Easy on the Cayenne Pepper

My husband likes tacos. Correction: he loves tacos. Every single time I ask him what he wants for dinner he says, without hesitation, you guessed it...tacos. I, however, am not a big fan of tacos. Unless it's Taco Bell, El Charro's, Mexican Villa, or Senor Peppers, I'm really not a fan. But being the good wife that I am, I still make them for him. So last time we went to the store, Matt decided to "compromise." He decided that this week we would have tostada bowls instead of just tacos. So tonight was tostada bowl night. And I decided that it I was going to have to make these, I might as well document it. So obviously the ingredients are simple:

tostada taco shell bowls
hamburger or chicken
shredded cheese
taco seasoning
refried beans
black beans
sour cream
tomatos
lettuce
plus or minus whatever you like

Now that seems short and sweet doesn't it? But I have a delicious recipe for homemade taco seasoning:


2 tsp chili powder
1.5 tsp paprika
1 tsp minced onion or onion powder
1/2 tsp sea salt [I prefer Himalayan Pink Sea Salt]
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp oregano
dash of cayenne pepper to taste
dash of black pepper to taste


Mix together and use like normal taco seasoning. Makes approximately the same amount as 1 store bought packet.

Now, funny story about the first time I made this seasoning. Matt had been sick all week. He hadn't been eating much of anything. So I knew when he was feeling better when he asked me to make him tacos. However, when I went to the cabinet I realized that I did not have any taco seasoning. But Matt really wanted tacos, so I found a recipe for taco seasoning. I was going down my list, a little of this, a little of that. Mixed it all up and it looked great. So I added it to the meat and went to put the recipe into my recipe box. As I looked at it again, I stopped and read it again. I then realized that I had added too much cayenne pepper, way too much cayenne pepper. I had some how read the line above it, which was for 1/2 teaspoon. Plus on the original recipe, it said that this was for mild seasoning so if you like it spicier to add a little more. So I had put more than a half a tsp, where it called for a "dash." And cayenne pepper is not like oh I added to many onion flakes. So I tasted the meat and it felt like the tip of my tongue burst into flames. I warned Matt but he still wanted them, so I dished them up. He ate several and I'm sure his nasal passages were clear after that!

"After all the trouble you go to, you get about as much actual "food" out of eating an artichoke as you would from licking 30 or 40 postage stamps."  ~Miss Piggy

Until next time~Happy Cooking!