Mexican Spice

Our family enjoys Mexican foods like Soft Tacos and Nachos. I used to buy the packages of spice mix from the store, but one day I thought it would probably be better if I made my own mix so that there wasn't so much sodium as three of us in our family have PKD (polycystic kidney disease). So now I have this recipe which tells me which spices to mix. Since we use it a lot, I buy the spice refill bags. Each spice is one bag (or jar, if it doesn't come in a refill bag). The amounts are what the container from the store says. I guess you could adjust it to your family's taste.

100 g Onion Powder/Salt
100 g Garlic Powder/Salt
85 g Chili Powder
80 g Paprika
50 g Cumin
20 g Oregano Leaves (can use ground oregano)
32 g Red Chili Peppers
approx 1-2 tablespoon(s) Salt (if using onion/garlic powders. Omit if using onion/garlic salt)

Mix all spices well in bowl. Store in airtight container.

These are the packages I used the last time I made this batch of spice. And the bowl I mixed them in.

I store my spice in a Tupperware Modular Mate. It is a long oval 1, which is the perfect size.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

I don't remember where I first got this recipe from. I have it on a recipe card now. The amounts in brackets are when I quadruple the batch in my huge Tupperware bowl (Thatsa Bowl). Then I roll the dough into balls, place them on a cookie sheet to freeze. Once frozen I put the balls into freezer bags so that whenever we want fresh-baked cookies, all we have to to is pull them out of the freezer, put them on a pan and stick them in the oven.

2 1/2 cups four (10 c)
1 teaspoon baking soda (4 tsp)
1/2 teaspoon salt (1 1/2 tsp)
1/2 cup butter/margarine (2 c)
1/2 cup shortening (2 c)
1 cup packed brown sugar (4 c)
1/2 cup sugar (2 c)
2 eggs (8)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla (2 Tb)
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (5-6 c)
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans optional (2 c)

Stir together flour, baking soda and salt. Beat together butter, shortening. Add brown sugar and sugar. Beat until fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Add dry ingredients - mix well. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts. Drop by teaspoon on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 375° 8-10 minutes. Cool on wire rack.