Ice Cream And Cake

Hi

This past weekend was my birthday. Naturally that means cake. I chose to make a carrot cake with classic cream cheese frosting. Sweet (16).

I didn't do a lot for my birthday, just a few friends over for cake, ice-cream, and oddly, dinner. So it was a birthday dinner party. We ate dinner, cake, ice-cream, watched hunger games, and then everyone left. Bangin' party right? You can tell whats important to us :)

For dinner we had mushroom and spinach & cheese ravioli, in a walnut butter sauce that was (very unfortunately) sub par. :( The cake as is said, was carrot cake and delicious. We had butter pecan ice-cream with it. One thing I cannot stand is foods that don't 'match'. It took me forever and a day to figure out what meal would complement the cake, and then what ice-cream went with the cake.

I learned something that weekend though. I don't like cake and ice-cream together very much. I like cake, and ice-cream, but not together(except for melted ice cream soaked into cake crumbs)(which doesn't really count). I also learned that cream cheese frosting does not like me, and I'm glad that I opted to eat toffuti ice-cream instead of the real stuff to avoid any more discomfort.

Carrot Cake
(serves 20)

2 c flour
1 1/2 c sugar
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
4 eggs
3/4 c oil
3 c grated carrots
3/4 c walnuts


 preheat oven to 350 and prepare two cake pans. mix flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. add eggs and oil, beating until well blended. mix in carrots and nuts. bake for 30-45 minutes. best made one day in advance.

Cream Cheese Frosting
2-3 oz cream cheese, softened
2 Tbsp butter
2 C powdered sugar
1tsp. vanilla extract

cream the cheese and butter with an electric mixer, add sugar and vanilla and beat until fluffy.

Nutrition Info:
(nutrition info is calculated including the frosting)

Calories: 295
Fat: 15 g (6g are unsaturated- from the nuts)
Carbs: 39g
     sugar: 27.8g
Protein: 4g

Question of the Day:
Do you have any weird foodisms?
I cant do the texture of beef either, it's just not right.

Chocolate Covered Banana Pancakes

Hey

Here're some delicious pancakes, a variation on my Chocolate-Chip Banana Pancakes.
I turned them inside out, instead of chocolate chips and banana pancakes, we have banana chips in chocolate pancakes.

To make these use a chocolate pancake recipe(I used Chocolate Covered Katie's) and put freeze dried banana chips in like you would chocolate chips. The banana gets kinda soft but not too gooey and more banana-y then chip-y as it cooks. You could also just use fresh banana slices, Witch should work fine, I just wanted a "chip/chunk" like texture.

Chocolate Covered Banana Pancakes
serves 1-2

1/4 cup spelt flour (or all-purpose or Bob’s gluten-free)
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa or dutch cocoa (You can sub regular cocoa, but I haven’t tried it in this recipe and therefore can’t personally vouch for the taste)
1 and 1/2 packets nunaturals stevia or 1 tbsp plus 1 tsp sugar (I think I used 1/2 a packet tru-via.)
1/16 tsp salt
1 and 1/2 tbsp applesauce or oil (I omitted)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
5 and 1/2 tbsp milk of choice

freeze dried banana chips

Mix dry ingredients very well, then add wet. Wait until ready to flip, then add banana chips and flip.

Nutrition Info:
Calories: 170
Fat: 2.6g
Carbs: 35g
     sugar: 2.5g
Protein: 8g

Question Of the Day:
whats your favorite fruit?
 mine would be grapes :)

Sugar, Sweet, Sugar

     One thing that I have recently become aware of is how much unnecessary sugar is added to food. Every time my aunt is over we somehow land on the topic of how when she was my age(70's) things like katcup didn't have sugar added to them. I think she's right, these things don't need sugar in them.somewhere I read you can cut a recipes sugar by like 1/4-1/2 and not really change the result of the food. It makes sense to me that lazy food colonies just keep adding sugar to everything we buy, they want a product that sell, we want one that tastes good. What tastes good? Sugar. So put some sugar in the katsup, put some sugar in your yogurt heck put some in the bread, and the juice, put it in tomato sauce."everything is better with sugar" they think. And all this results in is sugar being the omniingredient, put into everything. Even if it has no real place being there. It fosters our sugar addiction,raising our threshold for what we deem "sweet". Well I called the seventys, to see if they'd take me. I want some old fashioned sugar free food.

