Ranch Tacos and a cute baby

My baby has been sleeping through the night for a few months now. It has been glorious. But last night he decided to wake up at midnight rocking some cool crib break dancing moves.

Then he wanted to stay awake for two hours. It took a lot of convincing to get him back to bed. Needless to say, today I was a wee bit tired.

(But how could you be irritated with that face?!)

So today I did no posting (other than the things other people pay me to) until now...

Chicken Ranch Tacos!!! They are so easy even I could do it in my state of near sleep.

They are really simple and require minimal effort. I make them on my George Foreman. They are tangy, creamy and I load them up with vegetables.

What you'll need:

Two chicken breasts

Four Tortillas

Some Salsa

1/2 bottle of ranch dressing

a little cilantro

sour cream

and your taco fixins'

In a bowl I combine my chicken and ranch dressing. You can cut up the chicken first, or you can put the whole breast in there. I make sure it is fully coated and then I place it on my warmed up grill. I put down the lid and I walk away.

In a small bowl I combine about a cup of sour cream and a cup of ranch dressing, a little kosher salt (because it makes everything yummy) and a little cilantro.

Once your chicken is cooked and ready (it will be a little crispy on the outside. Yum!) Put it on your tortilla with your taco fixins'. I like cucumber, salsa and cheese. Then put your ranch/sour cream mix on top. If you want to be healthy you could use Greek yogurt.

I also started some no knead bread tonight. I will bake it in my Dutch oven in the morning and report back/

The leftovers challenge part 1: Pork Tacos with homemade tortillas

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Intro: I bought a Boston Butt from a church fundraiser. Let me be clear, I would never pay $25 for a cut of meat unless it was for something like this.

I was happy to hand over my cash in exchange for four pounds of meat, some of which I served to guests at Sunday dinner. But that leaves the problem. I just forked out all this money for a pork shoulder (which is actually what Boston Butt is) and now I have all this left over meat.

Confession time, I struggle with leftovers. I don't enjoy them. My husband is great about leftovers, I am not. I am not sure why, we ate them a lot as a child... hmmm...

So here I am delving into my week with a big butt on my hands. *giggles- considers deleting that last sentence - moves on.*

Monday: Pork Tacos

I love tacos. Seriously. You can put anything on a tortilla and it will taste good. But, this seemed so obvious. So, I wanted to take it a step further with homemade tortillas and salsa.

Let's get started.

What you'll need:

Three ripe Roma tomatoes

Half a red onion

1 tbsp minced Garlic

1 tbsp Lemon juice

Dried cilantro to taste

1/2 pound pork shredded

Avocado, cheese, sour cream - whatever you like on your taco

3 cups flour (I used half white and half whole wheat)

1/3 cup olive oil

1 cup warm water

pinch kosher salt

Three ripe Roma tomatoes

Half a red onion

1 tbsp minced Garlic

1 tbsp Lemon juice

Dried cilantro to taste

Dice your tomatoes and toss them in the blender with garlic, lemon juice and cilantro. Then pour over the onion and chill for about 30 minutes. (I do not care for warm salsa. I know, I know.)

Tortillas:

3 cups flour (I used half white and half whole wheat) (plus another cup for rolling the dough. So that actually makes 4)

1/3 cup olive oil

1 cup warm water

pinch kosher salt

In a bowl combine your 2 cups of your flour, olive oil and salt. Then stir in your water a little at a time. You will then add the third cup of flour in slowly.

Your dough should look like this:

Pinch off about 2 inches of dough

Throw down some flour on a clean surface, such as a counter top, and roll out the dough.

Place the dough in a greased skillet that is set on low heat.

The tortilla will start to brown on the edges and when you flip it there will be darker spots on the cooked side.

This recipe will yield 6 - 8 tortillas depending on the size. They are flakey and delicious, but not as flexible as the tortillas you buy at the store. But, they cost less than $1 to make so there is your trade.