What WhyNot said. Dump all the spices that came with the rack and stock fresh ones from Penzey’s. Dries basil is teh suck. Fresh is always available at the market, and so are tubes of basil paste.
Caraway seeds are good with buttered egg noodles. Dried basil adds a bit of flavor to garlic toast, and I add it and oregano to jarred pasta sauce. Dried parsley is only good for color, as someone said above.
Ah-HA! I can use some of the nasty dried stuff in jarred pasta sauce! And I just happen to have scratch-made pasta the other night. 
I have some saurkraut and a kielbasa in the fridge. I’ll have to try the caraway seeds next week.
The Caraway seeds would go straight to the trash can at my house. I can’t stand 'em. They’re right up there at the top of my most hated spice list along with Cilantro. It was a horrible shock, when I moved here, to learn that rye bread does not come without caraway seeds in Denver. Bleagh.
Basil is good with chicken, even if you don’t use tomato sauce. Try it with fish as well, although that may be an acquired taste. I like it. Fresh anything is better than dried, but if you use it within a year, and keep it in a dark cool place, it can be quite nice. Keep it in a rack above the stove, in the light, and it will be green paper flakes in a month.
Parsley is good added to really spicy things, since it doesn’t compete with hotness.
Mustard seed is best ground up, and if you cook it into things it becomes very mild. Uncooked, it can be overwhelming, so experiment cautiously. Try mixing it with salt and pepper, add it to some flour and use it to bread Pork Chops. Game bird too, although chicken may be too bland to support it. Mixing mustard powder into gravy can be a nice variety of sauce. (Especially with game, where the meat leaves little to make gravy with.)
Tris
I agree with guizot also. I’d like to mention that you can get spices for super cheap at the various ethnic supermarkets. Check out a Mexican, Indian and an Asian supermarket and you can get almost any spice for 99¢ as compared to the rip-off prices of McCormick or Schilling. I’ve got this theory that storing the spices in the freezer makes them last longer, but I could be wrong.
I realize it’s not on the same level as homemade pasta or steak au poivre, but a pinch of caraway seeds in tuna salad perk it up a bit.
I’ll try that.
Another thing that’s good in tuna (or tuna and pasta salad) is taragon.
As far as tossing all the spices you already paid for, don’t do that! Not just yet anyway. You paid good money for 'em. Toss the herbs in a non-stick pan on low-medium heat and see if you can’t “wake them up” a bit.
Can’t hurt. It’s not like using less-than-fresh dried herbs is going to turn your cooking into poison. Thyme, oregano, rosemary, that stuff retains some useful flavor for awhile. Just use it! Now! No, I don’t mean soon. Get in the kitchen, buster!