Lentil & Black Bean Salad with Spicy Lime Dressing

Posted on December 5, 2014 by Georgina

Lentil & Black Bean Salad with Spicy Lime Dressing

Ah- Who still feels full after Thanksgiving?! Oh just me? There’s just always such delicious food and I over indulge every.single.time. No shame.

But I always run into the issue the week afterwards of obviously needing to eat, but not hungry, or nothing sounds good, or only the stuffing and mashed potatoes sound good but I ate them all… ugh, the struggles. I need something lighter.

Enter delicious veggies:

Yum. These plus protein rich beans and lentils= me eating without feeling guilty!

Plus it helps keep me full longer- ultra bonus.

Plus look how pretty it is! ultra ULTRA bonus

Lentil & Black Bean Salad with Spicy Lime Dressing

Ingredients
1 cup dry lentils (green or brown or both!)
2 cups cooked black beans or 1 15oz can, rinsed and drained
1 bell pepper of your choice, chopped
1/2 small red onion, diced
3 roma tomatoes, chopped
½ cup cilantro, stems removed and chopped

-Dressing-
Juice of 1 lime
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. dijon mustard
1 clove garlic, minced (or 1 tsp garlic powder)
1 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/4 tsp. chipotle powder
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp. salt

Directions
Put lentils into a small sauce pan with plenty of water to cover, bring to a boil then lower the heat to simmer, cover, and cook until lentils are tender; which is about 30-40 minutes, but check your package for specific instructions! Drain lentils and let cool slightly

While lentils are cooking, make the dressing: place all ingredients in a small bowl or cup* and whisk to combine. Set aside.

Combine the bell pepper, onion, tomatoes, beans, and lentils in a large glass* bowl. Add the dressing and toss to combine. Add cilantro, and lightly toss once more.
You can serve it immediately or chill covered in the fridge to let the flavors combine and enjoy later!

This was really really really tasty and would be something awesome to make to bring for lunches at work throughout the week! It was just what I needed, light and refreshing.

*I suggest using a glass bowl because the dressing contains lime juice. The acidity in lime juice often reacts with metal in metals bowls and can give your food a metallic taste- yuk!

Pourrrrr over

Action shot 🙂

ta da!

now EAT!

This was perfect. Light and delicious. I preferred it chilled a little bit but it was great room temp too!

I hope everyone had a great holiday week/weekend and that you enjoy this dish too!

Ps- less than 3 weeks until Christmas!!! wooohooo! I’m so excited to share some of my crafts and homemade gifts I’m doing this year with you guys! But of course I have to wait until after the gifts are given so I don’t spoil the surprise 🙂

xoxo

Turkey, Leek, and Wild Rice Casserole

Posted on November 21, 2014 by Georgina

Turkey, Leek, and Wild Rice Casserole

Hello fraaaaands!

Last year around this time, I posted this enchilada recipe to give you a new way to use your leftover turkey!It was different flavors than most of us probably had on Thanksgiving and we all know I like to spice it up 🙂 butttt we also know I’m a creature of habit and love the holidays. I love the food of the holidays and usually have too many recipes on my wishlist and end up cutting some out because making ungodly amounts of food is wasteful…… That’s why this year, I’m again going to give you an EXCELLENT recipe to use up some of your left over Turkey meat from next week, but it’s a fall inspired comfort food meal!

Yes Thanksgiving is next week and this recipe is a “week early” but if you’re like me, you like to plan and that includes meal planning. This post is extra special because it contacts some sponsored products!

A while back, I was contacted by popchips to see if I would be interested in trying some of their products and sharing them on the blog. Um yes.

Upon further research- popchips are all natural, gluten free, low fat, not fried, no soy(as far as I can tell- though I haven’t tried every kind) and non to mention- delicious!

Originally I was asked if I could try some of the Cheddar Cheese products because they were interested in teaming up with bloggers in Wisconsin because Wisconsin is apparently one of the only places where Cheddar cheese is a snack consumed at higher rates then anywhere else . I said yes, even if I try to limit my cheese intake we all know- I love cheese. Too much.

They sent me a big box of samples of tons of flavors and even some veggie pop chips.

So I won’t lie- they were so good just as is (especially with Hummus) that that’s pretty much how we enjoyed them. However I did get the idea (rather genius if you ask me 🙂 ) so use them as a crunchy layer on a casserole. It was the PERFECT way to get a healthy crunch!

I was inspired by a fellow Wisconsin food blogger, Sarah from Wisconsin from Scratch. I get her blog posts directly to my email and love every single thing she posts! This dish she made particularly caught my eye. So I did my own rendition. Hope you enjoy as much as we did!

