Recipes

Ground Beef Tacos with Homemade Taco Seasoning

November 15, 2013

I'm making these Ground Beef Tacos with Homemade Taco Seasoning as part of the 26th Secret Swap. This is the first swap I've participated in.

Here's how it works: 12 bloggers picked a secret subject for someone else, and were assigned a secret subject to interpret in their own style. Today we are all revealing our topics, and our posts!

My subject is "What is an experience that was bad, but that you are thankful for it happening?" and it was given to me by Discovering Me . Well, guess what it is? No clue??

The first time I ever cooked on my own! I was about 12, and decided that I really wanted to make tacos. Go all out, shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, I don't remember what else I decided to put in them, but I do know that it was before I discovered salsa, or homemade taco seasoning, and years before I discovered avocados! Before that I had only ever made homemade grape juice with my great-grandmother, and homemade butter, shaking it in a jar, but I wouldn't call that cooking.

I didn't destroy the tacos, but something about dicing all those tomatoes and shredding the lettuce gave me a HUGE headache, it took me a lot longer to do than I thought it would, and by the time they were done I didn't even want to eat them 🙁

I never would have guessed at the time that every job I would have up to this point would be in the food industry, or that I would learn to adapt recipes to fit the needs of two little girls with PKU that I would be a live-in babysitter for, or that since that time I have diced, sliced, and shredded thousands of pounds of tomatoes and lettuce!

I still love tacos, too! I don't get headaches from making them anymore, either ( I save that for homemade gnocchi, which I haven't even tried to make since my daughter stopped napping a few years ago).

Before I get to the recipe for these yummy tacos, let me introduce you to the rest of the bloggers taking place in the Secret Subject Swap. Grab a cup of coffee, sit back and enjoy!

Stacy Sews and Schools

Confessions of a part-time working mom

Rants From My Crazy Kitchen (oh wait, that's me ;))

Let's make this beef tacos recipe now!

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Ground Beef Tacos with Homemade Taco Seasoning

Quick and easy weeknight dinner, these ground beef tacos are full of flavor. Made with homemade taco seasoning, so they're lower in sodium, too.

Course: Main

Cuisine: Mexican

Servings:

Calories: 429kcal

Author: Bernadette

Ingredients

For the Taco Seasoning
1 tablespoon corn starch
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon paprika
⅓ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
¼ teaspoon onion powder
¼ teaspoon dried oregano
For the Tacos
1 ¼ pounds 80% lean ground beef
15 taco shells
¾ cup water
prepared taco seasoning
2 tablespoons chopped green chiles
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro

Instructions

For the Taco Seasoning
Combine all ingredients into a small bowl and stir well. If not using immediately, store in a sealed container in a cool, dark place for up to 3 months.
For the Tacos
Brown ground beef in a large pan over medium-high heat, drain.
Heat taco shells according to package directions, in the oven. While the shells are heating, stir the water and all of the combined taco seasoning into the drained ground beef, stir well, and simmer until mixture thickens. Stir in the chopped green chiles, turn off the heat and stir in the chopped cilantro.
Serve the tacos with your choice of toppings!

Notes

Taco Seasoning Recipe adapted from http://www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com/2012/09/homemade-taco-seasoning.html

Nutrition

Topping suggestions for this beef tacos recipe: shredded lettuce, Freezable Homemade Salsa, Mexican cheese blend, diced avocado, and sour cream.

Freezable Cooked Salsa

November 12, 2013

I have to admit this recipe is a bit out of season here in the Northeast, and probably ¾ of the US, but once defrosted you can use it in so many things, or just snack on it with tortilla chips all winter long that I want to share it with you now! Never mind the fact that it snowed for the first time this fall this morning.

I made this salsa in September and ate some immediately, gave some to my husband's cousin, and froze the rest. It made about 10 cups, which I froze in plastic freezer safe containers. I've since used it in my Baked Mexican Omelet, and taco's I'll be sharing later this week, and of course with just tortilla chips 🙂

If you have a food processor, I highly recommend using it to chop all the veggies. You can do it by hand, just be prepared to chop for awhile. Be careful not to process too much or the salsa will be too liquidy ( I know that's not a word). If that happens, just use a slotted spoon to drain some of the juice. I admit I had to do it.

I measured the tomatoes, green peppers, and onions after chopping, and you can use whatever hot peppers you like and control the heat by leaving the seeds out altogether for mild or using ½ to ¾ of the seeds for medium to hot. All of the veggies came from my garden, and I used a mixture of hot peppers (cherry, pableno, and chili peppers).

