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Having common spices on hand that many recipes call for is one of the smartest and most inexpensive ways to flavour your dishes. It’s that time of year when we do a full spice cabinet wipe and clean along with an inventory of what we have on hand or need to replenish.

Get your FREE Printable Common Spices Checklist below!!

My father-in-law would make sure his organic herbs were properly dried in parchment paper and sat in a box that resembled a pop case. He’d dry the herbs in the basement on a long 8 foot table during the winter and eventually he would have boxes of herbs to use.

There were always herbs hanging upside down from the ceiling as if there were bats in the house. “Be careful what you walk into”, he used to tell me if I would go down to grab something.

Once dried always store your spices in a dry space such as a kitchen cabinet where moisture won’t have the opportunity to get inside. Having a good kitchen extractor fan when cooking and using it helps remove moisture from the space. We avoid keeping any spices in our freezer for this reason.

Although expiry dates are important just don’t throw out a spice because it is past-due. Most seed spices will last you up to 2 years sometimes 3.

We judge by taste and smell especially since not all spices have expiry dates listed. A strong aroma when mixed or crushed means your spice is not done spreading cheer.

If you buy spices in bulk you won’t have any idea when to toss it so use your judgement.

Many common spices such as organic bay leaf and basil as well extracts can last for years.

Most Pure Vanilla extracts for example should last a life-time due to the alcohol content but I always suggest buying what you will use. Vanilla bean paste and other varieties of vanilla may differ.

Don’t buy a gallon of vanilla extract and let it sit for years if you don’t plan to use it. Mrs. CBB made that mistake when she travelled to the Dominican Republic in her 20’s and brought back a gallon to Canada. She doesn’t even know what happened to that vanilla.

You don’t have to shop at a spice warehouse to get the best deals on common spices that every kitchen should stock especially when you only need small quantities.

Most of our spices come in varying sizes depending on how often we use the spices. Be careful though because some spices can get quite costly including saffron the worlds most expensive spice or buying pre-made spice packets.

We recently did the math on a bottle of Taco Seasoning from Costco for $4.99 compared to buying the packets of Taco Seasoning from the grocery store. The price difference will blow you away! For some reason I may have already shared this with you in an earlier post but just in case you missed it, here it is again.

SHOCKING!!!!

In the large bottle of taco seasoning there are 24.5 30g packets which would cost you on the high end $1.99 each approximately $48.75!! Buy the big bottle for $4.99.

Instead try making homemade taco seasoning and save yourself some money or buy it in bulk.

One of the biggest tricks that we fall for as consumers is believing that we need to buy certain spice blends in order to flavour our foods. It’s not so much a trick but rather a convenience along with a great marketing plan that captures shoppers attention.

When customers see a big juicy steak grilling on that perfect steak seasoning product our stomach starts to do the shopping. You will pay for these pre-made spice blends however there is a way to cut grocery costs, make them yourself.

As you know Mrs. CBB has been on the Keto diet for almost 3 years now and one of the most popular bagel spices is Trader Joe’s Everything But The Bagel Sesame Seasoning Blend With Sea Salt, Garlic & Onion, 2.3 oz (65g)

For many keto lovers this bagel spice has circulated as a must-try, although it comes with a convenience price of $18.39. I suppose that’s a great price for someone who doesn’t want to invest in a pantry of common spices. Alternatively you can make it yourself by just reading the ingredient list on your favourite spice mixes like we did below.

We’ve made our Everything Bagel Spice Mix twice now and tried to keep it as close to what we could remember of an Everything Bagel from Tim Hortons or The Great Canadian Bagel.

In a bowl mix together the following common spices below that you probably already have in your pantry. We don’t always have minced dry garlic or onion flakes so we substitute with the powder form which works just as well.

It’s that easy to make then store in an air-tight container. We keep ours in a small mason jar which seems to work perfect for all of our common spices. You can get a glimpse of our spice set-up from, It’s A Spicy Price To Pay For Convenience blog post back in 2012. We still have the same set-up today! It works.

The idea is to play around with the ingredients to find your perfect blend of Everything Bagel tastes so you can add it to your favourite dishes and of course as a bagel topping.

Awesome Must-Try Bagel recipes

These days most of the popular spices revolve around organic spices which you will find cost you more money but taste far better. If budget-friendly is what you are looking for watch prices and only buy what you need since spices range in price from low to very high. Basil is very cheap to buy dried but also very easy to grow at home.

The vanilla smell is outrageous and it tastes delicious like a good pure vanilla extract should taste. There is no sugar added to this either so it’s perfect for the keto diet.

We don’t include vanilla as one of our common spices as we consider it part of our baking ingredients list. Yes, we keep two different lists for our spice and baking ingredients cabinet but you don’t need to do the same as us.

Just after our purchase we read that the price of vanilla will be increasing which means we can expect increases on this basic spice that most people have in their pantry.

Vanilla prices are the highest they’ve ever been, says David van der Walde, director of Montreal-based vanilla importing company Aust & Hachmann Canada.

He said the wholesale price now runs as high as $850 (Canadian) per kilogram for premium beans — a 10-per-cent increase from last year, which was 30 per cent more than the year before that.

I’m not a huge fan of spicy spices, you know the one’s you have to hope and pray don’t upset any of your inner and outer parts the next morning. Many people including my father-in-law before he became ill would eat just about any type of hot pepper and loved spicy foods.

Related: Start Your Spring Garden Using Odd Containers

This is where my education on hot peppers including chili peppers began because although he couldn’t eat them any longer that didn’t stop him from growing them.

