Make Your Own Taco Seasoning

A couple nights ago I decided to make my own taco seasoning.  In the past whenever I have needed "taco seasoning" for a recipe I have run out to buy a little packet at the store.  We have a pretty extensive spice cabinet at home so I decided to whip up my own.  Plus everyone knows a little mason jar of taco seasoning is way cuter than an envelope.

The cast of characters...

2 T chili powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1/2 tsp oregano

1 tsp paprika 

3 tsp cumin 

2 tsp sea salt

2 tsp black pepper

Mix all ingredients together and store in an air right container.  I just dumped them all into a 4 oz. mason jar and shook it up.

Now for the first recipe I am going to try it out on, my Southwestern Stuffed Peppers.

And next up will be my crockpot chicken chili 

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

This is the third and final edition of My Favorite Things.  This post features gifts under $100.

See the past two editions here...my Christmas List and Stocking Stuffers.

This is the hardest one for me to compile because I love stocking stuffers and I don't buy a lot of expensive gifts.

FOR THE LADIES IN YOUR LIFE...

I actually already bought this bracelet for myself on Small Business Saturday but it would make a great gift for a friend, a sister or another lady in your life.  If you live near me you can find this bracelet at the Green Nest downtown.  This bracelet comes in at $58.

Alex & Ani Quill Feather Wrap

This scarf is also something I already own but of every scarf I own it is BY FAR my favorite.  It is so light and soft.  I have the navy and white striped one but I would love another.  There are tons of colors to choose from.  And again if you are local they carry this and other Yala products at the Green Nest.  This is $26 at the website linked below.

Yala Bamboo Infinity Scarf

FOR THE MEN IN YOUR LIFE...

My husband's favorite drink is an Old Fashioned and this print is so cute.  He would love to have that hanging by his bar.  Framed for $68.

Call Me Old Fashioned Print

A growler of beer from your favorite local brewery.  This one is from Beer Hound Brewery in Culpeper.  The growler itself is $15 and then can be filled for an additional fee, depending on what you fill it with.

Beer Hound Brewery Growler

FOR A NEW HOMEOWNER OR A HOSTESS GIFT...

This would be a great gift for someone with a new home and costs $44.

Magnolia Tree

A HOMEMADE GIFT...

These are two recipes of mine that I gift frequently.  I love that they are simple to make and well received by friends and family.  You can always deck out the jar with a pretty Christmas ribbon or bow.  I don't know exactly how much it costs me to make these but you can make a whole whole lot of them for less than $100 for sure.

Jalapeno Pepper Jelly

Candied Jalapenos

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things, Stocking Stuffers

This is part two of a three part series I am participating in.  You can find part one which is my holiday wish list here.  Check back next Tuesday for the third and final part of the series.

We have three stockings at our house - mine, my husband's and last but not least one for Layla Jane.  You may think we are crazy but we don't have any kids and Layla always gets a few (or more than a few) Christmas presents in her stocking.  This year she is getting a fenced in yard so she will likely not have an overflowing stocking but she will get a few new things nonetheless.

FOR THE DOG IN YOUR LIFE...

Nylabone DuraChew

A New Collar

A Bark Box Subscription

This is a monthly subscription service of a box full of treats and toys for your dog.

FOR YOUR HUSBAND...

Eric's interests can pretty easily be summed up into: golf, guitar, fishing, & BBQ so that's the theme of the majority of the gifts he gets...

 

Golf Balls

The first time I ever bought Eric these golf balls he got all excited and said no one has ever bought me nice golf balls before...if only I had known...haha!

Multi-purpose fishing tool

BBQ Rub

Personalized Guitar Pick

THINGS I WOULD LOVE TO FIND IN MY STOCKING...

These bracelets

VA State Necklace

New planner pens

These Are A Few of My Favorite Things, Part 1

I am linking up with April and friends for this three part series.  This week features gifts I would love to receive.   Check back next week for my post on stocking stuffers and the following for friends & family gifts under $100.

Stella & Dot Earrings / Target Gift Card / Stella & Dot Bracelet / Red Rockers / Cards Against Humanity

I think any of these things would make fun gifts for the ladies in your life.  I don't know any ladies who don't love a target shopping spree or some fun new jewelry.  A board game is always something fun to add to our collection.  And I would love some rocking chairs to grace our empty front porch.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween Everyone!!

I found a couple Halloween snacks on other blogs I read that I wanted to share.  I hope you check out these recipes and the blogs they are from!

