How to Use Spices Around the House

Spices are made from the root, stem, bark or fruit of a plant. They deliver powerful scents and flavors. Use spices in cooking and in the manufacturing of food. However, there is a host of other common uses around the house and in the garden, too.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

1. Keep an empty thermos fresh by adding a whole clove or a teaspoon of salt before putting it away. Empty and rinse the thermos before using it next time.
2. Discourage ants with bay leaves. Keep a bay leaf inside canisters of flour and sugar, as well as inside cabinets to ward off ants with a scent the insects find unpleasant. Tape the bay leaf to the inside of the lids of the canisters so that flavor of the leaf isn't transferred to the flour or sugar.
3. Store woolen clothing and blankets with clove sachets to keep moths away. Use small muslin bags with a few tablespoons of cloves in each one. Set the muslin bags inside an unsealed plastic bag to prevent spills or stains from the oils from the cloves.
4. Fill the house with wonderful scents. Simmer whole cloves or cinnamon sticks in a pot of water on the stove or put a couple of teaspoons of ground spices like cinnamon, ginger, pumpkin pie spice. Place spices on a cookie sheet in a 200 degree F oven for a half-hour. Leave the oven door ajar.
5. Banish silverfish with a sachet of apple pie spices, sage or bay leaves. Hang the sachet on a hook behind the washer, in the bathroom vanity or any other moist place where silverfish tend to congregate.
6. Run off the rodents that chew up your garden. Chop up a habanero pepper and put it in a half-gallon of water with one tablespoon of cayenne pepper. Boil the mixture for 20-25 minutes, then cool. Strain through cheesecloth and add 1 tablespoon of liquid dishwashing soap. Pour the solution into a spray bottle and use liberally on plants every five days or after a rain to deter rabbits, chipmunks and woodchucks.
7. Deodorize feet with sage. Crumble a few sage leaves into each shoe to cut down on odor-causing bacteria. Shake the leaves into the trash at the end of the day.