Spices

I have a ton of spices/herbs for cooking. I mostly use:
basil, oregano, etc. for homemade pasta sauce
garlic powder
paprika
onion powder
homemade taco seasoning
cumin
pepper mill with black pepper in it
parsley
majoram
thyme
rosemary
cinnamon
cloves
nutmeg
ginger
vanilla extract

Besides the above, I probably have 20 other spices in the cabinet.... some of which I haven't used ever (fenugreek?--I've never used it).

BTW, Mrs Dash has no salt in it, and is good as a general seasoning blend. I have salt, but we hardly use it, since so much other food already has a ton in it.

Some of the spices used mostly for baking, but a lot are used for cooking.

I have a lot! I do love to cook and bake. As far as cream of tartar, you know you can use it to help clean porcelain sinks and tubs. You mix it with baking soda and water. My mom used to do it all the time when I was growing up. Now I don't have a porcelain tub or sink, so I only use it for baking.

Mine looks like a grocery store shelf! I have most everything. I love to cook and cook often.

I use a lot of herbs/spices all the time and very few are around so long that they are useless.
I grow my own bay leaf, rosemary, oregano, sage and basil.
I grow parsley too but the butterfly caterpillars love eating it so I end up buying it.
I also use pepper, cinnamon, curry, chili powder, ground celery seed, cumin, allspice, cloves (ground and whole), nutmeg, ginger, dill, tarragon, and garlic (fresh and powdered).
I have an Asian blend herb mix that's slightly sweet I use on chicken, turkey, goose and duck.
We like Old Bay on shrimp and seafood.

I have probably 30 herbs and spices maybe more in addition I have probably 8 different vinegars, various oils and wine, cooking sherry, bullion cubes and at least 6 different kinds of salt. The oldest is a jar of cayenne pepper maybe 3 years. I go through them very frequently. The herbs especially the spices take a little longer and also last longer. Herbs do not last very long. Red pepper flakes don't really go bad. They will loose their heat over time.
I have no idea what is in Mrs Dash or what it tastes like but I suppose if you want all your food to taste the same than you could just have that. BTW Cream of tartar is not a spice... it is a chemical stabilizer and has no flavor.

I have lots of spices, but......

truth be told? Garlic, onion, pepper....... mine mainstays

I have a lot, about 25 spices. Half on a nice rack sitting by the stove, the other half on shelves behind closed doors. Usually they all get replaced yearly because I use them a lot, there are the few that I only use a few times a year so I try to get the itty bitty jars. I do not have cream of tartar right now but have had it in the past only when needed, the little itty bitty jar.

I probably have 40. I don't use things like Mrs. Dash.

Oh, we have a lot. IMO, people who only use blends like Mrs. Dash don't relly know how to cook with spices. Just last night I was contemplating the oldest spice we have...not really a spice, it's some MSG that I think I have had for about 16 years. It just doesn't get used much. But I don't throw it out, because that stuff doesn't really go bad. The plant based spices do have to get pitched after a while. They become flavorless. But you go on with the spices and the variety! Keep learning what works with what. It's really cool how different ethnic cuisines blend things to come up with a unique flavor that is all their own.

I have too many...truth be told I usually ONLY use Lawrys unless I am making somethign special that call for that special spice...so now i have approx 40+ about 25 of them are ones that my husband will come home with as his "master grilling special seasoning" usually on the lines of "roasted garlic and seasalt, or Shore lunch, or accent" he is on a forever manhunt quest to find that perfect spice for all his grilling...little does he know Lawrys is all you need LOL
Oh I forgot, the rest of the cabinet is filled with the baking stuff (vanilla extra, baking soda, choc baking squares...stuff I never use)

i haven't found anything that replaces cream of tartar either. got to have it!
mrs dash has no salt. i wish i liked it better.
i've got 2 shelves of spices. more the jars of herbs i grow myself. i'm an addict!
:) khairete
S.

My Lazy Susan has a multitude of spices and I love it!

I have about 40 spices. I love using them, though sage, cumin, tarragon, thyme, oregano, pepper, cayenne and crushed rosemary get the biggest workout. I buy crushed ginger in a jar.

I keep Indian spices too, like garam marsala and cardamon. I use fresh basil, sage and rosemary when I can. I will make my windowbox herbs thrive this year!!

Whole Foods often has really reasonable prices on herbs and spices.

My oldest spices are probably mace (hard to find) and cream of tarter (I use it in several recipes, but I don't bake much any more).

We have a spice rack(double) on the counter next to the stove, holding(barely) all the spices we use regularly. And those two little cabinets above the stove are spilling over with other spices and cooking accessories(cooking wine, bouillon, oils). My mother has one shelf with maybe 5 things other than salt n pepper.

It takes up a whole cabinet in the kitchen..and then some! Use those red pepper flakes-the capsaicin (?) helps regulate blood sugar!

I am guestimating here because I'm at work, but I've got to have at LEAST 50 different spices in my cabinet. I have several that I use regularly, as in almost every day, a lot that I use probably weekly & only a few like your cream of tartar nemesis, that get used yearly in specific recipes. I toss stuff once in a while, but honestly, it all gets used for the most part!

My spice cabinet is packed. And I just bought some more last night, although it was not technically a necessity. Some of my bottles are just straight spices, with the oldest being a small can of ginger which my mother-in-law gave me when my husband and I got married 11 years ago. I have no idea how long she had it before that! But I also like to try different rubs for meats and blends of spices for casseroles, etc..

I have a huge basket on the top shelf of the pantry. It is full. I use most of what I have, even Cream of Tartar.

My mainstays are cumin and chili powder, oregano, and basil.

MMMMM... Spices
Lots of them and I use most of them... A few were gifts that I have never figured out what to do with.
I do not have any that are older than a year, simply because when were were moving a little over a year ago, my then almost three year old got into the spice box and had a fun time opening all the bottles in the middle of the kitchen floor. My house smelled great and I had an excuse to update that part of my kitchen. (By the way we packed his creation in tuperware for him to play with later)
Mrs Dash is great for the times when you need a fast blend to liven something up, and it is salt free. I do not use the premade blends much though.