spices

[cheapischic]

Okay ladies, I am absolutely NO GOOD at picking out spices to put on anything. I've some posts and see that there are some fans of montreal seasonings.

Could you please give me some other spices or marinades that you like on meat and veggies?

Crockpot, grill, steamed ,whatever..........just easy.

[shoppingsnyder]

Big fan of Italian Dressing for marinating - either beef or chicken - and then grilling.

Also - using cider vinegar as a marinating base for chicken works great. It tenderizes an gives it a little kick. Throw in some white wine, garlic and lemon juice and it makes a great greek chicken.

I've got an awesome red wine marinade for beef (cheap) steaks. Again - red wine, soy sauce, garlic, etc. (Can you tell I am a fan of wine??)

I probably have at least 15 great marinades for beef, chicken, and pork.

If you are interested, PM me and I will be happy to share.

[DeniseD]

Hmmmmm, any of the Mrs. Dash spices. Didn't think I'd ever like them, but Gramps had high BP, I use it now, just add salt.

[vagabond2]

dried mint and one I always, always use on almost everything: Adobo con pimiento

just tonight I made boiled potatos, drain, put a little butter and dried mint and shake.......(leftovers get chopped and sauteed with chopped onions in a with olive oil/butter and Adobo shaken on them)

[Emily's Mom]

My new favorite way to cook veggies is by roasting them in the oven. I just put the veggies on a baking sheet (broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, whatever!), drizzle olive oil over the top, sprinkle some salt, pepper, onion or garlic powder over the top and pop it in the oven until they start to brown. Delicious!

[Jessica]

I really like Emeril's Essences, especially the original , which is good on everything, veggies included! His hamburger spice is also really good. He makes a parmesan essence for bread that is so, so yummy!

McCormick makes those marinade packets, Grill Mates, that are awesome! We tried the Hawaiian Luau flavor on some chicken last night and it was really good! They're so easy too! I like to marinade my meats overnight for maximum flavor and it makes the meat very tender!

[Jenni]

We like Lawrey's Season Salt. I think it BOGO at Publix this week too. It is a "salt" so if you're not big on salt, it won't work for you. But we love it, especially when we grill flank steak and stuff like that. My dh puts it on everything from veggies to fries to all meats and fish.

And, of course, anything Emeril's is awesome!

[Sylvia]

The thing with spices is you need to learn what flavors go together.

I don't think my mother ever used anything other than bay leaf and salt and pepper.

Tabasco sauce is surprisingly useful for adding a little zing to dishes.
my cupboards have...
Garlic powder, onion powder, black peppercorns, taco seasoning, bay leaf, celery seed, curry powder, cumin, ceyene, vinegar, dry mustard, bullion (chicken, beef, veggie) parsely, dill, cilantro, oregano, sweet basil, thyme, sage, rosemary, lemon pepper, ginger, oriental 5-spice, koshure and sea salt onion soup mix... etc.

As for marinades... I found a few great ones at the $1 store. I grab those and soak away..... add a dash of this or that.. (usually garlic, black pepper, etc) But you can make your own marinade with mustard, vinegar, brown sugar, onions, pepper... etc. Lime juice works well too.

I get a lot of my spices from WAGs, or the $1 store... I also will get the bags of specialty spices usually found in the Mexican food area of the store to refill my bottles. I love mexican food so I will often go buy cumin by the pound.

One last thing... be careful when spicing up food in the crock pot. Dried herbs when cooked too long in a crock pot can taste metalic.