Building a Travel Spice Kit

Both Vic and I are proud foodies. We love to experience new places by sampling the local cuisine (including local adult beverages). But while we’re on the road, we also like to cook real food, from scratch.

Now that we’re spending more time camping, I realized we needed to upgrade our travel spice kit. Before, we’d pack what we needed for the meals we had planned, then grab the plastic bin that had a few containers of spices of unknown age or origin and mini spice kit from World Market and a sampler of salts of the world. Not living up to foodie ideals, I know.

I searched for travel spice kits online. I wanted to find something that would hold at least a dozen spices, in a container where I could see what was in it easily. Some I found were too big; others too small. Nothing I saw was what I was looking for, so I built one myself, at a cost several times more than I could purchase ready-made. But I got exactly what I wanted.

Putting It All Together

To start, I ordered 1-ounce glass jars with lids from Specialty Bottle (French square with black cap). Then I searched for a bag that would hold a dozen or so of the bottles. I found a clear makeup bag on Amazon that zipped open like a book, so I could see the spices and easily find what I was looking for. By placing some of them sideways, I was able to fit 14 bottles in my kit.

I washed and dried the bottles, then placed them (without the lids) in the oven to make sure there was no moisture left. I selected my 14 favorite spices, and had my husband make labels. Then I filled the bottles, placed them in the cosmetic bag, and voila, I had my spice kit.

I’ve taken it on a few trips, and it’s working exactly as I had planned. Yay me!