Make your own Spice Seasoning Mixes

So it's Taco Night and you go to brown your ground beef and find you don't have that packet of taco seasoning? Now what???

I started making my own taco seasoning! After all, I already had chili powder, plus some other seasonings like salt, garlic powder, onion flakes, paprika, cumin, and pepper. I most often buy these spices in those little packets at the grocery store that cost around $0.99 a piece. If you read the ingredients on your name-brand taco seasoning packet, you'll likely find those ones listed, along with some other preservatives and maybe even sugar. If I if I buy a store-bought seasoning blend that I like, I'll look at the ingredients list and try to make my own, leaving out the stuff I can't pronounce. So why not experiment by mixing up your own blend and storing it in a little spice jar for future use?

Since I already have a variety of herbs on hand, I blend them together for my own Italian seasoning mix. The main herb is parsley, but also includes basil, rosemary, oregano, red pepper flakes. If you want a Greek seasoning it's similar but go heavy on the basil, add some dill, mint, and some minced garlic.

My Ranch Dressing mix not only makes good homemade dressing using either sour cream, buttermilk or Greek yogurt with some kind of milk to thin it out (cow, almond, coconut, or oat--whatever is in the frig that day!). Ranch mix is also good for sprinkling into pasta salads, casseroles, etc. 

I also came up with a great seasoning blend for tri-tip steaks with a blend of chili powders and coffee (Big Daddy's 805 seasoning)! It's great for ground meat or anything you can barbecue, too. 

My go-to seasoning blend, however, is one I call "Chicken Fixins", a kind and all-purpose mix that is not only good on chicken, but also eggs, fish, salads, vegetables and just about everything else. I make this up in big batches because my grown kids like it, too, and I will share a jar with them from time to time.

Here are three recipes to get you started, but feel free to improvise and improve!

https://pin.it/5Goexro