Tasty Tuesday - Homemade Taco Seasoning

Lindsay hosts Tasty Tuesday over at Our Lives in a Nutshell...you know, when she's not on bed-rest or dealing with the worst flood in over a hundred years. So far their basement is staying dry, but one look at the pictures she's posted and you can see first hand that her town has quite a fight on their hands. May God continue to protect your precious family Lindsay!

We are slowly but surely trying to weed out the additives, preservatives, and unpronounceable ingredients from our diet. When it came to Taco Tuesday* night I was dropping the ball. The packets of taco seasoning you buy at the store have MSG in them. It bugged me that I was knowingly putting it into my family's bodies.

So on my last trip to the grocery store I bought a few new spices and tried making taco seasoning from scratch. It wasn't hot by any means, but it was certainly tasty enough. I think next time I mix a batch I'll add more cumin and possibly more chili powder. Don't want it to get too spicy with little kids in the house and all.

This recipe is the equivalent of 2 store bought packages of seasoning.

Taco Seasoning

1 T. chili powder
2 t. onion powder
1 t. cumin
1 t. garlic powder
1 t. paprika
1 t. sugar
1 t. salt
1 t. powdered oregano (no need to use powdered if you ask me - I didn't even notice the bigger bits)

* I plan our menu with a specific type of food for 6 days of the week. It helps me not feel so overwhelmed when I sit down with my cookbooks. We don't necessarily eat the meal on the 'correct' day, but at least all the ingredients are in the house for 6 dinners. Rather than say "what are we going to eat this week?" I say, "Ok, time to find a chicken recipe."

Monday - chicken
Tuesday - Mexican
Wednesday - Italian
Thursday - Breakfast foods
Friday - Homemade pizza (still searching for the perfect crust recipe)
Saturday - Crock Pot meal
Sunday - leftovers

Next on my recipe wish list is a substitute for "Cream of (take your pick) Soup" Anyone out there know a good one?

For my other Tasty Tuesday posts click here.

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Tasty Tuesday - Beef Barley Soup

Lindsay hosts Tasty Tuesday over at Our Lives in a Nutshell. Head over there for more tasty and easy recipes! My family is still enjoying the pancake recipe she posted a while back.

Since Winter won't cut us a break around here, we're still in the thick of soup season.

This is one of my favs: Beef Barley Soup



It's thick, it's flavorful, and healthy.
I've modified the original recipe from my Eating for Life cookbook so it can be prepared in the crockpot.

Beef Barley Soup
Serves:6


Ingredients:
1 T olive oil
1 1/2 pounds top sirloin (I just use whatever roast type meat I have on hand) cut in 1in. cubes
4 cups beef broth
1 cup water
1 chopped onion
1 chopped stalk of celery
1 sliced carrot
1 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup pearl barley
1 bay leaf
10 oz frozen green beans
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes
10 oz frozen green peas

1) In a large pot, over medium-high heat, warm the olive oil. Add the beef cubes and cook for about 8 minutes; stirring occasionally until browned on all sides.

2) Put browned meat in crockpot and add beef broth*, water, onion, celery, carrot, oregano, black pepper, garlic, and can of tomatoes

3) Cook on low 8-10 hours or on high for 5-6 hours.

4) 30-40 minutes before serving add frozen beans, peas, and barley (cook on high)


Enjoy!


and then enjoy the next day too when the meat is even more tender....

* I'm trying a new pot roast recipe this week that I'm hoping will leave me with enough broth that I won't have to use store-bought broth for this recipe. In order to buy broth that is even remotely healthy I have to spend six bucks...on broth. That's not OK. That would take up 1/4 of my grocery bill.
Yes, I said 1/4. We are eating for $22 this week.
How? By using things we already have on hand and only filling in the gaps. We're eating tater tot hotdish, tacos, pot roast, BLT's, and two meals of beef barley soup for $22 (that includes buying fresh fruit and a loaf of bread too)

What are you eating this week?

Tasty Tuesday - Beef Stew

My blogging friend Lindsay hosts Tasty Tuesday and I have a beef stew recipe to share. A winning combo if I've ever seen one!
After taking the kids skiing yesterday we enjoyed some leftover stew. (That's the secret.) It gets thicker after you reheat it. We almost always make a double batch so we are guaranteed to have leftovers.


Taken from my More With Less Cookbook:

Oven Beef Stew

Shake in Bag* - 2 T flour, 1 t salt,
1/4 t pepper, 1 lb beef cubes
Heat in skillet - 2 T shortening (I use olive oil instead)



Brown beef cubes, then place in greased casserole dish (I use a glass dish that doesn't need to be greased.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Add 2 c. tomato juice**

1 onion, chopped
1/2 t. dried basil


Cover and bake 1 hour

Add 4 small/medium potatoes and 3 carrots, cut into 1" pieces (This is a good point to reevaluate whether there is enough liquid in the dish. Lots will cook away so add more juice at this point to stretch the recipe further if you want.)

Bake 1 hour longer or until tender.

* I've found that using a large yogurt container works just as good as a bag, is reusable, and provides an easy place to toss the veggie peelings.

**I never ever have tomato juice in the house. I have always substituted tomato sauce or spaghetti sauce by putting 1 cup sauce and 1 cup water in instead of juice. I've even gotten away with adding pureed spinach without anyone catching on.