Homemade Taco Seasoning

I told my friend Amy that I aspire to adopt a healthier diet...and she asked about my plan. I don't think she was expecting me to say something about veggies...not about making my own brownie mix and taco seasoning!

I'm not the clean eating type who sits and studies everything about pre-packaged foods and all the hidden preservatives and how those things will kill you. Frankly, I can't think about it without working myself into a tizzy. No one has time for a Bekah tizzy.

So why did I have this desire to make my own homemade taco seasoning? Mostly because it felt all homemakerish. I love feeling homemakerish. It's the thing I grasp for in my crazy commuting life. I found the recipe idea here...and I've made a couple of tweaks to it to suit my tastes. {AKA take out a bit of the fire.}

WE. LOVE. IT. We really do. I've made it several times and have finally landed upon the perfect combo for us, and we love the flavor of it so much. And I do feel better that I've done something {minute though it may be} to make our eating a bit less processed. 

Homemade Taco Seasoning

* 1 Tablespoon chili powder
* 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
* 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
* smallest possible pinch of red pepper powder
* 1/4 teaspoon oregano
* 1/2 teaspoon paprika
* 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
* 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
* 1 teaspoon black pepper

Mix everything together in a bowl. Use 2 Tablespoons and add 1/3 cup of water per one pound of ground meat for tacos. Store additional seasoning in an airtight container. This makes about enough for 2 pounds of meat.

A Few Tips:

* I realize it's much easier to rip open an envelope and dump in the contents, but you would be surprised at how LITTLE time it takes to whip up this concoction. And if you make it in bulk, you can have a bunch on hand whenever you need it!

* If you do want to make a huge batch of it, I found the big batch recipe here - and I've tweaked it to allow for my adjustments...so for us, a big batch would be * 1/2 cup plus 2 Tablespoons chili powder * 2 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder * 2 1/2 teaspoons onion powder * still the tiniest smidge of red pepper powder * 2 1/2 teaspoons oregano * 5 teaspoons paprika * 1/4 cup plus 1 Tablespoon ground cumin * 1 1/2 Tablespoons sea salt * 3 Tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon black pepper

* We use ground chicken or ground turkey {depending on what is available and/or on sale} instead of ground beef - just to try to help with the health factor. I truly cannot taste the difference with all this seasoning on it.

* I added about 1/4 of a chopped onion to the meat as it browned just to add to the flavor. 

* We eat our "tacos" as nachos. We get low fat tortilla chips and put the meat on top, along with cheese, green onions, salsa, guacamole if we have it, and fat free Greek yogurt in place of sour cream.

* This is one of our faves - hope you like it too!