We're Parents

How to Make Homemade Taco Seasoning

by

This DIY Taco Seasoning will show you exactly what is in taco seasoning. As well as, how to make homemade taco seasoning with ingredients you likely already have in your spice cabinet!

how to make homemade taco seasoning

Why in the world would someone want to make their own homemade taco seasoning? I mean really what is the point?  You can walk into pretty much any store that sells food and get a packet for under $1. Who needs to waste their time mixing together seasonings in their spice cabinets when they can just rip open the packet and pour into their skillet?

Did you know that the average taco seasoning packet has 12-15 ingredients and only one of them says spices? It’s true.  Most taco seasoning mix packets that you find in the store list “spices” for all the spices included. The remaining ingredients are preservatives, colorings, and more that simply aren’t needed. It’s actually insanely easy for you to make your own taco seasoning and you can double, triple…shoot, you can unvigintuple (that’s really a word – it means 21x) this recipe! We usually make 3-4 times the recipe and store it in an empty spice container and just use as needed.

how to make taco seasoning

What spices are in taco seasoning?

If you are wanting to know how to make taco seasoning, you need a few spices that you likely already have in your spice cabinet. The main spice in taco seasoning is chili powder. The other spices you will need are cumin, black pepper, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, red pepper flakes, and Italian seasoning (or just oregano).

That’s it.  That’s literally all you need to make homemade taco meat seasoning or anything else that you make want to use a spice combination like this. We have used this DIY taco seasoning on hamburger meat, chicken, potatoes, scrambled eggs, stuffed peppers, and more. There’s so many ways beyond just tacos.

diy taco seasoning

We think this is the best homemade taco seasoning recipe that you’re going to find and we hope you love it just as much as we do!

0 from 0 votes
Print
How to Make Homemade Taco Seasoning
Prep Time
5 mins
Total Time
5 mins
 

This DIY Taco Seasoning will show you exactly what is in taco seasoning. As well as, how to make homemade taco seasoning with ingredients you likely already have in your spice cabinet!

Course: Condiments
Cuisine: Mexican, Spanish
Servings: 2 packets
Calories: 26 kcal
Author: Larisha Campbell
Ingredients
  • 1 tbsp chili powder
  • 2 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp fresh cracked black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1/4 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/4 tsp onion powder
  • 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
  • 1/4 tsp Italian Seasoning (Oregano only would be fine as a substitute)
Instructions

  1. Combine all ingredients in a container and shake well. 

  2. Use immediately or store in an air tight container for up to 3 months

Recipe Notes

Use half of this recipe in place of a standard taco seasoning packet. Save the remaining half for another recipe or add a little more of this recipe if you like more spice. 

Nutrition Facts
How to Make Homemade Taco Seasoning
Amount Per Serving (2 g)
Calories 26 Calories from Fat 9
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 1g 2%
Sodium 74mg 3%
Potassium 113mg 3%
Total Carbohydrates 4g 1%
Dietary Fiber 2g 8%
Protein 1g 2%
Vitamin A 30.6%
Calcium 3.2%
Iron 12.3%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Now that you know how to make your own taco seasoning, check out this easy Homemade Baked Taco Casserole! It’s one of our favorite dishes!

Homemade Easy Baked Taco Casserole

Pin this Homemade Taco Seasoning Recipe for later: 

homemade taco seasoning recipe

Easy Roasted Salsa Recipe

by

This easy roasted salsa recipe is the perfect homemade mild salsa recipe with maximum flavor seeping through.

Homemade Easy Roasted Salsa Recipe

I was in middle school when a local non-chained Mexican restaurant opened in my town.  I grew up in a small town in West Virginia that had three stop lights. The addition of a new restaurant was a big deal. Even now, it’s a staple in the town and a must visit place whenever I’m in town.  It also started my love of salsa.

how to make homemade salsa recipe

Now, we aren’t talking about salsa out of a jar.  We are talking about real, fresh salsa. The freshness of newly cut tomatoes and jalapeños, with diced red onions and cilantro and garlic….oh my goodness…it’s the stuff I dream about. What really brings out all these flavors though is roasting the tomatoes and garlic before combining all the ingredients together.  There’s just something amazing about the flavor the exudes from roasting these ingredients inside of your salsa.

how to roast tomatoes in the oven

How do I roast tomatoes for salsa?

