Spicing Things Up in the Kitchen: Italian Spice Mix
Spice Addiction
I love spices. I love them so much that even when we were living in the tiny house I had an entire kitchen drawer dedicated to them. But apparently that wasn't enough, because I still had an overflow container for even more spices on top of the fridge. Needless to say, Matt thinks I have a bit of a spice hoarding problem.
(Matt's Note: She also has a tea hording problem!)
I am pretty fancy. I tend to rubber band recipes to their respective jars so I don't lose them.When I made the decision to remove wheat from my diet I was flabbergasted by how many condiments I removed from my fridge and pantry. Most sausages, and pre-seasoned meats contain wheat too and were also cut from my go-to groceries. Apparently, wheat ends up in just about everything.
While I understand that companies want to protect their secret blends, I hate buying products that simply list "spices" without actually naming which ones! I prefer to know what I am eating.
One time I was on a curry kick and for weeks and I was experiencing mild reactionary symptoms. I finally pieced together that the curry was the most likely culprit and low and behold I found that wheat was one of the spice ingredients. Never did I think I would have to check my spices for flour!
After cutting out wheat, we also removed most processed foods and anything with questionable ingredients on the label. So, while our pantry items dwindled, my spice collection multiplied!
Discovering the Spice Mix
We used to eat salad every single day and we never bought salad dressing. Instead, we'd add a splash of balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil. Perfection! But once in a while it's nice to switch things up. I was craving an Italian dressing and neither wanted to drive into the city to buy some, nor accept the sub-par ingredients I knew I would find on the label of a premade bottle. Alternatively, I looked up a recipe to make my own dressing.
It's been so long since I searched for the recipe that I can't even credit the original source. We have made a few tweaks over the years and finally feel like we've found the sweet spot.
I really like that this recipe is stored dry with the wet ingredients mixed in as needed. The best part about this blend is how versatile it has been for me over the years. Whenever a recipe called for Italian sausage, or spiced tomatoes I would just reach for this trusty mix and toss in a few tablespoons.
One of my favourite ways to use this dressing is tossed over grilled zucchini.
At a loss for what to make for supper one night, I kind of hodge-podged a few things together. We had so much zucchini that I figured, why not grill it? It ended up being really good and a great way to use up an abundance of zucchini.
Matt and I have this joke that people love to grow zucchini, but by the end of the season end up with so much that they can't even give it away. Wait, is that a joke or just reality?
The Recipe
Dry Spice Mix
- 1Tbsp. Garlic Powder
- 1Tbsp. Onion Powder
- 2 Tbsp. Dried Oregano
- 1 tsp. Ground Black Pepper
- 1/4 tsp. Dried Thyme
- 1 tsp. Dried Basil
- 1/4 tsp. Celery Salt
- 2 Tbsp. Himalayan Sea Salt
- 1 tsp. Paprika
Store dried mix in sealed container.
To prepare combine:
- 1/4 cup Vinegar
- 1/3 cup Olive Oil
- 2 Tbsp. Lemon Juice
- 2 Tbsp. Dried mix
- Hot pepper flakes to taste
Enjoy!
All photos and illustrations in this post are original work by Mrs. Canadian Renegade.
Love the Garlic! - Can never get enough and it's so healthy
Thanks! We are definitely fans of garlic over here. We've been known to have garlic tea or sandwiches when we're under the weather. LOL! -Aimee
our food here is mostly sugar and carbohydrates, so bad for health, so I have tried diet, but failed, I spend a rice each meal, we eat 3 times a day, really very bad habit ..
Oh boy! Sugar and carbohydrates are so addicting. Once I start eating them with more frequency I definitely have a hard time trying to stop. When I eat too much of them I start to feel sluggish and unhappy. My body definitely likes fresh vegetables better. Are fresh vegetables hard for you to access? Do you grow any vegetables yourself that you could use to replace the rice at one or two meals? Just the other day I made pasta but used zucchini for noodles instead. The next time I make that dish I think I will take photos to share here too. -Aimee
I grow a lot of fresh vegetables, but the vegetables in our place are still eaten with rice, I always eat rice with vegetables and fish, maybe very strange for you, but that's what happened in our place
Oh, I see. We do eat rice with our suppers a few times a week but not as often as you do. In fact, we had rice with our supper tonight. Thanks for stopping by. -Aimee
Looks yummy, I'm about to plant my squash, in a few months I'll give it a try during harvest. Thanks for sharing
What type of squash are you planting?
Zucchini and yellow squash, I am not exactly sure what kind their seeds from previous harvests. Also a little pumpkin, it's a French soup pumpkin real creamy and tasty.
That pumpkin sounds tasty. I hope you will enjoy the spice mix and dressing.
looks awesome. Must taste even better. I dry a lot of herbs and use it with cooking or to make tea.
