Ahh.. spices.. Is there anything better than an open air market with spices galore?!?  When I visited Turkey, I could have easily lived in the Spice Bazaar there.  Oh my, a chef’s heaven!  Yes, I did bring a bunch back with me!  😉   Here, in the U.S., spices themselves might have unwanted added ingredients, much more so the spice MIXES.  So, here are a few I use.  They are easy to put together and then you can store them in old spice bottles or some kind of resealable container.

Curry Powder

Yield: 2 1/2 cups

Takes 5 minutes to make!

Ingredients:

Grind all together in a coffee mill, blender, (I use my Vitamix).  Or, if you want to go REAL old school, grind them together in a mortar and pestle!  

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Now, you may have an initial expense buying the ingredients, but with all those ingredients on hand, you can make cups and cups of curry.  That will DEFINITELY save you in the long run.

Yesterday, I gave you one of my favorite recipes for Curried Honey Mustard Chicken.  In the summer this recipe is amazing on the grill!!  So yummy!  If you don’t want to peruse yesterday’s blog, here is the recipe again:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Curried-Honey-Mustard-Chicken/

There are health benefits to including curry in your diet.  There is a good article here: http://www.livestrong.com/article/347582-what-are-the-health-benefits-of-curry-powder/

Summed up, the benefits include:

• Reduced inflammation (good for arthritis sufferers)
• Prevention and treatment of cancer
• Protection from Alzheimer’s
• Aiding in Digestion

Here’s an article on how to use Curry in your cooking.  http://www.ehow.com/how_2341937_use-curry-powder-cooking.html

Give it a try!  🙂

From Indian condiments to Mexican!  Here we go:

Taco Seasoning

Just mix them all in bowl until well mixed and store in an airtight container.  Yields about 1/2 cup.

I use this all the time to sprinkle on chicken or in hamburger to make tacos (I’m hoping to add a video of me making the taco shells I can eat in a later blog!), enchiladas and all things Mexican.  For those of you who can eat popcorn, you could even use it on that!  Just SO many uses and much less expensive than buying from the shelves.  If this isn’t hot enough for you, throw in some cayenne pepper.

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How many of you own a dehydrator?  Well, the next recipe calls for Dried Lemon Peel which you can either make yourself, or look for in the store.  Most of the ones I’ve run across add in a sulfate which I can’t have, so I invested in a dehydrator for things like this.

Lemon Pepper Mix

1/4 Cup dried thyme leaves

Mix them all together and store in airtight containers.

During grilling season (which in Las Vegas is year around practically.. hehe), I’ll throw some chicken breasts in a Zip-loc bag with fresh lemon juice, olive oil and a couple of teaspoons of the Lemon Pepper.  Let that marinade in the refrigerator for an hour or two and throw it on the grill.  Sometimes I’ll throw some rosemary in there too.

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These spice mixes are three of my staples around my pantry.  They don’t take too long to put together and taste SO much better than the bought variety.  As always, making things from scratch will be better for you in the long run.   For holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, make a bunch of these up, put them in small bottles (like the corked variety), and give them to your friends.  Wrap some raffia around them and perhaps even add a recipe they can use the spice mix for and they’ll love you even more!

Now, go out and spice up your lives!  (You knew I couldn’t resist that!  😉  )