- Herbs & Spices

While our days have been hot lately, our evenings have been just perfect for walking! The last few nights the walking group has managed to not only dodge any rain in the forecast. We’ve encountered an abundance of gentle cool breezes that made leaving the air conditioning down right easy. It’s really a pleasure to be out there walking, talking and getting fit. Last night some of the group got into a pretty passionate discussion about real estate. We all noticed that we see quite a few homes for sale as we walk in various areas. On the nights I walk I eat dinner early, then Dad and the baby eat while I walk. With the cat away, the mice play. Dad gets to stare at ESPN, and our son gets to forgo utensils. Acutally, Dad probably forgoes them to.

At our house we can’t seem to get enough fresh onion and garlic into our meals, but I’m always working on incorporating a variety of herbs and spices into my cooking. I love to marinade. One of my favorite ways to prepare meat or fish is to marinade it in a plastic bag with either apple juice, onion, lemon and/or garlic for a few hours. Grilled or slow cooked in just a splash of olive oil in a non-stick pan and, oh, the flavor is magnificent. Herbs and spices! What better way to ensure that your meals taste great without having to add a lot of butter, high sodium marinades and table salt? Don’t get me wrong, we enjoy our share of bottled marinades too! The catch is that we only use a small amount along with most of our marinade consisting of the aforementioned apple juice etc… We’ve found a balance and that’s the Ayurveda way.

Here’s a link to http://whatscookingamerica.net/herbs.htm, and here are some easy to use tasty herbs and spices that you may enjoying experimenting with: bay leaf, basil, sea salt, cardamom, cayenne chamomile, cinnamon, coriander, cumin, fennel, ginger, lemongrass, marjoram, mustard seed, oregano, rosemary, sage, tarragon, thyme, mint, nutmeg, parsley, raspberries, sesame and turmeric. I'd love to hear how you end up using some of them!