Cleaning Out My Spice Cabinet

 It was a dark and dreary day.
I was really bored. Bored with social media. Bored with television, Bored with YouTube. Just flat out bored.
If you can't tell, I'm bored. I have my monthly menu planned out. We shoot for using the ideas about 60% of the time. It seems to help to have some choices written out. So, I cannot plan that out because I already did that.
I was looking through the last blog post I wrote and I was rather horrified at the state of my spice cabinet. I've doubled up on buying several items because they were lost in that rat's nest. Since the weather outside looks like this today:

Bob is out doing some odd job for someone this morning and early afternoon, so it was the perfect time to dive into that nasty looking spice cabinet and make some sense out of it.

So, this is what my spice cabinet looked like.

I took everything out of the middle shelf. I needed to start all over from scratch!

By doing this, I was also able to take a mental inventory of what all I have. I forgot that I had made some 7 Spice. I need to start using my French 4 Spice. I have some Rogan Josh that I need to turn into a delicious Indian curry dish. Just know that as many spices as I have in that cabinet, I have a 2 very full drawers that are full, as well. Persian dried limes, anyone??

One of the features that this fifth wheel has that I dearly love is my pantry. Between that and the bathroom, the underneath storage and the outdoor kitchen...if it weren't for those things, we would have passed on this one. Anyhow, I have to fit all these into one half of a shelf in my pantry. You all know that RV storage is ridiculously small. They were not designed to live in full-time.

This is what it looks like with nothing in there but my spice shelf. I gave everything a quick wipe down. It wasn't too dusty at all.

I organized this, too. I got the stuff that I use all the time up to the front and the other stuff to the back. I find this handy for corralling those bottles that seem to want to float around. Also, if my soy sauce tips over, it's not going to get all over everything. It will stay in that container. We buy gallon bottles of soy sauce and just refill that one. We do the same thing with Worcestershire sauce. I should do it with hot sauce. I'm not sure why I haven't.

There! That's what I like to see! There's a semblance of order! I bought that Everything bagel seasoning when we went to Trader Joe's. I am not really sure what to do with it. If you have any ideas, please leave them below in the comments. I also discovered that I'm very stocked up on Thai green curry paste and Russian mustard. I found a container of beef bouillion cubes, too. Those will come in handy when I make some homemade onion soup mix. I don't buy gravy mixes or onion soup mix any longer. I just make my own.
Yes, I realize that I own a ridiculous amount of spices. Yes, I've already cleared out a ton of them. I gave them to my sister because she loves Penzey's Spices as much as I do. The top row of Penzey's are big bottles with the smaller bottles on top. The other row are small bottles of Penzey's stacked 3 high.
I even have 30 vanilla beans and saffron in there!

Spice cabinet is done!
I'm making baked eggplant parmesan with Russian kielbasa tonight. I'll try to remember to take pictures of that.

Smoked Bleu Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breasts Wrapped In Bacon

 Last week, I wound up buying a container of smoked bleu cheese. I had initially thought that I would include this on Bob's requested charcuterie board for Thanksgiving, but I thought there was more than plenty to remake one of my published recipes on allrecipes.com, Gorgonzola Stuffed Chicken Breasts Wrapped In Bacon. I used to prepare this recipe quite often, several years ago, but had gotten away from it. It's always nice to revisit (and revamp) one of your highest rated recipes, I think.

I got away from adding anything to the bleu cheese. I figured with the smoke flavor, it didn't need any added ingredients, like shallot or parsley. Also, with the bacon and the cheese, this definitely did not need any added salt.

This also differs from the original recipe in that I baked these on a rack this time.

I baked these on a lower temperature than I did with the original recipe. I found that lowering the temp, even though I had them in the oven for over an hour, resulted in a much juicier version. These were not dried out at all.

Dinner, last night, was a sheer pleasure.


Smoked Bleu Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breasts Wrapped In Bacon

 

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/4 cup smoked bleu cheese
4 slices of pepper bacon
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon Penzeys Spices Parisien Bonnes Herbes blend
Cracked black pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut a pocket into each chicken breast, without cutting all the way through. Stuff 2 tablespoons of smoked bleu cheese into each pocket. Wrap each breast with 2 slices of bacon. Secure with toothpicks, if necessary. Sprinkle each breast with 1/2 teaspoon of Parisien Bonnes Herbes blend. Sprinkle with freshly cracked black pepper.
Place in oven and bake for 45-60 minutes, or until chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees F on a food thermometer. Let stand for 10 minutes, remove wooden picks and serve.

Carrot Pie

 This afternoon, I thought it would be a great day to try to turn these carrots into a pie. I hoped it would resemble a pumpkin pie.

These carrots were pretty big. I decided to use the same amount of pureed carrots as I would with pumpkin. I peeled them and boiled them until they were soft.

I decided to break out my homemade vanilla and I also opted to open up the Tung Hing cinnamon that I bought from Penzey's Spices. 

All this deliciousness gets whipped up and mixed with pureed carrots. 

I can't tell the difference by simply looking at it.

I can't tell the difference after it's baked, either. It cracked when it cooled off. 

The consensus is that the texture is just a little bit different. That's all. Other than that one minute detail, I could not tell the difference between carrot or pumpkin in this pie. I'll make more carrot pies in the future, for sure.


Carrot Pie

1 9-inch pie shell
2 cups pureed carrots (about 3 large, peeled and boiled until soft and pureed in a food processor)
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
2 eggs
1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 teaspoons real vanilla extract
3/4 cup heavy cream

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl until well combined. Pour into prepared pie shell.
Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes, lower heat to 350 degrees and bake an additional 50 minutes.
Pie is done when you can put the point of a knife into the middle and it comes out clean.
Cool completely before cutting. Refrigerate leftovers.

I do not receive compensation from Penzey's spices. This is not a sponsored post.  I just really like their products.