In a professional kitchen where we have all manner of ingredients at our disposal or within a phone call away we tend to lean heavily on making most everything from scratch or “in house”. We have that luxury, as well as the need to make quantities of food for 25-30 people so it becomes economically feasible. At home though it’s a little different. Smaller quantities mean that I tend to end up with extra ingredients. This weekend was a perfect example. I wanted to marinate some beef for grilling fajitas but by the time you get the dried chilies, onions, garlic, oil, and various other ingredients you need you get into a little bit of $$$ and probably way more marinade than you need. So walking through the grocery aisles I happened upon a batch of sauces and marinades from a well-known chef famous for his Latin American influence. Some “purists” or “foodies” may shiver at stooping to this low but I’ve never called myself a purist or a foodie so I went for it.  They were very, very good. I tell you this to say that even those of us that cook for a living will grab convenience products more often than not. Sometimes you need to add an ingredient or two to make them better sometimes they’re great as-is. Don’t be afraid or feel like less of a cook or that it’s somehow “cheating”. It’s not. The point of all of this is to make food that tastes good and that you’re proud to serve and there are many ways to get those results.