He once told me that if you want spicy food or good flavours grow it yourself but don’t add to much. The tiniest piece of a hot pepper may be all your meal needs for flavour.

His garden was filled to the brim with herbs and spices along with a variety of vegetables and fruits on his trees.

Although his garden will be no longer we will still have the bounty from his fruit trees. We can’t wait to celebrate his life through his fruit, an ever-lasting gift he left for us.

Related: Too much basil

In Canada if someone wants a spice they aren’t sure about most often they go to the spice place known as the Bulk Barn. Although we love the Bulk Barn it’s not the only place you can buy your spices especially if you use them quite frequently.

The cost of spices can vary depending on where you purchase them but think cultural stores when considering your spices. You’ll be amazed to see lowered costs when you visit independent shops that offer culturally specific groceries. Our local Indian store has some of the best common spices and the prices are far cheaper than walking into your local grocery store.

Some of our favourite places to buy spices is at :

You can download the PDF of this list from our Free Money-Saving Tools List for your inventory or to put into your budget binder. We keep ours taped in the inside of our spice cupboard.

The following www.canadianbudgetbinder.com checklist was created with common spices that may be used in most kitchens to create delicious meals.

We label our spice jars with pre-made spice labels that we bought for $0.25 in the reduced bin. If you shop around you can find mason jars with a chalkboard, Mabel’s Labels or the Dollar store has blank labels you can use.

√ All Spice

√ Black Peppercorns

√ Basil

√ Bay Leaf

√ Cayenne pepper

√ Chili powder

√ Chives

√ Cinnamon ground

√ Cloves whole or ground

√ Coriander seeds or powder

√ Crushed red pepper flakes

√ Cumin

√ Curry Powder

√ Ginger ground

√ Minced or Powdered Garlic

√ Mustard ground

√ Nutmeg whole or ground

√ Onion Minced or Powdered

√ Oregano

√ Paprika

√ Parsley

√ Rosemary

√ Sage

√ Sea Salt or Salt of choice

√ Sesame seeds

√ Tarragon

√ Thyme

√ Turmeric ground

√ White and Black Poppy seeds

Now that Spring has sprung take the time to inventory your spices and replenish what you need and what you don’t have on hand from the following list above.

Have a Spicy Day everyone.

Discussion Questions: What other common spices might be on your master spice list? Leave me a comment below as I love hearing back from the readers.

Join the 2018 Grocery Game Challenge (GGC) but before you do you must read The Grocery Game Challenge Rules and Print the 2018 Schedule which includes new prizes!

Click, Save and Print. It’s that easy!

This is the budget that brought us to debt freedom back in 2013 and now I’m offering to all of you for FREE. We still use this budget every month as it helps us to see our overall financial picture.

Don’t pay someone for these services, I’ve done the work for you along with some help from other amazing bloggers.

You can download the FREE Canadian Budget Binder Budget Spreadsheet in Excel It’s FREE! We use it to budget and in large part a reason we could pay our mortgage off in 5 years, check it out!

Free Money Saving Downloads are awesome lists created to get us on track working towards reaching our budgeting goals and now we are sharing them with you.

Get organized with a FREE freezer inventory, meal plan, shopping list, price comparison list and much more all for FREE.

CLICK HERE to download all the free lists and even our family budget spreadsheet. So many free resources at your fingertips.

Everything you want to know about grocery shopping in Canada is packed into this amazing FREE grocery shopping guide that has taken 6 years to create.

The Ultimate Grocery Shopping guide is ongoing with new informative money-saving posts added every month.

Even if you don’t live in Canada there are some amazing budget saving tips that will help put you on the path to more savings at the supermarket.

Share this guide with your friends and tell them about Canadian Budget Binder especially if they are struggling with their grocery budget.

The time is NOW to get started saving money on groceries so please enjoy the  many money-saving posts in the The Ultimate Grocery Shopping Guide.

Yearly grocery budget for two + 1 Toddler 2018: $3600 or $300/month (The above total does not include the stockpile budget of $300/year or $25/month.

Points Overview (add any other sections you need to show us your savings or that you would like to track on your own)

Coupon Apps (add any other apps you use to save money)

Shoppers Drug Mart

 PC Optimum points earned 1300

Total Out-of-Pocket $20.75

Note: All totals below already have tax factored into them.

Weekly Overview (your final thoughts)

We’re eating from the freezer this week as we are too busy to shop. In the refrigerator we still have some mushrooms and half-head of Romaine lettuce. Downstairs we have lots of frozen vegetables we can use to make a sauce, chili etc. Our fruit bowl still has some mandarin oranges which I will finish up this week.

Here are some great places you can find Canadian Coupons! These are your latest Checkout 51 offers which you can use to help save money.

Related: Are coupon apps taking over the paper coupons?

If you notice I’m missing a valuable link please message me and I’ll add it below.

Sign up for the Nielsen Canada Home Scan Program and you can earn rewards points fast to redeem for awesome products or gift cards. I did this in the UK and loved it!!

Where can I find Canadian Coupons 2018?

Plus check out these other hidden areas online to get more coupons!!

If any of the links below don’t open properly please report them to my email address or use comment form.

If you’ve just joined The Grocery Game Challenge 2018 get ready to look at your grocery budget by learning;

If you want to learn everything I know about grocery shopping in Canada check out my Ultimate Grocery Shopping Guide!  You’ve made a wise decision to take control of your grocery budget now show me your shops and let’s get saving!

Welcome to The Grocery Game Challenge 2018!

-Mr.CBB

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