Taco Seasoning Mix

It felt a bit ordinary, wrong...in the wrong class completely to have nachos for dinner after having enjoyed an absolutely beautiful 'High Tea' with some wonderful ladies from church. We all agreed we should definitely make it a regular part of a yearly calendar. It was such an elegant, relaxing way to while away an afternoon. Oooohhh tea from a pretty china tea cup tasted soooo good! And the dainty bits of food were surprisingly filling when eaten so slowly. ~deep sigh~

So...taco seasoning. Yes. I was grocery shopping on Wednesday and the cost efficient nature within (read, stingy) had me investigating the back of the taco seasoning packet for ingredients. Once I got past all the added extra things, I came to the spices and herbs and scribbled them down on my trusty shopping list. This afternoon I remembered the long forgotten Tex-Mex mini cookbook on the shelf and went in search of a Mexican style mince. You know what? The recipe I found had the exact ingredients. I just saved myself 75c, as I have all the required spices in my cupboard! So for all you who want the spice mix without the added 'stuff', here it is:

Taco Seasoning Mix

1/4 teaspoon chilli powder (or to taste)
1 teaspoon ground paprika
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

I browned and onion and some garlic as usual, added the beef to brown it. Then added tomato paste, the spices and cooked that out before adding 800g of tinned chopped tomatoes.

Our nachos have a layer of corn chips ~ plain or your favourite flavour, a layer of meat sauce, then top with grated cheese, diced fresh tomatoes, shredded lettuce and a dollop of sour cream. You're right ~ there are no kidney beans in my mexican style meat. Mr Busy and the evil beanies, you know.

Everyone else really enjoyed it. For me it was very lack lustre after my oh-so-dainty lunch.