Thank you! We were surprised with just how good this dish actually tasted. I have yet to dry my own herbs but would like to try eventually. Do you have a favourite tea blend? -Aimee
My favorite teablend is simple Pickwick because it contains only tea and no other stuff that is not suppose to be in tea, I use it as a basic and then mix it with anything from flowers to herbs that gives a nice spicy flavour and add honey.
I haven't heard of Pickwick before, I will have to look into it. Thanks for sharing. -Aimee
Hi Aimee, Hope this will help you to find some more information. https://jacobsdouweegbertsprofessionalcom-prod.jdecoffee.net/tea/pickwick-leafs/
Thank you! -Aimee
I also save a lot of spices, but fresh seasoning, I blend it when I want to use, we are here very hard to get the spices dry fast food, you are very creative in terms of cooking, I am very happy to read it
Thank you, I am glad you enjoyed reading my article. I don't often use fresh herbs in my cooking, not because I don't want to but because I am not sure how. I am only really familiar with using dry herbs but maybe I will try to incorporate more fresh when I have a garden again. If you cook with fresh herbs you should write a post about it so people like me can learn from you! - Aimee
ok, i will write commented about recipe that i often make,
sautéed shrimp mushrooms (size 1 kg of mushrooms)
ingredients:
1.jungur 1 kg
2.1 / 4 ounces of red chili
3.1 / 4 ounces of green chili
4.5 onion grains
5.1 grains of garlic
6.shrimp
7.1 tomatoes
8.take soup and spring onion
9.oil (better olive oil), where we do not exist
How to make:
clean all the ingredients, chili pepper sliced, thinly sliced onions, tomato cut, all ingredients put in, heat a little oil, then put onion, then chilli and tomato, wait until half cooked enter all ingredients, add a little water, then wait all ingredients,
food ready to serve, good luck my best friend
That sounds really tasty, thank you for sharing your recipe. Have you ever thought about taking photos while you cook this meal so you could write a post on your Steemit blog? I think you might do well. -Aimee
me when cooking has never taken a photo, maybe your idea may also, fore I will try to take some photos while cooking, thank you for your appreciation
Now this is going to be handy! Thanks Aimee! I have to go to Busy and have it saved/favorite. Then re-format it for my recipe book.
The rubber band is funny and effective. With children around, it doesn't work with me, the rubber band will be gone. So will the recipe. What I do is clear tape it on the jar.
Beautiful how you put the post together, I have to ante up my recipe posts hahaha pattern template c/o Aimee
We have the same problems with being careful on the ingredients. We haven't taken away wheat from our diet (yet). We will have to ease out of it slowly. Sooo right on about the "spices" generic ingredient. I hate seeing it on the label. :(
You're welcome, I am glad you found this recipe handy. The jar pictured is actually a double batch of the recipe listed but a single recipe goes a long way too. I haven't checked out Busy yet but it sounds like a great tool for Steemit users.
Ah, yes! I could see a rubber band going missing with mischievous little fingers roaming about. Tape is also a solid idea.
I really love photography and have been trying to incorporate more into our posts. I've been away from it for so long with the switch from working woman to full-time mom so it's nice to have the opportunity to get behind the lens again. I am glad someone else out there is enjoying it too. 😊
I've read that MSG can even be labelled as "spices". How maddening. Which is exactly why cooking from scratch as often as we can is so important. We're definitely not perfect over here but we try to be mindful often.
Thanks for stopping by! -Aimee
Beautiful pictures and post layout! I definitely want to try this recipe and try it with grilled veggies like you suggested.
So TRUE! Growing up, we had zucchini in our garden and no matter how few were planted, there was always too much zucchini. And sometimes they’d stay hidden until they were enormous!! We couldn’t even give those away...
Thank you! I hope you do try the spices with grilled veggies, it's really tasty. The snow has finally melted where we are and we're starting to see the trees begin to sprout their leaves. There is no better way to welcome summer than grilling!
Oh, the hidden zucchini's! Those giants are always so seedy too. One year, Matt's mom was utilizing every crevice of her suburban property for her garden and she planted her zucchini along her alley fence line. She came home to find an envelope from a by-law officer citing her for noxious weeds. 🤣 While she managed to have the ticket revoked, that is just a great illustration of how wild those plants can grow. Ha ha! -Aimee
Lol, “noxious weeds” - as a kid that’s what I would’ve thought too! For some reason we always had it plain and mushy 😬
Did she bring any of the zucchini to the station as gifts? 😂 I would’ve been tempted to give some to the officer 😉
I do not think the officer got any zucchini, but that would have been hilarious! - Aimee
nice Italian Spice, thanks for sharing
Thank you. What kind of spices do you use in your cooking? -Aimee
Wow nice work..
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