Here's the simple Sunday lunch that sparked me to toss out most of the spices in my cupboard. I'm looking forward to getting a cool rack, however.

First, I started with an iceberg wedge, I love iceberg, even though it's not very nutritious, at least not as much as kale or romaine or other greens. But I LOVE iceberg texture, so I love ordering "wedge salads" when I go out to dinner. I drizzled a simple Paul Newman's Italian dressing on top and that was it. It really was delish.

I also made sloppy joe's with turkey. YUM. That's when I realized I could really use cayenee and paprika and oregano. The oregano looked really old. I added a little but then started googling and came across that really great McCormick Web site that told you everything you ever wanted to know about spices.

This turkey reciple turned out good. I didn't use buns, although I think it would have tasted even better with buns, but I'm trying to avoid carbs as much as possible. I started with olive oil, about two tablespoons and three or four cloves of garlic. With that delicious smell in the air, I was in heaven as I started getting ready for the rest of the dish. After a few minutes, I added about one pound of ground turkey and I used about a half teaspon each of oregano, paprika and cayenee. I kept stirring for a few minutes and then added a 28 ounce can of organic tomatoes, a tiny can of tomatoe paste, and about two cups of water. I kept stirring, maybe 30 minutes longer. That was it. It turned out great, eaten as sort of a stew/soup. I even took some to work for leftovers. I actually tasted even better today.

spice up your life, throw out outdated spices!

I knew some of the spices in my cupboard were old. The Dean and DeLuca ones in the adorable silver tins were at least 20 years old. I remember the boyfriend I was dating when I cooked him up nice meals with those. I hung on to them because the tins were so adorable and they were so expensive. Those were the days when I blew money like water. I knew I had to toss those. But there were dozens of others in my cupboard I didn't know what to do with.
This issue came up today because the sloppy joe recipe I was making today would have tasted really good with bay leaves and oregano but I left those out because I realized I didn't know how old those spices were.
After looking online, I found a great site, http://www.mccormick.com/Spices101/HowOldSpices/KeepingItFresh.aspx, that explains when spices are too old. Some start going after one year. McCormick says to watch the color, once the color fades, it's time to get a new bottle. Most of my spices looked pretty good. It was hard for me to tell by sight if they were no longer good.
But McCormick also allows you to punch in the codes at the bottom of the spices so you know just when they made a particular spice. When I punched in the Hot Madras Curry Powder, they told me that this particular bottle was made in August 24 of 1980! Holy smokes. The codes on some of my spices had faded, so I couldn't punch the number in, but McCormick also says that if it's made in Baltimore, it's 15 years old and should go too. "Blue spiked hair was fun for a while but don't hang onto spices from the punked ear," McCormick says.

cupcakes take the cake

Michael's is such a fun place. It's hard to leave there without spending something, even if it's only a few dollars. I got these adorable cupcakes in the $1 dollar section. They make a cute decoration placed on a pretty plate.

the tulips are out!

Here are some pretty tulips I saw while shopping at Michael's. Then, I saw this idyllic looking flower shop decoration at another store. So simple and beautiful.

Here's a way to find more knitting time!

This is a quote I got from my quote a day knitting calender. She's got some funny thoughts.
"Need more knitting time? Neglect housework. The miracle of housework is that you can do much of it at least half as often and get the same results. Take dusting. You grab a cloth once a weeka nd wipe your stuff. Now imagine you do it only once a month! Same arm movement, same effortt, same results...But by doing it less often, you get way more knitting time! (Hint: This works with vacuuming too, but not with laundry.)

yummy salad to bring to work

I made this to bring to work. It was just romaine, brocolli, carrots, sesame seeds and almonds. And strawberries to sweeten and pretty it up. Then, when I got to work I put on the olive oil and the pomegranate vinegar.

garbanzo beans rock!

This is another good recipe with garbanzos. The cukes really do a lot to yum this dish up. I avoid cucumbers like the plague because they don't seem to have much nutritional value, but I'm starting to add them back in because of the clean taste. Now that I'm avoiding sugar and other bad things, I need all the taste I can get.

This recipe called for:

*one can of garbanzos

*one cuke

*a half a bag of prepared green beans

*a few carrots

*olive oil

*juice from a few lemons

*one quarter teaspoon of sea salt