Homemade Taco Seasoning

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We are forever eating tacos.
If my son were to be stuck on a deserted island and could only bring one food with him, it would probably be a toss between pasta and tacos.
So, we eat a lot of tacos, and I was buying plenty of those little taco seasoning packets.
Yes, I don't mind keeping a company in business, but if I can make my own seasoning at home without any additives or preservatives, you can bet I'm going to go for it.
After searching the web I found this recipe at AllRecipes.com and adapted it after reading various reviews and came up with a good result that made the family happy.
And ultimately, that's what counts, right?  ;-)

Homemade Taco Seasoning - makes just under 11 serving when using 3 tablespoons per pound of meat

4 tablespoons chili powder
5 teaspoons cumin
4 teaspoons salt
4 teaspoons beef boullion
4 teaspoons corn starch
4 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoon onion powder
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon oregano

In a medium bowl, whisk together all ingredients.

Store in an airtight container.
Adjustments can be made to the amounts of seasoning depending on your taste.
I omitted crushed red pepper flakes, but because I used the 4 tablespoons of chili powder it had a definite kick to it.
If you like it spicier, definitely add the the red pepper and it would be a teaspoon based on the amounts from the original recipe, but adjust to your liking.
When using to make tacos, I used 3 tablespoons of the mix to 1 pound of ground beef.  I also added 1/3 cup water to make the beef a little saucy as per the instructions on the packets.

I rate everything I make on a scale of 1-4 with 4 being the best and this Homemade Taco Seasoning earned 3 1/2 rolling pins.
There was just the right amount of seasoning in the ground beef and it had a spicy kick to it.
A few of the family members like their tacos a bit spicier, but they said this was good.
I'm interested to try it on some other meats and in some other recipes besides just the tacos.
Stay tuned, I'll let you know!

I give you BIG baking hugs and muffins!!

Roasted Garlic and Red Pepper Hummus

"Let's go see a family movie tonight", Mr. 365 said the other day.
"Alright.  Which one?", I asked.
"Batman."
Silence.
Whether I agreed or voiced my apprehension, we were going to be going anyway and yes, I could have chosen to stay home, but I cherish our family time together no matter what we are doing.
My immediate thought was that it would dishonor those victims of the shooting last week - that to see it would show a lack of compassion for the tragedy.
Also, the stigma that going to see this particular movie and that something out of the ordinary would occur was at the forefront of my mind.
But what are the chances?
It's more likely we'd die in a car accident than sitting in a movie theater.
Heck, I'd already allowed our son to go see it with a friend last Saturday night, hesitantly at first, but then I acquiesced.  Nothing happened to him, so what was I so worried about?
We went and the theater was a little less than half full.
I got through the previews ok and then came our "feature presentation".
And that's when it started.
I could barely sit still.  My leg started shaking and I played with my fingers.
Every person who wasn't sitting or came into the theater I watched like a hawk.
My senses were heightened like they've never been before and I was on full alert with my focus on everything but the movie.
How could I not help but think about that fateful evening as the movie began and went through the first few scenes: at what point had the shooting started, the terror the crowd must have felt when they realized what was happening, was the theater set-up similar to this because there's no hiding under these seats, and how will everyone sitting in that movie theater that night be able to go to into another one again without the fear of something happening?
We go to a movie theater for entertainment, to relax and have fun with our family and friends never expecting an event like this to occur.
Just as we send our kids to school thinking they'll be returning home the same day.
As I sat there, I felt like I was on the verge of a nervous break down yet I wasn't anywhere near that theater in Aurora, Colorado and don't know anyone who was directly affected.
My compassion for others and my neuroticism got the best of me.
As the movie progressed, I fidgeted less, my thoughts waned and I was able to turn my attention more towards the action on the screen, but a concern for my surroundings never dissipated, and I wondered...how many people, both men and women, are now sitting in this theater carrying a weapon with Arizona being a Concealed Carry state.
The movie ended and we returned to our car.  Mr. 365 drove us home while the kids sat in the back seat discussing the movie.
I sat looking out the window reflecting on both the movie and the feelings which seemed to consume me during it.
Then the tears started.  And they couldn't be stopped.
The 20 minute drive home was spent silently crying with tears streaming down my cheeks, trying to hide any sound that might give it away, and finding comfort that my hair had grown to a point where it was able to somewhat conceal my face.
I was also grateful for the darkness for my feelings weren't something I was ready to share with the family.  It was just too private.
At one point, my husband looked over at me, concerned that I was unusually quiet and asked what was going on.  I replied I had gotten a headache from the movie.  Moments later my daughter asked if I'd enjoyed it and after gaining enough composure to answer, replied yes.
Upon returning home, I went straight to our bathroom and was finally able to release my emotions.
It was such an overwhelming evening and reflecting on it I wondered if I had overreacted.
But I didn't, that's just the way I am:  feeling such compassion for others that it sometimes rocks me to my core.
The thoughts of that fateful evening, I soon realized were coupled with the fact that in a few weeks I'll be again sending a daughter off to college for the first time which was something I hadn't yet emotionally dealt with up until that evening.
Am I ready to send her off out into the world to a university that is far bigger than the one I ever attended?
No.
But am I confident that my husband and I have given her the tools, fostered her self-esteem, and have encouraged her confidence to be able to make choices that whether good or bad, she will learn from them and use them to her advantage?
I believe we have and I can only hope.
The ultimate decisions are hers and hers alone, as are the consequences.
It is scary, to say the least, to cut those ties and release our children into a world that at times, isn't as wonderful as I'd ultimately think it is.  After all, I do have a tendency to see things through my "rose colored glasses".
Yes, we need to continue to see the good in people and while not everyone in the world is going to pull a gun on unsuspecting citizens in a movie theater, it happens.
Life happens.
And unfortunately these events are reminders, serving as a wake-up call that we are here on this earth for only a little while and that time spent with our loved ones is so very precious and to be cherished.
It's not the materials things or the items we acquire and surround ourselves with during the course of our lifetime.
It's our relationships and how much attention and focus we give to them.
That is what people will be left with once we are gone...
how much we loved and were loved in return.