Carolina Charm's Pumpkin Spice Muddy Buddies

Jennifer's Halloween Monster Mix

 

DIY Lemon Sugar Scrub

My mom made the cutest jars of lemon sugar scrub as favors for my bridal shower.  I thought I would share here how she made them.

Ingredients: (Makes 6-7 8oz jars)    4 C Olive Oil 2 C Sugar 4 T lemon juice Zest of 2 lemons     Mix all ingredients together and spoon 2/3 C each into 8 oz mason jars.

Container Garden Updates & Pepper Recipes

It's been forever since I updated on our container gardens.  Some things are going strong, some thing are not.  Skip to the bottom if you'd like to see some recipes for all your peppers.

What's working:

Tomatoes - the actual plant parts look awful, but the tomatoes are delicious

Peppers - cayenne, jalapeño, habanero, & poblanos growing like crazy

Garlic - should be ready for harvest very soon

Herbs (minus dill & cilantro)  -- pesto coming soon
Lemons - they are growing...we will see if/when they are complete

What's gone 

Cilantro

Dill

Lettuce 

Some ideas for your peppers:

Candies Jalapeños

Jalapeño Popper Chicken 

Jalapeno Pepper Jelly 

Southwestern Stuffed Peppers

Grilled Eggplant (&Pepper) Pizza

Jalapeno Pepper Jelly

Two summers ago I set out to learn how to can and this was one of the first things I made.  I found this recipe in The Complete Book of Canning from 1982.    

  Ingredients (Makes 5-6 1/2 pint jars) 4-5 jalapenos  4 bell peppers (I used red)   5 C sugar 1 C White wine vinegar 1 pouch fruit pectin (3 oz)       Prepare jars in hot water bath canning pot.     Process bell peppers and jalapeno peppers together in a food processor.

Combine pepper mixture, vinegar and sugar in a large pot and bring to a boil. Boil for 10 minutes. Remove from heat, add pectin, stir together.  
Return to heat and boil for 1 additional minute.   
Ladle into hot jars allowing 1/2 inch head space.  Seal jars.

Just a note:  I used red bell peppers so my pepper jelly is red.  If you prefer your pepper jelly to be green you can use green bell peppers.  Or do one batch each way and give it away as Christmas presents.

DIY Baby Gifts

I posted a tutorial to make burp clothes once before and while it is way off of my normal topic, it was one of my most popular posts.  I had a few baby showers to attend in September.  We celebrated my friend Terra with a sprinkle for her 2nd baby girl and my good friend Megan of Home Grown Hand-Me-Down is expecting a baby in December whose gender will be a surprise.  My coworker, Rachel, was due in September as well.  And, I also wanted to send something to my sorority sister Stacy, way down in Arkansas, for her new baby boy I made them each some of my burp clothes.

  See burp cloth tutorial here.

Second, I made some newborn baby hats.  I cannot claim responsibility for these as I found a tutorial on a blog a long time ago for these.  You can find the tutorial for the hats here on the Zaaberry blog. I just think they are so cute.

 

Candied Jalapenos

I got this recipe from Southern Living for Candied Jalapenos.  If I'm being honest I was drawn to it because it was something I could make in a jar and who doesn't love things in jars?  I'm a dork like that.  But I immediaately thought that Eric & our friend Jason would love these so I set out to make 2 jars.  It's about the easiest recipe of all time plus we have red chili peppers in our garden that we have yet to do anything with this summer and their time is drawing to a close.  Thus I bring you Candied Jalapenos which Southern Living says is their "new go to summer condiment" --- too bad it's fall before I got around to making them.   Ingredients: 12 oz jar jalapeno slices 3-4 chili peppers, sliced 3/4 C sugar 1 tsp lime zest  

  How to:   Drain juice from jalapenos. Reserve jars.   In bowl mix jalapenos, chili peppers, sugar and lime zest.

  Stir together and let sit for 5 minutes.   Put mixture back into jalapeno jars.   (Now if I was making these as gifts I would probably put them back into mason jars instead of the Mt. Olive Jar.)  

  Refrigerate for 4-7 days, shaking frequently.   

 

  We left these refrigerated for 8 days before we broke into them.  I gave Jason his jar last night and he told me he could eat them out of a bowl with a spoon.  However, the average person would probably enjoy this as a little bit of kick on a sandwich.  They start out sweet & then they have a BIG kick afterwards.