For salsa, you want to start by using a variety of smaller tomatoes like cherry and roma.  Beefsteak tomatoes don’t work as well in salsa because they don’t pack as much flavor.  Cut the tomatoes in half. then toss with olive oil and fresh cracked salt and pepper.  Then, place into a 400 degree preheated oven for 40-60 minutes.  The tomatoes should be tender and shriveled.  Smaller tomatoes like cherry tomatoes will take less time, while larger tomatoes will taken closer to an hour.

what types of tomatoes should you use to make salsa

How to roast garlic for salsa?

For roasting garlic for salsa, you take off as much of the paper wrapper as you can.  Then, using a sharp knife, cut along the entire top, exposing a portion of each clove. Drizzle with olive oil and wrap inside foil. Place in oven and cook for 45 minutes to an hour. Each clove should be easily pierced with a fork.

how do you roast garlic for salsa

What can you do with salsa?

The possibilities are really endless in what you can do with your easy homemade roasted salsa recipe. Of course the first option is always to just drown chips in salsa.  However, some other ways we personally enjoy salsa are:

  • On top of scrambled or fried eggs
  • On top of steaks
  • Used as a dip for french fries
  • On top of black bean burgers
  • Mixed into rice
  • On top of baked potatoes

how can you use leftover homemade salsa

Once you’ve made your easy roasted salsa recipe, you likely have someone around that wants it right away, but afterwards you may have a lot left over. Or maybe not! If you do though, you’ll want to store it in an air tight container.  If you’d like to heat it up, feel free to do so at 30 second increments.

how do you make salsa in a food processor

We truly believe the the roasted tomatoes and garlic in this recipe is what really makes it pop, and we hope you love it as much as we do!  Enjoy!

ingredients for easy homemade roasted salsa

0 from 0 votes
Print
Easy Roasted Salsa Recipe
Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
5 mins
Total Time
15 mins
 

This easy roasted salsa recipe is the perfect homemade mild salsa recipe with maximum flavor seeping through.

Course: Condiments
Cuisine: Mexican
Calories: 415 kcal
Author: Larisha Campbell
Ingredients
  • 4 lbs mixed tomatoes roasted (see Notes)
  • 5 cloves garlic roasted
  • 1 red onion roughly chopped
  • 1-1 1/2 large jalapeños cut in half, ribs and seeds removed
  • 1 large handful cilantro finely chopped
  • 1 1/2 tsp cumin
  • 1/2 tsp fresh cracked black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp fresh cracked pink salt more to taste
  • Juice from 1 lime
Instructions
  1. Combine all ingredients into a high powered food processor.
  2. Blend until desired consistency is reached.
  3. Serve immediately or store in an air tight container in the fridge until ready to serve. Use within 10-14 days.
  4. To warm, place in a microwave safe bowl and heat for 30 second increments until desired temperature is reached.
Recipe Notes

This is a mild recipe. Feel free to leave the ribs and seeds of the jalapeño in your salsa if you like a little more heat. For tomatoes, we used a combination of roma, wild wonders (gourmet medley of yellow, red, and purple tomatoes) and campari tomatoes. This recipe may be cut in half for a smaller portion.

Nutrition Facts
Easy Roasted Salsa Recipe
Amount Per Serving (0.5 cup)
Calories 415 Calories from Fat 36
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 4g 6%
Sodium 1268mg 53%
Potassium 4642mg 133%
Total Carbohydrates 89g 30%
Dietary Fiber 24g 96%
Sugars 53g
Protein 19g 38%
Vitamin A 309%
Vitamin C 353.4%
Calcium 26.2%
Iron 42.2%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

easy mild homemade roasted salsa recipe

Pin for later:

homemade roasted salsa recipe pinterest

How To Make Homemade Peanut Butter

by

WHAT IF I TOLD YOU HOMEMADE PEANUT BUTTER ONLY NEEDED ONE INGREDIENT? DON’T BELIEVE ME? KEEP READING!

how to make homemade peanut butter

DISCLOSURE: THIS POST CONTAINER AFFILIATE LINKS WHICH HELPS US EARN A COMMISSION TO KEEP OUR SITE RUNNING. 

When we started this healthy journey, we vowed to continuously try to make new recipes from scratch.  Working on eliminating as much processed food as we possibly could. Even if that meant it’s just one new thing a month. We’ve done pretty good at slowly eliminating things, but know we have a lot more work to do.  One thing we’ve been trying to do is work to make the things we eat processed most often from scratch.  One of those things was peanut butter.

