Giveaway & Cool Stuff: How to store Victoria's Gourmet Seasonings

A few months ago when I received sample seasoning blends from Victoria's Gourmet, I was overwhelmed! There were so many of them! The seasoning blends came in super cute little tins, but I couldn't figure out where in the world I was going to store them. 

I have a TINY kitchen and my spice/seasoning shelf space is minimal and completely full at the moment! I also knew if I didn't keep the spices in sight, I probably wouldn't use them. So where in the world to put them... 

And then it dawned on me... I remembered seeing stores sell little tins with a magnet on the back of them for spices that could be stored on the fridge. Despite being cramped already, I could certainly put these little tins on the fridge... 

Now let me tell you something... I'm NOT a crafter... Pinterest usually bores me... and any hobby that needs more "stuff" than I already have just isn't my cup of tea... so just the thought of doing a "craft" was amusing... BUT... 

I soldiered on and bought some some small round magnets and some super bonder glue stuff that supposedly sticks anything to anything. One evening after work I took all the little tins and glued the magnets to the back of them. These were smaller magnets and if I did this project again, I would have found ones that were a little stronger and maybe a little larger... but regardless... the end result was pretty cute: 

These small magnets weren't strong enough to hold the tins up without support on the fridge alone, but when the tins were stacked up against each other they had support and didn't move! Voila... magnetized storage!

My favorite part? I LOVED the colors! It really added some pop to my kitchen and I now I actually use these spices all the time because I can see them. The cool thing about having them in this arrangement is that if you pull out a spice somewhere in the "magnetized seasoning tower" they just scoot down as if you were playing spices "Tetris!" My husband thinks it awesome and he was so surprised by my creativity!

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Please see my previous two posts reviewing Victoria's Gourmet Seasonings: 

- Ground Beef, Kale, and Caramelized Onions with Victoria's Gourmet Seasonings

- DIY Quinoa Mixes with Victoria's Gourmet Seasonings

The Giveaway is now over! 

Congrats to PJ! 

I hope you enjoy your new set of Victoria Gourmet Seasonings! 

The Giveaway:

• I am giving away a Tin Trio of Victoria's Gourmet gourmet seasonings (3 seasoning blends) and a brand new Victoria's Gourmet Cookbook. 
• This giveaway is limited to residents of the 48 contiguous United States aged 18 and older.
• One entry per person.
• Enter by leaving a comment below on this post AND please include a way for me to contact you -- your email address preferably.
• The giveaway begins January 14, 2013 and ends on January 18, 2013  at 11:00 pm eastern time.
• No purchase is necessary.  Odds of winning are based on the number of entries.  
• The winners will be randomly chosen and will be contacted by email.  The winners will have 24 hours to respond.  If the winner does not respond, a new winner will be randomly chosen.

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GLG Disclosure: 

Victoria's Gourmet Seasonings provided me with free samples of their seasoning blends and their cookbook for the purpose of sharing an online review, if I chose to do so -- ALONG with 1 brand new copy to giveaway. This is not a sponsored post and I did not receive compensation. The opinions in this post are completely my own.

DIY - Instant Quinoa Meal Mixes with Victoria's Gourmet Seasonings

When I first started using the different spice mixes of Victoria's Gourmet I truly had no idea how versatile they could be.

When my Dad was sick a few months ago, we had many meals with my step-mom Betty and one night she made an "instant" quinoa mix. I had no idea they made instant quinoa meals... and what a great idea! It's such a healthy "carb" with tons of protein and fiber and it cooks so quickly, it's perfect for weeknight meals. I looked for some of the instant meals when I got back home and couldn't find any at our local grocery store.

Then it dawned on me last night... I could make my own! With all of the different seasoning mixes that Victoria's Gourmet offers, it would be super easy to make my own quinoa mixes. Quinoa cooks in about 15 minutes, so all I would have to do is mix up 1 cup of dry (pre-rinsed variety) quinoa with 1-2 tablespoons of my favorite Victoria's Gourmet seasonings. Add quinoa and seasoning to a baggie or glass jar, seal and voila... an instant side dish or starter for a meal! How cute would that be as a Christmas gift? And so darn easy!

Here are just a few of the seasoning mixes from Victoria's Gourmet that I think would make a really delicious instant quinoa meal mix.

• Want a French inspired meal? Use 1-2 tablespoons of Herbs de Provence with a unique blend of 7 different herbs including lemon, lavender, and rosemary. 
• Use 1-2 tablespoons of the Holiday seasoning mix if you want a traditional "stuffing" flavor! 
• For a quick kid-friendly side dish try adding 1 tablespoons Pizza seasoning blend + 2-3 tablespoons parmesan cheese.  
• For a quick instant breakfast use 1 tablespoon of Pie Spices seasoning blend along with 1-2 tablespoons of brown sugar per 1 cup of quinoa! 
• Enjoy middle eastern dishes? Try 1-2 tablespoons of the Moroccan seasoning blend with 1 cup of quinoa. 
• For an Asian flair try the Ginger Citrus seasoning blend. Still need more ideas? Check out all 22 seasoning blend varieties from Victoria's Gourmet. 

