Tag Archives: weeknight meal

Cheesy Bacon Oven Potatoes with Chipotle Ranch Sauce

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Cheesy Bacon Oven Potatoes

with Chipotle Ranch Sauce

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Cheesy Bacon Oven Chips

Ingredients:
2-3 russet potatoes, scrubbed well and sliced uniformly into 1/8″ rounds (I left the skin on mine but you could peel)
cooking spray
3/4 C. shredded colby jack or cheddar cheese
salt & pepper
2 T. crumbled bacon (about 2 slices) – I used real bacon
Chopped green onions or chives, for garnish

Directions:
Turn oven on to 375 degrees. Bring sliced potatoes to a boil in cold, salted water and cover for 5 minutes. Drain, and carefully (they’re hot!) transfer slices to a countertop or cutting board and pat them dry.

Grease a baking sheet with cooking spray or olive oil, and lay out potato slices so they are slightly overlapping. Sprinkle with salt & pepper to taste. Sprinkle evenly with shredded cheese & bacon. Bake 12-14 minutes in preheated oven until cheese is melted & bubbly. Top with your garnish of choice.  Serve with chipotle ranch sauce (recipe below).

Chipotle Ranch Dipping Sauce

Ingredients:
1 T. ranch dressing
3 T. plain greek yogurt (or sour cream)
1/4 t. chipotle chili powder
1/8 t. cayenne ( more or less depending how spicy you want to make it)
1/8 t. salt
1/4 t. garlic powder

Directions:
Mix together all ingredients in a bowl.  Refrigerate any leftovers. This makes a really tasty dip for veggies and stuff too!

This was a very quick and easy recipe to make! I saw it on Pinterest (duh) and was just craving it for some reason. I had some extra potatoes laying around (I don’t typically have white potatoes stocked) so it was fate! Boiling the potatoes first really helped them be fully cooked without cooking for so long in the oven and burning all the ingredients on top. It was kind of unhealthier than the food I typically make, but you gots ta do that sometimes 🙂

Hope you enjoy! And thanks for stopping by!

xoxo

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Carnitas

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Easy Slow Cooker Carnitas

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Everyone always talks about how great slow cookers are. And don’t get me wrong, I 100000% see the appeal of them but I hardly ever use them. I am gone from my house wayyyy longer than these recipes say to cook them for. I usually leave the house around 6:40 everyday and get home around 5. That’s IF I go straight to and from work- no errands or anything. Then on top of that my fiance doesn’t get home for several hours after me and I’m a big believer in eating dinner as a family, even if that is just the two of us, so I always wait for him.
People have suggested outlet timers for recipes so I can set the crock pot to start cooking half way through the day- but sorry it grosses me out to have food sitting out at room temperature for hours, so no. And yeah I know there are crock pots with self  timers but I don’t have one- I’m more old school 🙂 and plus I can never shake the feeling that leaving that on all day while I’m not there, the house will burn down. Thanks a lot anxiety!
Anyway on this rare occasion I decided to whip out the ole crock pot and try this delicious recipe from Lindsay over at Pinch of Yum. I adapted a few things but but the result was still delicious!
Hope you enjoy!
INGREDIENTS
  • 4-5 lbs. pork shoulder
  • 2-3 fresh jalapenos
  • 5 cloves garlic
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon oregano
  • ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • ½ teaspoon chipotle pepper
  • juice of 2 limes
  • ½ cup orange juice
  • 12 ounces beer
  • ½ cup salsa (I used a less chunky one)
INSTRUCTIONS
  1. Place the pork shoulder in the slow cooker. Slice up the jalapenos how ever you want and throw them in. Roughly chop the garlic and place in the slow cooker (I actually made a couple of slits in the meat with my knife and shoved some down into the meat to get as much garlic flavor as possible, but you could just toss it in, too).
  2. Sprinkle the meat with salt, cumin, chili powder, black pepper, oregano, cinnamon, and cayenne. Rub seasonings onto the pork.
  3. Add the liquids  and salsa. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.
  4. Shred hunk -o- meat with two forks directly in the slow cooker (or take out & shred). It should fall apart pretty easily and be very tender.
  5. Preheat your oven broiler. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place the shredded meat on the cooking sheet and pour a few spoonfuls of sauce over the top. Broil for 8-10 minutes or until you get yummy brown edges on the pork.
  6. Eat by itself. Kidding (kind of ) Serve on tortillas with fresh cilantro, avocado, and lime juice and any other things you want!

This was a nice easy recipe. I mean when I actually can use the crock pot to make meals I love it! I could have eaten just the meat by itself. I took some of the leftovers for lunch over rice with some black beans….deeelicious!

