Spice of Spices

A few of my favorite spices:

I love Trader Joe's spices. They get these so terrifically right in my experience and tend to cost less than most grocery store spices. Of course if you can get them in bulk online, it's better, but then they go and blend spices together in such delicious ways. This is kind of the kitchen sink of spices... I am not even sure what all is in there, but definitely something citrusy or lemony, which at first threw me off, but then I discovered that with some dried chili peppers and a dash of cayenne, it is pretty much the most incredibly thing ever with my egg and gluten morning breakfast sandwich.

I am so obsessed with this powder. I love turmeric - absolutely love it, but this takes turmeric to a whole new level with ginger and cumin and lord knows what else. One of the reasons I bought the 21 Spice Salute was because the Trader Joe's closer to my house doesn't carry their curry powder and I thought I'd experiment. This, however, is the holy grail of deliciousness. Tastes good in my eggs, squashes, with tvp recipes mentioned below... so good. Every home should have some.

Vergingly not a spice, unsweetened cocoa powder is still one of my all time favorites, particularly for breakfast. For breakfast, I put some in the bottom of bowl, roll some chopped prunes around until they are utterly chocarific, add pecans, and then greek yogurt and mix it all up. And of course with some milk and a dash of sweetener, it makes the quintessential cozy of hot cocoa pretty darned well.

Alright, this is a particular favorite combination of mine. My first pairing of peanut butter and cinnamon (and sometimes nutmeg, ginger, and other pumpkin pie spices depending on if I have them) was in sweet potatoes and yams. I microwave one up, remove (and eat the skin), add these and mash like a crazy women. So delicious.

I have recently found that this combo pairs well with yet another dish involving tvp, veggies and....

coconut water

... and...

Basically, I take 1/4 of tvp, and add about 100 ml of coconut water (which I detest on its own, but magically discovered tastes excellent with things).

To that I have a concoction of food processed raw onion and garlic and mix in a tablespoon or so of that

Plus the cayenne and about a tablespoon of peanut butter. Then it's a judgment call whether I want to go with a dash (and just a light dash) of the cinnamon or the Trader Joe's Curry powder. 

I mix that up pretty well and then add some cabbage, spinach and maybe okra, cover, then microwave for about a minute (or use my vegetables setting on my new microwave).

Soooo darned incredible