Turkey, Leek, and Wild Rice Casserole
Ingredients:

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 large leek, thoroughly rinsed, chopped
8 oz mushrooms, roughly chopped
1 tsp fresh thyme (or ½ tsp dried thyme)
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
3 Tbsp gluten free flour
1 cup almond milk
1 cup chicken or veggie broth
1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
½ cup plain greek yogurt
1 ½ cups cooked wild rice*
2 cups cooked turkey shredded or chopped (or chicken too!)
1 ½ Tbsp butter, melted
1 cup cheddar cheese popchips, crushed

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350

2. Heat olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Once hot, add the leeks, mushrooms, thyme, salt, and pepper. Cook until vegetables are soft, around 5 minutes or so.

3. Sprinkle flour over the vegetables, then stir so that the flour coats all the vegetables. Once coated, cook for about 1 minute more and add the milk and broth. Bring it all to a boil, and reduce the heat to low and simmer until it thickens a little, about 3-5 minutes.

4. Stir in the cheese and yogurt until well combined. Once cheese is melted in, stir in the already cooked wild rice and turkey.

5. Pour wild rice mixture into a medium sized (1.5 quart) baking dish or casserole dish.

6. Pour 1 ½ Tbsp melted butter into a small bowl. Add the crushed popchips and mix together.

7. Top the turkey/wild rice mixture with the crushed popchips. Place in the oven and bake at 350 until topping is golden brown and filling is hot and bubbling, about 20-25 minutes.

7. Let sit and cool for about 5 minutes and then ENJOY!!!

*To cook wild rice, combine ½ cup dried rice with 2 cups of water(or broth) in a saucepan. Bring it to a boil, cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer until rice is tender, about 45 minutes. Then drain off any excess liquid.

Hmmm baked cheesy, crunchy goodness. Soo good and comfort foody. So there you have it- the perfect thing to do with your leftover bird.

Hope you enjoy and happy holidays to you and your families! Take time to tell them you love them and unplug from social media/technology and have a drink, laugh and love with them!

xoxo

Veggie Quinoa “Fried Rice”

Posted on October 3, 2014 by Georgina

Veggie Quinoa “Fried Rice”

Happy Friday!

Fall is really setting in here. It’s beautiful although I’m hoping that the leaves cling on a little bit longer. We have engagement pictures in two weekends and I’m hoping there will be a little bit of color left!!! I’m super excited for those- our photographer site is here. Every single picture she ever takes is stunning and I can’t wait to share ours! ❤

So I’m sure you’re all dying to know who won the giveaway from last week……….I have picked a winner and stay tuned, I will announce the winner on Sunday! yay! I’m so excited and thank everyone who entered from the bottom of my heart!

Now- onto this healthy beautiful food! I love quinoa. It’s nutty and sort of crunchy and delicious, not to mention full of protein and extremely filling! As avid readers of my blog I’m sure you know I’m obsessed with Sriracha- like looking at the picture above, you’re probably thinking- um what, that’s not a lot. But what you don’t know is that after I was done taking these “pretty” pictures, I added an embarrassingly large amount to this 🙂

Anyway- this is super healthy and fresh and delicious. Again this is a super versatile recipe, you can add or remove anything! (ps- I fee like I say that all the time. And truth be told, I think of every recipe as versatile, rarely do I follow word for word. Cooking is about having fun! People need to remember that 🙂 )

Hope you enjoy, HAVE FUN!!!!
____________________________________________________________________

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons coconut oil, divided (or oil of your choice)
2 large eggs, beaten
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, diced
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
1 head broccoli, cut into florets
1 zucchini, chopped
1/2 cup frozen corn
1/2 cup frozen peas
2 carrots, peeled and grated
3 cups cooked quinoa
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
3 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari
2 green onions, sliced
Sriracha, for serving

Instructions:

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a medium skillet over low heat. Add eggs and fry until cooked, about 2-3 minutes per side. Let cool before dicing into small pieces.
Heat remaining oil in a large skillet or wok over medium high heat. Add garlic and onion, until onions have become translucent, about 4-5 minutes.
Add mushrooms, broccoli and zucchini. Cook until vegetables are tender, about 3-4 minutes.
Add corn, peas, carrots and quinoa. Cook until heated through, about 1-2 minutes.
Add ginger and soy sauce, and gently toss to combine.
Stir in green onions and eggs

TA DA! That’s it! Now serve and top with Siracha! 🙂

Isn’t it pretty?!? It was so delicious.

Thank you for checking out the blog- I love each and every one of my readers!!

xoxo

Homemade Ice Cream

Posted on September 12, 2014 by Georgina

Homemade Ice Cream

(No Machine!)

Heyoooo! Happy Friday!

