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How to Make your Own Spice Blends from Scratch

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December 15, 2014

I love hunting through the spice aisle at our local grocery store. Sometimes it’s like going on a treasure hunt to see what kinds of exotic spices and seasonings I can find. Himalayan salt? Grains of paradise? Saigon cinnamon? You bet. I will definitely add these to my cart. Pumpkin pie spice? Apple pie spice? Taco seasoning? Season salt? Nope, never. Those I make myself.

Learning how to make your own spice blends from scratch can not only save you money, it can help eliminate some questionable ingredients from your diet. Many spice blends add fillers, stabilizers anti caking agents or even MSG to their spice blends. You don’t need those things and making your own spice blends and seasoning blends will let you avoid them easily.

You can make these easy spice blends up ahead of time in a large quantity or just make what you need as you need it when you’re cooking.

Pumpkin Pie Spice

  • 4 tbsp cinnamon
  • 4 tbsp nutmeg
  • 4 tbsp ginger
  • 3 tbsp allspice

Apple Pie Spice

  • 4 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp cardamom
  • 2 tsp nutmeg

Taco Seasoning

  • 1 tbsp chili powder (more for a hotter taste)
  • 1/4 tsp garlic powder (not salt)
  • 1/4 tsp onion powder (not salt)
  • 1/8 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1/4 tsp dried oregano
  • 1/2 tsp paprika
  • 1 1/2 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp black pepper

Season Salt

  • 1 tbsp dried mustard powder
  • 1 tbsp paprika
  • 1 tbsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp thyme

When purchasing the ingredients for homemade spice blends, it’s best to buy them in bulk. You can find bulk bins of spices and herbs at your local food coop or organic grocery store. Herbs like oregano and thyme can be grown in your herb garden in the summer and then dried for use in the colder months.

Giving your own homemade spice blends as a Christmas gift is a wonderful idea that anyone that enjoys cooking would like to receive. You can create a gift basket by adding a few jars of your own homemade spice blends along with kitchen towels, pot holders, a cutting board, recipe cards, a cookbook and whatever other things you think they might enjoy using in their kitchen. Make sure that you package these homemade spice blends in glass jars not plastic. They will keep better that way. You can purchase special spice jars to use that have the sifter lids or you can use the smaller 4 oz size glass Mason jars instead.

Have you ever made your own spice blends?

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