Spice Rack & Bulk Foods

Today I'm going to talk about the secret of my kitchen.  What makes all the delicious meals here in the Busy Beaver Household.

Its the ingredients!

My array of spices, real butter, fresh eggs and other ingredients that I get from Spice Rack & Bulk Foods.
A local dry goods store.

I first saw them at 2nd St. Market, a local farmers market in an old train depot.  They then expanded to a store in my hometown. EVEN BETTER! It's on the way home from work, so I can get any missing ingredients from there on my way home.

Now, I haven't bought traditional store bought eggs in years. In fact, I can't stand the taste of eggs from my grocery store anymore. That's because I've been buying my eggs from Spice Rack, and they are just better!
They are fresher, and I believe they are pasture/grass fed. No matter how they do it, the eggs just taste awesome.

Then there's the butter! Amish roll butter to be exact. I don't know about you, but real butter makes everything taste better.
In fact, I only cook with olive oil and butter. No margarine in this house.

I use instant oatmeal, raw sugar and dried apples from there to make my own instant oatmeal.  This is much cheaper than the packets.

Their quinoa and chia seeds are at the best prices I've seen around town!

There's cheddar cheese powder for popcorn, instant yeast, flour. Anything you could possibly need for baking, even rarer items like arrow root powder.

I won't list every single item, as you can see the list can be quite exhaustive... but I will say, they are my GO TO place for spices and seasoning. In fact we'll be going there soon to get the ingredients for my son to refill his container of baby bam.

Oh! And my 10+ rated bbq  chicken seasoning (per my foodie Aiden) comes from mixing the honey bbq seasoning and rotisserie chicken blend spice together... absolutely delicious!

If you've ever wanted to try to make something you're not familiar with, like curry, you'll find the ingredients there!

Their spices are the freshest and best bargain around! Absolutely perfect for attempting the latest recipe.
They've also partnered with other local businesses to bring fresh bread and pastries and the latest eco-friend gear!

If you're in the Dayton area, definitely check them out! You won't regret it!

Yup! Even Castile Soap!

Cinnamon sticks to stir your hot chocolate!

My son's favorite snack!

My Little Chef

My son loves to cook. He's a young foodie.  Around 3-4 yrs old he dove into sushi, and he's been a fan of fish, salmon, quinoa and almost any vegetable you throw at him.
Yes, a child who loves broccoli, raw spinach, green beans, and asparagus.

He's my taste tester for all sauces and soups. He lets me know if what's cooking needs more spice, pepper, salt, or soy sauce.

Now that he's back in school, they have Library day. He has repeatedly checked out the same book so many times I've decided to buy it for him.

Emeril's There's a Chef in My Family!

He has 2 favorite recipes from here......

Baby Bam! - A spice mix, we put it on everything! Pasta, veggies, meat!
He loves the spice mix so much he doesn't allow me to use it!

Then there's the recipe for Chicken Parmesan:  Absolutely delicious!



A chef in the making! One with a refined pallet and a taste for veggies!

Sunday Supper- turkey, sweet potatoes, and onions

I'm attempting a new segment in this blog.  Since I'm not getting a CSA this year.... just too many vegetables and too few people, I need something to try to focus on weekly.  Many of those CSA vegetables ended up in my compost pile or freezer, yet to be used.

I attempt every week, to go Meatless on Monday.  This helps reduce my impact environmentally as a omnivore. If everyone went meatless one day a week, we could reduce our carbon footprint greatly.

** I must say that this makes my vegetarian/vegan friends very happy **   :)

I don't eat a ton of meat anyway, as I believe in normal portions, not American Supersized portions.

I do make sure I get meat on Sunday though since I'm meatless on Monday.  This helps to reduce my cravings. (That's my theory and I'm going with it.)

Tonight's menu: Jerk Ground Turkey, Spiced Sweet Potatoes, and Fig Onions.

This new venture will show what I cook every Sunday - most often using just what I have available in my kitchen at any one time.  It's cold in Ohio in February, I don't feel like going out after I get home. 

I also have the most time to cook on Sundays (usually) since my son is at his father's house on Sunday.

So with out more explanation, let me introduce my cooking team.  

Kira:  The Supervisor

When Magi passed this past October, the hole in my life was filled by 2 dogs.... Kira and Sparky.

Kira, is a beagle/border collie mix.  So her nose commands her brain.  In fact, she is supervising my blog writing (as seen in the picture) because it gets her closer to my plate of food.

Kira

Sparky

Sparky: Personal Assistant

Sparky is a border collie/whippet/fox terrier mix.  He never leaves me alone, except when he eats or goes outside.  Seriously, he follows me everywhere.

I spend so much time kicking them both out of the kitchen.

 Tonight, after perusing a few cookbooks, I look at what I have:

*  Boiler onions (small onions that were on sale a couple weeks ago)

*  Ground Turkey (3 tubes of this in my freezer)

*  Sweet Potato and shallots

So most of my inspiration came from Cooking with Herbs and Spices .

Jerk Turkey, Spiced Sweet Potatoes, Fig Onions

I cooked 1 tube of ground turkey with a touch of olive oil (about 1 tablespoon) and a good helping of Jamaican jerk seasoning.  I buy my jerk seasoning pre-made at a local bulk store, but there are many recipes online to make your own.  The basic elements are garlic, cayenne pepper, onion powder, thyme, parsley, sugar, salt paprika, allspice, pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon.  (I'll freeze the rest of the cooked turkey for taco night. :)  )

I quartered 4 boiler onions, and boiled them in some white wine ( about 1/2 cup - 3/4 cup). When the wine had almost boiled completely off, I added about 1 teaspoon of homemade fig jelly.  Let this melt and blend with with the onions and caramelize just a bit. ** Note: this should cook the onions adequately.**

I peeled and chopped 1 sweet potato into cubes.   In a saucepan, melt 1 tablespoon of butter mixed with a splash (about 2-3 tablespoons) of olive oil. Fry the cubes until barely soft.  I also added 1 sliced shallot.   After they are soft, add 1 teaspoon of ginger, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon allspice, and a pinch of cayenne pepper.  Stir well to incorporate flavors and cook for 2-3 minutes more. 

I then put the sweet potato into the oven at 375 because I needed the space on my stove to cook the other parts of my meal.  Just check frequently to make sure it doesn't burn.  Or turn off the oven and let it just keep everything warm.  I was trying to toast the sweet potato just a bit more to add some crunch. 

In the end... the turkey was spicy as expected.  I love Jamaican Jerk.  It's a savory blend of spice and subtlety (sorry I've been watching cooking shows on Netflix).  

The sweet potato and shallots was sweet and perfect. A taste like roasted root vegetables, which balanced out the spiciness of the turkey.

The onions turned out a bit surprising.  I expected a more caramelized and sweet flavor.  I got more of a vinaigrette flavor, with a tang to it.  I think if I added more jelly and let it caramelize a bit more I would get that sweet flavor.  It mixed well with the savory and sweet balance I had going on the plate.

I don't follow recipes well, so every dinner is an experiment. Tonight's experiment went well I think. 

The dinner was delicious with balanced flavors, complimented with a pinot grigio.