Peanut Butter + Andrew was a very big deal. It had to a specific brand, a specific flavor (honey added) and nothing else would suffice.  I finally got him to switch from the regular to “natural” version when I showed him the sodium difference (at the time he was on medication for high blood pressure). The natural version had about 6 less ingredients. Some of the other natural brands we looked at literally just had peanuts.

We can make this. 

I told Andrew that we should try. We looked at various places and some added salt, some honey, some molasses, some oil, etc.  We we first started making it we added peanut oil to the nuts and then blended. One day I said there has to be another way. There’s jars on the shelves with just peanuts so that’s what I’m going to do.  I threw peanuts into our high-powered food processor and let it go to work.

homemade peanut butter ingredients

How To Make Homemade Peanut Butter

Start with a pound of peanuts. Throw in a food processor. Blend. Leave it alone until you have the desired consistency. Crunchy peanut butter will take about 3 minutes, where creamy peanut butter will take about 7 minutes. Before it gets to that point it will roll around in the food processor like a ball and you will wonder if you messed everything up, but just keep going.

homemade peanut butter

For crunchy, you can throw some extra chopped nuts into the container before storing if desired.

homemade peanut butter recipe

Otherwise, let it keep spinning until you have creamy peanut butter. Also, you can add honey if desired.  easy homemade peanut butter

Tip: This doesn’t have salt and no sugar added unless you add honey.  This will take an adjustment to get used to without buying store bought. What we did was mix a 2:1 (store bought vs homemade), then 1:1, then just straight homemade as we adjusted to the difference.  We’ve now been making it homemade for about a year and it’s the only thing we need.

0 from 0 votes
Print
How To Make Homemade Peanut Butter
Prep Time
7 mins
Total Time
7 mins
 

WHAT IF I TOLD YOU HOMEMADE PEANUT BUTTER ONLY NEEDED ONE INGREDIENT? DON'T BELIEVE ME? TRY FOR YOURSELF

Course: Condiments
Cuisine: American
Servings: 12
Calories: 221 kcal
Author: Larisha Campbell
Ingredients
  • 1 lb unsalted dry roasted peanuts
  • Honey to Taste, Optional
Instructions
  1. To a high-powered food processor, add the peanuts.
  2. Blend until desired consistency is reached.
  3. It will take approximately 3 minutes for crunchy peanut butter and 7 minutes for creamy peanut butter.

  4. Add honey if desired.

  5. Store in an air-tight container for up to 3 months.
Nutrition Facts
How To Make Homemade Peanut Butter
Amount Per Serving (2 tbsp)
Calories 221 Calories from Fat 162
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 18g 28%
Saturated Fat 2g 10%
Sodium 2mg 0%
Potassium 248mg 7%
Total Carbohydrates 8g 3%
Dietary Fiber 3g 12%
Sugars 1g
Protein 8g 16%
Calcium 2%
Iron 4.7%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

These products may help you making this product:

How to Make Homemade Butter

by

 The most delicious butter you’ve ever taste is found within this post on How To Make Homemade Butter.

how to make homemade butter

Disclosure: This post containers affiliate links which helps us earn a commission to keep our site running. 

There are certain things that when you make it for the first time you want to slap yourself in the head for not doing it sooner.  Making homemade butter is one of those things.  It’s one of those things that just tastes so much better homemade. What’s even better is that it’s only one ingredient, only takes about 10-15 minutes to make and your kids can do it themselves. What!?

how to make homemade butter recipe

It’s true! Today, we’re teaching you how to make homemade butter. On the verge of an apparent “Bomb Cyclone” on the East Coast (who knew that was really a thing) after you just sent your kids to school paired with arctic temperatures, you’re likely to have kids at home again. This is the perfect thing to make to keep them learning while you both get eat something amazing.

ways to make homemade butter

So let’s talk about how easy it is to make homemade butter.


