February Favorites!

I got this idea (which may or may not have come from a certain guilty pleasure of mine) to start doing a favorites blog. Do you have food or kitchen related items that you swear by? I do! Here are my 5 favorites that I would like to highlight for this month.

1. Amore Tomato Paste

This was introduced to me by a teacher of a cooking class I took a few years ago. I've never been fond of canned tomato paste. I think most recipes that call for it, can do without it. Apparently someone else agreed once upon a time, and invented tomato paste in a tube. Since it's pretty concentrated, I use 1/4 or 1/2 a tube at a time when making spaghetti sauces, right at the end of the cooking process. It adds a little depth and texture, without being pasty and tinny like the canned stuff. The coolest thing is that it's cheap. The 2nd coolest thing about it is that it comes in different varieties, such as pesto paste and sun-dried tomato paste. Go buy some!

http://www.amorebrand.com/products

2. Rice Vinegar

Sure you can get a big plastic tub of white vinegar for like a buck. Which is good if you use it for different things, such as cleaning. I like to use rice vinegar mainly for vinaigrettes, stir fry sauce, and chicken adobo, so a small bottle will last me awhile. It's a little sweeter than regular vinegar, and adds a sweet zip to almost anything. This time I have the Kikkoman brand, but I'm assuming most of them are pretty much the same.

3. Bamboo Spoons

This was another cooking class discovery. I can't imagine why any cook/foodie/whatever who knows about these would use regular wooden spoons. They're cheap, they're lightweight, but sturdy. They clean up with no effort, and will probably last me forever  I've had these for around 2 years, and have put them to good use. These were a gift to me, but they were around $2 apiece! I use them for everything, even for very hot stir frying.

4. Wasabi Peas

Once upon a time, I was sorely close minded about wasabi. Then I discovered sushi, and wasabi wasn't too far behind. This is probably my favorite snack for 3 reasons: they're crunchy, you can control how hot you want them by focusing them to either the tip or the back of your tongue, and because well, I love peas. Horseradish, I'm not sold on yet. Which may come off as an insult to most Minnesotans, but c'mon! Minnesota, the land where ketchup is too spicy, but horseradish is pretty much worshipped. You can't be trusted!

5. Velveeta (or any cheese sauce brand. Aldi's has a good one) Mac and Cheese

I'm not above it. (and you can add so many things to it. Mac and cheese BENDER.)

Do you have favorites?