Moms are always asking me what spices they should invest in when starting off making baby food. For me, I learned what to pair with what from lots of trial and error, that on occasion my family had to painfully eat their way through.

There were more errors then wins at times.

But slowly, I realized that you didn’t have to dump the entire jar of a spice in a batch of something all at once. Start with just a pinch in purees and work in more as your taste buds instruct. I also looked to food that I eat for inspiration on what to put into baby food.

Learn to trust your taste buds.

Have fun. Try something new.

So here is a list of my top 5 spices to have on hand. They are all reasonably prices, can be purchased at any local store and can be added to a variety of dishes. Chances are that you already have these in your spice cabinet.

When in doubt these are the winners.

I like to support my local businesses [plus you get to taste each spice and then dump it on the floor when you are done, fun!] so I usually get all my spices at Savory Spice Shop .

Not sure why all of my top 5 spices start with the letter ‘C’, just one of those things.

Cinnamon

Can be added to apples, bananas, pears, apricots, sweet potatoes, baked goods, oatmeal, brown rice cereal, yogurt.

Cloves

Can be added to carrots, sweet potatoes, roasted root vegetables, apples, pears, figs, oatmeal, brown rice cereal.

Cardamom

Can be added to apples, pears, apricots, yogurt, plums, squash, rice, carrots.

Curry

Can be added to apples, lentils, carrots, sweet potatoes, tofu, beans, pumpkin, squash, kale.

Cumin

Can be added to beans, rice, carrots, lentils, sweet potatoes, roasted potatoes, broccoli, spinach.