Timetobeme's Blog

Of course Mexican seasoning is not just for plant based  food, but good seasoning is much more important for  plant based  meals than a meal filled with meat, cheese and fat. When you eliminate animal products and fat from your diet it is a healthier diet hands down, but you have to be very creative and learn to season well to make somewhat blander foods have flavor. I will be honest , I still struggle with it, and I am a definate work in progress on seasoning plant based, especially low fat meals.

Do I think  plant based food is bland. Not a simple question. If you are coming off of a standard American diet, yes. You are used to processed foods full of “flavor”  Salt, sugar, fat, dairy, and meat. Plants have great flavor but you will not really appreciate it until you get your taste buds adjusted. But whether you eat plant based, vegetarian, or the standard American diet. Herbs and spices can make your meals much more flavorful. We have been using this same seasoning eating both a traditional standard American diet ,and now eating  a plant based diet.

This is a basic Mexican seasoning, nothing special. Most Mexican seasonings are going to be very close, just maybe slightly different amounts of each item based on taste. For example, even though my recipe says paprika, I have been using smoked paprika since I discovered it several  years ago. I love the smokey taste and smell of it and I think it adds a lot of flavor.

So, here is my basic recipe. I have been making this for ten years or so. You can adapt it to your taste, more cayenne if you like it more spicy, more salt if you love more salty. It is just a jumping off point !!

I decided to write it on an index card and tape it to the container, used to be a large used spice bottle, but changed it to glass. I will have to redo it as I made the mistake of running the tape all the way around and then a second mistake of rinsing out the bottle, which got water into the tape. So, either use a label that glues on, or do not run the tape all the way around, or simple keep the jar dry.

So, first I get all the ingredients out, normally I just count them right into the jar, but for this posts sake, I am putting them each in a bowl first to show you how much of each.

Then I simply go down the list on the jar.

Chili powder 4 tablespoons

Smoked Paprika, this jar came from Amazon.

3 1/2 tablespoons of Paprika, or in my case

smoked Paprika.

3 Tablespoons of Cummin/ comino is another word it can be under.

next is garlic powder ,

5 teaspoons garlic powder

Next is the Cayenne pepper. Just one teaspoon for us, we are  mild salsa people. If you love spice, you can add more, but do it gradually as you can add , but you cannot subtract. If you accidentally add too much, you can simply add more of the other ingredients until it tastes right. It is hard to really mess it up. You just add until it is perfect for you.

Now for salt . We have used the same brand of salt for a very long time. Back before people were into pink salt and specialty salts. We really like it and buy the refills to fill the bottle I show here. I believe we got it the last time at the health food store. We always keep a couple of refill bags on hand.

Now you just mix it all together. You can put on the lid and shake it, or you can stir it. I usually shake it. As long as your lid is on securely, you can turn it upside down and shake it well.

You can double this recipe as well.

Here is the recipe

Mexican seasoning

4 tablespoons chili powder

3 1/2 teaspoons Paprika or smoked Paprika

3 tablespoons Cummin/ ground comino

5 teaspoons garlic

1 teaspoon Cayenne

1 teaspoon salt.

Stir or put on lid and shake it well. Enjoy on your favorite foods !!

I hope you enjoy it.

Next I want to figure out a good Italian mix. I have never done one and it overdue. Once I do, I will share it here with you !!!