Seconded for the lemon. I always have lemon on hand. In fact, I'd take lemon over black pepper.

Do you have a cheap source of the smoked paprika?
The non-smoked stuff I get from Superstore comes from the Indian food isle.

Speaking of which:
Shopping tip. If you need spices, check the Indian section at Superstore first. It's easily 1/4 the price of some of the ingredients in the normal spice aisle.

I saw a dude load up on spices at the dollar store once... at first I was like, "Dollar store spices" :fuckthatshit:

Then I thought about all the spices I have in my spice drawer just sitting there for years.. if I need some random spice I don't have, might check out the dollar store lol

Maple syrup. Beyond the basics of pancakes and French toast, it goes on ice cream, on fruit, on bacon, on bacon wrapped fruit..., in lamb/pork/chicken marinades, in yoghurt, in/on cakes, etc. It adds that decidedly Canadian flair to my cooking.

Cream is another great ingredient I use often in my homey/comfort foods.

garlic pepper&salt

how are all these basic ingredients considered secret?

A big jar of minced garlic from Costco.

^ No comparison to the real thing, imo.

ok this is going to sound weird but I use coca-cola. it all happened when I knocked over some into my chicken when it was boiling and it started fizzing and foam (amazing chemistry shit) came out.

Well, I said fuck it and just kept stirring it. I put the chicken on some plain old white rice and drizzled some of that sauce on it. Honestly, it was the greatest mistake I've ever done. I'm not that great of a cook, nor do I claim to be, but this probably the craziest/tastiest dish I've had so far. I did use some other spices but that sweet taste was subtle and different.

inb4 diabetes and that this is a common thing.

^ pop is a common thing found in filipino bbq marinade. usually coke or sprite, effing blew my mind when i found out haha