Curry Powder

Not all curries are the same. Anyone who has grown up eating buss-up-shot, doubles, or friedbake knows this. Curry, like chili is not made up of one ingredient, but is a wonderful orchestra of spices.

I’ve notice that a lot of people buy curry sauce from the grocery store and use that as a base, but a trick my mom taught me needs to start with dried, ground up spices. Normally I would buy a bottle of curry powder at the grocery, but a couple of years ago I thought it would be interesting to try making my own curry powder. I still keep a grocery store bought bottle of curry powder for those times I may be out of key ingredients to make my own.

A Few of My Favorite Kitchen Things - Part 2

Here are some more of my favorite kitchen things.

1. Cuisinart Hand Blender and Mini Food Processor - LOVE THIS! A friend of mine introduced me to the hand blender years ago and when I moved out of my parents' house it was one of the first things I purchased. It's easier to use, clean and store than regular hand blenders, and the extra food processor is so helpful for those times you don't need to chop 10 tomatoes.

2. Rice Cooker - My mom taught me how to make rice on the stove a long time ago. I had it down to an art, where it would turn out perfectly moist/dry every time. My husband who is of Asian persuasion got this little number from his mom, when he moved away from home, and it is by far the best method of cooking rice I've ever used. Regular stove top rice is a thing of the past.

Pinterest Connoisseur

I am a Pinterest Connoisseur. Many of my recipes have come from Pinterest, as well as some of my recent house cleaning habits. It is funny to see posts from those who tried a Pin out that didn’t work, but it’s annoying when it happens to you. So far I haven’t been so unlucky to have a Pin turn out so bad it wasn’t usable, but there have been a few that I won’t try again, or I need to revisit the method. Here are three attempts at Pins, each with a varying degree of success.

Paleo Sangria

PALEO/VEGAN/VEGETARIAN/GLUTEN FREE/COCONUT 

Sangria is one of my favorite ways to drink wine…actually it is my favorite way to drink wine, and home made is the best way to do it.

This was one of those recipes where I searched and found about a dozen variations and just decided to make one up that pulled from them all.

The reason this is a paleo recipe is because unlike most sangrias I didn’t use cane sugar. Instead I used coconut sugar. To find out more about coconut sugar check out a previous blog on my favorite kitchen things.

A Few of My Favorite Kitchen Things

Everyone has their favorite can't live without kitchen items, and food supplies. Sometimes that list includes a certain knife or wooden spoon, pot or plate. I have about a hundred little things I must have handy. If ever I find myself without one of these items after a move it immediately goes on my "to purchase" list.

Here are a few of my favorites to start.

1. Coconut Sugar - To avoid using the dreaded ingredient of regular sugar I have invested in a wonderful substitute, coconut sugar. The cheapest I've found it at is Amazon.

2. Measure All Cup - I got this from Pampered Chef. It's great for getting sticky ingredients out of your cup, like honey or coconut oil.

3. Labels and Containers - To get rid of the multiple open bags of various ingredients in my pantry I went on a hunt for low priced, easy to stack containers. I found some good ones at Wal Mart, and had some decent ones from Ikea as well.

4. Garlic Press - I also got this from Pampered Chef. I've had some nifty garlic choppers in the past, and really wanted another one. I had gotten invited to an Pampered Chef party and had asked about which of the garlic products were best. My salesperson recommended this one and I am happy I bought it. You can use it with the garlic clove peel still on, it's sturdy (I've had ones that have broken with too much force), and it has a nifty little brushy/hole poker thingy to clean it out.

Make-Up Brush Container

I don’t have as many brushes and make up supplies as most girls, but I have enough that it gets annoying to keep fishing through my makeup bag for individual brushes. I had for a long time used a set up of a square glass and coffee beans, an idea I found on Pinterest. I even had a small plant pot with rice. But these took up a lot of room on my bathroom counter, and there was no way to avoid dust getting into my brushes. Don’t’ want that on your face. Yuck!

Mushrooms Sautéed in Red Wine & Coconut Oil

VEGETARIAN/GLUTEN FREE/COCONUT OIL/PALEO/DAIRY FREE/SUGAR FREE

Mushrooms are my favorite! Well, one of many. I’m usually too lazy to do much more than simply sauté my mushrooms in coconut oil or add it to a scrambled omelet, but this recipe looked so intriguing I had to try it out.

I’ve been getting in wines of late especially since a friend of mine started her own wine tasting business. The only problem I’ve found with wine is what to do with the ones I don’t like but have already opened. Thankfully wine makes an awesome ingredient in lots of recipe.