So I love ice cream- but it doesn’t love me or my intestinal tract. If you catch my drift……. so it’s definitely a once in a while treat. And Custard it pretty much a no go. Butttt I came across this recipe for home made ice cream with no machine needed?!? whaaaat? of course I needed to try that. And I’m so glad that I did. This is virtually limitless with possibilities I you could put so many different flavors into this!! My favorite ice cream of all time is Chunky Monkey by Ben and Jerry’s. TO. DIE. FOR. This sort of reminded me of it but even better since it contains peanut butter 🙂 I can’t wait to come up with the next concoction for this recipe.

I couldn’t believe how much like regular real ice cream this was! Jake literally didn’t believe me that I made it. You need to give this a try and let me know what you think! Also please share your flavor ideas with me in the comments below! Here are some of my original thoughts:

Cookie Dough with caramel swirl
Coffee Ice cream with chunks of chocolate truffle
Peanut Butter Caramel Pretzel
Brown Sugar & Brandy
Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp
Pumpkin Pie
Creme Brulee
Cannoli

Clearly you can tell it’s taking a LOT of self control to have only made this recipe once. Take peek and let me know what you think!

Banana Pudding Ice Cream with Peanut Butter and Chocolate Fudge Swirls

Ingredients:

1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
1 pkg (3.4 oz) banana cream instant pudding mix
1 banana, sliced
2 graham crackers, broken into small pieces
2 cups (1 pint) heavy cream
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup hot fudge ice cream topping

Instructions:

1. Put peanut butter into a bowl, and place in the freezer for about 30 minutes to firm up. Meanwhile, whisk pudding mix into sweetened condensed milk. Stir in sliced banana and graham cracker pieces.

2. In a large bowl beat heavy cream until it resembles whipped cream(you may need an electric or stand mixer for this). Fold the whipped cream into the sweetened condensed milk mixture. Retrieve peanut butter from the freezer and pinch off teaspoon-sized dollops and drop into the ice cream. Next squeeze teaspoon-sized dollops of room temperature hot fudge topping into the ice cream. Gently fold it all together.

3. Store in a two-quart container and freeze overnight. Serve the next day, topped with whatever your little heart desires!

Here is a picture of it in it’s container ready for the freezer!!

Thanks for checking out eat laugh craft. Don’t forget to check out our Facebook page, Twitter page, and find us on Pinterest! (Links on Contact page)

xoxo

Chicken Fajita Pizza

Posted on September 5, 2014 by Georgina

Chicken Fajita Pizza

Helllooooooo fabulous readers!

So can you believe it’s September? I can’t. Although I’m pretty happy about it. Fall is hands down, 1000%, no doubt about it, my favorite season. Today I went for a walk and it was still a nice day (75) but the air was cooler and the breeze was awesome, and it just got me so excited for Fall to come. I’m all prepped for it. I have THESE amazing new boots in brown (thats dad!!!) and I am just pumped for the first day I can wear them! Also have some new scarves and a beautiful jacket (similar). Not to mention some pumpkin recipes 🙂

Jake and I also have our engagement pictures this fall! Sometime in October so we have that to prep and look forward to! Tonight I’m going to Jake’s football game (he’s the coach) and yesterday the regular season football season started (on a bad note for my beloved pack) but none the less all signs point to Fall!!!!!! And I’m loving every minute.

As summer comes to an end you may be drowning in some veggies (hello tomatoes and peppers!!). Here is a great way to use them up. So delicious. Jake loves anything pizza related and I enjoy that you can make so many different varieties.

I modified the recipe to this a bit- feel free to add/change/remove anything you don’t like 🙂

INGREDIENTS:

1 (11 oz) package Pillsbury pizza dough (although I made my own with this. THE BOMB!)
1/2 cup salsa
1/4 cup re-fried beans
2 cups shredded cooked chicken
1 1/2 cups red, green and yellow sliced peppers or jalapenos depending how much you like heat!
1/4 cup sliced onion
2 cups shredded cheese of your choice
2 tablespoons freshly chopped cilantro, for garnish

DIRECTIONS:

– Heat oven to 400°. Stretch dough to the size of a jelly roll pan. Or follow the directions of the Pizza crust you are using. Once it’s ready to have toppings do the following:

– Mix together the re-fried beans and the salsa in a small bowl and then spread salsa mix over crust as the base.
– Sprinkle 1 cup of the shredded cheese over salsa.
– Top with chicken, bell peppers and onion and then the rest of the cheese.

– Bake according to crust directions or until cheese has melted and pizza is starting to brown around the edges.

– Garnish the pizza with fresh cilantro and some avocado if you’d like.

Sooo good!

There you have it! Another delicious pizza idea in the never ending world of pizza possibilities! Thank you for stopping by and don’t forget about the awesome giveaway coming up this month on the blog!!

xoxo

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