Taco Seasoning and Crock Pot Chili

Making your own seasoning mixes is fun and makes you a little more likely to use a variety of spices if it is easy to do.  When Olivia was a little girl, she had her own herb garden and we often dried herbs to use in the winter.  That simple interest morphed into her ability and desire to make seasoning mixes with and without herbs.  This taco seasoning recipe is a versatile one.  You can of course use it for tacos (duh) or just about anything you make Mexican, plus chili.  I'm seriously considering sprinkling a little on scrambled eggs with a little shredded chese.  Ole!  This recipe calls for onion powder, but Olivia admits when that isn't in the pantry, onion flakes make a good substitute (you can even turn them into powder in the food processor if you like).  Onion flakes are a staple item in both of our pantries--a good substitute when you don't have or don't want to mess with real onions.  This seasoning mix would even make a great small gift if placed in a pretty jar and perhaps presented with a few recipe ideas to use it!  It stores well and is really good.  Enjoy!
-Nanette

Taco Seasoning:

1/2 cup chili powder

1/4 cup onion powder

1/8 cup ground cumin

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon paprika

1 tablespoon sea salt

Put ingredients into a jar and shake.

Ingredients poured into a canning jar before shaking:

All mixed up and ready to use:

Crock Pot Chili:

1 pound lean ground beef

1 medium onion, chopped 

1 large chili HOT chili beans

2-3 tablespoons taco seasoning  (depending on taste)

1 tablespoon chopped garlic

1 small can green chili peppers

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 - 1 cup chicken or beef stock  (depending on how "soupy" you like your chili)

1)  Cook the ground beef and onion in a crock pot on low for a couple of hours until it is cooked.  Drain the grease.

2)  Add the chili beans, taco seasoning, chili peppers, sugar, and stock.  Cook on low for a couple of hours until you are ready to eat.

3)  Serve with shredded cheese.  Enjoy!

Chili Ingredients

Ground Beef with Chopped Onions

Bowl of Chili  - YUM!

Spice Combinations

Since Mom happened to mention in her post yesterday that I've never met a spice combination I didn't like, I thought I would share with you two spice mixes you can easily make at home.  Ranch dressing mix and onion soup mix - Why would you want to make these at home?  One could argue that it might be cheaper in volume over time, but I prefer to do it because I know exactly what is going in my spices and food!  I know exactly how much salt goes into these mixes and the quality of the products used.  Plus, to be honest, it is fun to have jars of spice mixes that I put together myself.  :)

Now, as to where I get the volume of bulk herbs/spices needed to create these mixes - We are fortunate to live about half an hour away from an Amish grocery store and about 45 minutes away from another Amish community with a bulk store.  I love to go "long distance grocery shopping" as my husband calls it.  I enjoy going and stocking up on the products I know I can use for a good while in many different dishes.  If you are a gardener, you could always dry many of your own herbs to use in spice mixes.  The main advice I would give is - Do not buy the spices in the small little containers from the normal grocery store.  These would most likely be far too pricey to have the amount of herbs/spices you need to make these mixes.

When I made these two spice mixes today, I doubled each recipe to fill up the canning jars I used.

As always, please feel free to leave me comments or questions on the blog, or if you aren't able to leave comments on here, please look up our facebook page - "Chicken Soup for the Bowl" and "like" us so you get updates of when we post on the blog! :)
-Olivia

Onion Soup Mix:

2/3 cup dried, minced onion

3 teaspoons parsley flakes

2 teaspoons onion powder

2 teaspoons turmeric

1 teaspoon celery salt

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground pepper

Mix all ingredients in a jar, then give the jar a good shake.  I’d recommend shaking the jar to mix the ingredients well before each use. 

Use 4 tablespoons in a recipe in place of 1 packet of onion soup mix.  Store this in a dry, cool place. 

Onion soup mix ingredients piled in before being mixed up -

Onion soup mix finished and ready to use (on right) along with some of the bulk ingredients I used to create it-

Ranch Dressing Mix:

5 tablespoons dried minced onions

7 teaspoons parsley flakes

4 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon garlic powder

Mix together and store in an air tight container.

For dressing: Mix 2 tablespoons dry mix with 1 cup mayonnaise and 1 cup buttermilk or sour cream.

For dip:  Mix 2 tablespoons dry mix with 2 cups sour cream.

Mix up a few hours before serving, so the flavors all blend.

Just shake for ranch dressing mix-

Ranch dressing mix all ready to be used (on the right) and some bulk items I used to create the mix-