Short, spicy and cheap!

I haven't been posting much lately.  Every time I wanted to work on something I realized I needed to go and pick something up.  Let me explain.  My town is located about 20 minutes from Charlotte, NC and as you know the Democratic National Convention was there last week.  Every time I needed to go and get a few supplies, the stores were located in a section of Charlotte in which the traffic was ridiculous or the roads were closed due to the President and First Lady being in town.  I know this was great for our area, but I am glad the DNC is gone!  Now, we can all get back to normal.

With that being said, I didn't get accomplished last week what I wanted  so I am going to post a very easy and short recipe for Homemade Taco Seasoning!  I saw this on the internet last year, but failed to write down the source.....didn't think I needed to since I wasn't blogging at the time!  We had homemade Taco Salad last week and I used this.  I keep it on hand and it is so much better than the little packages you get at the grocery store.  Plus, it doesn't contain MSG (which I am very allergic to)!!  I hope you enjoy!

This is my spice rack.  I got the bottles from Crate and Barrel
several years ago and use a label maker.  I love it!

Here are the ingredients:

Missing are the red pepper flakes.  The container on the
end is the result of all these lovely spices!

Homemade Taco Seasoning

2 tablespoons  cumin

1 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon cayenne

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 tablespoon chili powder

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

Simply combine all the ingredients together and

store in an airtight container.  You can opt to not use

the red pepper flakes if that is too spicy for you and

you can change the amount of chili powder to

suit your taste.  Use 1 tablespoon per pound

of ground beef.

When we make our homemade taco salad, we simply combine the seasoning with the ground beef, add some kidney beans, whole kernel corn, sliced olives and get it good and hot.  Then we just layer lettuce, corn chips, homemade salsa, shredded cheese, a little Catalina dressing and top with  sour cream.  It is one of my family's favorite go to meals and so very simple.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Monday and enjoy the fall-like temperatures!