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Make Your Own Seasoning Blends: 7 Unique Recipes

Ron — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 10:00:48 +0000

I love to make my own seasoning blends. It allows me to tailor the flavors to my particular tastes, and it also allows me to adjust the heat so my kids will enjoy their food as well. To top it off, I’m able to avoid all those unpronouncable chemicals that look like someone just ran their hands over the keyboard when coming up with a name (sodiumbicloroethylphosphotrimethylnitrite80 anyone?).

Here’s a few of my favorites. Enjoy!

Seasoned Salt

Put all ingredients into a mini food processor or spice blender and give it a whir on low. Use anywhere you want a kick of flavor!

Blackened Seasoning

Place all ingredients in a jar, give it a good shake, and store in a cool, dark place. Shake up the jar well to distribute the spices before each use. I use this by putting a light coating of butter on a piece of chicken or fish, then covering it in the spice blend. Place the prepared meat on a scorching hot iron skillet (hint: use the grill outdoors to avoid setting off the smoke detector), and cook through, turning once. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

Poultry Seasoning

Measure all ingredients into a jar or zip top bag, seal and shake well. Rub well into poultry before baking, grilling, or tossing in the crockpot. It really does jazz up poultry and keeps it from tasting bland.

Taco Seasoning

Mix all ingredients together. This makes the equilivant of a 1/4 ounce package of commercial taco seasoning mix. You can mix this into ground meat, or use as a seasoning rub before grilling chicken or skirt steak. We use it primarily for tacos and burritos and it tastes so much better than the commercially available mixes.

Pumpkin Pie Spice

Measure all ingredients into a jar or zip top bag. Mix it into one cup of brown sugar, 2 cups of baked pumpkin, 1/4 cup of evaporated milk and two egg yolks. Then fold this into two whipped egg whites and 1/3 cup of sugar and bake in a prepared pie shell for a wonderful pumpkin pie.

Dry BBQ Rub

Measure all ingredients into a jar or zip top bag. I rub this mixture on a pork shoulder and then let it sit overnight in the refrigerator. The next day, I take the shoulder out and let it come to room temperature, then smoke it at 190 degrees for 20+ hours with hickory smoke. Again, my mouth is watering…

Southwestern Seasoning Blend

Measure all ingredients into a jar or zip top bag. This is a mixture that you can use on just about anything when you want that Southwest flavor kick. Try it on eggs, fish, or chicken for a powerful Tex-Mex taste.

Be willing to experiment with these and try some variations if you dare! Be careful when handling two things though, raw eggs or meats, and red pepper or cayenne. Always wash your hands thoroughly after handling meat and whatever you do, don’t rub your eyes for at least two days after touching cayenne … trust me … the voice of experience!

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Make Your Own Seasoning Blends: 7 Unique Recipes is a post from Simple Mom

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Slow Cookers – More Than Just Food Warmers

a guest writer — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 10:00:11 +0000

Photo by Sara Nicastro

Darla is an an all-American Iowa girl, married to the Chief of Police and mom to an 11-year-old boy (it’s all about the testosterone at her house). Currently she works from home as an accountant and also as a silver power seller on eBay, and is the Managing Editor for Blissfully Domestic. She writes on numerous blogs, such as Sassy Homemaker and Chic Critique.

I know all of you savvy Simple Mom fans are well aware that slow cookers (such as Crock Pots) are more than just food warmers, but did you know that they’re close to a full-service station? They defrost, cook, warm, reheat and beyond.

Here are a few simple tips for getting the most out of your slow cooker:

• Baked potatoes are great in a slow cooker – just wrap them in tinfoil, bake them on high, and they’ll be done when you arrive home. Throw some meat on the grill and you’ll have an instant meal.

• I use a slow cooker to thaw and brown hamburger. You do need to be home to make this work, but it saves a ton of energy as well as clean-up (and for even easier clean-up, I highly recommend slow cooker liners). Place the meat frozen in the slow cooker, turn it on high, and come back every 30 minutes to scrape off the outside meat. It’ll be defrosted and cooked in less than two hours. Add your remaining ingredients, and you’ll have a homemade dinner start-to-finish in just a few hours and no clean up time.

• For chicken, place frozen parts in the slow cooker, checking back every 30 minutes and rotating until they are completely cooked. Add the remaining ingredients, and once more, there’s very little clean up for a full meal.

• You can follow the same method for a roast as well. To keep a roast moist, use some sort of a red sauce – anything from salsa, to canned tomatoes, to Italian stewed tomatoes, to tomato sauce will work. I’m not a fan of tomatoes, so I was pleasantly surprised to find that the meat was so moist and flavorful.

• Finally, add a can or two of Cream of Golden Mushroom soup to your slow cooker for a nice and simple gravy.

What slow cooker tips would you like to share? I know you’ve got some up your sleeve.

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Slow Cookers – More Than Just Food Warmers is a post from Simple Mom

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Menu Plan Monday – Basic & Good

Tsh — Sun, 04 May 2008 22:00:32 +0000

I’ve got a busy week as usual, but a lot of it will be spent at home. I hope to do a bit a bulk cooking while I make dinner, so I’ve planned this week’s recipes to cater to that. Here’s what I’ve got on our stovetop:

Photo by terri tu

Monday: chicken broccoli soup (I hope to cook and freeze an extra batch of chopped broccoli)

Tuesday: tomato basil risotto (I’m going to add mushrooms, so I’ll go ahead and saute and freeze extra)

Wednesday: stir fry

Thursday: fajitas – we’ve got friends coming over! (I’ll make and freeze extra cubed chicken)

Friday: chicken caesar salads with almost caesar dressing (which I’ll make extra of and freeze)

Saturday: homemade pizza (making extra pizza dough and sauce, as usual)

Sunday: mac and cheese with chicken and broccoli – another great Rachael Ray recipe

Do you do any bulk cooking? I’m curious.

