Most cooks use spices and spice blends add all kinds of amazing flavors, If you make your own, you can control those flavors – for instance, you might like your chili very hot, so you can add more of the hotter peppers. And you can save money because you’re buying the ingredients in larger amounts and mixing them so your cost per serving will go down. And the good news is that they’re easy peasy to prepare. Here are seven favs from my kitchen – and I don’t even cook that much!
Gomashio
Gomashio is an Asian spice that is often used in place of salt. So if you’re concerned about getting too much salt, but you just LOVE the stuff (like me) then this is a possibility.
** 1 cup sesame seeds
** 1/2 Tablespoon sea salt
Put the sesame seeds in a skillet over medium head and toast them, stirring constantly. It will take 10-12 minutes for the seeds to become aromatic and turn a light brown color. When we say stir them constantly, we mean it. It’s easy to burn your seeds.
Mix the seeds with the salt and grind them together until you get the consistency you want.
Use freely over any food that calls for salt. This is yummy. At least, it is if you like the taste of sesame, which I definitely do.
Italian Spice For Pasta and Pizza
This is a mixture of leaves and should be pounded until the leaves are in small pieces and stored in a jar.
** 1/2 cup basil
** 1/2 cup marjoram
** 1/2 cup oregano
** 1/4 cup rosemary
** 1/4 cup thyme
** 2 Tablespoons garlic powder
French Onion Soup
** 3/4 cup dried onion flakes
** 2 Tablespoons onion powder
** 2 Tablespoons garlic powder
** 1 teaspoon sea salt
** 1 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
** 1 teaspoon turmeric
Fajita Spice Mix
** 1/4 cup chili powder
** 2 Tablespoons sea salt
** 2 Tablespoons paprika
** 1 Tablespoon onion powder
** 1 Tablespoon garlic powder
** 1 teaspoon cayenne
** 1 Tablespoon cumin
Taco Seasoning
** 1/4 cup chili powder
** 1/4 cup sea salt
** 1 Tablespoon paprika
** 1 Tablespoon onion powder
** 1 Tablespoon garlic powder
** 1 teaspoon oregano
** 1/3 cup cumin
** 1 teaspoon pepper
Ranch Dressing Mix
Toast together:
** 2 Tablespoons onion powder
** 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
** 1 Tablespoon dried parsley
To make the dressing, take the spices above and add one cup of mayonnaise and one cup of buttermilk.
Pumpkin Pie Spice Mix
** 1/4 cup cinnamon (the fresher, the better)
** 2 Tablespoons ginger
** 1 teaspoon cloves
** 2 teaspoons nutmeg
One tip: if you’re cooking on top of a stove, add your spice blend near the end of the cooking cycle. Prolonged cooking will often destroy delicate spice flavors.
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