I love blending my own spices and have a few go-to recipes that I use for lots of different dishes. Lucky for you, they are NOT top secret and I am happy to share them. Of course if you don't like my cooking, you can always adapt them to suit your own tastes with a little experimenting! 
When you have blends that you like, you'll find that it's a lot easier to make batches of the spice blend and store that in a little jar rather than pulling out a zillion bottles every time you want to make, say, tacos. Instead, you'll have your own custom, pre-made taco seasoning ready to go.
Making your own blends is also great because you only use pure, natural spices. Most spice blends that you buy in packets have nasty stuff like MSG in them, so making your own is much healthier!
These can make wonderful gifts, too, which is why I'm including this post in the Homemade Holiday Gift series! I would love to receive a friend's special, unique spice blend as a gift so I could feel like they came over and cooked for me whenever I wanted. 🙂
The key to making this a truly special gift isn't just in the spices and herbs you use - you also want to package it all up really nice in a pretty jar. So, without any more chit-chat from me, here are a few of my own recipes and some links to some cute jars. Happy holidays!
Italian Herb Blend
- 1 part rosemary
- 2 parts oregano
- 2 parts garlic
- 3 parts basil
- Sea salt to taste
Equal parts:
- Paprika
- Cumin
- Garlic
- Sea salt to taste.
- Asian stir fry
- Southwest
- Burger seasoning
- Greek
- Curry
- Simple 2-spice blends like garlic pepper
ecoincognito
So simple! Thanks for the helpful list. What spices do you recommend for a savory Chicken Noodle Soup? Mine is always bland because I want to avoid to much salt.
Jonathan Hunt
Great idea! Too bad the grand parents don't cook from scratch very much these days. The kids would have a ball making them. Maybe for friends in the future.
Shannon
Ooh, I may have to try that, I love Italian herb blends!
Myn @ fresh graNOLA family
This is a great idea. I've tried for several years to get our families on a "homemade" gift tradition, but they won't have it. We only do gifts for the kids now, but maybe I'll just start making things like this (and some fudge I saw recently) and giving them out. Plus, it will motivate me to make some of my own! 🙂
Rebecca
Great post! I will have to give these a try this winter.
Christina@TheHippyHomemaker
Great idea! I will be making me some spices today lol!