Taco Seasoning Mix

I boiled a couple organic chickens that my brother raised and picked the meat off the bones to use for various meals over the next couple weeks. Like always, I tossed the carcasses, some veggies, and spices into a large pot of water to make rich stock. By the time I needed to prepare dinner, I had both the chicken and the broth I needed to make chicken lemon rice soup.

That was yesterday.   

Today, I decided to use some of the chicken to make white chicken enchiladas for dinner. Simple. All I would need to do was throw together the white cheese sauce to pour on top. When I started gathering my ingredients though, I remembered that I had used up our taco seasoning the last time we had a Mexican-inspired dinner. Thankfully, it takes maybe 2 minutes to whip up another batch. And that was with a baby hanging on my legs.

I can't even remember how many years we've been making this seasoning mix. Not only does it not have any weird ingredients, it tastes so much richer than the store-bought packets. I always double or triple the recipe, because we use it so much. We use this to season all our Mexican dishes and the whole family loves it. In fact, my oldest was walking into the kitchen one day as I was making this and asked what it was. When I told him taco seasoning, he replied, "No, it's Heaven dust." Yeah, it's good stuff. This is an easy recipe for the kiddos to prepare, since it's just a matter of measuring and mixing. And the seasoning mix itself is pretty forgiving, so if they spill in some extra chili powder or paprika, no big deal.  

Today's dinner may have required an extra step to prepare, but it couldn't have been any simpler to remedy. In fact, it would have taken longer for Leighton to run to the store to grab some packets than it took for me to make my own. Ease, taste, quality. That's a winner in my book. 

Taco Seasoning Mix

Ingredients: 

4 tablespoons chili powder

2 tablespoons cumin

4 teaspoons salt

4 teaspoons black pepper

2 teaspoons paprika

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon dried oregano

Directions:

Mix all ingredients and and store in an air-tight container.  Use 2-3 tablespoons per pound of meat.