Homemade Spice Mixes

I have tried for years to understand what goes into my food.  I found out years ago that spice mixes like taco seasoning, fajita seasoning, dry onion soup mix, all have high sodium content, in addition to other ingredients I didn’t know how to pronounce. When my husband had to cut out some sodium of his diet, I then searched for ways to make small changes to help eliminate as much sodium as I could. One way I found was to make my own spice mixes.

Having homemade spice mixes be healthier, yet provide food that tastes well and flavorful made me feel good.  I have now made my own spice mixes for years now, but have started to make them in larger quantities so that I don’t have to make them each time I need them.  Homemade taco seasoning, fajita seasoning, onion soup mix, Cajun seasoning, Ranch seasoning (extremely versatile and can be used for dressing, dip, flavoring meat).  These are just the ones we use most frequently.

Each mix takes ingredients and spices that I usually have on hand, and is easy to put together.  Many I got from online sources, but some I took what I found and combined two or three to make my own blend.  I love that I know what is going into my own food, instead of adding another processed type of food to our diet. 

I love spices so much and have so many, I designed and had my father-in-law build a custom spice rack. It is based off the informercial, plastic ones that go around the walls of your cabinets, and they slide to fit your space. I wanted something more sturdy, so I designed these and he built them. They are made out of wood, so they are not adjustable, however they are much more sturdy! I store my spices in alphabetical order, so they are super easy to find. The homemade spices are added into the mix as well. I used other spice jars that were empty and used my simple label maker to add on a label. I think I need to make some darker labels, but because these are in alphabetical order, I can easily still find them.

If you are nervous about making your own spices, start small. Choose one spice mix at a time to make your own version of, and then when you find that you like that recipe, make it in larger batches. I store the extra that won’t fit in my spice cabinet in small half-pint canning jars. I do a lot of canning and always seem to have extra jars on hand. They are great for storing so many things! Remember, start small and the big changes will follow.