Spice Up Your Pantry!
English: spices: (Turkey, travel, Istanbul, spice market, spices, törökország, turquie, tirkiye, türkiye, türkei, bazaar) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Have you checked your pantry lately?
Do you know which spices you have on-hand?
Do you know how long you have had them?
How many times have you started a recipe only to find out you didn’t have one of the right spices? If you are like me, I used to just say to myself, “oh, I’ll just leave that one out.” Then I would wonder why the recipe was so bland. Or, sometimes I would have the spice, but it was so old it was hard to tell if it had any flavor anymore.
So I did two things. First, I went out and bought some new spices. Then I labeled each bottle with the name on top and the date I bought it on the side(my little Brother’s label maker comes in really handy for this process). Here is a list of what I always keep on hand, then I add spices as I add new recipes:
-
Oregano
- Basil
- Garlic Powder
- Cumin
- Chili Powder
- Paprika
- Cinnamon
- Nutmeg
- Parsley
- Ginger
- Bay Leaves
- Thyme
- Vanilla
- Salt
- Pepper
Dugan's Kitchen 
If you have a spice grinder (I use an old coffee grinder), you can buy whole spices and they will last much longer than ground. Whole spices should last up to 2 years while ground spices will only last about 6 months. Glad to see cumin on your list– it is one of my favorite spices and it seems like many people don’t use it!
LikeLike
Thanks so much for commenting!
LikeLike
Excellent point! Also, buying spice in bulk can be much less expensive if you need a pricey spice that you rarely use and only need a small amount.
LikeLike
Good tip. Thank you.
LikeLike
Pingback: Other People's Pantries - Spicing it up edition | Endless Pantry