On Friday we, or rather I haha, roasted a head of garlic and one red pepper.
Today we're going to make something with it - Hummus.

Ok, I know, some of you can't stand the stuff, but I personally am addicted to it.
Well, maybe not as addicted to it as I am to chocolate, but it's healthy and when you make it at home, it tastes all the more betterer.
Yes, the previous statement isn't grammatically correct, but just go with it.

This is adapted from Good Life Eats.

Roasted Garlic and Red Pepper Hummus
1 15 ounce can of garbanzo beans/chickpeas, drained and rinsed
5 cloves roasted garlic
1/3 cup diced roasted red pepper
2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons tahini
juice of half a lemon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon cumin
1-2 tablespoons water, if necessary (I used 2)

Place all ingredients into a blender or food processor.

Mix until completely smooth and well blended.
Store in a tightly covered container in the refrigerator.

I rate everything I make on a scale of 1-4 with 4 being the best and this Roasted Garlic and Red Pepper Hummus 3 1/2 rolling pins.
The flavor was fantastic and the consistency was good, too.
I love eating this stuff with baked pita chips!
I was concerned that adding 5 cloves of garlic was going to be way too much, but when the garlic is roasted it's not nearly as pungent and is a great addition.

I give you BIG baking hugs and muffins!!

How to Roast Garlic and a Red Pepper

Everyone needs to know how to roast garlic and a red pepper.
It's important for society to know this.
New recipes could be created.
Lives could be changed.
Knowing this could even make people fall in love!
It's a long shot, but it could happen.

Garlic that is roasted is good for so many dishes, spread on bread or even eaten by itself (as I did after it came out of the oven).
I had to taste test it!

I found this recipe over at Simply Recipes.
Roasted Garlic

one head of garlic
olive oil for drizzling

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
To roast a whole head of garlic, peel the outer skin off, leaving the skin on the individual cloves.
Cut 1/4 to 1/2-inch off the tops off of the cloves with a sharp knife so that you can see the individual cloves.

Place on a piece of tin foil and drizzle with olive oil.

Rub it in to the cloves with your fingers (cleaned, of course).

Wrap the garlic head up in the tin foil.

Bake for 30 minutes, or until cloves are tender when lightly squeezed.  Set aside to cool enough to be handled.

Remove individual cloves and slice through the skin with a knife to remove.
I found that it was also easy to remove the clove from the skin by squeezing each at the bottom, so that it kind of pops out of the skin.

I found these fantastic instructions over at Food Network.

Roasted Red Pepper


1 red pepper

Remove the sticker, clean and dry the pepper.
On a gas stove, turn a burner onto high and place the pepper on the grate.

Turn the pepper with tongs as it roasts, making sure that it is evenly charred on all sides.
The pepper can also be cooked the same way on a grill.
When using an electric stove, broil the pepper leaving the door slightly ajar so that the heat remains on high.
During cooking, you may hear some popping and hissing.  No need to fret, it's just the skin blistering and the water in the skin evaporating.  It's a pretty cool to watch the small bubbles form and then pop.

