Make Your Own Homemade Seasoning Blends

I love cooking. 

And I love spices. 

I also love cooking with seasoning blends -- curry powder, chili powder, Herbes de Provence, Chat Masala...the list goes on and on.

I really enjoy trying new spices and blends and seeing how they can work with different foods.

If you check out my different popcorn seasoning recipes you will see what I mean!

But besides just being a fun source for culinary experimentation, there are distinct advantages to making your own homemade seasoning blends and they are a great way to introduce more healthful eating into your kitchen in a fairly easy way.

1.  You have complete control over the ingredients.

Have you noticed that a lot of spice mixes on the market include fillers such as sugar, anti-caking ingredients (so the spices don't clump up), or even MSG?  Or perhaps someone in your family has an allergy or intolerance to an ingredient in your favorite spice mix.  If you make your own mix, you can simply eliminate the offending ingredient or substitute another similar ingredient that works for you.

2.  Making your own spice blends saves you money - for two reasons.

• First of all, spice blends always cost more than the sum of their parts.

Looking at prices in a popular spice catalog, if you were to purchase Herbes de Provence from this particular company, you would pay a hefty $21.45 for 8 ounces.  However, the prices for the individual spices that make up Herbes de Provence range from $3.85 - $18.99 per pound, with the average price being $12.00.  So you can see how you can easily save about 50% on your spice mixes by making your own.

• Secondly, you can save by purchasing more of your spices in bulk when you make your own blends.  Spices are typically only for good for one year or so.  Basically, they are good until they don't smell strong any longer.  Of course, you can use them even after they don't smell as strong and just use more of them (which is better than throwing them out), but the best thing to do is to just purchase as much of a spice as you can likely use in one year and no more.  By making your own seasoning blends, you are able to purchase more of the plain, individual spices, thereby purchasing them in bulk and saving money.

Instead of purchasing only a small amount of oregano and garlic, you can purchase more than usual, knowing that you will use it up more quickly since you will be using it to make your own chili powder.

And last, but not least, one other reason to make your own homemade seasoning is...

3.  You can easily involve your children in kitchen fun.  Your children can learn to measure and pour and learn about good stewardship at the same time.

In future posts I will continue to share more of my favorite homemade blends.

For now, check out my posts on:

• Homemade Vegetable Broth Mix
• Homemade Taco Seasoning
• and Chat Masala.

Bon appetit and have fun with whole savings and whole health in your kitchen!