Preparing those Holiday dinners and treats for family and friends can be a rewarding experience.
It can also be extremely frustrating when you can’t find all the right ingredients you need or want to prepare the perfect meal.
Often times, the local grocers, especially in smaller towns, simply don’t carry all the ingredients you need to complete that perfect batch of fudge, the favored dessert, or to spice up your holiday meal.
So here are some of those harder to find organic, gluten free, or just plain good tasting ingredients that you might need to complete your holiday cooking in style.
The ingredients here have all been arranged according to the dish for those holiday meals, or for those baking needs.
Hopefully, you will be able to find those hard to find ingredients you need within this list, so that this years holiday meal will be everything you dreamed your holiday meal would be.
Turkey, Dressing, And Gravy Spices
Whether cooking that traditional Christmas turkey, or a less traditional Christmas goose, or even Cornish hens, being able to season those birds, your bread or cornmeal stuffing, and that gravy to perfection, will make your main course shine.
Here are some mixes, spices, and ingredients that are sure to help even a first time cook prepare a wonderful and flavorful main dish:
Bell’s Poultry Seasoning (1 Ounce Box)
This Bell’s Poultry Seasoning Mix is a wonderful blend of Sage, Rosemary, Oregano, Ginger and Marjoram, which makes perfectly seasoned stuffing and can even be used to season your holiday bird as well.
In addition, this seasoning can be used in those left over casseroles, or even in pasta sauce, to give your food a unique and perfect seasoning.
You can find this unique seasoning here: Bells Bell’S Poultry Seasoning, 1-Ounce Boxes (Pack of 6)
Whole Spice Turkey Stuffing Seasoning (4 Ounces)
For those of you who are looking for freshness in your spices, but find it difficult to find the right fresh herbs in your grocery aisles, or simply don’t have time to chop and grind those herbs and spices, the Whole Spice Turkey Stuffing Seasoning gives you that fresh tasting seasoning without all the work.
You can find the Whole Spice Turkey Stuffing Seasoning here: Whole Spice Turkey Stuffing Seasoning, 4 Ounce
Gravy Mixes
For those people who have a bit of difficulty making that smooth, deliciously rich gravy, or simply want a gluten free gravy so they can enjoy more of the holiday meal, here are a couple of gravy mixes that are sure to help make your holiday meal complete:
Organic Gravy Mix: Simply Organic Roasted Turkey Gravy, Seasoning Mix, Certified Organic, 0.85-Ounce Packet (Pack of 12)
Gluten Free Gravy Mix: Roasted Turkey Gravy Seasoning Mix, Organic, Gluten-free / 3 Pack
Holiday Ham Seasonings
What would those holidays be without that beautiful glazed ham that everyone enjoys.
However, for those people trying to eat more organically, trying to find organic pineapple and cloves to spice up that ham may be a real problem.
So here are some holiday ham spices that will help you cook just a little more organically:
Brown Sugar
Bakers/Chef’s Light Brown Sugar appears to be a favorite choice, both for glazing that holiday ham and for making a variety of holiday desserts.
However, this particular brown sugar can often be difficult to find in grocery stores, but you can find it here: Bakers & Chefs Light Brown Sugar – 7 lb. bag
Whole Organic Cloves
What would that glazed ham be without the delicious taste of those whole cloves added to this main dish.
These organic cloves will add a fresh spiciness to your ham, which everyone will love: Spicely Jar Organic Cloves Whole, 1.2 Ounce
Organic Canned Pineapple Rings: Native Forest – Pineapple Slices Organic – 15 oz.
Maraschino Cherries: Luxardo Gourmet Maraschino Cherries – 400g Jar
Mashed Potato Seasonings
Whether you are making those holiday mashed potatoes from scratch, or using a boxed mix, adding a few extra seasonings to that milk, butter, and pinch of salt, can enhance the flavor of your whole holiday meal.
Here are some favorite additions to help you take your mashed potatoes to a whole new level:
Organic White Pepper
Adding a touch of Organic White Pepper to your mashed potatoes will add a bit of taste while still leaving those creamy white potatoes free of the dark specks you get with black pepper. You can check it out here: McCormick 100% Organic, Ground White Pepper, 1.75-Ounce Unit
Organic Onion Powder
Onions add a wonderful flavor to those holiday mashed potatoes (or mashed cauliflower), but some families prefer their potatoes to have a smooth silky texture, so using Organic Onion Powder can help keep that silky smooth texture, while still adding the taste of fresh onions to your holiday mashed.
You will find this onion powder here: Simply Organic Onion, White Powder Certified Organic, 3-Ounce Containers (Pack of 3)
Sweet Potato And Yam Spices
Sweet potatoes or yams are the perfect colorful and tasty addition to any holiday meal, and getting those candied yams or that sweet potato casserole or dessert, seasoned just right, can make or break this time honored side dish.
