HOMEMADE TACO SEASONING

    

     Out on one of my many errands today, I realized dinner would not be done unless I called my daughter at home to start it.  She browned the ground turkey for the tacos, but could find no taco seasoning.  "I'm SURE it's here somewhere!"  I exclaimed as I rolled in the door, jerking open cabinets and searching in strange places (because it's just like me to misplace something in my rush to get to the next thing).  I usually buy taco seasoning in the large jars from Sam's, but alas, I had forgotton to restock last time.  "Ok, no sweat", said I, "we'll just look it up on "All Recipes"!  (Which is what I do when I can't find a recipe - they have everything!)  Sure enough, there it was.  I'm not big on lots of chili powder and cayenne pepper, and I have some people who really don't like their food too spicy, so here is my modified version. I was missing a couple of ingredients - such as onion powder and crushed red pepper flakes, but it worked!  Adjust it to fit YOUR fam!

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp. chili powder
• 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
• a couple dashes of cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp. oregano
• 1 tsp. paprika
• 3 tsp. cumin
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• a couple shakes of pepper

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients together.
2. Use 2-1/2 Tbsp. per pound of ground meat.
3. Stir in 2/3 cups water along with the spices.

Wanna know the reviews?  My son - the "Taco King", didn't even know the difference.  And everyone else declared it "really good!"  This is major, people, you don't mess with the Gray family taco recipe!!!  I don't know if it's really more economical to make it, because now I'm almost out of cumin and paprika.  I'm sorta thinking it's just as well to buy the big jar at Sam's, but I did double the recipe and store in an airtight container for the next time.  Plus, it's always great to know you can do something like this in a pinch!