Thanks for stopping by and checking out Eat Laugh Craft.

xoxo

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Roasted Veggie & Black Bean Burritos

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Roasted Veggie & Black Bean Burritos

 

Heyyy-o! It’s fridayyyy friiiidaaay (you’re welcome that song is now stuck in your head). But seriously I pretty pumped that it’s the weekend! The weather is starting to look up around here (high of 66 today!) and I am visiting a old roomie from my college days tonight. Life is good.

I was browsing through my dashboard (basically like the settings portal of my blog) here on WordPress and saw that I didn’t ever publish this recipe! I made a quite a while ago and it was deeelcious but must have spaced on the publishing part.

This would also work great as a gluten free option to just make the “stuffing” part of the burrito and put it over rice or or quinoa or any grain you want etc…

Hope you enjoy this tasty meal and also the helpful burrito rolling tip below 🙂

INGREDIENTS:
2 whole Sweet Potatoes, peeled And cubed small
2 whole Jalapenos diced
1 whole Red Pepper, diced
1 whole Red Onion, diced
2 teaspoons Olive Oil
1 teaspoon Cumin
1 teaspoon Chili Powder
1 pinch Salt And Pepper
2 cups cooked Black Beans (or 1 15 oz can rinsed and drained)
½ cups Fresh Cilantro, chopped
2 teaspoons Fresh Lime Juice
1 cup Shredded Cheddar
1 package Burrito-Sized Wheat Tortillas Or Wraps (6-10 Count) but really any tortilla will work.

INSTRUCTIONS:
In a bowl, toss your raw veggies in olive oil and season with spices. Place in a large baking dish and roast in 425 degree oven for 20 minutes, tossing around halfway through.
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Let cool. Add your roasted veggies to a cans worth of rinsed black beans. Add cilantro and squirt of fresh lime juice. Combine gently. At this point, mixture can be stored for later use if want to make this part ahead of time.

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Warm your tortillas of choice in microwave for about 30 seconds (so they are easier to handle and roll). Spray a casserole dish with nonstick spray or olive oil spray.
Add few heaping spoonfuls of vegetable and bean mixture to center of wrap. Top with shredded cheese. Fold in sides, and then roll up to complete(see pic below).Place in pan and continue to roll the others. Place into your baking dish, seam side down so that they stay together.
Bake in 375 degree oven for about 15 minutes or until golden brown. Baking this way will make the tortilla wrap crisp. It’s up to you if you want to sprinkle with cheese or not, I just thought it would look a little ‘prettier’.

** Tip: Premake your burritos and wrap them in aluminum foil. Keep in refrigerator for 3-4 days for a quick lunch or dinner!

Burrito Rolling 101:

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This is how my mom taught us to roll up our tortillas. I have been doing it this way since before I can remember. It blows my mind to see people do it any other way. I mean your “stuffing” is falling out all over the place and you, more likely than not, end up with food all over you! All I do is fold in the sides of the burrito like the the top left picture and then roll up(tucking in the ‘insides’ while you go) to complete it! Super simple and it all stays inside.

Hope you guys enjoy this one. It is a healthy, filling, tasty dinner!

xoxo

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Chicken Lettuce Wraps

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Chicken Lettuce Wraps

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These little guys are a fast and healthy dinner for a family on the go. Don’t let some of the ingredients scare you! They come together for a delicious combination. These would be great in tortillas if you’d prefer but the crisp lettuce sort of ‘makes’ this dish. It’s healthy and crunchy and allows for you to really taste the chicken mix. I was inspired by PF Chang’s lettuce wraps which are so good! I didn’t have any of those crunchy fried noodle things they serve or any of their sauces. I doused mine in Siracha, because as I think I’ve mentioned before….. I have an addiction.

I had the lettuce wraps at PF Changs for the first time this past fall (I don’t get out much). I loved them. I was doing my normal activity of browsing Pinterest(shocking, I know) and came across a couple of “copy cat” recipes. A lot of them were terrible. Just from reading the ingredients I could tell that was NOT was PF’s was serving up. I sort of adapted a few of them and came up with this. It’s pretty darn close, I think!

