[Sylvia]

The thing with spices is you need to learn what flavors go together.

I don't think my mother ever used anything other than bay leaf and salt and pepper.

Tabasco sauce is surprisingly useful for adding a little zing to dishes.
my cupboards have...
Garlic powder, onion powder, black peppercorns, taco seasoning, bay leaf, celery seed, curry powder, cumin, ceyene, vinegar, dry mustard, bullion (chicken, beef, veggie) parsely, dill, cilantro, oregano, sweet basil, thyme, sage, rosemary, lemon pepper, ginger, oriental 5-spice, koshure and sea salt onion soup mix... etc.

As for marinades... I found a few great ones at the $1 store. I grab those and soak away..... add a dash of this or that.. (usually garlic, black pepper, etc) But you can make your own marinade with mustard, vinegar, brown sugar, onions, pepper... etc. Lime juice works well too.

I get a lot of my spices from WAGs, or the $1 store... I also will get the bags of specialty spices usually found in the Mexican food area of the store to refill my bottles. I love mexican food so I will often go buy cumin by the pound.

One last thing... be careful when spicing up food in the crock pot. Dried herbs when cooked too long in a crock pot can taste metalic.