THE BEST HOMEMADE TACO SEASONING

Homemade tacos have always been one of my favorite dinners! I love being able to have so many options and picking how much or little of the different toppings to make my very own taco.   I love my tacos with refried beans, meat, cheese, sour cream, lettuce, tomatoes, guacamole and olives.

I don’t have anything against taco seasoning packets, but once I started making my own taco seasoning it’s so much nicer to have a jar on hand in the spice cupboard and it tastes way better. Plus, it’s more cost effective, especially if you can buy your spices in bulk at grocery stores like WinCo.  This recipe makes a large batch that should last a few months. After I added my seasoning to my jar, I realized it didn’t have a label. I was able to to my Cricut Explore and some gold adhesive foil to make a super cute label for my jar. I upcycled the jar from an old jelly jar that I cleaned out. I loved the square shape.

This taco seasoning mix makes great ground beef or turkey tacos, but I also use it to make chicken fajitas, and taco soup. There is no salt in the seasoning mixture, but I do season my meat with salt after I have added some of the taco seasoning.  Lately we have also really enjoyed adding about 1/4 cup of salsa to our taco meat. Give this taco seasoning a try, I’m sure you will love it as much as we do!

Homemade Taco SeasoningHomemade Taco Seasoning MixedHomemade Taco Seasoning Jar Adhesive Foil Cricut

Homemade Taco Seasoning MeatHomemade Taco Seasoning Taco

TACO SEASONING

1 cup chili powder
1/2 cup cumin
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon onion powder
2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons paprika
1 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons + 2 tsp ground black pepper

Place spices in a large mixing bowl and whisk together. Store in a large airtight container or jar. Add approximately 1 1/2-2 tablespoons to one pound of meat plus 2 tablespoons water (if desired). Season meat with salt to taste.

The Best Homemade Taco Seasoning Mix

RESCUE RUN 5K

I wanted to make you aware of an important event happening in the Utah community, the Rescue Run 5K.  I recently had the opportunity to watch the movie The Abolitionists. The movie is about Operation Underground Railroad (O.U.R.), an organization that rescues children being sex trafficked. In less than 2 years since its establishment, O.U.R. has already rescued 413 victims of sex trafficking and arrested 136 traffickers around the globe. This is a worthwhile cause that deserves our attention.

unspecified My friend Kara, who blogs at While Camden Sleeps, has worked tirelessly to put on the Rescue Run 5K happening Saturday, May 21st in Lehi, Utah. 100% of the profits are going directly to O.U.R.  Kara wrote so powerfully and eloquently about this cause and why we need to do something. Please visit her blog HERE to read more and sign up for the race.

HELLO KITTY BIRTHDAY PARTY

People always told me time flies when you have kids. And boy were they ever right. I can’t believe my little girl is two years old! For her birthday I had decided on a gold theme with mint. But then I thought about how much she loves Hello Kitty and so I decided I needed to throw her a Hello Kitty party. I was able to buy all the Hello Kitty stuff as markdowns after Valentines day so that was awesome (see THIS post about saving on party supplies).  I combined it with the other gold stuff I had already been making and the mint, pink and gold Hello Kitty party was born.  It was a fun party to put together and I don’t think I have ever seen so many Hello Kitty presents!

Hello Kitty Party with mint, pink, and gold.

Hello Kitty party with mint, pink and gold

I used THIS whipped cream frosting recipe for the cake. The bottom layer was chocolate with white chocolate frosting and the top layer was strawberry with cheesecake frosting.

Hello Kitty Cake. Whipped cream frosting, two tier cake with ombre petals and a piped Hello Kitty

The gold garland banner in the background was made using large gold confetti pieces that I sewed together. It was easier than I thought it would be and was a quick project. The Hello Kitty heads were actually Valentines, but I used them for the banner instead.

Hello Kitty tissue paper banner details

Hello Kitty Party Hello Kitty Cupcakes The cupcake toppers were made using some wrapping paper I got on sale after Christmas. Hello Kitty Party Pinwheel Cupcakes

I painted mason jars with regular acrylic paint and a sponge brush then used some glitter scotch tape for the top detail. I found the flowers marked down at my local grocery store the day before and just trimmed them and added them to the jars.

Hello Kitty Party Flowers in mint mason jar with gold glitter

I forgot to take more pictures of the food, but we had Korean noodle bowls that were delicious! It’s a crockpot homemade version of a popular food truck around here- Cupbop. I think I will post the recipe soon. Some of the ingredients are a little harder to find, but they are worth it!

Homemade Cupbop noodles. Korean chicken, noodles, rice and sriracha mayo

Hello Kitty Party presentsHello Kitty Party treat bag