Surprisingly, there is a Sweet Potato And Yam Spice Mix that can take the guess work out of flavoring those sweet potatoes and yams, and you can find it here: Wiley’s Sweet Potato & Yam Spice
Additional Ingredients
Many families enjoy adding marshmallows and almonds to their sweet potato casserole or pies, so we thought we would include these ingredients to help you make this dish complete.
Almonds: Almonds, Sliced, Natural, 8 oz.
Marshmallows: Kraft Jet Puffed Mini Marshmallows, 10.5oz Bag
Green Bean Casserole Ingredients
Green Bean casseroles, made with mushroom soup and dehydrated french fried onion rings, are a favorite at many a holiday table.
However, finding a flavorful mushroom soup and those onion rings isn’t always the easiest task, so here again are the two ingredients that will make your green bean casserole shine:
Onion Rings: French’s Original French Fried Onions 6 oz
Mushroom Soup Mix: Gluten Free Cream of Mushroom Soup Mix
Vegetable Seasoning
Of course, many other families either offer a second vegetable dish or prefer another vegetable or vegetable medley entirely, and they keep looking for some new ways to flavor their vegetable dishes to make them more appealing to the entire family.
Here is a vegetable seasoning mix, that can be used with steamed, roasted, stir fried, or even microwaved vegetables to add a whole new dimension to your holiday vegetable offering: Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Magic Seasoning Blends ~ Vegetable Magic, 24-Ounce Canister
Jello
We wouldn’t want to forget those wonderful jello salads and molds that have become a huge part of the holiday meal.
And this selection of wonderful jello flavors will be sure to add a little more wow to your holiday dinner: Jell-O Gelatin Sampler (Pack of 15 Different Flavors 3oz Box)
Holiday Baking
It just wouldn’t be the holidays without an assortment of holidays, cakes, cookies, pies, and candies, and while many of the ingredients to make these wonderful desserts can be found in grocery aisles, some ingredients are a little more difficult to find.
So we have included some of the more basic ingredients you may need to complete those holiday sweets:
Organic Canned Pumpkin: Farmers Market Organic Pumpkin, 15-Ounce (Pack of 12)
You can also purchase single cans of this pumpkin.
Organic Pumpkin Pie Spice: Frontier Pumpkin Pie Spice Certified Organic, 16 Ounce Bag
Organic Spice Set, which includes: Ginger, Cinnamon, Cloves, and Whole Cloves and Nutmeg: Organic, All Natural Spices – Jar Assortment – Set of 5
Organic Vanilla: Rodelle Pure Vanilla Extract, 8-Ounce
Chocolate Chips
Here there are three great choices, gluten free, sugar free, and regular:
Nevada Manna Sugar Free Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips 8 oz. bag – NO SUGAR ALCOHOLS!
Hershey’s Baking Pieces, Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips, 12-Ounce Bags (Pack of 6)
Sugar Cookie Decorations
This sugar cookie decoration assortment will make wonderful decorated sugar cookies or cake balls for any time of the year:
Candied Mixed Fruit For Fruit Cakes And Puddings: Candied Mixed Fruit, Diced, 1 lb.
Mince Meat For Mince Meat Cookies And Pies, also contains apples and raisins: Borden None Such Condensed Mincemeat, Apples & Raisins, 9-Ounce Box (Pack of 6)
Organic Cinnamon Sticks
Cinnamon sticks make that Holiday apple cider, hot chocolate, and eggnog taste just a little bit better and spicier: Indus Organic Real Ceylon (Sri Lanka) Cinnamon Sticks, 3 Inch (16 Oz), Premium Grade, Freshly Packed
Unsweetened Coconut Flakes
For some odd reason, many grocery stores carry sweetened coconut flakes, but not the unsweetened flakes most people seek.
If you are looking for those unsweetened coconut flakes to add to that cake or coconut cream pie or salad, you can find them here: Coconut, Dehydrated at 98 Degrees, Unsweetened, Certified Organic, Small Flakes, 1 lb.
Custard Pudding
It is often to find the jello custard pudding that needs to be cooked on the stove top in stores anymore with all the instant puddings available.
However, there is nothing like this wonderful custard for making those tasty custard pies: Jell-O Cook & Serve Pudding & Pie Filling, Custard Dessert, 2.9-Ounce Boxes (Pack of 24)
Jello Instant Puddings Assorted Flavors
The reason why we are including this jello instant pudding link, is because this selection has some nice holiday flavors, such as candy cane, gingerbread, and pumpkin spice that will make some wonderful flavored cream pies and parfaits for the holiday season: Jello Limited Edition Gingerbread Flavor 4 Boxes Instant Pudding & Pie Filling
It is our hope that some of these spices, sugars, and additional ingredients will aid you in your search for the perfect holiday seasonings, spices and ingredients to make your holiday meal everything you want it to be.
Happy Holidays From The Review Squad Team!
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