After the pepper has been completely charred, immediately place it into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap or a plate.  Doing this will allow the steam to help peel the skin, so don't be tempted to lift the plastic wrap off.
Um, yeah, I forgot to do that step, but really didn't have too much trouble peeling the skin.
Place a fine mesh sieve over a bowl.  You will use this to hold the seed while they drain.
After the pepper has cooled sufficiently to handle,  take it and with a very sharp knife, cut into the top of the pepper, moving the knife around the stem.  This will enable you to pull the stem and the seed pod out all at once.  Put the stem and seed pod into the sieve.
Hold the pepper upside down over the sieve to drain any water that may be in the pepper.
Slice down the length of the pepper and open it up so that it lays flat on the cutting board.

Remove any seeds from the skin, placing them in the sieve as well.
Turn the pepper over and scrape the charred skin off with the knife, wiping the knife off in the sieve as you go.

There may be bits of skin left and you may be tempted to rinse the pepper off, but don't.  Doing so will remove some of the charred flavor which you worked so hard for.

Slice the pepper into strips, placing them into the bowl with the juices under the sieve.  Cover with olive oil and some garlic slivers, and refrigerate.  They can be kept this way for one to two weeks.
For the recipe I used these two items for, I didn't place half of the strips of pepper in the olive oil because I used them right away.

Any ideas what I might have used them for?
I follow up with that recipe tomorrow!
Now go on out there and change some lives with this new knowledge of yours!!

I give you BIG baking hugs and muffins!!

Blueberry Peach Galette

I'd like to welcome all of my new readers!!
I know a lot of you are new to 365, so I want to extend a very warm welcome and say, "Thank you SO very much for being here!!"
I am extremely blessed that my little corner of the world is being read by so very many people around the world.
It honestly amazes me!
And I LOVE reading your comments and receiving your e-mails, both good and bad, about recipes you've made, questions you have or just to "chat".
You all are very motivating and inspiring, and I LOVE that I am able to do this!!
Finally at the age of *ahem*, I found out what I want to be when I grow up!
Don't worry, if you're searching, there's still hope for you, too!

I love galettes both for their taste and for the fact that they're relatively easy to make.
I consider it to be a lazy man's pie because I don't have to be as precise with the crust; there's room for error, and yet it tastes so good!
This Cinnamon Pear Galette and Strawberry Rhubarb Galette are both testaments to that.
I borrowed the crust from Two Peas & Their Pod.  It's one that I've had great luck with and is delicious.

Blueberry Peach Galette - serves 6-8

Crust
1 3/4 cups flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup yellow cornmeal
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cold butter, cut into small pieces
1/3 cup buttermilk (I used 1/3 cup milk mixed with 1 teaspoon vinegar and let it sit for 15 minutes before using)

1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoons turbinado sugar

Filling
18 oz. fresh blueberries
2 white peaches
4 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons corn starch
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon fresh lemon zest
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

In a large bowl, combine the ingredients for the crust:  the flour, sugar, cornmeal and salt.

Add butter and with a pastry cutter, blend in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal.  (You can also us a food processor for this step and pulse the butter into the mixture 4-5 times.)

Pour the buttermilk (or milk/vinegar mixture) into the bowl and stir until the dough begins to stick together.
In each galette I've made, it hasn't stick together, so I just gather it into a ball as much as possible with my hands and then stick the rest of the dough remnants onto it while it's sitting on the plastic wrap.
(OR with the processor running, slowly pour the buttermilk through the chute, processing until the dough forms a ball.)

Remove the dough ball and adhere any remaining pieces of dough to it, then wrap in plastic wrap.

Refrigerate for at least 45 minutes before rolling out.
If you're concerned about those errant pieces of dough falling off as you go to roll the dough out, don't be.  Everything comes together quite nicely after it has been refrigerated.
*The galette dough is able to be made in advanced and can be refrigerated up to three days before being used.*


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. when ready to bake the galette.


For the filling, in a large bowl, combine blueberries, peaches, sugar, corn starch, lemon juice and zest, and nutmeg.

Gently mix everything together so that you don't crush the blueberries.  If you want to you can, but I wanted to keep the peaches as white as possible.

Place a piece of parchment on a baking sheet.  I place it on my round pizza stone because I found that it's the perfect size and bakes it quite nicely.
Remove the dough from the refrigerator and roll it out, starting from the center, into a circle (or as close as you can get to a circle) 14 inches across.

Place the filling contents into the center of the circle and then gently spread around the circle to within two inches of the edge.
I was concerned about the blueberries rolling away from me at this point, but I found they stayed on the dough pretty well.

