Well, here it is Sunday, and looking for a quick lunch/dinner after church. I used to make tacos for Sunday dinner all the time when our kids were young as it was quick and they liked it (or at least they ate it). How could I lose? Anyway, decided to make it today as I thought I had all the ingredients. Turns out – no taco seasoning! After a quick search on the Internet, I came up with something I thought would work based on several ideas.

Taco Seasoning

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp. Ancho chili powder (this is a milder, sweeter chili powder that I really like – sub as you wish)
• 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp. dried oregano
• 1 tsp. Sweet Hungarian Paprika
• 1.5 tsp. cumin
• 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp. sea salt  (you can use regular salt; I’m just a lover of sea salt as flavor seems brighter)
• 1 tsp. fresh ground pepper (this is really a ballpark measure – I ground until I was sick of it)
• 1 tsp. cornstarch
• NOTE: I add fresh onions and garlic to my taco meat – otherwise you will want to add onion and garlic powder.

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together. Store in an airtight container. This batch should make 2 batches of taco meat, depending on how much you use.

If you want to know how I used it, here’s what I did today… tomorrow may be different 🙂

Put it together with the hamburger:

1. Brown 1 lb hamburger, draining fat.
2. Add 3-4 cloves garlic and 1 onion, chopped. Cook until onions are done.
3. Drain 1 15 oz can dark red kidney beans. Rinse, add to meat mixture and mash slightly.
4. Add 1 small can of diced green chilies
5. Add 2 Tbsp. of Taco seasoning and 1 cup of water. Cook until desired consistency, adding water if needed.
6. Put your tacos together as desired.
7. This went over VERY well with all present. The green chilies and kidney beans were a new addition and think I’ll keep them.