Italian Seasoning Mix

Seasoning mixes are a gray area for those avoiding troublesome ingredients. I can’t tell you how many bottles of stuff I tossed out after I transitioned to paleo because I couldn’t tell what was in them. The “and spices” is a shifty phrase. It could mean nothing or it could mean there is an ingredient in there that I shouldn’t be ingesting if I want to promote healing in my body. Since there is no way to know, I don’t chance it.

The best way to avoid the quandary of the “and spices” mystery ingredients is to make your own mixes. This is a sure way to know exactly what is in your food and that it is safe for you to eat. Mix a bunch ahead, and they save time during weeknight meals. Making your own also saves money as the few brands on the market that have clean ingredients can be costly.

You could use any small jar that you’d like to repurpose to house your spice mixes, like small ghee jars or even old spice jars that you clean out and reuse. I store my mixes in some canning jars I have on hand. I don’t make jams and such like I used to so my jars get extra use this way. I also found some herb shaker lids on Amazon that fit my canning jars, although the holes are rather large. I think they are meant for when you dry your own herbs at the end of the summer. Those bits of dried herbs are likely to be larger than the stuff you buy at the store so the larger holes make sense. Someday I may get around to drying my own herbs, but the last time I tried it I forgot they were in the basement for over a year. I went down there to do some dejunking and couldn’t remember why I had random paper bags with holes in them strung up. Oops.

This Italian seasoning mix is versatile. A cup might seem like a lot of seasoning mix, but I use it on so much that I go through it pretty fast. It’s great in salad dressings, on salad greens, sprinkle a little over spaghetti squash before topping the squash to add a little extra flavor. You name it.

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