"Seasoning" Greetings {Savory Holiday Neighbor Gifts}

 

Last year we got a bottle of homemade seasoned salt from my uncle. We also had about 13 plates of delicious sweets too from other friends and family. I ended up freezing most of the sweets because we just couldn't eat it all! However, the seasoning salt lasted months, and we used it every day (on our eggs mostly).  I thought it was an awesome gift (Thanks again, Tom). So last year I made a mental note that I'd like to give out a seasoning mix to my neighbors for Christmas. I have a few seasoning recipes on the blog so far (Taco & Fajita), and they are ones I use on a regular basis.  The taco seasoning is one I thought would be good to pass around, I mean doesn't everyone use taco seasoning (it's even gluten-free).  I had the idea to make a catchy "seasoning" saying on my gift tag. I orignally thought of saying 'Tis' the "Seasoning"', but after talking to Leesh, I decided to go with '"Seasoning" Greetings'. I thought it was kind of fun and cute!   Thanks for always helping me out, Leesh!

So, if you're in the market for savory vs sweet gift to hand out to friends and/or neighbors, just mix up your favorite seasoning mix (or check out my taco and fajita seasoning recipes), buy some big seasoning shakers (or small salt and pepper shakers) at the Dollar Store ($1 for the big ones and 2/$1 for the salt and pepper size), fill up the bottle with your seasoning of choice, make a nifty little tag ("Tis' the "Seasoning" with Love, Your Name OR ""Seasoning" Greetings" with Love, Your Name, the options are endless here), and tie it on with some cute twine or raffia.  And your set!  

Other ideas for Neighbor/Friend Gifts - Check out all the links!

Chocolate Candy Cane Blossom Cookies 

Holiday Doodles {aka Festive Snickerdoodles}

Creamy Peanut Butter Truffles

Deluxe Chocolate Truffles {Plain Ganache or Flavored}

Johnson Cookies (with Christmas colored sprinkles)

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chips Cookies (just use Christmas colored M&M's)

S'more Cups

Sugar Cookies {Buttery Crips or Thick & Chewy} - Decorated festive with Glace Icing

Sugar Cookies {Soft & Chewy} - Decorated with Glace Icing

Cinnamon Rolls

Glazed Doughnuts (cut out with Christmas cookie cutters - add Christmas sprinkles too)

Here are a few of the things I did to assemble my seasoning shakers!

 

I made these tags by printing the phrase on some tan card stock. I found the cute Candy Cane Font here. (It's the 5th one down or so). I then glued it on to some green scrapbook scraps, punched a hole in the corner, and got some cute candy-cane twine for tying it on.

 I washed and dried the seasoning bottles and made a narrow-mouth funnel to pour in the seasonings (since I don't have a real funnel).

 The funnel helped for a no-spill project!

 I cut little circles of aluminum foil about the size of the shaker top....

 ...and then put it in the top of the lid so we didn't have taco seasoning all over the place! :) 

And to keep it fresh!

 I also had cards to hand out with my gifts so I wrote up the recipe for the taco seasoning and stuck it in the envelope. That way if they like it, they can make more, and it tells how much seasoning to use for your taco meat!

Happy Gift Giving!

Fajita Seasoning Mix

 

I've mentioned before in my post about our homemade taco seasoning that we outlawed buying packaged taco seasoning......this is now true for fajita seasoning too!  We like it so much more then the packets you find in the grocery store, and the best thing is that I always have all these seasonings on hand. I usually make a few batches of this recipe and keep it in a storage contained in the cupboard with the rest of my spices.  

It's a cinch to whip up even if you don't have some sitting in the cupboard ready to use.   It literally only takes a few minutes. 

I hope you enjoy this flavor with your fajitas as much as we do!  

Stay tuned this week for my favorite way to make chicken fajitas! They go great with homemade guacamole!   Happy Cinco de Mayo this weekend!


Fajita Seasoning Mix
Printable Version
Yield: about 10 teaspoons
Ingredients: 
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon onion powder
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
¼ teaspoon cumin

Directions:
Combine the above ingredients in a small bowl or container and use as needed in recipes that call for fajita seasoning.

Recipe Source:  lightly adapted from food.com

Taco Seasoning

Tacos or Taco Salad is on our menu at least 3-4 times a month. We love Mexican style food, it's the best. I have always bought my own taco seasoning at the store in individual packets or a big bulk size bottle at Sam's club. We have some family members that are gluten-free eaters, and since store bought taco seasoning has gluten, we started searching for a homemade mixture that would work the same. Since trying this homemade seasoning, we have outlawed buying taco seasoning. Yes, it's that good! And I feel better about using it too because it doesn't have meaningless ingredients such as: dextrose, maltodextrin, disodium inosinate, and silicon dioxide. I prefer a food label that lists ingredients that sound like good wholesome food. And one last thing, you can make it for cheap!

This recipe makes about 8 tablespoons of taco seasoning. You use about 2 1/2 tablespoons to season 1 pound of cooked ground beef for taco's or taco salad.

Taco Seasoning

Printable Version {Click Here}

Ingredients:

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2 Tbsp. Chili Powder

5 tsp. Paprika

4 ½ tsp. Ground Cumin

1 heaping Tbsp. Dried Onion

1 Tbsp. Salt

2 ½ tsp. Garlic Powder

⅛ tsp. Cayenne

Directions:

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Combine above ingredients and store in an airtight container in a cool dry place for up to 6 months. Use approximately 2 ½ tablespoon of the seasoning mix for each 1 pound of cooked ground beef/chicken.

Recipe Source:

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Adapted from allrecipes.com by Sue Gronholz