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Spice Creation Winner...


Thanks to all who entered the Create Your Own Spice Set Giveaway sponsored by Spices Inc. The winner is Mom24 who said she would call her set "Mexico--Beyond the Basics" and included the following:
Manzanillo Mexican Seasoning
Achiote Seed
Adobo Seasoning
Adobo Lime Rub
Ancho Powder
New Mexico Chili Powder
Chipotle Honey Rub
Coriander Seed Powder
Southwest Seasoning
Mexican Oregano
"As my family's tastes have evolved, along with my cooking, we find ourselves exploring mexican/tex-mex more and more. I'm very intrigued with southwestern flavors, but a bit limited by our supermarket's selection of spices."
I've sent you an email Mom24. Congrats! 
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Evil Chicken Dinner

Evil because it's got 1 cup of brown sugar in it plus bacon plus you can't stop eating it. It's evil. Evil, evil, evil. Bad dinner. Not really, though. It's delicious.



Ingredients
1 lb. bacon, cut into pieces
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, chopped
3 Tbsp. chili powder
1 c. brown sugar
up to 1/2 c. water as needed
cooked rice

Directions
  • Cook the bacon in a large skillet until nearly done; don't drain. 
  • Stir in chicken & chili powder; Cook until cooked through. 
  • Add sugar & cook until dissolved and sauce begins to thicken, about 4-5 minutes. Be careful once the sugar is added not to let it turn to toffee. 
  • Add water to thin the sauce, but keep in mind the sauce is more of a coating.
  •  Serve over hot rice.





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Chocolate-Strawberry Smoothie - Vegan + Dairy-Free

chocolate strawberry smoothie
Chocolate and strawberries - antioxidant power.

On a detox kick but craving something fabulous? Have I got a seductive and sexy smoothie recipe for you. If you love chocolate dipped strawberries, this dairy-free breakfast treat has your name on it. Rich in antioxidants (organic cocoa powder anyone?) and dairy-free to boot, this vegan breakfast tastes more like dessert than the robust boost of protein that it is.

Sip it like the goddess you are. Feel fabulous.

Read more + get the recipe >>
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Gluten-Free Sweet Potato Fries

Baked sweet potto fried, shoestring style
Easy, tasty gluten-free sweet potato fries baked with spices.

Like my pal Kalyn I'm a big fan of sweet potatoes. And sweet potato fries. Kalyn's recipe has a different spice blend than mine but our recipes are quite similar. Check out hers if you don't happen to care for my particular spices. Or get down-and-dirty personal and make up your own signature concoction.

Cooking is all about making recipes your own. Developing your own tastes. Your likes and dislikes. Cooking is flexible. And highly personal. It's not precise like, say, brain surgery. Unless you're baking something fussy. Baking folks swear by precision. But I've never actually been that kind of cook. I'm intuitive. I fly by the seat of my jeans. I look at a glistening picture of pasta and vegetables and I feel inspired. I open my pantry and get juiced to play the What If? Game.

What if I take this ingredient and add it to that ingredient? I wonder. What would that taste like? Then the fun begins.

How do you cook?

Do you wing it like Chet Baker? Or do you prefer a road map, with precise direction?


Read more + get the recipe >>
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Detox Green Soup Recipe with Broccoli, Spinach and Ginger

Detox green soup recipe with broccoli and spinach and ginger
Detoxing from your holiday sugar fest? Try this vegan green soup with ginger.

I'm not perfect. Goddess knows. Especially during the long pale days of Winter. When I am a slug. Motivation is tricky to summon. I loll on the couch with my iPad and expend as few calories as possible, doing nothing more than watching House Hunters International as I read through your ever delightful comments. I scoop guacamole with homemade pecan crackers and conjure recipes for detox green soup as I follow tall young Cincinnatians ducking into tiny Italian kitchens the size of my corner sofa, daunted by the lack of plumbing but in love with the sun baked view of a tangled vineyard through open shutters. I mute the unintentionally absurd commercial for Cialis, trying to imagine why any woman over the age of fifty would even want to deal with 24-hour tumescence before I realize I have eaten a giant avocado.

All by myself.

I don't beat myself up. I know the bottom line. I didn't just fall off the turnip truck. I am not naive. Perfection is unattainable. No matter what the ad men tell you. And it's not perfection I seek. Though, in full transparency, I used to nurture an inclination toward seeking perfection in my long ago first marriage, but the wrecking ball named irony hit too hard to ignore. Turns out my first husband preferred someone decidedly not perfect. Someone sporting iridescent teal eye shadow and fond of dancing drunk with married men at Chamber of Commerce Christmas parties. That taught me a thing or two. Or three.

The thing about perfection is that no one cares.

And neither does your soul. In fact, your soul loves to throw a monkey headlong into your perfect plan. You know the monkey I'm talking about. The monkey who misses deadlines and loses car keys and eats an entire bowl of guacamole in one sitting (or laying down, as the case may be). So much for resolutions and diet strategies. Monkey WIN!

But just in case you're serious about cleansing those fat little liver cells and whittling away your holiday pie roll, I did make a detox soup. And yes, it was green. And cruciferously abundant in vegan veggie wonderfulness.

It made us feel happy.

And well fed.

Quite virtuous.

But not perfect.

Because perfection, Darling, is not only unattainable.

Perfection is highly overrated.


Read more + get the recipe >>
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Giveaway...Your Own Customized Spices!

This contest is closed. Winner will be notified.
I am teaming up with Spices Inc. to bring you this awesome giveaway. Spices Inc. has generously offered one of you the chance to win your own customized set of spices. How cool is that? Here's what you do: go to Spices Inc. and create your very own 10 jar spice set. These would need to be 10 spices, dried herbs, extracts, salts or chiles that they carry (organic or non organic it doesn’t matter). Then you need to come up with a creative name for that set, mentioning why you chose those spices, herbs, etc. Leave all that in a comment for me (with your email address) and we shall see who wins. Greg Patterson, the founder and CEO of Spices Inc. will choose a winner based on the most unique and creative collection. 










The winner will receive their collection and they will even add it to their web site in the spice set section under limited edition spice sets. They will also give you credit (i.e. this limited edition spice set was created by Jane D. of Menlo Park, California). I'm totally jealous of the one who wins.

This giveaway will end Wed. January 12th at midnight. Good Luck!



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Honey-Lime Chicken Enchiladas

All right! Something that isn't a sweet! Finally. I've had my share of treats over the holidays and I'm ready to back off. I heard about this recipe from a friend of mine and I'm so happy I did. I believe it is my new favorite enchilada. I think it tastes even better the next day as leftovers. The flavors have settled so good by then. Make these tonight. That's your assignment for the day.


Ingredients
6 Tbsp. honey
4.5 Tbsp. lime juice
1 Tbsp chili powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 lb cooked chicken, shredded (you can also use shredded pork. That's what I did here.)
8-10 flour tortillas
colby or monterey jack cheese, shredded
16oz. green enchilada sauce

Mix first 4 ingredients together and toss with shredded chicken. Let it marinate for at least a half hour. Pour some green enchilada sauce on the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Fill flour tortillas with chicken and shredded cheese. Roll up and place seam side down in the dish. Pour the rest of the can of green enchilada sauce over enchiladas then sprinkle with more cheese.  Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. (Put it under the broiler at the end to make the cheese brown and crispy on the top.)


Those brown spots on the cheese are what you're going for. 


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