Taco Seasoning

Do you buy those little packets of taco seasoning when you want to have tacos? We used to, then allergies hit and I needed a new way of making taco meat. Making your own seasoning is so easy. And all the ingredients are probably on hand. There are no preservatives, anti-caking compounds or other ingredients you haven't heard of.

Here's the recipe I use. It's from somewhere out there in cyberspace, a result of a google search. I'll pretend that I am not breaking a major law in the world of writers here and share the recipe anyway because maybe the idea of a healthy seasoning is appealing to you. This recipe will season one pound of ground meat. We use turkey a lot, but beef tastes better to me. And I use leaf oregano.

1 tbsp chili powder

2 tsp onion powder

1 tsp each cumin, garlic powder, paprika, powered oregano, sugar

1/2 tsp salt

Add spices to 1/4 cup of water, add to cooked meat. If meat is too dry, add more water.Wa-la. If you have chopped up all the other ingredients, gotten out the salsa and sour cream, and set the table, then you are ready for tacos!

To be far and accurate, I did a little research. ( Complete aside: did you know that General Mills owns Old El Paso and more surprisingly the organic brands Cascadian Farms and Muir Glen?)The Old El Paso original taco seasoning mix does have msg, anti-caking agents, and partially hydrogenated oils in it, plus 24% of daily sodium. The serving size was the amount of mix to make two tacos. McCormick brand was better---no msg, no anti-caking agents, and no oils, and 18% of sodium, but McCormick's had milk proteins in it, so it still wouldn't work in this family. I would definitely pay the extra for McCormick if I didn't have to make my own seasoning. Let me know if try out the seasoning mix.