Taco Tuesday

Tuesday nights in our house are Mexican food nights and some of those nights will include homemade tacos. My guys love them, ok, so do I! Sometimes I fill them with the traditional beef taco meat, other times grilled or shredded chicken or numerous other fillings.  Years ago I quit buying the product that you see above. Even before I wanted to clean up my pantry from processed items I grew tired of the commercial taste of packaged taco seasoning and started just throwing my own favorite seasonings into the skillet with the meat, onions and garlic.

Now that I am more aware of the ingredients in packaged foods I was curious to see exactly what is in these cute little packets. I am pleased to know that McCormick has not added MSG to their packages similar to the one above, but it does include these ingredients: ONION, POTATO STARCH, WHEY SOLIDS (MILK), SALT, SPICES (INCLUDING CHILI PEPPER, OREGANO, AND CUMIN), PAPRIKA, SUGAR, GARLIC, AND CITRIC ACID. It doesn't sound too bad at a glance, however people with dairy allergies probably wouldn't be happy with the whey solids and why do we need more sugar as well as the added citric acid?

We rarely have meat be the main focus of our meals anymore, but when we do I usually try to buy organic. I know that buying organic meat is more expensive, but when you are using less meat you can afford to splurge a little bit. Here is how I personally make our tacos and they are yummy, if I do say so myself!

Olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound lean ground beef OR ground turkey/chicken breast
1 1/2 TBSP Mel's Taco Seasoning (recipe below)
1 8oz can tomato sauce
salt
pepper

Since your meat is going to be lean, I add several drizzles of olive oil to a skillet and then add the chopped onion. Add a pinch of salt and pepper, not too much because you will be adding more later.   Once the onion starts to soften just a little I add the garlic.

Cook the garlic for a couple of minutes and then add the meat.

Cook until the meat is browned and cooked through. There shouldn't be any fat floating in the skillet, but you may have some moisture from the onions and meat come out.  Here I am cooking with 4% fat, lean organic beef.  If you have this moisture take a turkey baster and take all of this liquid out.

Add the taco seasoning and mix thoroughly.

Mix thoroughly and then follow with the 8oz can of tomato sauce.

Combine, reduce heat to low and simmer until the sauce is heated through.  See below, no greasy tacos here!

When cooking homemade tacos, regardless of the filling, it really is a must to fry up your own taco shells. I prefer white corn tortillas for some reason.  Not that I have anything against yellow corn tortillas or even blue corn, they're my friends too.  You could use canola oil here or regular olive oil (not extra virgin) for the frying. Heat the oil over medium heat and then add your corn tortilla and allow to cook for a few seconds on one side and then flip. Once you have flipped it, fold over one side and using your tongs prop it open a bit creating a nice pocket for the filling. Cook until a light golden color and then flip, continuing to keep it propped open. Once you finish frying the tortilla, wrap each tortilla in a paper towel like it's a blanket, stuffing the ends of the towel into the middle of the taco shell.  This will absorb any remaining oil and will keep them from getting soggy.  If you are making many, place all of the wrapped taco shells in a dutch oven with the lid on. This will keep them from getting soggy and will keep them warm. If you would rather see pictures of this process, please click here--->Making Homemade Taco Shells

You can top your taco filling with so much: lettuce, spinach, cheese, sour cream, salsa, guacamole, tomatoes, etc. Enjoy!

Mel's Taco Seasoning
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp paprika
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp seasoning salt...Click here for that recipe.---> Mel's Seasoning Salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 1/2 tsp cornstarch

Mix together and store in an airtight container. This makes around 3 Tbsp of seasoning and can be easily doubled.  Use 1 1/2 Tbsp per one pound of meat or other taco filling of your choosing. 

This is a very mild, but flavorful, taco seasoning, because our son can not handle heat yet. To make the seasoning more spicy add chili powder, cayenne pepper or red chile flakes. If you add cayenne or chili powder to your mix yours will be more red than the one above.  You can also add red chile flakes to the taco recipe above when you add the garlic. That is what I did pre-children and it was yummy!

Seasoning Salt

Is the item above, or one similar, a staple in your house? Is it sitting in your cupboard or on your kitchen table? If you like to cook and use recipes from our parent's generation there are many that call for seasoned salt. I actually love seasoned salt and what it does for different things in terms of flavor. Lots of restaurants use it on their steaks, potatoes, etc. Seasoned salt really is so bad for you because many brands use MSG, artificial ingredients to prevent caking in the jar, sugar and other ingredients that you may not realize that you are pouring onto your foods. I came across a recipe to make your own seasoned salt, a healthier version, but there are many make your own recipes out there so I encourage you to look around until you find something that fits your tastes.

Many, if not all, spices now come in Organic varieties, so try and look for those and sea salt is better than table salt. When I put mine together I did use organic ingredients and I used sea salt as the salt base. If you aren't sure about celery salt all that is is ground celery seed mixed with salt. Celery salt is yummy. I have a friend that puts it on her pizza after it finishes baking as well as many other things. As with normal salt, this is fine to cook with as long as it's done in moderation.

Here's the recipe:
3 Tablespoons of Sea Salt
2 Tablespoons Sweet Paprika
2 Teaspoons Celery Salt
1 Teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 Teaspoon each of freshly ground black pepper, turmeric, onion powder, and cornstarch.

Mix it all up and put it into an airtight container until ready to use.  Makes 7 tablespoons of seasoning salt, just under 1/2 cup.  Here's a fresh batch I just made.