First, start with heavy cream inside a mason jar. Seal with a lid and ring and start to shake.  SHAKE, SHAKE, SHAKE. You are literally going to shake the jar for about 15 minutes. This actually makes for an excellent workout too!  Alternatively, you can absolutely do this with a hand mixer as well.

homemade butter recipe

You keep shaking or mixing past the whipping cream stage until you finally get to the point of perfection. When you see the liquid starting to separate from the now yellow cottage cheese like curds, you’ve reached butter.

homemade butter

That beautiful liquid is buttermilk and those curds are about to be your butter.

how do you make homemade butter

Using a cheesecloth, you need to separate the two.  The buttermilk into a bowl to use for whatever you want and the butter for everything else.

is it easy to make homemade butter

Keep gently squeezing until you have no more liquid draining, leaving you with butter perfection. You’ll need to rinse off the butter with water to prevent it from going rancid.

making homemade butter from cream

For every 1 cup of heavy cream that you use, you’ll get approximately 1/2 cup of homemade butter and 1/2 cup of buttermilk.

homemade butter recipe at home

Grab a loaf of bread and enjoy.It’s also amazing on pancakes, muffins, or shoot just grab a spoon.  Thank me later!

easy recipe for homemade butter

0 from 0 votes
Print
How to Make Homemade Butter
Author: Larisha Campbell
Ingredients
  • 1 cup heavy cream
Instructions
  1. Pour heavy cream into a mason jar with lid and ring and seal (or into a bowl using a hand mixer).
  2. Shake from 10-15 minutes.
  3. You are done shaking or mixing when yellow curds emerge and liquid re-separates from the solids.
  4. Using a cheesecloth, double fold for a total of 4 layers.
  5. Over a bowl, add the curds on top of the cheesecloth and then pull up and gently squeeze until all the liquid has drained.
  6. Rinse the butter ball with cold water to prevent it from going rancid.
  7. Use butter and buttermilk immediately or store in air tight containers.

simple homemade butter recipe

These products may help aid you in making this recipe:


Easiest Homemade Applesauce

by

This is the Easiest Homemade Applesauce you’ll ever make! 

homemade applesauce

Affiliates links contained in this post help us to earn a small commission. 

I’m here to let you in on a little secret. The easiest homemade applesauce can be made in under an hour and only has one ingredient.  Shocked?  I know I was when I learned how to make it last year with my friend Stephanie from Happily Homegrown.

We have an apple orchard around that sells seconds on apples later in the season.  Nothing is wrong with these apple except maybe a bruise here or there.  Sometimes it’s just an odd shape.  Apparently, grocery stores won’t take odd shaped apples and instead insist on uniform perfection due to Americans high expectations of food. Luckily, in this case, I win. You can get two huge baskets of apples (I’m talking like 50+ lbs) for about $20.

homemade applesauce recipe

When I first learned about the sale, I went to my friend and asked how easy it was to make homemade applesauce.  She said it’s one of the easiest homemade recipes to make from scratch and once I made it, I’d likely never buy store bought applesauce again.  She was right.

how to make homemade applesauce

All you need are apples, literally.

The steps are fairly simple if you have the right tools.  You’ll need a food mill, a large bowl and sauce pot. Of course, some containers to put the applesauce in once it’s finished.

easy homemade applesauce

Cut up your apples.  No need to peel or remove seeds if you have a food mill. It’s worth the investment for so many other things, it’s definitely up there on my list of must have kitchen gadgets.

Put the apples in boiling water.  Just enough water that they are covered. And continue to boil until they are soft. Watching to make sure that they are all covered.

Drain your water. Place your food mill on top of a large bowl. Put some of your apples inside and mill. The sauce will form in the bowl while the seeds and peels are left behind at the top.

what do you need to make homemade applesauce

That’s it. That’s literally all you need to do to make the easiest homemade applesauce.  

one ingredient homemade applesauce

There’s no need for preservatives or anything else. If you love cinnamon applesauce, then you can add 1/2 a teaspoon and then add more until the taste you desire is acquired. We, personally, do not add in cinnamon. The key is to using a variety of apples – some sweet, some tart. The variety will give you a rich taste like nothing store bought has ever tasted like.

quick homemade applesauce recipe

0 from 0 votes
Print
Easiest Homemade Applesauce
Author: Larisha Campbell
Ingredients
  • 12 apples try for a variety of tart (like Ginger Gold and sweet (like Fuji or Gala) apples)
  • Optional: 1/2 tsp Cinnamon plus more to taste
Instructions
  1. Bring a large sauce pot, half filled with water to a soft boil.
  2. Cut your apples into large chucks (either quarter or use an apple corer to do this - discard cores if using a corer)
  3. Put apples into water and add additional water as needed just to cover the apples.
  4. Let soft boil until fork tender, about 15-20 minutes.
  5. Remove from heat and drain water.
  6. In batches, add apples to a food mill and turn until all sauce has been pressed out.
  7. Add cinnamon if desired.
  8. Serve immediately or store in a air tight container for 14 days.
  9. Tip: If you do not have a food mill, you can peel and deseed the apples before cooking. Cook as described above. Then when finished cooking, use a potato masher until desired consistency is reached.

