Chicken Fajitas

We really enjoy eating Mexican food, and we have it once a week or so. I try to vary the type of dish that I serve though. Tonight we are having Chicken Fajitas with a side of black beans, corn and Rotel served over rice. Here is the recipe that I use for my Fajita seasoning mix. I usually double or triple the recipe so that I always have it on hand when I need it.

Fajita Seasoning

¼ teaspoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon onion powder

¼ - ½ teaspoon cayenne (amount depends on how much heat you want)

¼ teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons chili powder

1 teaspoon sugar

1 chicken bouillon cube, crushed

Mix all the ingredients in a small bowl.

Store in an airtight container or zip top bag until needed.

Pizza Seasoning

I normally make and can my own pizza sauce, but since I go through it pretty quick, I like to keep this back up seasoning handy. If you have read the posts below, you have seen some of the other spice mixes that I have made for my Dad to try. Today, I will share my pizza seasoning mix that I like to keep on hand.

Pizza Seasoning

1/2 cup oregano

1/2 cup basil

1/2 cup garlic powder

1/2 cup dried onion flakes

1/4 cup thyme

2 tablespoons fine sea salt

2 tablespoons black pepper

2 tablespoons crushed fennel seed

Combine all ingredients and store in an air-tight jar.

To make the pizza sauce, add 1-2 tablespoons of the mix, 2 teaspoons olive oil and 2 cups of tomato sauce. Simmer on low for 10-15 minutes.

Like most of my mixes, you can use this for far more than just pizza sauce. It is my go to seasoning mix for most of my tomato sauce based recipes. A small amount mixed with butter and then spread on bread makes a great accompaniment for lasagna or spaghetti.

Enjoy!

Italian Dressing Mix

Continuing with the seasoning mixes that I made for my Dad, I will share my Italian Dressing mix. This, like almost all of my seasoning mixes, carries the name of the main use I have for the mix, and like the others, this one is great for a lot of different uses. I do think this one is the one that my Dad was anticipating the most. 

When I use this as a dressing mix, I add 1 tablespoon of the seasoning mix, 2 tablespoons of vinegar, 1/3 cup of oil and 1 tablespoon of vinegar. You can experiment with different oils and vinegars to change the taste. Salad dressings are one of the first things that I decided to stop buying in the store. It is so simple and quick to mix up something to dress a salad with, and the taste is so much better than anything you can buy in a store. As an added benefit, I also a lot less waste. I do like to try many different tastes, so I ended up with a lot of half empty bottles in the fridge that would ultimately end up in the trash. Now, I just mix up what I need and nothing gets wasted.

Italian Dressing Mix

3 tablespoons of garlic powder

3 tablespoons onion powder

3 tablespoons sugar

1/3 cup oregano

1 tablespoon ground black pepper

3/4 teaspoon thyme

1 tablespoon basil

3 tablespoons parsley

3/4 teaspoon celery salt

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons ground mustard

Mix all ingredients and store in an airtight container.  

I use this as a salad dressing mix, sprinkled on chicken or shrimp or to season tomato sauce. 

Seasoning Mixes for my Dad

It's been a while! Life got a little crazy there for a while and then the business of the holidays set in, to make it even a little more crazy. I love all the hustle and bustle that takes place between Thanksgiving and Christmas each year, but I am kind of happy to be getting back into a routine. 

My Dad had a heart attack a couple of months ago. He had to have some stints put in, but his recuperation has been awesome. He is having to adjust his eating habits though. We are a salty snack loving family! Since I also have to watch my BP, I started looking for seasoning blends that I could make that would contain little or no salt, but still pack a lot of flavor. I also did a lot of experimenting and using some of my own recipes, I came up with several blends I am pretty happy with.

I am making Dad his own set of seasoning mixes that he can incorporate into his healthier eating. Most of this blends started out as what they are named but they get used for many more things than just what the name implies. For instance, the Greek Seasoning is great on chicken, as a rub or a marinade, but I will also add it to some oil and vinegar to make a salad dressing, add a little to some hummus, sprinkle some in olive oil for a bread dipping sauce or add it to my dough when I am baking bread.

This recipe is for a basic one serving mix, but when I make it, I make about 10 servings and store in an air tight jar.


Greek Seasoning

1 tablespoon minced onion
2 tablespoons garlic powder
2 tablespoons oregano
1 tablespoon of thyme
1 tablespoon rosemary
1/2 teaspoon of lemon powder (Real Lemon makes this and in my stores it is in the baking aisle)

Combine all ingredients until mixed well.

Taco Seasoning

I have been making my own taco seasoning for a while now, even before I started trying to make as much as I could from scratch. I like to add it to other ingredients sometimes and would often only need a small amount from a package, then would have a package that wasn't enough to make tacos, and then it would get stuck in a drawer and I would forget about it until I cleaned out the drawer.

One day I was making tacos and realized that I didn't have any taco seasoning and didn't want to run to the store either. Google to the rescue! I searched for a recipe and found one, made it and loved it. I have tweaked and added to that original recipe and have some up with this version that I really like.

This recipe does make quite a bit, but I like to have it on hand, so once I have filled my spice container (like the ones above), I put the excess in a mason jar and vacuum seal it so that it stays fresh. 

You can also see my high tech way of labeling jars--I use painter's tape to write the contents and the date on the jars.

Taco Seasoning

1/2 cup chili powder

2 teaspoons garlic powder

3 teaspoons onion powder

2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes

2 teaspoons oregano

1 tablespoon paprika

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/4 cup cumin

1 tablespoon sea salt

3 tablespoons black pepper 

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 tablespoon chipotle chili pepper

2 teaspoons beef bullion

Measure all ingredients into a bowl and mix well. Store in an air tight container.

To Use: When I use this for tacos, I add 3-4 tablespoons to a pound of ground beef that has been cooked and drained. Simmer seasoning mix, ground beef and 2/3 cup of water for a few minutes.

Other ways I use taco seasoning:

Salad Dressing: Add a teaspoons or two to ranch dressing for a southwestern ranch

Dip: Mix a couple of tablespoons to about a cup and a half of sour cream

Chicken: Sprinkle on chicken breasts before baking

Soup: Add some to a tomato based soup for a taco soup

I have lots of ways of using this seasoning, it is probably the seasoning mix that I use the most so even though it seems like a lot of mix, I go through it pretty quickly. 

Enjoy!

Steak Seasoning

Are you grilling this week? I am sure we will be at some point. I thought I would share one of my favorite seasoning mixes that I almost always have on hand here at the house. I usually use it on steak but it is actually pretty good on burgers too.

Steak Seasoning Mix

2 Tbs brown sugar

1 Tbs. onion powder

1 tsp cracked brown mustard seeds

1 1/2 tsp smoked paprika

1 1/2 Tbs garlic powder

2 tsp hickory smoke seasoning

1 tsp hickory sea salt

1 tsp black pepper

Measure out all ingredients in a bowl and whisk together.

An even quicker way is to measure your ingredients into a small mason jar, put the lid on and give it a couple of shakes!

Store in an airtight container.

Most of these spiced are easily found wherever you do your grocery shopping, but the brown mustard seeds, the hickory smoke seasoning and the hickory sea salt aren't as common or easy to find. I buy a lot of my spices online from My Spice Sage. I have ordered from them many times and have always been happy with their service and the prices. I also order the Clear Jel I need to canning pie fillings from here. Orders over $20 ship free and they also let you choose a free sample when you check out. Lots of the time they also have a free gift with a minimum purchase. They have lots of great recipes on their site too!