Seasonings

You've been out an had a great meal, they told you it was all gluten free... you've cooked yourself a meal, so you know it's gluten free... somehow you ended up sick. 

If you've got a food allergy you're usually really careful, but there are things you don't always give a second thought. Packaged mixed seasoning blends have all sorts of things in them, from caking agents (the chemicals that stop the powder from becoming a cement block) to artificial colours and flavours. Pretty much stuff we can hardly pronounce much less digest. Always be wary, even my non gluten troubled friends.

The easiest way to think of gluten is right there in the first 3 letters. It's a glue, and manufacturers use it to bind colours and flavours to their products. 

It's not really difficult to make your own blends. Most seasoning mixes consist of the spices you already have somewhere in your kitchen just waiting on their time to shine. If you look up what's in say Taco season mix, I'm sure you have the ingredients or can easily get them. Then you just make up your own mix, and adjust the portions to your own taste. That way you always have some on hand for spontaneous cooking experiments.  

I've been wanting Jerk for a while now, when food thoughts pop into my head, it's like a nagging headache that won't go away until I try whatever it is I want to do. So I walked around he "Ethnic/World/Caribbean" sections of a few different supermarkets looking at their variety of Jerk Seasonings, mostly the marinades. The one thing they all had in common was their price, and I wasn't liking it. I figured I could make my own, so I got everything I needed. Most of the ingredients are staples in the kitchen, and what I didn't have I picked up for less than the cheapest brand. I made both a dry seasoning and a marinade. What possessed me to combine them I'll never be sure of, but please pray to whoever you worship for me, because I'm anticipating heat when I finally eat it.