I couldn't do without Tarragon for any kind of stew with beef or grilled pork tenderloin. Also Rosemary and dill. Rosemary for chicken dishes and dill for anything with fish or eggs.

I cook almost all of our meals in the RV (we fulltime).  We rarely go out for dinner.  I like a lot of different seasonings/spices and keep at least 30 different types on board.  All the ones mentioned previously plus things like taco seasoning blend, cajun spice, cayenne pepper, a variety of Mrs. Dash, curry, cumin, and many more. 

A spice I just found and have started using that I like a lot is Mexican Oregano. It's a little strong so be careful.

--Rod

I, too, get recipes from the internet. www.allrecipes.com is a good one. I went through my recipes and put favorites in a binder and made my own cookbook. When I try something different and like it, it goes in there too.

As far as spices - hey Leonard is from Louisiana. So - Tony Chachere's - need I say more???

I use garlic, pepper, and onion in just about everything.  I rarely use salt anymore and don't miss it at all (except for on the rim of a margarita glass :)

I also like an Italian Seasoning blend.
I use cumin and chili powder if I'm in the mood for Mexican food.
I use curry powder and fresh ginger when I'm craving Indian food.
I use a little dill in left over salmon to make salmon quesadillas.

I'm making myself hungry - time to start dinner!

Colleen

another variation to all the above is using 'rubs' that can usually be found in the spices section of a store. they have them for chicken, meats and fish and are very good. they are basically a combination (based on the flavoring they are advertising) of a mixture of spices but in a more powdery form. i sometimes add a little bit of olive oil (enough to moisten the entree), add the rub, sometimes add real, crushed garlic, then it is off to the oven or bbq.

This was a battle for me because my husband believes salt and pepper is all anything needs and I'm more adventureous. Like everything else I put in the rv, I decided to pare down the spices and baking items. I no longer stock that "once in a while" spice or extract. (I mean really, how often am I going to use sesame seeds or black walnut extract???????? LOL!) Most of what I have has already been mentioned, I also use Everglades Seasoning, celery salt and celery seed, as well as a couple different rubs (that chipotle cinnamon rub is wonderful rofl!).

It darn near killed me but I got rid of several hundred cookbooks, years and years of Cooks Illustrated (and Cook's Country) and many other magazines and special issues. I kept less than a dozen cookbooks and only the ones that had special meaning or were irreplacable (like the one my neice made the family for Christmas one year). I also have a Betty Crocker Make Your Own Cookbook with special or frequently used recipes in it that I've put together over the years.

I solved the "storing my addiction" problem by putting everything on the computer. I have a program called The Living Cookbook and recipes I've saved from the internet or scanned from magazines or cookbooks are stored in it. Complete with pictures. It's the best program I've found, (and I've tried most of them lol), much easier to use than Master Cook or Meal Master, and has more features than a lot the others. I don't even waste the ink printing a recipe. I just pull it up on the computer and read it from the screen. I knew the whole purpose of getting rid of all my cookbooks, magazines and accumulated printed recipes was so I didn't have to worry about storage or weight, and if I were to print and keep everything I find online or use, I'd only end up right back where I started from lol. *Shrug* It works for me lol!

Some great suggestions. Some of these I already have, but I'm adding a few new ones to my shopping list.


RodnReal> I am an oregeno junky. Sounds like the Mexican variety is gonna be even better.

I wondered what to do with that 6 month old dill in the back of the spice rack. Now I know it's for fish and eggs.

Roz> Now if you can tell me what my 6 month old mustard is used for, I might keep it too. 

Let me try-

I use powdered mustard in the "fixins" for homemade mayonaise.

If regular mustard has not been touched in 6 mo, you likely do not need it.  Well, wait another month before tossing it.

-- Edited by Roz on Wednesday 4th of November 2009 03:35:16 PM

I originally downloaded the free trial and liked it so much I bought the program and had them send me a cd (just in case lol). Thanks for the link jagco!

Living cookbook can be backed up to a flash drive (or a place on your current hard drive then burned to  cd). When you get a new computer, install Livingcookbook and then reload the files you backed up on the flash drive. It's easy to do, back up instructions and reloading are in the help files.

In fact, I had to do this when we decided to go full time because I sold my desktop and got a laptop so I had to move everything from one computer to the other. It took longer to clean and wipe the hard drive on the desktop so it could be sold than it did to get all my recipes onto the laptop.

-- Edited by Footsiebear on Thursday 5th of November 2009 07:06:34 AM

Thanks to who ever posted the link to the living cookbook.  I am busy entering my recipes.  I love love love it.