Fold the edges of the dough up over the filling, overlapping the dough if necessary, and gently pressing the creases to ensure that creases are sealed.
Mine leaked slightly, but I found that by creasing the edges of the parchment paper up the juices that did leak stayed pretty much contained and didn't drip all over the oven.
Lightly brush the edge of the dough with the beaten egg and sprinkle with turbinado sugar.  (You will have egg left over.)

Bake for 1 hour, until the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbly.
Transfer baking sheet to a wire rack and allow to cool for 20 minutes before serving.
Serve warm or at room temperature.

I rate everything I bake on a scale of 1-4 and this Blueberry Peach Galette earned 3 rolling pins.
The blueberry/peach combination was a great summer treat.
I love using fresh fruits that are in season in my baking ~ they just have so much wonderful flavor!

I brought this to share at the :

at Lady Behind the Curtain
and at DJ's Sugar Shack!!
Go check out the other recipes my fellow bloggers have brought!!

I give you BIG baking hugs and muffins!!

Jack Daniel's Pork Tenderloin

I have bottle of Jack Daniel's sitting in my pantry.
And since I'm not a drinker, there it sits.
And no, I'm not an alcoholic in denial.  I really just rarely ever drink the stuff.  Any kind of alcohol really.
I bought it for a chicken recipe I have yet to make.

I found this over at The Use It Up Kitchen while perusing the internet for a new pork marinade.  Mel says it's the "Very Best Pork Tenderloin".
I'll let you know the verdict after the recipe.

Jack Daniel's Pork Tenderloin - serves 4

1 1lb. pork tenderloin

Marinade
1/4 cup Jack Daniel's Whiskey
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon fresh ginger

In a large Ziploc bag, combine Whiskey, olive oil, brown sugar, minced garlic, soy sauce, Dijon mustard Worcestershire sauce and ginger.  I find it easiest to place the bag in a bowl so that it I can add all the ingredients without the fear of the bag spilling over.
Seal the bag and mix well.

Place the pork loin onto a cutting board and prick all over with a fork.
Place the meat into the bag.  Seal and refrigerate for 8-10 hours, turning over occasionally.

When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Prepare a rimmed baking sheet by lining it with tin foil and spray it with cooking spray.
In a large skillet over high heat, sear the loin so that it is browned on all sides, reserving the marinade.

Place meat on prepared baking sheet and pour 1/3 of the marinade over it.

Cook for 40 minutes or until a meat thermometer reaches 148 degrees F.
In the meantime, heat reserved marinade to a boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat.
Boil for 5 minutes, bringing the temperature to 165 degrees F. to ensure all of the food borne bacteria is killed off.  Turn heat down to low, keeping sauce warm.
Remove tenderloin from oven and transfer to a cutting board.
Cover with tin foil and allow to rest for 10 minutes before cutting to serve.  This will also bring them temperature of the meat up to a "doneness" of 170 degrees F.

I rate everything I bake on a scale of 1-4 and this Jack Daniel's Pork Tenderloin earned 4 rolling pins!!
I have to say that it was a unanimous family vote.
This is by far the best pork tenderloin we've had yet!
Mel was definitely right about this being "the very best".
I'm definitely adding this to our regular rotation.
The extra boiled marinade was also delicious on the mashed potatoes.

This has been shared at Foodie Friends Friday and at Busy Vegetarian Mom!  There are over 100 wonderful recipes that have been shared, so go on over and take a look!!

I give you BIG baking hugs and muffins!!

S'Mores Rice Krispie Treats - The Secret Recipe Club

WOW!  Can you believe it's that time of the month again?!
It's the third Monday of the month which means...it's time for The Secret Recipe Club reveal!!!!

The Secret Recipe Club was originally started by Amanda of Amanda's Cookin'.  She has recently passed the reins on to April of Angel's Homestead and our Group C leader is Angie of Big Bear's Wife.  These ladies have been doing such fine work for this fantastic club and I know it isn't easy.  Stop by each of their blogs and say hello, won't you?
The Secret Recipe Club is like the Secret Santa that people participate in at Christmastime.  People sign up to participate and they are assigned a blog from which they are to find a recipe of their liking, make it and post about it on their group's assigned reveal day.  We're not allowed to reveal to the owner of the blog that we are secretly "stalking" them.  It's so much fun going through blogs that you may or may not already be familiar with and getting to know the person behind it and their recipes.  It's always nice to make a new friend!
It's also a lot of fun finding out who was assigned your blog for the month and finding out which recipe of yours they chose to make.
So, without further adieu, I present to you (hey, isn't it neat how I made that rhyme? haha) my assigned blog for the month of July...

