Note on Essential Ingredients

Staples in the kitchen and common ingredients I cook with.  I will put links to Amazon/Other stores of what they are at the end of each recipe.  You can try subbing, but please realize some are essential and will drastically alter the flavor profile I am looking for.  Especially if you are trying to recreate the same dish from memory and it doesn't quite taste the same with the sub.  And I can tell you right now that I hate green peppers with a passion.  So I don't cook with them but alot of Cubans do, feel free to sub the peppers back to green peppers.  And if any questions whatsoever, please post in comments.  I will answer any and all questions.