Here’s my recipe!
Ingredients
  • 1 tablespoon sesame oil
  • 1 pound ground chicken or turkey
  • 1 large onion, chopped small
  • 2 tablespoons garlic, minced or pressed
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1/4-1/2 cup hoisin sauce
  • 2 teaspoons fresh ginger, minced small
  • 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
  • 3 teaspoons sriracha sauce
  • 1 can (8 ounces) sliced water chestnuts, drained and finely chopped
  • 1 small bunch green onions, sliced
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil
  • Iceberg, or butter lettuce leaves, rinsed and drained
  • Sriracha sauce, wasabi, spicy mustard sauce for dipped (optional)
  • Roasted peanuts, chopped (optional)
  • Fried bean noodles (optional)
Directions
  1. In a medium skillet on medium heat, warm 1 tablespoon sesame oil. Add the ground meat and cook until it is cooked through. With a spatula, break it up into small chunks as it cooks (it will resemble ground beef).
  2. Stir in the onion, garlic, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, ginger, rice wine vinegar, and sriracha sauce until completely coated. Remove from heat.
  3. Fold in water chestnuts, green onion, additional sesame oil. Salt and pepper to taste.
  4. Serve wrapped in a leaf of lettuce. Top with any of the optional additional toppings.
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I’m fully aware this looks like a turd. But I promise it doesn’t taste like one.

Give it a try and hopefully you like too! I know these aren’t the greatest pictures but it is SUPER delicious and healthy!!

xoxo

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Fresh Veggie Greek Pasta

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Fresh Veggie Greek Pasta

Ahhh, look how pretty this one is. Screams summer time BBQ to me.

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NEWS FLASH-I live in Wisconsin (ps. GO BUCKY!)

NEWS FLASH- it’s basically April and it snowed last week……

NEWS FLASH- I’m freaking sick of it!

I was desperate for something that tasted like summer and I came across this recipe.  It seemed so fresh tasting, and it was. 🙂

I made a dinner out of this and topped it with some chopped up chicken breast. We ate it warm. But I believe the recipe was originally intended to be a cold pasta salad. Like the ones you bring to SUMMER barbeques with friends when you wear shorts and tank tops and can sit outsiiiiiide and enjoy a cold beverage and possibly see some lightening bugs…ahhhhhh the good times. CAN. NOT.WAIT.

Anyway, we both really liked this dish. It was also a mini-milestone for me beeeecccaauuuse it contains kalmata olives and my Beau ate them! OK – he sort of picked around them while serving and it’s not like he said “these taste GREAT!” but after you hear this story you’ll realize why I’m so happy.

Jake and I have been together for about 6 and a half years. We met in college. Around our 1 year anniversary I decided to make him dinner. Back then it was a rare occurance as we lived in dorms or college housing and no access to a kitchen and we’re poor so there’s that. ANYWAY I choose to make a dish my mom always made called Medditeranean Chicken. Super simple and tasty. Basically 4 ingredients. Chicken breasts, cherry tomotoes, capers, kalmata olives- and then baked. Looking back, I have NO idea what I was thinking. Jake didn’t grow up eating as many diverse flavors as me and his palate was a little, limited shall we say. This was just too much.

Here’s the down and dirty version: I cook. I plate. We sit down. I take a bite=heaven. Jake takes a bite= run to bathroom, spit out food, brush teeth, gargle with Listerine immedietly.

How we are together to this day you ask? I don’t know. My feelings were so hurt but I tried to understand that it was “weird flavors!” for him. Anyway at the time, he pointed to the capers as being the death of him but after that it was both olives and capers that I had to hear about how he dispised them everytime they were in a 5 foot radius of him. I’m taking this dish a sign that almost 5 years later his palate has grown and adapted and they can slowly become part of our grocery repitiore.

But enough about me- Here is how you can make this deeeelicious recipe for you and your family!

Ingredients:
2-3 large tomatoes, seeded and chopped
½ cup Kalamata olives, pitted and chopped
½ cup feta cheese, crumbled
2 tablespoons chopped parsley(I prefer Flat Leaf Italian)
1 tablespoon chopped basil
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1 pound penne pasta (or whatever pasta you want)
6 tablespoons olive oil
3 teaspoons garlic, minced

Instructions:
– In a large bowl, combine the chopped tomatoes, olives, feta, herbs and spices, salt and pepper. *If you want to serve this dish cold, you could add this mixture to the fridge at this point to chill
– Cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain in a collander.
– In the same pot, (with the pasta in the collander) heat the olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 1-2 minutes without letting it turn brown and cripsy.
– Put the pasta back into to the pot and toss with olive oil mixture.
– Add the tomato-olive mixture and toss until the fresh vegetables are thoroughly mixed with the penne.
– Serve!

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Hope you enjoy! And I also hope the weather is warmer by you, but if it is please don’t tell me about it. I’m bitter, however I can’t complain tooooo much as it’s about 50 today. SPRING IS COMING!

Thanks for vewing !

xoxo

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