Last night I served a deli roast chicken with a side dish of green beans with almonds, baked sweet potatoes, and this instant quinoa with 1 tablespoon of Victoria's Gourmet Tuscan seasoning blend. It was delicious. Not overly powerful with just a hint of Italian flavors.

How to cook quinoa (pronounced keen-wah): 
Shared by Carrie of Gingerlemongirl.com
(This is the brand of quinoa I have been using, I love how easy it is to use since it is already pre-rinsed.) 

1. Add 1 tablespoon of the seasoning mix of choice + 1 cup of dry pre-rinsed quinoa to a medium-sized pot. If desired, add 1 tablespoon of butter or olive oil. 
2. Add 2 cups of water to the quinoa & seasoning. Mix thoroughly and bring to a boil for 5 minutes. Turn down to medium heat and simmer, covered for 15-18 minutes until the small spirals of the grain separate from the germ (little squiggles) and the grain is fluffy and light. 
3. Allow to cool for several minutes and serve. 
4. (You could also totally (yep... totally! lol) MAKE quinoa in a rice cooker! Easy Peasy! Just follow the instructions for rice!) 

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Please see my first review of Victoria's Gourmet seasoning sharing how I often make quick & easy weeknight meals using different VG seasoning blends! For my final review next week there will be a Victoria's Gourmet seasoning giveaway to one lucky winner! I'll share those details later, so stay tuned for how you can win a trio of spice/seasoning mixes from VG!

GLG Disclosure:  Victoria Gourmet provided me with free samples of all their seasoning blends, in order to do an online review if I chose to do so. This is not a sponsored post and I did not receive compensation. The opinions in this post are completely my own. 

Ground Beef, Kale, and Caramelized Onions with Victoria Gourmet Seasoning

Several months ago I was complaining on facebook that I can't seem to find a curry seasoning blend that I actually like. And I want to like it! I love vegetarian meals and many cookbooks recommend curries for a vegetarian main course. 

As I was complaining, a young lady named Lisa G. contacted me and said she worked for a company called "Victoria Gourmet" and she'd love to send me some seasoning blends to try to see if I liked them. She really hoped their personal curry blend would knock my socks off. 

A week later a GINORMOUS box arrived on my doorstep and while I was trying to figure out what in the world I purchased that was so huge.. the scent of spices greeted me as I opened the box. Oh my.  The aroma was heavenly and so fresh! Unfortunately we were traveling a lot during that time and I didn't really have much time to play around with cooking and using the spices. 

We kept the spices in their cute tin boxes in the guest room until I could figure out how to store them in my tiny kitchen. (Which is a fun story for another post!)  Once I had them in the kitchen within arms length, I was eager to try them! There are so many!! 

Slowly but surely over the past few weeks we've been using Victoria Gourmet spice blends. And I really am blown away. These herbs and spices are so incredibly fresh (not to mention naturally gluten-free) that the aroma (literally as soon as you open the lid) makes you smile! I've never been a huge fan of using lots of different spices, because honestly, I don't feel like I'm "food-educated" enough to truly understand how each component of different spices works best. Also, considering you generally need to use herbs & spices that complement what food you're specifically cooking (pork vs. chicken vs. beef vs. non-starchy veggies vs. root veggies, etc...)... and I'm not very good at that!

But I'm learning that these mixes from Victoria Gourmet completely take the guess work out of proper seasoning!

The one-pot meal we made a few nights ago was simple enough:

• 1 pound of grass-fed ground beef
• 1 pint of button mushrooms, sliced
• 1/2 cup (already cooked) caramelized onions -- which amounts to probably 1 1/2 fresh onions?
• 1 large bunch of kale, stems removed, leaves torn into bite size pieces, and rinsed with cold water

I basically sauteed the above and then added about 1 tbsp. of the cinnamon chile rub seasoning mix to the blend. It mentioned being good with "steak" on the label, so I hoped it would pair well with the beef & kale. It was delicious! The cinnamon chile mix gave the beef & veggies a kind of southwestern flavor. The meal had just a hint of sweetness from the "Sumatran Korintje" cinnamon and subtle heat from the blend of chiles. Considering I'm not one to use many "hot" spices in any meal, I was pleasantly surprised by this dish and how the seasoning blend worked with it. And it made me realize I could take the same basic ingredients and simply add a different spice blend next week for a completely different, but easy meal. 

We served the meal over 1/2 cup of cooked brown basmati rice and topped it with peach salsa. This meal was definitely a win! 

Over the next few weeks I'm going to share several more posts about Victoria's Gourmet seasoning blends and how I've used them. For my final review there will be a Victoria's Gourmet seasoning giveaway to one lucky winner! I'll share those details later, so stay tuned for how you can win a trio of spice/seasoning mixes from VG!

Meanwhile... what would you do with the Cinnamon Chile Rub Seasoning Mix?


GLG Disclosure:  Victoria Gourmet provided me with free samples of all their seasoning blends, in order to do an online review if I chose to do so. This is not a sponsored post and I did not receive compensation. The opinions in this post are completely my own.