Now I'm not perfect. There are times I just need something salty like pretzels or one of those giant kosher dill pickles. But I try to counteract it by drinking a quart or two of water to flush out the salt. And I'll do my best to avoid excess salt when I can. You really want to scare yourself, read a few of the labels of the instant noodle dinners in the asian aisle. Almost an entire day's worth of salt in one small lunch portion. Does it really need that much salt just to taste good? And don't look at most of the pre-prepared items in the frozen food section. Sodium as far as the eye can see.
Another group of perpetrators are the seasoning packets in the spices aisle at the store. While the seasonings are perfectly porportions, take a look at the nutrition labels next time. The basic taco seasoning in most stores has at least 450mg of salt in there, 1/4 of your recommended daily intake. You're bound to find salt as the first, second or third item on the list. Some even throw sugar in there as well. Now 450mg does sound like much for a taco, but add the salt in the cheese, the salsa, the tortilla, and any other condiments (olives, canned chiles or jalepeno, etc) and a single taco is way over half your salt intake for the entire day. Oh, and that doesn't include the salt in the chips and salsa or the rice and beans you may serve as well.
I love tacos. I could eat tacos all day. But with the extra salt form the seasoning packets, I'd swell up to the point where people would tie strings to my arms and legs and enter me in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade! So in an effort to still eat a lot of mexican food and not gain 2 pounds of water weight, I reversed engineered a few taco seasonings down to what I like. Someone asked me if that was more expensive to make your own than to buy the packets. If you're buying the big bottles of regular spices in the grocery stores, then yes, it may be in the short term. But I've found that there are few groceries stores (Winco, Sunflower Market and others depending on where you live) that sell spices per pound. For example, 4 ounces of chili powder in a bottle can be as much as $5.00. If you buy it in bulk at Winco, it's 75 cents. So buy your spices in bulk and use them to refill your old bottles.
This recipe works well with beef or chicken and should only dirty one pan in the process.
Tacos
Serves 4
1 to 1 1/2 pounds ground beef or cubed chicken breast
2 teaspoons chili powder
2 teaspoons cumin
2 teaspoons dried onion
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon hot sauce (Cholulu, Tapatia, or whatever you like)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 cup water
Brown the ground beef or completely cook all of the chicken in a large pan over medium to medium high heat. In a small glass or container, add all of the spices to the water and stir until well blended. Pour the
spice mixture over the meat and fild in until it has covered all the meet evenly. Continue to cook, allowing the liquid to evaporate. When the majority of the liquid is gone, remove the meat from the heat and serve immediately. Garnish with whatever you like; lettuce, cheese, onions, tomatoes, jalepenos, olives, taco sauce, salsa, and for the weird ones, ketchup (ewwww).
As I've stated in the other Mexican recipes, if you can get fresh tortillas from a Latin market, they'll taste great. If not, go for the uncooked variety and cook them yourself. It's worth the work. And add a side dish or two, like the Spanish Rice I have posted previously.
So try to create your own spice mixture and avoid the salt-ridden spice packets. Your heart will thank you for it.
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