Does anyone have any special combination of spices they use to make their chicken or other usually bland food taste better. In my connections class last night someone was talking about using cumin, nutmeg, and paprika together to make a Jamacian type spice. It made me wonder what other people have tried and found to be a success.

(Mrs. Dash is getting a little tiring. )

I use garlic powder on just about everything but I love garlic.

I use the McCormick's Italian Seasoning to make anything sauces/meats that should have an italian flavor to it.

I use a couple of drops of sesame oil when I am sauteeing (sp?) my veggies. It gives them a different flavor and a kind of richness. A little goes a LONG way so literally a couple of drops at the end of the process is fine.

I use cinnamon in my pancakes and french toast. I use a lot of the extracts too. I have vanilla, banana, rum, butter, strawberry, and lemon. It changes the flavor of things without adding calories.

I would love to hear what other people do as well!

Mccormick chicken seasoning is good. I only cook from cookbooks these days though.

*EDIT* Curry is good too!

I really love curry on fish and chicken. Chinese 5 spice is also yummy. You don't have to use a lot of either!

On my food, I love to use garlic powder, black pepper, and lots of dried herbs. I use dill on chicken and fish and veggies, rosemary on pork, beef and bison and lamb, basil and parsley for italian stuff.....some sage and celery for chicken. It costs quite a bit to stock up on several containers of dried herbs...but they last a long time as you don't use much.

Dill has been my fave spice of late....I add it to oil, vinegar and pepper for the BEST salad dressing. And I put it on zucchini last night and hubby LOVED it.

Also, don't forget about dried powdered ginger, cinnamon, and clove. Ginger is really good for Asian flavor with a little orange zest...and I love cinnamon and clove on pork or in my meatballs. Really yummy. *and now I'm hungry...*

I am going to have to get some dill and cloves. I just read that you can boil cinnamon and cloves in some water on the stove and it will eliminate household odors. Vinegar does the same thing, but then your house smells like vinegar. LOL!

MRC has definitely made me experiment with spices.

I've had good luck mixing "taco" seasonings into soups. You can also find "rice" seasonings in the asian foods section that are interesting to experiment with.

I started out with Mrs. Dash & it does get boring, but they have so many different varieties. I now use a lot of cumin, cayenne pepper, garlic powder and hot sauce on most everything. I also use the tomato basil soup in my ground turkey. I just mix it up in a bit of water and pour it on my turkey when it is almost done.

to flavor my chicken I use the Walden farms BBQ sauce (calorie free) it has a great taste and when I am in the mood for wings I toss my sliced chicken breast in franks hot sauce and a little butter spray and then dip with celery sticks into walden farms bleu cheese dressing (also calorie free). Love that one but have to be careful as the franks hot sauce is a little high in sodium.

I'm pretty lazy -- I get spice blends from Penzeys (actually, I live near a store, so I buy them there, but you can order online). A little goes a long way, and it makes everything taste so much better. Especially chicken breast, which I hate.

My faves: Turkish Seasoning, Sunny Paris, Italian Spice Blend, Chili 3000, Sandwich Sprinkle

Google Victoria's Gourmet Spices. I like their Herbs de Provence the best, but they also have some new ones that I haven't tried. If you look under gifts, you'll find that have multi-pack sample sizes. You can usually find them at TJ Maxx or sometimes Marshall's if you have one of those stores near you.

I'm currently stuck on Mexican adobo spice. It is great on everything.

I've found Mrs Dash Garlic and Herb blend to help tremendously on chicken.