Cooked Freezer Salsa (adapted from Stop Lookin', Get Cookin')

14 cups chopped tomatoes

1 ¾ cups chopped green peppers

2 cups chopped purple onions

4 hot peppers

2 tablespoons minced garlic

½ cup white vinegar

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon white sugar

1 tablespoon cilantro (coriander) seed, tied in cheesecloth. You can also use fresh chopped cilantro, adding it at the end of cooking.

Directions:

Chop all of the vegetables and put them in a large dutch oven or stockpot. Stir in the vinegar, salt, sugar, and cilantro tied in cheesecloth, if using. Stir well, and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, stirring well often to make sure nothing stick to the bottom, until the mixture reduces by half.

Once the mixture has reduce, move the pot to a sink filled with ice water, and stir continuously until cooled. Ladle into freezer safe containers, seal, and freeze for 6-9 months. Defrost in the refrigerator and use within one week. Or skip the freezing altogether and give a few containers away, and eat a few 🙂

Baked Mexican Omelet

November 6, 2013

Until last week I hadn't made an omelet in years, and my husband hasn't made one since we broke his favorite spatula, the one he insisted was the only one he could flip an omelet with! Truth be told, normally when I make breakfast for dinner (we don't really eat actual breakfast here, only cereal and fruit for our daughter) it's normally just sunny side up eggs, bacon or sausage, and toast. My husband prefers scrambled eggs, but my daughter won't eat them like that. Actually, her eggs aren't really sunny side up, they are over hard, with the yolk cooked through, but don't try to tell her that!

If you didn't know, I'm an administrator on a group recipe sharing page on Facebook called Moore Crazy Yummi Crumbs Hun with four other bloggers. Until this week we did an ingredient of the day, and the last time the ingredient was my choice I picked eggs. That day I shared a Baked Omelet Roll from Margaret's Morsels and I thought the idea sounded great, so I made it for dinner that very night, adding ingredients in the filling I just happened to have on hand, and ended up with a perfectly rolled, filling omelet that my husband and I both loved. Yeah, the kid had sunny side up eggs. Over hard. Whatever.

Baked Mexican Omelet

For the omelet:

6 eggs

½ cup heavy cream

¼ cup flour

salt and pepper, to taste

1 tablespoon butter

For the filling:

½ block Cabot cheese (Cheddar, Jalepeno, Pepperjack, or Habanero*), sliced very thin and broken into small pieces

6 slices cooked bacon, leave whole strips or crumble

thin layer of your favorite salsa (about 1 cup)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400*F. Using a paper towel grease a 9x13 glass baking pan with the tablespoon of butter.

Combine eggs, cream, flour, salt, and pepper in a blender and cover. Blend until smooth and pour into greased baking dish. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until the eggs are set.

Meanwhile, cook and drain bacon. Crumble if desired, or leave in whole strips (don't worry, they won't fall out of the rolled omelet when rolled loosely). Slice and break up the cheese.*I used the habanero cheese and it was HOT, so I'm not going to recommend it, unless you really love hot cheese 🙂

Once the eggs are set, remove from the oven and immediately sprinkle the cheese all over the top, then spread a thin layer of salsa, and top with the bacon. Take a spatula and push down all round the sides to release the eggs. Starting at a short end begin to lift the eggs, then use your hands to continue to roll the omelet. Transfer to a platter or cutting board and slice into 4-6 equal pieces.

I couldn't get a very good picture of the omelet sliced, silly fall and getting dark earlier 🙁

Cashew Crusted Chicken Strips

October 28, 2013

This cashew crusted chicken strips recipe is a quick and easy dinner recipe. It's served with a zesty, homemade, honey teriyaki dipping sauce.

My great friend Becca is getting married on Halloween! Becca is the foodie behind It's Yummi, you may have heard of her before because I've adapted a few of her recipes and shared them on here, including Pumpkin-Broccoli Beer Cheese Soup with Bacon and Bacon Burger Stuffed Peppers. Yes, Becca loves bacon even more than I do!

Becca is a great friend, and has been very supportive of me in my blogging adventures, and I'm so happy for her and her fiancée Brian 🙂

If I had known earlier that we would be doing this, I would have tried to make her the most amazing bacon dish EVER, but alas there is no bacon in these chicken strips. They are, however, delicious and would be a perfect finger food for a bridal or baby shower.

I hope you like this chicken strips recipe!

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Cashew Crusted Chicken Strips

Chicken tenders are coated with yogurt, panko bread crumbs, cashews, and seasonings, then baked up until crispy. Served with a homemade honey teriyaki dipping sauce.

Prep Time20

Cook Time20

Total Time40

Course: Main

Servings:

Calories: 1015kcal

Author: Bernadette