Taco Night Freezer Corn

….And my love affair with Tacos continues. Not Ortega’s tacos, my tacos. The ones that contain real spices, onions, garlic, and sometimes even peppers. No malodextrin here! 🙂

Speaking of malodextrin I’m about to get all PSA up on you again. This is my way of letting everyone know how much I loath those stupid Taco Seasoning Packets. Guess what? Some brands even have gluten free versions now. *Blinking question mark above my head* Yeah, they are basically outing themselves because taco seasoning packets shouldn’t contain anything other then spices. Right? Right!

I’ve used them in the past too, but then one day I realized the first ingredient was malodextrin. Yeah, you probably don’t know what that is and I didn’t either. Come now folks! Let’s figure this out together. Ok, I’m just going to tell you but let’s pretend we are on a super serious mission right now.

This super serious mission involves my bestie Google. Google let me know that Malodextrin is actually just a highly processed corn byproduct. Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t buy any of those big name brand’s Taco Night crap anyways because they all use TBHQ and GMO’s in their products and you know that’s not how I do. However, I never thought they would stoop so low as to put random ingredients above actual spices in those packets. Let’s make this real easy. Here’s the seasoning I use for tacos that contains no crap:

The Officially Official No Malodextrin in My Taco Seasoning Recipe

• 2 Tbsp cumin
• 2 Tbsp chili powder
• 2 tsp adobo seasoning
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• salt and pepper to taste

I’d also suggest browning beef with 1 clove of garlic and half of an onion. Does that seasoning mix make you want to go “Durr Durr Durr?” Yeah me too. It is that easy and boring it almost isn’t even a recipe, yet somehow we have allowed Ortega to run the taco show forever. Puh-lease Ortega get lost forever and don’t come back.

Mission accomplished!

 

Now that we have figured that one out together, let’s move on to this Freezer corn that is just about the best idea ever. I returned to my super awesome Farmer’s Market aka Gratz Auction for those of you who are local, and I got a bunch of goodies. My goodies included some non-GMO sweet corn and pretty bell peppers. I also got a BOX of apples for $10, along with some sweet/tart baby grapes that my kids ate by the handful until they were gone.. the next day!

Being the foodie that I am decided to buy a bunch of stuff with the intentions of freezing some of it because truth be told, everything is better in the summer! When I came home with peppers, jalapenos, and corn a Taco Night inspired Freezer Corn seemed like the perfect solution to my abundance of goodies problem. After it was sitting pretty in freezer bags I gave myself a pat on the back and said “You are a genius.” Ok, that never happened because I don’t have time to talk to myself and take care of my kids, but it sounded good didn’t it? 😉

So here’s the deal on the freezer corn…. it involves the word “blanching” which really just means make it hot, then make it cold to stop the cooking process. That sounds a lot easier, doesn’t it? Put the corn in boiling water, then put it in ice water. Easy, easy, easy!

After I blanched the corn, I kept the water boiling and blanched the peppers. I took the corn off the cob, and diced the peppers. Then I mixed them corn and pepper babies and I was done-zo! I divided the corn and peppers into 4 freezer baggies and now our Taco Night is going to be epic without any extra hassle on busy nights. I might even go back next week and get more goodies so we have a few more bags for the winter because I have a feeling this is going to end up in Lunchboxes with beans and rice as well!

 

So, to recap here is all the info:

Taco Night Freezer Corn

Ingredients and Tools:

• 12 ears sweet corn
• 2 bell peppers
• 2 jalapeno peppers (optional)
• large stock pot
• ice
• freezer baggies

Directions: Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Blanch corn by cooking corn in boiling water for 4 minutes, then putting directly into ice water. If you are low on ice in your freezer (like me!!) run ears of corn under cold water for about 3-4 minutes or until completely cooled.

Blanch peppers in the same boiling water (after corn is removed) for 2 minutes, following the same procedure as the corn. Remove corn from cobs with a serrated knife, and dice peppers. Mix in a large bowl to get everything combined evenly, then distribute into freezer baggies, spreading everything out to lay baggies flat (so you don’t end up with a huge frozen clump o’ corn).

To use, remove bag from freezer the day before and store in refrigerator before use. Heat in a small saucepan over low heat. Add a Tbsp of butter and sprinkle with adobo seasoning, salt, and pepper. Viola!

 

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