Inside My Pantry: Spices

I am not the food police.  I am not perfect in my eating.  Life is short to eat perfectly all the time.  But I do have guidelines for myself that I follow.  I have done research and I have learned a lot through the Whole30 program.  I can't ignore what I've already learned.  I have to put that into practice.

I cannot tell you what you should stay away from.  I can only share what I've learned along the way, in hopes that you will do your own research, understand where I'm coming from, and make informed decisions for your own family.

With that said, I shared yesterday that I think sugar is dangerous.  Studies have proven that sugar is more addicting than cocaine. Say what?!  So I personally think that we should do everything we can to limit the amount of sugar that we intake!

But....that can also be overwhelming.  So I thought about everything that I consume, and the first thing that I ended up changing was my spices.  That seemed like it would be easiest to do and wouldn't be too stressful. It also wouldn't break my pocketbook.

I went through my entire collection of spices and threw out the ones that had sugar in them.  I couldn't believe how many had sugar as an added ingredient.  It was disappointing and made me realize that I need to be paying more attention to the stuff that I put in my body.  I decided that I would make my own taco seasoning, and I would use dried herbs as much as I could in seasonings.  I wanted to know that my seasonings were clean.

This video explains my process in more detail, and I show you how I make my own taco seasoning!

As mentioned, here are some of my favorite replacements when it comes to spices that I love:

I love the Flavor God seasonings! These have replaced many things like: hamburger seasoning and marinade, steak seasoning, pork chop marinade, veggie seasoning, etc!  I use the Everything seasoning for pretty much everything! I love the Garlic Lovers seasoning for pork chops, veggies, and sometimes steak as well. One that I like to use on occasion is the Chocolate Donut seasoning. Yes, it's as amazing as it sounds!  You can use this to flavor some oatmeal or put it in your Shakeology balls!  These have clean ingredients, and I can feel good about using them!

While the Flavor God can be pricey (but totally worth it and they last a long time), I know not everyone will want to purchase those right away.  Some other options include the Mrs. Dash seasoning line, which you can find at your local grocery store or online as well!  These are 2.5-ounce bottles, as opposed to the 5-ounce bottles that Flavor God has.

Another spice that I really like is the Steak Seasoning from McCormick.  I "accidentally" found this seasoning when I was looking for something quick when I was doing a round of Whole30.  I was surprised that I already had this in my spice collection, and I've kept it in mind when I am visiting family or on vacation!  I know I can find it just about anywhere!

--->Here's a challenge for you today.  Go to your spices and start looking at the ingredients.  If any form of sugar is in that list, throw it out!  Then start finding spices that you know will be good for your body! <---

Here are my taco seasoning and ranch seasoning recipes.