So its a familiar scenario, you decide to cook something special and you dust of the cookbook.  The photo looks ace but all those ingredients – seriously!?

But you put it all on the shopping list and come back with a bunch of jars. Then you see the recipe needs a teaspoon, or half a teaspoon.  So in it goes and then the almost full spice jar goes into your cupboard for months.  So next time you want to cook something nice you get out the jar, give it a sniff and nothing. You taste it and …. what happened to that big flavour? You can’t create magic with it

It’s annoying, no one likes food waste so what should can do with stale spices?

Here’s a few tips

  • Mix chilli powder in with your bird seed in your feeder. Birds can’t taste capsaicin, the active element in chilli that gives it the heat but rodents hate it, so this simple hack means you are just feeding the birds in your garden
  • Heat a few spoons of ground cinnamon in a pan of hot water. Allow it to cool and you have created a non-toxic fungicide. Spray it on your seedlings and houseplants to keep everything healthy
  • Create water colour paints by simply mixing your old spices with a little water to create stunning autumnal shades

If you know of any other uses for ground spices let us know in the comments below

Check out our range of zero waste spice kits