Seasoning Recipe - Taco Seasoning

I do try my hardest to cook 'good & healthy' but lets face it, we can't always do this. We live in a day and age where it's almost impossible to ward off having a cupcake or piece of chocolate at some point through-out our day. But where I can, I do try to make better choices and the first being that I now cook as much as I can time allows from scratch instead of buying pre-made.

One of these choices was to replace the pre-made taco seasoning found in packets across the world (or at least most countries! Even here in my country!). I decided this a long time ago, well before I went gluten free. The biggest reason though was who in the heck needs all the added salt and sodium that is add to it?! Always about keeping price down while trying to make it seem that they are selling you the most for the price they charge. It's another reason that being gluten free is so hard when buying pre-made items... we'll get into that in another post though!

Now I'm sure I'm not the only one out there that LOVES to have tacos or any other mexican-American style food that calls for taco seasoning so I've gotten this wonderful recipe that (drools like Homer Simpson) just makes all that pre-made store bought crap seems worthless and it really takes less time then going out to the local store to get that packet because it uses the most simplest of ingredients! I usually make 4x's the recipe below and store it. Go on, look in your cupboards (I'm sure you'll have most of the seasonings on hand if you are an at home cook of any sort) and make some, you won't be disappointed!

Ingredients
 ♥ 1 TBS chili powder (this is the American style chili powder! If using stronger stuff, reduce the amount you use but I highly suggest the American style as it also gives it bulk)
 ♥ 1/4 tsp garlic powder
 ♥ 1/4 tsp onion powder
 ♥ 1/4 tsp oregano
 ♥ 1/2 tsp paprika
 ♥ 1 1/2 ts cumin
 ♥ salt/pepper to season (VERY optional)

Directions
This really is a no-brainer, place all ingredients into a small bowl and combine well. Goes well on and in a number of dishes. Remember the salt and even the pepper in this recipe really is not missed if you don't add it. This amount is considered a 'portion' and I refer to it as such below in my suggestions.

Suggestions

 ♥ 1 portion to 1 pound ground meat (turkey, chicken, beef or any other ground meat you think works well for tacos and Mexican food). Cook meat through, add 1 portion taco seasoning and 1/4 cup water and let simmer until water is absorbed. If you are like me and want a stronger taco seasoning taste, simply add more seasoning... I tend to use like 2 or 3 portions personally.

 ♥ Mix a portion with 1 pound shredded meat (chicken, beef and pork go well for this type) and make tostadas!

 ♥ Make 4x's the recipe (or more) seasoning and place in a seal proof container (plastic zipper bag, tuperware container or what not), it'll keep for months!

 ♥ Comment and add your own suggestions!