Spice Deals at Penzeys!

I love to cook, and one thing that really elevates recipes and home cooking is quality spices. That’s why I love Penzeys. They sell quality spices and herbs, and the prices are really reasonable. Oh, and they always have really good deals!

• This weekend you can score their $9.95 Cocoa Cuddle Gift Box for free with any $5 purchase.
•  Their Lemon Pepper is just $1.
• Wanna spice up your stir fry or cookies? Their Powdered Ginger is just $2.

No coupons or codes are needed for the good Lemon Pepper and Ginger prices. Those are automatic for everyone. Online at penzeys.com, once you’ve reached $5 in spending, simply enter Cuddle into the apply code box at checkout. No need to place the box in your basket, the code will do that for you and for free. It’s easy.

And the Fine Print:

*Penzeys Cocoa Cuddle Gift Box Offer Details Limit ONE free Penzeys Cocoa Cuddle Gift Box per household during run of promotion. Minimum $5 purchase required. Not applicable to prior sales, not valid with other offers. While supplies last. Coupon must be presented at time of purchase. Online, visit www.penzeys.com, and enter “CUDDLE” into the “apply code” field at checkout. Standard shipping rates apply. Offer ends midnight Sunday, February 16, 2020. *Penzeys Lemon Pepper Offer Details Not applicable to prior sales, not valid with other offers. Not for resale. While supplies last. Standard shipping rates apply. Offer ends midnight Sunday, February 16, 2020. *Penzeys Ginger Powdered Offer Details Not applicable to prior sales, not valid with other offers. Not for resale. While supplies last. Standard shipping rates apply. Offer ends midnight Sunday, February 16, 2020.

Top 10 Herbs and Spices needed for a Well-Stocked Kitchen!

I get a lot of people who ask about my spice rack- what do I keep in my kitchen, since we cook at home so much. I made a list of what I use, then I polled my Facebook friends. Below is a reflection of what we use most at home, plus what most of my foodie friends use too all combined into a handy dandy top ten list!

I prefer spices and herbs from Penzey’s– They have the best quality and a wide variety. They tend to be a little more expensive, but they are very high-quality herbs and spices, and you will use much less than their cheaper counterparts. If you have a Penzey’s store near you, it’s worth checking out. Join their mailing list- they frequently have coupons for freebies and really good deals (and free shipping sometimes too if you don’t live close to a store). Penzey’s also sells their spices on Amazon!

1. Mural of Flavor
2. Cinnamon
3. Cumin
4. Chili Powder
5. Italian Seasoning
6. Oregano
7. Ginger
8. Bay Leaves
9. Paprika
10. Turkish Seasoning

These are of course in addition to Table Salt, Kosher Salt, a pepper mill for freshly cracked pepper, roasted garlic, granulated garlic, toasted onions, onion powder, and air-dried shallots. For me, these are pantry staples and every kitchen should have them, as they are used in so many recipes, in addition to the 10 above.

 

Talk Back: What are some of your favorite seasonings?

One Roast Chicken, Three Meals!

I love roast chicken and veg. It is one of my favorite meals to prepare and serve. It’s dead simple, it’s impressive, and there are always leftovers to repurpose.

So many veggies!

Compound Butter

 

 

The other night I made a roast chicken with veg and I had enough meat leftover that I was able to stretch the meat into three meals: Roast Chicken and Veg, Chicken soup (use the directions for using a rotisserie chicken), and chicken enchiladas (this recipe, but I added 1 cup shredded chicken).  Here is my fool-proof recipe for a tasty meal.

Bock Bock Bock!

Roast Chicken, Veg, and Gravy

Ingredients:

• 1 whole chicken, rinsed and plucked of any errant feathers. Remember to remove the bag of giblets
• 1 stick of butter, softened to room temperature
• 1 teaspoon of each of the following: Rosemary, Shallot Pepper, Parsley
• 2 cups of the following veggies, chopped into bite-size pieces: carrots, celery, zuchinni
• 1 cup of the following veggies, chopped: onion (I used sweet yellow), shallots, red bell pepper
• 4 cloves of garlic, diced
• salt
• pepper
• 2 T. corn starch (this makes the recipe Gluten-Free)
• 1/2 c. water or chicken broth

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. In a small dish, mix butter and Rosemary, Shallot Pepper, Parsley.
2. Spread the butter mixture under the chicken’s skin. If there is any remaining, drop a dollop in the cavity and smear on the outside of the bird.
3. Stuff the cavity with veggies, place chicken breast side down in a baking dish.
4. Pour remaining veggies into the baking dish around chicken.
5. Cover loosely with foil, and bake the chicken for 20 minutes per pound.
6. About 20 minutes before the chicken is done, remove foil and finish cooking.
7. Chicken is done when internal temp reaches 165 degrees (we have this meat thermometer)
8. Remove the chicken from the oven, and allow to rest for about 15-20 minutes.
9. Remove chicken and veg from the pan and set aside.
10. In a saucepan, heat the juice/pan drippings and 1/2 cup water or chicken broth.
11. As the liquid comes to a boil, combine cornstarch and 1/2 c. cold water in a cup, whisk until lump free.
12. As the liquid comes a rolling boil, slowly stir in water/cornstarch mixture and stir constantly until it thickens. Season with salt and pepper, remove from heat.

Serve the chicken, veggies, and gravy with mashed potatoes (or cauliflower).

There are no photos of after it came out of the oven. The locusts (aka the dinner guests) descended upon the chicken and carved it up.

Talk Back: What is your favorite meal to serve guests?

 

 

 

 

 

Recipe: Homemade Chicken Soup!

