When I was growing up the only spices that I knew about were salt, pepper, cloves, and bay leaves. Cloves were ok to put on top of a ham. In our house, bay leaves were used to make corned beef and cabbage. Otherwise everything else was seasoned with salt and pepper.
Fast forward to today, I am very sensitive to salt. My fingers swell up when I have had too much salt. So a few years ago, I decided to look for a salt substitute. I found Mrs. Dash. There were a whole line of products that I could use without the swelling. Now I don’t like too much salt. Yes, I love french fries with salt. I am not with out my vices. This blog cites the number of times I have indulged in this behavior. But french fries have become a treat instead of an every day occurrence. I used to eat fries almost every day. But that was a different time.
Today, I use salt free spices. My spices come from Penzeys in Wisconsin. We actually found Penzeys when we were in Milwaukee for the day. It was a wonderful discovery. That was over 20 years ago.
But you know what, Penzeys has gotten better and better. Their salt free selections have gotten larger. There is also more variety.
My current favorites are Mural of Flavor, Arizona Dreaming, and Forward!.
I really like Mural of Flavor ( 1.3 oz jar 7.95) because it has Shallots, onion, garlic, lemon peel, citric acid, chives, and orange peel. There are other spices in this wonderful mixture but they are only listed as spices. They are delicious! I don’t even miss salt. The Penzey description says that this spice mixture has the flavors of the Mediterranean. It is very versatile to be used on meat, fish, chicken, and of course vegetables. I use it on all kinds of vegetables. Mural of Flavor just enhances the natural goodness of vegetables. Yum!
I love Arizona Dreaming (2.1oz jar 7.95). I would probably like this spice mixture more if it was named New Mexico Dreaming but that is the only thing that I would change. Arizona Dreaming is “hand mixed from: ancho chili pepper, black pepper, onion, garlic, paprika, spices, cumin, citric acid Mexican oregano, cilantro, lemon peel, chipotle pepper, red pepper, jalapeno, cocoa and natural smoke flavoring.” Wow! All of that is in this bottle. This spice mixture is also described as an all purpose spice. I love it on carrots. In fact, we have run out of our dukkah so we used Arizona Dreaming instead. It was delightful! Sorry, I don’t have any photos. I ate all the carrots. Believe me they were wonderful!
My new favorite is Forward Seasoning. I ordered a bag to see if I would like it( 3.5oz for 9.95). I need to get more! I put it on popcorn. I am never going to put any other spice mixture on my popcorn ever again. Forward Seasoning is full of flavor. Wow! It is also salt free. Foward Seasoning is also hand mixed with ” special extra bold black pepper, onion, paprika, garlic, turmeric, and spice extractivas (including Oleoresin of celery, rosemary, black pepper, thyme, basil and paprika.”
There used to be a Penzeys store in Albuquerque but I think it has been closed. I just found out on Google Maps when I was trying to place a map on this website. Sorry about that.
Lately I have been ordering online. There are deals on shipping, like free shipping with a $39.94 order (at this time)
I have signed up for their emails which are very informative and alert you to specials. Online is taking a little longer than usual but they are worth the little extra wait. The Penzeys website also has a recipe section.
Santa Fe City Different Foodie 