Thursday, March 11, 2010

Whole Food Carrot Oat Cake! Yummy!!



Serves 16

Enjoy this hearty carrot cake for breakfast, a snack or dessert. Serve it warm or at room temperature.

Ingredients

Natural cooking spray
1 cup rolled or quick cooking oats
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups grated carrots
1 cup pure maple syrup
1 cup dried currants
1/2 cup unsweetened finely shredded coconut
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Method

Preheat oven to 325°F. Lightly oil a (9-inch) square baking pan with cooking spray and set it aside.

Pulse oats and walnuts in a food processor until coarsely ground. Transfer to a large bowl. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and salt and mix well. In a second large bowl, combine carrots, maple syrup, currants, coconut and vanilla. Add carrot mixture to flour mixture and stir until completely incorporated. Transfer to prepared pan and bake until cooked through and deep golden brown, about 1 hour. Set aside to let cool before cutting into squares.

Nutrition

Per serving (about 2oz/67g-wt.): 190 calories (50 from fat), 6g total fat, 1g saturated fat, 0mg cholesterol, 230mg sodium, 32g total carbohydrate (3g dietary fiber, 19g sugar), 4g protein

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Alive!

Hello! Sorry that I have been away I have just been working tons, then when I get home I am still working, then sleep, then up to do it again. I wanted to let you know what I am working non stop for the next couple of weeks, so I don't know how much I will be posting. I have TONS of pictures though from my day off in which I only did fun, and had so much fun I ran out of time to post. I made ranger cookies from cookiemadness.com who you know I love! I made a good carrot oat breakfast cake from Whole Foods with wheat flour which is the first time I have used it.

I promise that I will try and update as much as I can, but I have to get as much sleep as I can for now. Good night!

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Good Eats!

I can't stop watching Good Eats, I got the book and am making a recipe from Alton Brown like once a week! He is amazing his show last night about how he lost 50 lbs was really informational. Here is what I had for lunch on Sunday and again today after my workout. It's dip that I put on crackers but I would put this on a tortilla along with some chicken and cheese. That would be rock'n let me tell you! If you haven't tried edamame's yet you are completely missing out on a wonderful food! I could easily eat a whole bad by myself.

Good Luck!

Edamame Dip

Recipe courtesy Alton Brown, 2008

Prep Time:
15 min
Inactive Prep Time:
--
Cook Time:
--
Level:
Easy
Serves:
about 2 cups

Ingredients

  • 12 ounces shelled, cooked, and cooled edamame, about 2 cups, recipe follows
  • 1/4 cup diced onion
  • 1/2 cup tightly packed fresh cilantro or parsley leaves
  • 1 large garlic clove, sliced
  • 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime or lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon brown miso
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon red chili paste
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 5 tablespoons olive oil

Directions

Place the edamame, onion, cilantro, garlic, lime juice, miso, salt, chili paste and pepper into the bowl of a food processor and process for 15 seconds. Stop to scrape down the sides of the bowl and process for another 15 to 20 seconds. With the processor running, slowly drizzle in the olive oil. Once all of the oil has been added, stop, scrape down the bowl and then process another 5 to 10 seconds. Taste and adjust seasoning, as desired. Serve with chips or crackers. Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

Basic Edamame:

  • 1 pound edamame, fresh or frozen, in or out of shell
  • 1/4 cup water
  • Kosher salt, optional

Place the edamame and water into a large microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high for 4 to 6 minutes. Drain any excess water and serve as is or salted.

Yield: 4 servings

Cookies number 2!

Okay first off, I can't stop eating these. I had two with breakfast, and then two more this afternoon. I had some left over Crisco butter shortening and a bag of chocolate chip cookies.... google it and this is what happens! Crisco Recipes, Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies how amazing are they!

  • 3/4 stick Crisco® Butter Shortening Sticks
  • 1 1/4 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons milk
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 3/4 cups Pillsbury BEST® All Purpose Flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 (6 oz.) package semi-sweet chocolate chips (1 cup)
  • 1 cup coarsely chopped pecans (optional)
  1. 1.
    HEAT oven to 375ºF.

  2. 2.
    COMBINE shortening, brown sugar, milk and vanilla in large bowl. Beat at medium speed of electric mixer until well blended. Beat in egg. Combine flour, salt and baking soda. Mix into shortening mixture until just blended. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts.

  3. 3.
    DROP by rounded measuring tablespoonfuls 3 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheet.

  4. 4.
    BAKE 8 to 10 minutes for chewy cookies, or 11 to 13 minutes for crisp cookies. Cool 2 minutes on baking sheet on a cooling rack. Remove cookies to rack to cool completely.

  5. TIP
    * If nuts are omitted, add an additional 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Oatmeal fail!

Last week when we were at Whole Foods I was going to get myself some more Kashi oatmeal, I am hooked on it. Then I saw this huge package of oatmeal called Bob's Red Mill Oats. It was cheaper then Kashi (you know me bargain shopper to the end) and it made almost 3 times the amount of oatmeal meals! It is just plain oatmeal so today I added raisins, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Which turned out good, but I wanted to know if you have any other idea's for what to put in oatmeal?

This picture is the first batch got wrong or as J.T. said when I sent him this picture... Oatmeal fail!!! I guess that our microwave is just super powerful, the directions said 3 to 5 mins this was at a little over 3 mins. Crazy!

Baking is one of my....

I have come to the thought that baking is one of my happy spot, really now that I live in a house with a huge kitchen. I don't like to talk about work on my blog but it has been super stressing me out lately and I haven't had really anytime to do the things that I love. Last night I made about 50 cookies, including these the peanut butter bacon cookies! J.T. was like 'finally!' he had I guess been waiting for them. They are good, just like regular peanut butter cookies with a kick. The recipe I posted a couple of days ago, good luck and have fun!