Yummy soup made with my favorite Seasoning Blend from Penzey’s

I love making chicken soup from scratch. The cook time is lengthy, but, you don’t have to pay a lot of attention to the soup for most of the cook time.

You can use whatever kind of spices/herbs you fancy. I love Penzey’s Arizona Dreaming, it’s a great smoky, rich compliment to the veggies in the soup.

Speaking of veggies, I use carrots, onions, celery, Italian squash/zucchini, but you can use whatever is in your fridge. Good additions would also be diced bell peppers, diced fresh tomatoes (or canned diced tomatoes).

You can omit the noodles/macaroni is you don’t care for them or are GF/low carb.

Ingredients:

• 5 lbs of chicken parts, bone-in or a rotisserie chicken with some of the meat removed and set aside
• 2 cups of carrots chopped, divided
• 2 cups of celery chopped, divided
• 3 cups sweet onion diced, divided
• 2 cloves garlic diced, divided
• 1 large shallot diced, divided
• 1T. cooking oil, your choice. I’ve been using grapeseed oil lately
• 12 cups of water
• bay leaf
• salt & pepper
• 2 cups Italian squash/zucchini, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 14-ish ounce can of diced tomatoes with juice, or 2 cups diced fresh tomatoes (optional)
• other herbs/spices as desired
• 1 cup uncooked pasta/noodles/rice (your choice)

After cooking all day! Yummy Chicken Stock!

Directions:

1. If starting with 5 lbs of raw chicken, place 1/2 of the carrots, onions, and celery into a large stock pot with the cooking oil.
2. Cook on medium until veggies are soft, and onions are clear.
3. Add 1/2 of the garlic and shallots, and cook until fragrant.
4. Add raw chicken, and cook for about 10 minutes, until chicken browns.
5. Turn stove down to low, add 12 coups of water, bay leaf, salt & pepper, and cover. Cook stock on low for about 4-6 hours- you can cook it for up to 12 hours in your crockpot if you wish instead).  Pull out a few pieces of chicken, pull off the cooked meat and set aside (you want about 2 cups of chopped cooked meat). Put bones back into the pot. Cook for another 20-30 minutes.
6. Take the stock off the heat, and once cool, strain off the solids, and discard. The remaining liquid is your chicken stock. While you start with 12 cups of water, after cooking the stock down, you may end up with 6-8 cups of rich, velvety stock.
7. Place chicken stock on the stove in a large pot, add in chopped chicken, remaining veggies, and any herbs/spices.
8. Once veggies have started to soften/cook, add noodles/macaroni/rice if desired. Salt and pepper to taste.

Mire Poix- Aka carrots, celery, and onions with a bayleaf, garlic and shallots. The perfect start to any soup!

As soon as noodles/macaroni/rice is cooked, remove soup from heat. Serve with hot bread (and butter).

*If you are starting with a rotisserie chicken, pull off 2 cups of meat, and add the carcass after the veggies are cooked and fragrant. proceed with remainder of recipe.

New Freebies!

Let’s start the week with some freebies! I’m ordering freebies that we can use around the house, and also to put into blessing bags to help out some local homeless outreach groups.

Free Samples

• Free Sample of Manhattan Island Coffee
• Free Kaiser Permanente Mobile Charger
• Free 7-Select Organic Cold Pressed Juice at 7-Eleven
• Free Thats Tasty Organic Microgreens (Social Nature has lots of great free offers)
• Free Sample of Astroglide O Lubricant & Massage Oil
• Free Mini Soul Box at Penzeys (today is the last day you can redeem this freebie in-store or online)
• Free Redbox Game Rental
• Free Redbox DVD or Bu-ray Rental

 

Free Magazine Subscriptions

• Free Subscription to ESPN Magazine
• Free Subscription to ELLE Magazine
• Free Subscription to Harper’s Bazaar
• Free Subscription to Pain-Free Living Magazine
• Free Subscription to Cosmopolitan Magazine
• Free Subscription to Hola! USA Magazine
• 5 Free Issues to Premier Guitar Magazine

Tasty Chewy Brown Sugar Oatmeal Cookies!

During a recent pantry clean out, I discovered 3 pounds of brown sugar.

So, I unleashed my google fu to find a recipe to use some of it up. I discovered this recipe from The Pioneer Woman, but it didn’t quite meet our needs (aka what was in the kitchen). So with some changes, I whipped up a batch of chewy, yummy, spiced oatmeal cookies that are sure to please even the finickiest cookie monster!

 

I had to make 3 batches because they just kept disappearing!

Spiced Brown Sugar Oatmeal Cookies (Adapted from this recipe )

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) Salted Butter, Softened
• ½ cup coconut oil, room temperature
• 1/2 Cups (packed) Brown Sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
• 2 whole Eggs
• 1-1/2 cup All-purpose Flour
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 2 teaspoons each: Cinnamon, allspice, ground ginger, nutmeg
• 3 cups Old Fashioned Oats

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Beat together the butter, coconut oil, and sugars until fluffy. Beat in vanilla and eggs.

Mix together the flour, salt, baking soda, and spices in a separate bowl. Add it into the wet ingredients, mixing it until just combined. Mix in the oats until just combined. Don’t overmix!

Drop scoops/spoonfuls of dough onto a lightly greased cookie sheet, spacing them a couple inches apart. Bake for 12-13 minutes or until dark and chewy.  These cookies spread when you bake them, so make sure to give them room to grow!

Let them cool slight on the pan after removing from the oven, then transfer the cookies.

Makes 24-36 cookies (depending on the size cookie you make)