homecooking

Taco Seasoning Recipe

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Homemade Taco Seasoning Recipe

Homemade taco seasoning is easier to make than you might think. With just a few simple ingredients {ones you likely already have in your pantry} you can have yourself a healthy, homemade Mexican fiesta in no time.

Tacos, enchilada’s, quesadilla’s, and Mexican salad – we love Mexican food here.

Taco’s are quick, easy, and inexpensive to make – I have also found them to be amongst my favorite entertaining foods. You can make most everything ahead of time leaving little to do while your guests are over. The make ahead pre-guest prep allows for less kitchen fuss and more time visiting with friends, family, or neighbors. Why can’t every meal be as easy as tacos?

So, without further ado – here is the recipe we use at My Happy Homestead

Homemade Taco Seasoning

Homemade Taco Seasoning Recipe

The only thing better than taco’s is a “walking taco” for lunch – quick, easy, and minimal mess!

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The Best Crockpot Easter Dinner Meal Plan Round Up

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The Best Crock Easter RecipeRound Up
I have a little confession – I love to cook. I love good food but, if I can find an easier way to spend less time in the kitchen I am soooo there! And, I may have a slight obsession with my crockpot.

This year we will be changing things up a bit for Easter dinner. We are having friends over for a brunch and Easter egg hunt in the morning {thinking I will be making an egg bake breakfast casserole and my caramel french toast bake.}

But, what about dinner?

I was racking my brain trying to figure out how I could entertain in the morning and still pull off a somewhat traditional Easter dinner for my family and then, it hit me – my trusty old crockpot. Yep, I am pretty much over the moon excited we are going to have the best crockpot dinner ever and guess what, it’s going to be cooking while I hang out with our friends and family. Everybody wins!

{Oh, and if you only have one crockpot I highly recommend getting a second as it’s worth it’s weight in gold. We have 3 different sizes and I love them all!}

So, here’s the scoop for;

The Best Ever Easter Dinner Crockpot Meal Plan





The Best Crockpot Easter Dinner Meal Plan Round Up-maple-brown-sugar-ham-crockpot-green beans- corn dip- homemade apple sauce- home cooking goodness with less time in the kitchen

I am excited to try Life in the Loft House‘s Crock Pot Maple Brown Sugar Ham recipe – we are big maple syrup fans so this just sounds divine. A brown sugar rub, with a maple syrup and pineapple glaze cooked on low while I play with the kids – yep, I think I can do this.

Moms with Crock pots shared an awesome looking green bean casserole recipe – we will not being using bouillon cubes as most are not gluten free. But, we will sub them out with Better than Bouillon. *We will not be adding our bacon until the end as soggy bacon bits get me every time {gah}.

If you have never made crockpot brown sugar carrots you are missing out – they are so easy!

 

The Best Crockpot Easter Dinner Meal Plan Round Up




LifeCurrents Crockpot Corn Dip  looks like the perfect side dish or maybe even pre-dinner appetizer. Surely, I know my children can not be the only ones that insist on eating the entire hour before we sit down to a meal, right?!? Frozen corn, cream cheese, cheese, a zip of jalapeño, and spices slow cooked and served with organic corn chips should hold the littles over.

No Easter Dinner would be complete with out some homestead applesauce  and I’m thinking these easy au gratin potatoes inspired by Chelsea’s Messy Apron should do the trick…

Easy-Slow-Cooker-Potatoes-Au-Gratin-a-perfect-Easter-side-dish-save-room-in-the-oven-with-this-easy-dish-Plus-a-secret-tip-to-get-the-potatoes-crispy

And, if there is room for dessert after all that food I am thinking a scoop of ice cream from the local dairy farm should do the trick.

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Tomatoless Sauce; Gluten, Dairy, and Nightshade Free

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Sharing my homemade tomato-less sauce recipe today for all our allergy sensitive friends and family.

When I first discovered that our son could not eat tomatoes I thought- “eh, its not that bad”. However, the more I started to meal plan I quickly realized how frequently we use them. It soon became clear that this nightshade intolerance would be the nagging little sister to a gluten intolerance. I needed a new ‘tomatoless‘ base for everything from chili to taco’s and this is what I cooked up in my homestead kitchen-

Tomato-less Marinara -no tomato, nightshade free, pasta sauce, recipe, the perfect allergy friendly dinner solutionTomatoless Sauce

Yields: 6 Cups Sauce

 Ingredients– 

  • Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
  • 3 Carrots (diced)
  • 2 Stalks Celery (diced) 
  • 1 Small-Medium Onion (loosely diced)
  • 4 C Beef or Chicken Broth
  • 1 C Water
  • 1 C Pumpkin or 1 C Sweet Potato Puree’
  • 4 Cooked Beets (peeled and sliced)
  • 2 T Apple Cider Vinegar
  • 2 T Lemon Juice
  • 2 T Garlic Powder
  •  Salt and Pepper to taste
Dinner, sauce, recipe, nightshade free, nightshade intolerance 
Instructions –

1. Pour just enough EVOO in a Dutch oven or large stock pot to lightly coat the bottom of the pot.

2. Sautee’ carrots, celery and onions over medium heat until onions are translucent and carrots are slightly softened.

3. Add broth, water and pumpkin puree (or sweet potato puree) and simmer 2-3 minutes.

4. Add sliced beets, vinegar, lemon juice and seasonings and continue to cook 5-6 minutes or just
until hot (DO NOT over cook the sauce or it will turn brown from over cooking the beets.)

5. Using an immersion blender, puree’ and serve immediately or freeze in portion sized containers. I use a silicone muffin tin like this one, freeze individual portion sizes, pop the frozen sauce cups out, and then freeze in a gallon zip-lock for later use.