g's little kitchen: Creole Seasoning

I had an epiphany one day in my kitchen. Nothing ground breaking but definitely a thought that changed the way I look at my spice cabinet. I am proud to have beautiful jars of spices in my spice cabinet. When husband and I were first married I would pick up one spice/herb/seasoning with every shopping trip. I love the square bottles that Target carries under the Archer Farms brand. The bottles fit so nicely in my spice cabinet and actually hold quite a bit.

I do run out of some spices much more quickly than others: cumin, chili powder, oregano, creole, Herbs de Provence. Many times instead of buying a new bottle, which can be quite expensive, I started buying what I needed in the “ethnic” section of my grocery store or if I was in the right store I would visit the bulk food bins. I saved a few dollars here and there and I wasn’t feeling guilty for the amount of containers I was bringing home.

My epiphany came when I was looking at a recipe from Emeril Lagasse. Listed at the bottom of the recipe were all the ingredients for his creole seasoning AKA “Essence”. You know, the stuff he so famously threw into food while yelling BAM! I had every single one of the ingredients in my spice cabinet. They were all in different bottles but I had them. Then I started looking up other spice mixtures I used: Herbs de Provence, Italian seasoning, Montreal Steak seasoning. Why the heck was I wasting money buying these mixtures when I had everything I needed to make them myself already on hand (except for the lavender, I’m not that cool in the kitchen). From there on out I have been making my own spice mixtures. Recipes are all over the internet. They are quick, easy and since the ingredients are already found in most spice cabinets they are practically free!