Best and belated New Year's wishes to all the Observer readers from the Partlow/Slea household! Dave, Marvin and I are rooting for our neighborhood and neighbors! I'm sure there's plenty of us who've resolved to eat better or get healthier in 2010. That's commendable. I'm resolving to pull off some more good grades and write more often! But hey, that's me-- we're talking about YOU. If you were expecting to find some low-fat stuff here in this column, sorry! But read on, I am going in the 'healthy' direction.

One of my 'pet peeves' in modern American cooking is the overuse of "convenience foods." On the Cleveland Clinic website, we're told: "...Most convenience foods on the market today are laden with saturated fats, sodium and sugar and provide little to no nutritional value. Even foods touted as fat free or low fat are usually poor alternative[s]..." (www.clevelandclinic.org).

Ew! So what's one to do? Well, start simple. An easy place to start is to make your own seasonings. Ever look at the ingredient list on a packet of taco seasoning? Go on, go look, I'll wait... How much of that stuff can you pronounce in one try? And the salt-- yikes! 

Well, I got grossed out. Scouring the web, I found some basic recipes for stuff we like and use a lot. The only 'special' piece of equipment you need for anything is a countertop food chopper or a spice mill, and that's just for the poultry seasoning.

The only thing that might put you off some of these recipes is the low use of salt. But among many culinarians, the opinion is to salt it when you eat it, not when you cook it. However, that's one of the things that makes these recipes better for you. We don't dig salt as much as we used to. When we quit smoking cigarettes (another GREAT resolution), our taste buds changed dramatically. One of those changes made us less in love with salt. 

So, are you ready to pronounce your seasonings? Me too! Let's boogie!

Homemade Poultry Seasoning: (Pulverize all ingredients together. Keep in a sealed container)

1 T EACH Thyme, Rosemary, Celery Seed, Sage, and Marjoram OR Oregano. 3/4 t pepper.

Taco Seasoning: (Good for one pound of meat. Add with a little less than 1/2 C water to drained, cooked meat. Simmer over medium heat until water is absorbed.)

2 T Cumin, 1-1 1/2 T Chili Powder (according to taste), 1/2 t EACH Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Oregano, Red Pepper Flakes, Oregano, 1 t Paprika. 2 t Pepper, 1 t Salt.

Chicken Fajita Seasoning: (Combine all ingredients and simmer with cooked meat for 10 minutes.)

3/4 C Low-Salt Chicken Stock, 1 T Cornstarch, 1- 1 1/2 t Chili Powder (according to taste), 1 t EACH Paprika, Sugar, 1/2 t onion powder, 1/4 t EACH Garlic Powder, Cumin. Dash Salt.