Spice up your life! I could go on and on, and on with the music puns. I have been told that my brain lives in a special place.

Over the weekend, I found these adorable little spice jars, complete with a wooden 1/2 teaspoon. Over the years, I have acquired a variety of little jars from craft projects and things I always say I will make or do and it just sits in my “second kitchen.” Yes. I have one of those scary basement kitchens. It could use a little sprucing as well as some use. And that’s when my crafty little brain went to town. I had a bunch of almost out spices that I found while cleaning out the cupboard– the holidays bring more jars (and now we are trying to only purchase ones in glass for their reusability). I try to clean out the cupboard every season– to see what we have, see what we need, and see what can be tossed or combined. Spice, in my opinion, doesn’t go bad, but depending on the source can lose its color and flavor over time.

While I was perusing and purging the cupboard, I thought to combine seasonings we use regularly. Quickly, I found myself combining and mixing ingredients similar to staples regularly kept in the house. We usually purchased steak seasoning in the past, same with taco seasoning. But, why not make your own? That way it isn’t riddled with any preservatives, anti-caking agents, and sometimes soy (soy and I do not agree, internally). I present to you my newest counter friends– Everything (Steak-ish), Creole, Ranch, and Taco (not pictured– that one gets used quite a bit)!!!

Sprinkle as you cook! Add some to greek yogurt, or sour cream for dips (ranch, especially). Create new creations– I’d love to try a veggie one.

I hope these new creations save time prepping a quick evening meal instead of trying to peruse the spice cabinet. It’s one less thing to check off of the brain.

The possibilities are endless with these reusable jars complete with chalkboard duct tape! After our herbs run rampant this summer, I hope to make some new creations with our very own dried varieties.

NOTE: The chalk marker is not sweaty hand friendly.

FUN FACT: I also reused an old glass spice jar and put powdered sugar in it for sprinkling on French Toast and other varietal treats. Why hasn’t anyone marketed this (or have they)?!?! This is the next best thing to those Domino cinnamon sugar spice jars that I always see in the market. If I just gave you a million dollar idea, you are welcome! I’ll take an endless supply of powdered sugar in a shaker as a thank you!

They say variety is the spice of life, but isn’t life really the variety of spices? Think about it! 🙂