Q & A what seasonings to use

This is a great question from Kristilea.
I have been trying to cook from scratch and not rely on hamburger helpers and so forth. Can you tell me what seasonings do what and how to use them in my dishes?

Let me start with the "happy trio". Salt, Pepper, and Garlic.

Salt. Put salt in everything. If something tastes bland to you and you feel like you've got all the flavors you should have in there, then it probably just needs salt.

Then pepper. Put pepper in almost everything. All of your non-sweet recipes will usually benefit from pepper. Use 1/4 to a 1/2 tsp of salt for just about any recipe and then just use dashes of more if you think it's not spicy enough.

Garlic. Garlic is almost a basic seasoning. It's used in everything from down-home-country cooking to the finest Chinese cuisine. Garlic goes well in almost everything. Use it in your hamburger helper copy-cat for sure!

Once you have worked the "happy trio" you can experiment beyond that.....

When I started cooking from scratch I used a seasoning chart (which I don't have at the moment, it's packed in my garage waiting to move- but when I unpack it I will scan it and post it on this blog for you all.) But, for the sake of answering this question further I will list a few things that come to mind..... just know that a lot of it has to do with experimenting (which can be fun) and figuring out what your family's tastes are.

Chicken-
garlic (my favorite thing on chicken)
rosemary
lemon
curry
paprika
italian seasoning blend
poultry seasoning
also- Costco has a no-salt blend that is good in chicken dishes
chili pepper (for Mexican flavor)
mustard
onion (I think of onion as an herb sometimes...it has so much to do with the flavor of the dish)

Beef-
pepper
peppercorns
marinades
mustard
garlic
soy sauce

Mexican Cooking-
chili pepper
oregano
cinnamon
crushed red pepper
cumin
garlic

Chinese Cooking-
garlic
sesame seeds or sesame oil
soy sauce
hoisen sauce
lemon
orange
peanuts
crushed red pepper
sugar

Fish-
lemon
crab boil (use this for crab or lobster)
relish
lemon pepper
orange
butter
rosemary
thyme
parsley

Italian/Pasta dishes-
basil
oregano
rosemary
italian seasoning blend
garlic
bay leaf
thyme
parsley
sugar

That's what comes off the top of my head, late at night...when I'm over tired. I'm sure that I could add a lot more to this list but instead I'll wait till I get to unpack the seasoning list. One suggestion that has helped me is to read the back of boxes and read labels on cans....usually you can see a list of ingredients and it gives you a good place to start with experimenting.

I hope this was helpful to you.

Anyone else would like to link to their lists or add to these via the comments, please feel free to! It will benefit several of us I'm sure!