These products may help you with this recipe:


We hope you enjoy the easiest homemade applesauce recipe you could ever make!  Hop into the kitchen with your littles and enjoy making this recipe with them!

Carrot Cake with Maple Cashew Frosting

by

One of my main goals, after just keeping the girls alive, is to get them to have an extremely versatile palate when it comes to food.  I want them growing up and constantly tasting new things, challenging their senses, and grow up loving all types of different things. This Carrot Cake with Maple Cashew Frosting was something that I would have never touched at their age. I wouldn’t have even touched it as a high school student. But yet, here we are, making this carrot cake together as a great brunch dessert for Easter, and my kid’s gobbled it up.

Think about it…growing up, you weren’t touching Aunt Sally’s carrot cake when you saw real carrots in the cake. Who’s eating that? I barely ate the vegetables on my plate, really only because I was forced too, yet here we are and you think You’re going to be able to get me to eat some?  You must have lost your mind. 

But seriously, a lot of us didn’t/don’t eat carrot cake.

I don’t actually recall the first time I did try a carrot cake, but I remember being like DOH. Why did I never have this before, it’s actually really good!

Our homemade version carrot cake from scratch is insanely easy to make and our girls loved licking the beaters clean. It was my favorite thing to do as a kid and I love sharing in their joy as they do it now (Andrew, however, thinks we are nuts because he was never allowed to do it growing up). The only downside is that I don’t get one for myself anymore.


The baby is really getting involved more in the kitchen and it’s absolutely adorable to see her excitement as she stirs and mixes things together. There’s no greater feeling than watching the joy on your child’s face. I love that she’s learning at such a young age also.

Tip Time!

The carrot cake recipe is super easy to make. We make it a bit healthier by subbing in applesauce instead of using oil, which does make for a denser cake.  If you aren’t a fan of that, definitely try making it with coconut oil instead.

Always fold in your carrots.  You don’t want these being mixed earlier because they will stick to the beaters and become super annoying. Trust me from experience. 

Always make your frosting ahead of time.  It takes awhile to make maple cashew frosting, as the cashews need to soak in water, so don’t wait!

One of my favorite cake tips to share is that as soon as your cake is cool enough to touch, but still very warm, take plastic wrap and wrap up the cake. Then put in the freezer until completely cooled.  This allows for all the steam to stay trapped inside the cake, allowing for a very moist cake.

The blend of homemade carrot cake mixed in with the maple cashew frosting is such an amazing combination.  We can’t wait to eat it again!

0 from 0 votes
Print
Carrot Cake with Maple Cashew Frosting
Author: Larisha Campbell
Ingredients
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup applesauce
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 2 1/2 cups shredded carrots
  • 1 cup finely chopped walnuts
Maple Cashew Frosting
  • 2 cup cashews
  • 1 tbsp + 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/2 cup maple syrup
  • 1/4 tsp pink salt
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/8 tsp cardamom
  • 1 tsp lemon juice
  • 2 tbsp coconut oil
  • nutmeg
Instructions
  1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Grease bottom and sides of 13x9 pan with coconut oil.
  3. In a large bowl, mix sugar, applesauce, vanilla, and eggs for 30 seconds.
  4. Add flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
  5. Beat for 1 minute.
  6. Fold in carrots and nuts.
  7. Pour into greased pan.
  8. Cook 30-40 minutes
  9. Cool for 10 minutes, remove from pan, cool completely.
Maple Cashew Frosting
  1. Soak cashews in water for 1 hour. Water should cover cashews.
  2. Strain cashews from water
  3. Add to food processor with maple syrup until smooth
  4. Stir in remaining ingredients.
  5. Spread on top of cooled cake.
  6. Sprinkle nutmeg on top of frosting.
  7. Serve!

ENJOY!

Here’s some things that could help you with your cake making!


NEED MORE IDEAS FOR EASTER!?  

HERE’S 25 EASTER RECIPES FOR THE ULTIMATE MENU! 

VIEW OUR PRIVACY POLICY

Even More Recent Posts

We’re Parents is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com