Do you use any unconventional spices and seasonings?  

Out of store bought spices??? That has never happened in this house. I have 3 cupboard shelves full of spices, and the spice blends. I'm also quite good at making my own blends. We found a good one to use on chicken, that is supposed to be close to the KFC seasoning. We found it on www.recipegoldmine.com.

Down here in south Florida they have two spices that I love and use all of the time. The first one is called Everglades Seasoning and the other one...and I am not making this up...is called Butt Rub. They are both great on any kind of meat but I especially like the Butt Rub on chicken when I'm cooking it on the grill.

Interesting discussion: I like spices alot and have a cabinet full. I think my most unsusual would be chinese 5 spice powder. I also have cardammon and tumeric. I like to have the spice that if a recipie calls for it I have it or something very similar.
The only problems is I dont have a spice rack so they are in the cabinets and I dont have a good system of locating them. I guess I should organize them by shelf Mexican,
top shelf, chinese middle shelf, Indian 3rd shelf etc. Actually, I think I might do that.

I use Indonesian spices in some of my cooking, which some of them are a bit out of the norm, because my husband was raised on Indonesian food, (his mother is Indonesian), and she cooked Indonesian food all of the time when he was a kid.

I agree with you about the mixed spices though. I also find a lot of times there is too much of one spice in the mixture for my taste, (especially the Chinese 5 spice), so I have a tendency of making my own spice mixtures.

It's easy, I just buy the spices separately and then put them together as I like them.

I also find it helpful and very convenient with Italian seasonings for spaghetti sauces etc. Much faster than opening each bottle separately and putting them in separately. When I pre-mix them I just throw a few spoons in and am off doing something else in the amount of time it would take me to do it all separately.

Hi beautyqueen,
I love to grow some spices and would never be caught without others that I love. But I know what you mean.
I have a few ideas for unusual tastes that keep.
I always buy olive oil (the best to lower cholesterol levels). I also recycle all kinds of jars,. The little ones I use to make my different taste olive oils. I pour oil and ad a sprig of oregano, basil, a clove of garlic, a hot pepper. If I want it with more taste, I heat the oil with the addition. You can try any herb of your liking.
I also put a lot of fruits to spice the food I roast. Pineapple, quince, apples and pears. Apricots. Yummy!!! Allspice and a dry white wine go with those.
Take care

I make a lot of my own rubs. I have so many spices that if I don't have one I just substitute another one.
I really don't think there is anything I use that I don't have stuff for in my cupboard.

I actually prefer to buy individual spices and make my own blend. But I used to also use the ramen noodle packets as seasoning for other things. You can do so much more by making your own blends.

Every year we grow a garden, we leave part of the garden and seciton it just for herbs. I think it taste so much. Not too mention it's cheaper and I think alot more healthier.

I would use curry leaves from the garden. They are equally good and aromatic.

I love experimenting with new/weird spices that I find at supermarkets. On most days, I get terrific results. On not-so-good days, I get this weird food. But I still eat it, as I don't have the luxury to throw away food. And I really haven't gotten sick from eating my experiments. I also have this tendency to cook something out of the leftovers.
I am currently fond of this seasoning called Maggi Magic Sarap. It's available here in the Philippines. I put it on everything I cook. And so far, everything tastes great. If you could drop by Asian food stores, maybe you could find it, along with other Asian spices, and then you could experiment some more just like I do.