Category Archives: Processed at home

Pin 225, Taco Night and Make your own Taco Seasoning

Posted by suzyhomebaker in 261 Days Pinned Challenge, kid friendly, low-fat, meat, Processed at home, savory and tagged with , ,

Yay, taco night! It’s right up there with pizza night, pizza night and, of course, breakfast for dinner night! But taco night does get boring and honestly, the kids never put the chopped tomatoes and lettuce on them. Just meat, cheese and taco shell. So I found this Pin that mixes tomatoes and beans in with the meat. Smart and really tasty. The pin also has a recipe for taco seasoning which is great because I recently bought four packets at Aldi only to read the sodium content:

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Yup, the fine print says: 460mg in a serving, a serving being 2 teaspoons, and the packet contains 6 servings! Holy Salt! I’m not eating that, and neither are my kids. Even if the packet was only $0.25. I followed the pin and found this great recipe for homemade taco seasoning that tastes just like the packet only without all the sodium. I tweeked the recipe a bit because of the kids (less heat) and lowered the salt amount. Here’s what I made:

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp chili powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp oregano
1 tsp paprika
1 Tbsp cumin
1 1/2 tsp Kosher salt
1 tsp pepper

Put all spices in a jar, cover and shake to mix. Done.

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Now onto the tacos. I also tweeked the original recipe based on what I had in the pantry and fridge. I did not make the taco shells, I used hard tacos I had. I also used some lower fat ingredients including these:

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Ingredients

  • 1-1/4 lbs ground all white turkey
  • 1/2 can fat-free refried beans
  • 15 ounce fire roasted crushed tomatoes
  •  2  Tablespoons of homemade taco seasoning
  • 1 – 2 cups shredded cheddar and/or monterey jack cheese
  • 12-15 hard taco shells

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Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brown the ground turkey in a saucepan.  Liquify the can of tomatoes in a food processor leaving some chunks. Add to browned turkey along with refried beans, seasoning and a 1/4 cup of water. Cook on low heat till combined. Spoon mixture into taco shells. Place filled shells into a 9×13 pan, standing up. Sprinkle with cheese.
Bake for 5 – 7 minutes or until cheese is melted. Add your own toppings or leave them alone and dig in.

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224 to go………

Pin 227, Easy Foam Soap Refill

Posted by suzyhomebaker in 261 Days Pinned Challenge, Green Tip, health and beauty, kid friendly, Processed at home and tagged with , ,

Ok, here’s another short and sweet post, but this time, it was a success! We go through soap in this house like…..well…….like you would if you had a 2 and 5-year-old. And I can’t decide which empties faster, foam soap or liquid hand soap. I switched to the foam soap because the kids were not fully rinsing the liquid hand soap off. The foam soap rinses very well. The kids use at least 2-3 squirts each time, sometimes more. So buying the refill soap can be expensive. I’ve been buying the Method brand foam soap from Diapers.com at $5.99 for 28 ounces. And since it’s the consistency of water, that’s how quickly we go through it.

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When I found this Pin, I was super excited to try it out. What a simple and economical solution. Using dishwashing liquid and water is genius. I also noticed a similar post that uses Johnson’s baby wash so I plan to replace the kids foam soap with that. Brilliant. Thank you Pinterest! You have saved the day.

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Here’s the recipe, courtesy of ashleynoelbarnes.blogspot.com

When you’re foam soap dispenser is empty, squirt in about 1-2 tsps dishwashing liquid (no need to measure, just a couple seconds of squirting). Fill the rest with water. Close and shake. Done. Damn that was easy!

226 to go………

Pin 248, 247, 246, 245, Natural Skin Care Made in the Kitchen

Posted by suzyhomebaker in 261 Days Pinned Challenge, Craftacular, Green Tip, health and beauty, Processed at home and tagged with , ,

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My skin has been a hot mess since High School. There I said it. I can’t remember a time when I haven’t had a little zit somewhere on my face. I’ve used every product out there and for some reason have avoided going to the dermatologist. I think that’s just laziness really. That and I don’t want to pay for whatever crazy manufactured products they’ll prescribe. Lately my face has been breaking out like crazy and after perusing Pinterest, I’ve found its probably hormonal. So, I thought I would eliminate all the products I was currently using and replace them with natural ingredients found in my pantry and medicine cabinet. Since I am just starting to use these tonight I will have to report back in a week or two with the results of my “experiement”. I am optimistic. Below you’ll find what I’ll now be using. You can find more information on the original pin’s websites. Here’s what I’ll be using: Wish me luck! Continue reading →

Processed at home…pop tarts.

Posted by suzyhomebaker in breakfast, kid friendly, Processed at home, tarts

New category! New category! Are you excited as me? Al right, probably not. But I’m excited about making some processed foods you find in the store, in my kitchen with good ingredients. First up….pop tarts. I’ve had this recipe in the binder for a while. Riley loves the grocery store pop tarts and those toaster strudels that Pillsbury makes. So I thought to myself, these would be so much better if they were homemade with real butter and delicious jam. And they are. They have a flaky, sweet pastry, are dusted with powdered sugar and mine are filled with a delicious organic strawberry jam. I think any jam would be spectacular too. Try ‘em out for breakfast, lunch or any old time of the day. They are good.

Continue reading →