaspoon.

Pour the oil mixture of your choice into the medium bowl containing the 1/2 cup of base mixture. Stir very quickly so that the mixture doesnt start to fizz.

Continue mixing with your fingertips, working the oil mixture into the base mixture until it starts to come together and stays compressed when squeezed (about 30 seconds).

Wipe some sweet almond oil around the inside of the mould. This will make sure the bath bomb will slip out easily from the mould. Now press the mixture into the mould.

Fill the mould 1/3 at a time with the mixture, pressing down firmly as you go. When you reach the top of the mould, neaten the edges, turn the mould over, bang firmly on a flat surface and the bath bomb will slip out.

Let it set for 24 hours. It is then ready to use!