Zeke Goes to School

Regular readers of this little place here might recall that Zeke was the name of the beef that is currently in our freezer.  For those who are new, Zeke was a Holstein steer that Mother-in-Law raised from a bottle calf until he was full grown and ready for butchering.  He has been our source of beef in 2011 and into 2012.

This week, Zeke went to school, where he was thoroughly enjoyed and awed both students and faculty alike.  How did Zeke, in his butchered state, happen to attend school?  DD2's Spanish class was having a fiesta to mark the end of the quarter.  The teacher passed around a list of needed food donations for the students to bring in for the meal, and DD2 volunteered '3 pounds seasoned taco meat'.  Like her siblings before, she knew that I would rather do the 'difficult' work of cooking than make a special trip to the grocery store for a couple bottles of pop (which we don't normally drink so don't buy) or bags of chips.

She informed her teacher, who was overjoyed that someone actually volunteered to bring the meat--she had envisioned being stuck with 'vegetarian tacos', that it would be the best meat ever.

And apparently, it was!  When I picked her up from school at the end of the day (hard to take a crock pot home on the school bus, and DD1 had a softball game to play in so wasn't driving home), DD2 told me that she had gotten a lot of compliments on the meat.  Many students asked where she'd gotten it from, saying it was the best they'd ever tasted.  The teacher asked for the recipe for our homemade taco seasoning.  The student teacher made an exception to her non-meat eating lifestyle to try the taco meat because it smelled so good.

Apparently, Zeke got an A that day.


I've posted it before, but here's the recipe for taco seasoning:
Taco Seasoning
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp crushed dried red pepper (or slightly less ground cayenne pepper)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp ground cumin

Mix all ingredients.  Sprinkle over 1 pound cooked ground beef (drain the meat first).  Stir in 1/2 cup water. Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Makes enough filling for 8-10 tacos or burritos.