Making Mixes: Bread, Corn Bread, Banana Oatmeal Waffles

We're finally catching up with life around here.  The stomach flu made its way around our whole house, and it was slow going to feel motivated to do much in the kitchen.  I think I'm back though! 

On Monday I was able to grind a bunch of flour and prep ingredients for 6 loaves of homemade bread, which I store in the freezer in freezer boxes.  When I want to make bread, as I do once or twice a week, I just get my flour out of the freezer, add the wet ingredients to my bread machine pan, add the flour and yeast, and start up the bread machine.  It takes all of 5 minutes or less to do this.  I have the bread machine make the dough, and I put the dough in a pan, let it rise, and bake it in the oven.  It is SO easy and delicious.  Not to mention 2/3 whole wheat, yet soft and tender, which is even better in my book.

This time I was feeling motivated to make a couple other types of mixes to have on hand.  I found a corn bread recipe I like, in the Better Homes and Gardens (the red and white checkered one) cookbook of all places.  I ground some popcorn into cornmeal - yes, that's the best corn commercially available for making your own cornmeal) and mixed up 4 batches of corn bread mix.

As I do for the bread, I put all of the dry ingredients for cornbread in the freezer boxes.  I didn't take a picture, but I also wrote instructions on the container lids:  what wet ingredients to add, plus baking instructions.  This recipe is for a 9X9 pan of corn bread, or 12 muffins or 24-26 corn sticks.  I plan to keep these freezer boxes designated for cornbread, so I thought it would be easier to write on the lids instead of fishing out the cookbook.  It's all about convenience!

The third mix I made was for banana oatmeal waffles.  Mind you, I am NOT a waffle maker or pancake maker at all.  That is my husband's arena.  However, my sister-in-law makes these banana oatmeal waffles and they are SO good, like banana bread.  We've been making extra pancakes on the weekend and freezing them for quick week-day breakfasts, and I knew these waffles would be great for that too.  Not to mention nutritious and something different.

So, into the boxes went the dry ingredients for banana oatmeal waffles.  I also went out on a limb, writing instructions on the lids again, assuming this recipe would be a keeper.  Now I feel a bit more prepared with my bread prepped and a couple other baking treats ready to go also.  I love knowing exactly what goes into my food and avoiding all of the extraneous additives and ingredients in boxed mixes.

Have any good mixes that you like to whip up?  Please share!  My next mix to devise is whole wheat pancakes... see you later, Aunt Jemima.