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Ingredients Archives: Oregano

Healthy Taco Seasoning

Last week, we bought half a cow. We now have enough steak, stew meat, roast and ground beef to last quite a while. Not to mention liver. I think I’m going to need to do more research before we tackle that one. My kids’ reactions were very different. My 8-year-old son was appalled. I guess there’s something different about buying a pound of ground beef at the grocery store. Getting a cooler full of beef made it more real for him. He was shocked that we would eat an adorable cow. My 5-year-old daughter on the other hand, took a different stance. She wanted to meet and pet the cow before it was sent to the butcher so she could see what she was eating. She also now wants to know what part of the cow she’s eating. I’m not sure what sparked the difference in reaction but one thing is for sure; they are their own people with their own views an opinions. They never cease to amaze me.

On a different note (well… kind of different anyway) we had beef tacos last week. I wanted to make my life easier by buying a taco seasoning packet. Then I read the ingredient list and decided that wasn’t going to happen. Every seasoning I could find had sugar (sometimes organic, but it’s still sugar) and modified corn starch. What exactly is modified about it? The point is, I wasn’t impressed. I once again realized, that eating healthy means spending more time and is often inconvenient. But it’s also worth it.

So I decided to put together my own taco seasoning and the entire family was pleased. Plus, I can make a bit batch of this and it’s like having packets when I need them. It’s also easy to customize. I left out the chili powder because my daughter is really sensitive to spicy food. Even if a sauce is labeled “mild,” she’s not sold on it.

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The amount listed below is enough seasoning for one pound of meat. If you opt to make a big batch, just use around 4T seasoning per pound of meat.

You can add this to meat alone or stir in some tomato sauce or tomato paste. This is also a great seasoning for chili or taco soup.

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Homemade Sugar-Free Marinara Sauce

20150814_192438Prepare yourselves for a rant. As I’ve mentioned one, two or a million times, I get so angry when companies add sugar to things that don’t need sugar. Fruit is my biggest pet peeve (and why do we need to add sugar to nature’s sugar?), but sauces drive me crazy. A few weeks ago, I was making spaghetti for my family. I tried to buy some marinara sauce only to find they all had added sugar. Most have 5-7 grams of sugar per serving. As I was slamming jars back on teh shelves of the grocery store, I said to myself, (or possibly aloud. Going shopping with kids gives you a good excuse to talk to yourself while making it look like you’re talking to your kids) “I’ll make my own marinara sauce!” And I did. But my marinara sauce has less than two grams of sugar per serving. That’s just my way of sticking it to the man; or at least, sticking it to Ragu.

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