Food tip: spices

Do you know about the other spice aisle?

Sometimes a recipe calls for a spice that you don’t have on hand and would otherwise never use.  Instead of spending $5-10 on this spice from the traditional spice rack aisle in the grocery store, check out the ethnic food section.  Most stores sell smaller quantities of spices in little plastic bags for a fraction of the cost.

Example:

On a recent trip to the store I needed to buy more curry powder for my curry chicken with cashews. This is not a spice I use a ton. Spice Islands and McCormick were selling it for approx. 3.99-4.99 per oz. (typical containers are around 2 oz.) Hello $8 I don’t want to spend on this recipe for 1 ingredient.

So, I went to see if the ethnic foods section has any curry on hand –they did.  It was only 1.99 per oz., which translated to about $1.50. What a deal. ONe packet had approx. 3 Tbs.

They also have little packs of whole cloves and nutmeg for like a $1, which I know some of you will need for your holiday cooking.  Name brand will charge you like $10 for cloves.  Crazy!