Looking for ideas? Peruse more menu plans at Organized Junkie.

CURRENT SPONSORS:

Plan to Eat - meal planning made simple.
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Lil' Soak - Sewing hope with handmade goods.
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Menu Plan Monday – Basic & Good is a post from Simple Mom

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Menu Plan Monday – recovery week

Tsh — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 06:00:46 +0000

Photo by branflakez

It seems like every week I find a great reason for having a really simple menu. Currently, it’s that we’re still in recovery mode from our wonderful month-long house guests, and I’m sure that next week, there will be another reason. Such is this life stage. Such is the reason why I blog about simplicity.

Here is my family’s dinner plans this week. Do you menu plan in advance? I highly encourage you to do so – it helps 5 p.m. go much more smoothly. After my current series on Home Management Notebooks, I’m going to (finally) wrap up my series on Personal Finance 101, and then dive into a short series on menu planning. Stay tuned!

Monday – veggie red beans & rice
Tuesday – carbonara and salad
Wednesday – stir fry
Thursday – chicken caesar salad
Friday – homemade pizza and salad; with the best brownies for dessert
Saturday – hawaiian chicken with rice and salad (new recipe for us!)
Sunday – baked potatoes and salad

Head to Organizing Junkie for more menu plans for perusal…

CURRENT SPONSORS:

Plan to Eat - meal planning made simple.
The Justice Conference - Justice hangs by a thread.
Lil' Soak - Sewing hope with handmade goods.
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Menu Plan Monday – recovery week is a post from Simple Mom

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Menu Plan Monday – Looooow Maintenance Grub

Tsh — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 00:00:07 +0000

Easy peasy, Japaneezy. That’s the theme for this week’s menu because my inlaws are still in town, we’re still out of the house sightseeing for much of the day, and heck, I’ve still got a three-month-old.

Photo by hervioletsky

MONDAY: chicken pot pie

TUESDAY: carbonara

WEDNESDAY: stir fry (our Wednesday night staple)

THURSDAY: veggie red beans & rice

FRIDAY: homemade pizza (our Friday night staple)

SATURDAY: chicken broccoli soup

SUNDAY: jambalaya

While we’re on the topic of menus, I thought I’d let my readers know I’ve got something up my sleeve about menu planning. I love to plan our dinner menus one month at a time. But I’m thinking – what about doing an entire season? As in, summer? And then giving you the option of getting in on it with me through… well, this Idea I have. But I don’t want to give it away just yet. Stay tuned.

What’s your family eating this week? Is it simple enough to keep you sane and balanced? I hope so. Check out Organized Junkie for more menu ideas.

CURRENT SPONSORS:

Plan to Eat - meal planning made simple.
The Justice Conference - Justice hangs by a thread.
Lil' Soak - Sewing hope with handmade goods.
Treed - A simple, flexible, effective project planning tool.

Menu Plan Monday – Looooow Maintenance Grub is a post from Simple Mom

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Hooray for Coffee!

Tsh — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 13:10:29 +0000

Photo by Yes Becky

This is a great find from my all-time favorite household management tool – the internet. It’s a free Starbucks Recipe E-Book. Here’s to saving money by making overpriced-yet-scary-how-many-times-they’re-necessary espresso drinks at home! HT to Money Saving Mom.

CURRENT SPONSORS:

Plan to Eat - meal planning made simple.
The Justice Conference - Justice hangs by a thread.
Lil' Soak - Sewing hope with handmade goods.
Treed - A simple, flexible, effective project planning tool.

Hooray for Coffee! is a post from Simple Mom

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Menu Plan Monday – Heavy on the Crock Pot

Tsh — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 14:50:11 +0000

So here’s how our meals work for us, in a nutshell.Breakfasts – Hubby and I switch back and forth. We both start our days at 9 a.m., and I know many couples don’t have this same blessing of not needing to head out the door at the crack of dawn. I do Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays; he does Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Sundays we either fend for ourselves (except for our 3-year-old, obviously), or we grab something cheap and quick at our local bakery. The only rule we have for breakfast is that it not be the same thing two days in a row. So if I make oatmeal on Monday, he can’t make it on Tuesday. We usually have simple fare, like oatmeal, cereal, eggs, yogurt, fruit, scones, muffins, or pancakes.

Photo by Steffiez

Lunches – Almost always leftovers from dinner the night before, and if there is none, we do sandwiches or quesadillas. Nothing fancy, nothing complicated.

Dinners – I plan these at least a week ahead of time; many times I’ll have planned the entire month at once. While I try to incorporate variety, most our meals come from the local produce market, with some meat here and there. Since it’s so expensive here (my grocery budget is double what it was in the States), I try my darndest to not make the meat the main part of the meal, just an ingredient. In fact, we’re talking about going semi-vegetarian, maybe only having meat once or twice a week, since it’s so pricey. We’ll see.

So without further adieu, here’s this week’s menu:

Monday – very veggie red beans & rice
Tuesday – carbonara
Wednesday – chicken broccoli soup
Thursday – homemade pizza
Friday – dirty risotto
Saturday – stir fry
Sunday – jambalaya

So there you have it. For more ideas, check out Organizing Junkie on Mondays.

CURRENT SPONSORS:

Plan to Eat - meal planning made simple.
The Justice Conference - Justice hangs by a thread.
Lil' Soak - Sewing hope with handmade goods.
Treed - A simple, flexible, effective project planning tool.

Menu Plan Monday – Heavy on the Crock Pot is a post from Simple Mom

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