Friend of Julie: The Spice of Life

How spicy is your life? I'm not talking about your sex life--I'm talking about cooking with spices. Fresh herbs are best, but more often than not, I use package mixed, such as chili mix. There's another option: skip the mixes, which are full of artificial ingredients, and make your own seasoning blends.

Photo courtesy of Free Digital Photos

Years ago I did a lot of cooking with my friends and I learned how to make seasoning blends for my recipes from my favorite cookbook Healthier Eating Guide & Cookbook by George Matelan and Health Valley Foods. In this book, the author suggests using herbs as a way to reduce salt from your diet and add great flavor to your meals. The cookbook included a handful of blend recipes, but I mainly used the fish, chicken, and all purpose seasoning blends.

Having homemade spice blends cuts back on the prep time. Instead of searching the cabinets for five or six spices, opening each container, measuring, putting the lids back on, and washing all the measuring tools, you only have to find one spice mix to open/close and measure for your recipe.

It's time for me to get back to this kind of cooking again. Care to join me? An easy place to begin is to make your next batch of chili with the homemade taco and chili seasoning recipe below instead of a package mix. BTW, how old are the spices in you cupboards? Do you know they have an expiration date? They do!

Homemade Taco and Chili Seasoning
When making chili or tacos using one pound of ground beef, start with 1 1/2 tablespoons of the seasoning blend (below) and adjust according to your tastes.

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons of chili powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder 
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 2 tablespoons ground cumin
• 3 teaspoons sea salt
• 4 teaspoons black pepper

Directions

• In a medium bowl, combine chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, crushed red pepper flakes, cayenne pepper, oregano, paprika, ground cumin, sea salt, and black pepper. 

Store in an air tight container at room temperature.

Yield: about 2/3 cup.

Source for this recipe: My Baking Addiction