Let's get spicy!

Today i will cover my list of essential spices that should be in everyone's cupboard! I love spices personally, I feel the need to add spices to almost every dish. I don't have the largest collection but knowing how to use them is enough.

The first spice on my list is Garlic powder. I know, is it even a spice? Anyway I digress, I personally love garlic. I find it handy to have garlic powder in as even just a little sprinkle can add depth.
Turmeric, cumin and curry powder are great for any seasoning and also the bases of a banging curry!
Mixed herbs, chilli powder and rosemary are last. Simple but elegant spices that dance over any food their added too.
Don't forget the salt and pepper. I don't cook with salt, only season.
I've found Happy Shopper products has a spice and season range and all of the above items can be found for 75p each or 2 for £1.25.

So how do I use my spices?
Well let's take tonight for example, burgers are on the menu and you may be surprised at my additions! You can find the recipe below!

So that's it!
7 spices is all it takes, not bad huh?
Chances are, next I will cover being timely and how to get the most out of your kitchen without spending all day in there.

Keep tuned!
Ttfn (ta ta for now).
Dee 😘 X
Footnote:
Had a quick scour around the top 5 supermarkets, 500g of mince will set you back around the £2 mark.

Simple burger recipe
Serves 4
200g beef mince
2 egg yolks
Splash of soy sauce
Mixed herbs
Garlic powder
Salt
Pepper

Preheat oven to 200°C/400°F/ gas mark 6.
1. Mix all ingredients in a Bowl until well combined.
2. Divide mixture into four.
3. Taking one piece of the mix, roll into a ball and squash into a patty between your palms.
4. Repeat last step for remaining pieces.
5. Place on a tray and place in oven for 10-15 minutes.
6. Serve when juices run clear.

Stock up and show off! My list of Staples

There's very few items I make sure I am well stocked up on. These items are what I consider 'Staples'.
These staples are the building blocks of your food.

My staples start with flour. All types of flour too! I make sure I have 1 bag of bread flour, 2 bags of plain flour and 2 bags of self raising flour. Plain flour and self raising are pretty much the same apart from the exception that SR flour has raising agents. Any old basic flour will do, no need for all singing and dancing flour as when it comes down to basics, they all work the same. I've found a cheap bag of flour (except bread flour) can cost as little as 50p per bag.

Just by having flour and eggs, your a few ingredients away from making almost everything!

Speaking of Eggs.. The bigger the carton the better. Eggs are extremely versatile, from pies to quiches to desserts and cake. The possibilities are endless!

Sugar.. I like to have multiple types, caster, granulated and icing. Again if you don't bake often or don't have a sweet tooth, you won't find a need for different types of sugar. But if you are a proactive baker like me, this opens your world right up to what you could create.

Butter.. To bake and cook with. (I cook most meats in butter rather than oil)

Cous cous/rice/pasta
Tinned tomatoes/tomato purée
Cooking oil
Stock cube

A few honourable mentions...
Now these aren't essentials but I like to have them in to broaden my choices!

Yeast..forget the sachets though, you can often buy a tub of yeast for roughly £1-1.50 and you get more than 8 servings!! Yeast is handy if your wanting bread of any types. I have some super simple bread recipes that are literally fool proof! I will add them all eventually!

Baking powder.. Just for the times when a recipe suggests the addition, Mainly for cakes and buns!

Sugar.. I like to have multiple types, caster, granulated and icing. Again if you don't bake often or don't have a sweet tooth, you won't find a need for different types of sugar. But if you are a proactive baker like me, this opens your world right up to what you could create.

Chocolate is next on the list, bizzarely enough.  You won't find any Lindt here though! As a self proclaimed scrimper, I find the basics bars for 30p do the job. I buy a good few bars every month.
Now chocolate is only good for baking and eating. But when the sweet tooth hits, 10 minutes in the kitchen and you can have a delicious brownie.
or a cake, or biscuits, or puddings.
(Recently I found myself short on money to buy Easter eggs, so a few balloons and a couple bars of cheap melted chocolate later and I had the eggs I wanted!) cocoa however is used differently to chocolate and can be a very useful commodity.

Then there is the vegetables, Onions, Peppers, Potatoes, Broccoli, Carrots. A lot of your veg can be frozen!! So if you don't use them everyday you're not going to be losing them! Also a lot of veg at the moment is in some supermarkets under £1 as part of a cheaper veg scheme.

Phew!
Now wasn't that a gob full! I will do a seperate post outlining the spice rack essentials. Again I will give you my opinion on where the deals are!
Ttfn! (Ta ta for now)
Dee 😘 X