The Freshman Cook

This blog by Teri is FULL of recipes!  She has so many to choose from, I really had a hard time deciding what to make, but as soon as I found the following one, I knew I had to try it.  Such a no-brainer!
I love the background for Teri's blog.  She started it as a way to help beginning cooks because everyone had to start somewhere, right?  She has about 20 years in the kitchen end of the restaurant business and is completely at home instructing people how to cook and create.  It is so apparent in the way she words her posts and by the step by step instructions accompanied by her pictures that she loves being in the kitchen!
Thank you, Teri, for such a great recipe and for the detailed instructions!  Keep up the great work!

The recipe I chose was Teri's S'Mores Rice Krispie Treats.
We LOVE rice krispie treats here at the 365 home, as if you didn't already know from these Butterfinger Rice Krispie Treats and these Cake Batter Krispie Bars I've made in the past.
It doesn't take very long before these things disappear around here, so I'm always looking for a new combination and new recipe for them.
I made a few changes to Teri's recipe:  instead of using the actual graham crackers, I mixed some graham cracker crumbs in with the melted marshmallows, replaced the large marshmallows on top of the bars with the flat StackerMallows that Jet-Puffed makes, and increased the amount of butter.
'Cause you can never have enough butter, right?  ;-)

S'Mores Rice Krispie Treats - makes one 9 X 13-inch dish

5 tablespoons butter
6 cups Rice Krispie cereal
1 10 oz. package miniature marshmallows
1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
2 cups milk chocolate chocolate chips
1 8 oz. package Jet-Puffed StackerMallows or you can choose a bag of the regular size marshmallows
10 frozen mini Hershey milk chocolate candy bars, broken into individual squares  I found that if they were frozen they were easier to stick into the marshmallows and didn't melt as quickly even though they still melted.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Prepare a 9 X 13-inch baking dish by generously spraying it with cooking spray.
In a large saucepan over medium-low heat, melt butter.
Add the miniature marshmallows to the pan and stir until they are melted.  Turn heat down to low.  I know in most recipes it says to remove from heat when everything has melted, but I've found that it's easier to stir in the Rice Krispies if the marshmallow mixture is still warm.  It becomes very difficult to stir and I find it hurts my wrist as it cools.  Just tryin' to save you a trip to the doctor in the future.  ;-)

Stir in the graham cracker crumbs.

Add the Rice Krispies and mix until thoroughly combined.  (Teri shared a tip here which I thought was a really good idea and had never done before, but it worked really well!  Spray the spatula or spoon that you're using to mix everything together with cooking spray so that it makes it easier to mix.)
Remove pan from heat and stir in chocolate chips.  And yes, they will melt.  Don't worry about it.

Pour mixture into prepared baking dish and press down with a rubber spatula so that it completely covers the pan.  I find it easiest to spray my hands with cooking spray and flatten it that way (as long as it's just the family who will be eating them and yes, I do wash my hands first.).

Place the Stackermallows over the Rice Krispies so that they are completely covered.

Place into oven for marshmallows to brown for 15-17 minutes.

And this is where I used my little blow torch to make them a little browner.

Remove from oven and place a Hershey chocolate square into each marshmallow.
Allow to cool completely before cutting.

I rate everything I make on a scale of 1-4 with 4 being the best and these S'Mores Rice Krispie Treats earned 3 1/2 rolling pins.
They were so chocolaty and good, and the toasted marshmallow on the top was golden!
Unfortunately, I only detected a slight taste of the graham cracker.  I was going to use a full cup instead of a half, but didn't want the marshmallow batter to be so thick I couldn't stir in the Rice Krispies.
Will have to try it with the actual crackers next time.
I also think Teri's idea using the large marshmallows on the top instead of Stackers would have been the way to go because she only had hers in the oven for 5-7 minutes whereas I had them in for 15 and they still weren't as brown as I would have liked them.  I used my little blow torch to toast them the rest of the way.
Yes, I cheated.
I think you'll have better luck using the larger babies.
I also think leaving them in the oven longer may have had something to do with them sticking to the bottom of the pan.  They weren't impossible to remove, just required a little bit of patience and some occasional elbow grease.  I should have sprayed a little more cooking spray in the bottom of the pan, too since I wasn't using the crackers on the bottom.
Go with the big marshmallows and leave them in the oven for 5-7 minutes.
OR...
maybe you could broil them!
I would have done that, but our broiler is kaput, so that wasn't an option for me.
Let me know which choice you make and if it worked for you!
Until next month...

I give you BIG baking hugs and muffins!!
Don't forget to check out all of these other wonderful recipes my fellow bloggers have shared for their Secret Recipe Club reveal!