     Speaking of sugar free, when I was in elementary school, and everyone brought lunch, my friend and I wouldn't eat our pudding cups if we saw it said 'sugar free' on the label. We wanted that stereotype of kids loving sugary things and having sugar highs and bouncing off the walls(something I couldn't achieve no matter how much sugar I ate) its sad to think that we refused a food simply because it didn't have sugar in it.(we certainly weren't concerned with the artificial sweeteners I'm sure were in our sugar free puddings) now I know that I feel energized only if I don't  eat a ton of sugar. I don't count exactly how much sugar I eat, but I know the recommendation is 25g. And I think usually double that. So here's to less sugary baked goods, that still taste yum-dili-umtious!

I'm Not Dead, I Promise

     Oh my gosh it's been soo long since I've written! (thanks to super busy holidays). So while I was gone I cooked about a billion different things (unfortunately due to the holidays very few got a photo shoot) so it looks like the last thing I blogged was my Pumpkin Cream Parfait, which was just after thanksgiving, which I meant to put up like 3 weeks before that(like I said, super busy). so here's a list of stuff I've made with a quick rundown of what it is:

Roasted Acorn Squash with Caramelized Chestnuts: cut and roast the squash, melt butter on the stove and add brown sugar and stir, as chopped chestnuts stir, and toss on squash to coat.

Healthy Egg Nogg: vanilla milk(I used soy) egg substitute, vanilla extract, and nutmeg. blend and refrigerate 

Turkey Tetrazzini: I'll probably be doing a post on this soon so check back to see it.

Gumbo: although I made gumbo twice during the holidays both were failures, once the crock pot didn't turn on, and second, I think I just don't really like gumbo.

Spinach Souffle: just don't

New England Stew: turnips, carrots, celery, potatoes, beef chunks, milk, cornstarch... I'll probably make this again too, so watch for it

Gingerbread Cookies: the best gingerbread I've ever tasted, thanks to the guys at sortedfood. Sorted Gingerbread

Sugar Cookies: there was a sugar cookie fiasco in our house this year, we lost our recipe. our ages old so yummy recipe. which we were making on the 23 of December. once over the shock of that, we quickly found a recipe in the Betty Crocker cookbook, which turned out cookies exactly the same as ours, except we had to add about and extra 1/2 c flour for them to work (I think we made a mistake when halving the giant recipe)

Gingerbread House: I used a healthy gingerbread recipe first this year, but they tasted really gummy and bad. they went largely uneaten, but my ginger bread house was beautiful. I actually have a picture of this, somewhere.

Chocolate Lace Cookies: my new favorite Christmas cookie via Chocolate Covered Katie. recipe here, I ommited the extra chocolate chips at the end, and didnt even miss them!

Red Velvet Pancakes: part of Christmas breakfast, made from Chocolate Covered Katie. recipe here. i just added red food coloring because I like these more then her red velvet cakes

Blondie Pancakes: these are really just Katie's chocolate pancakes with flour subbed in for the cocoa, and maybe a little extra vanilla. they went with our red pancakes to make festive candy cane stacks.

Banana Pancakes: made to go with Christmas morning leftovers Katie's original recipe

Fruit Cake: my great grandmas fruit cake recipe, made with my grandma on Christmas day <3

Apple Stuffing: this too will likely get its own post in the future

Oreo Truffles: vanilla cake crumbled and mixed with vanilla frosting, crushed oreos, and cool whip( a gift to my oreo addicted cousin)

Healthy Doughnuts: my aunt got me a doughnut pan for Christmas!! the very next morning I used it to make Chocolate Covered Katie's cake batter doughnuts I used sucanant for sweetner(a first) and this was the first time i used the flax egg method, and boy am I a beliver!

Spinach Artichoke Dip: never try it with fresh artichokes when you've never prepared artichoke before.

Corn Meal Pancakes: delicious and a bright cheery yellow, great on gloomy winter mornings. my normal pancake recipie with 3/4 corn meal instead of flour. great with raspberry syrup

Cornmeal Mush: after I made cornmeal pancakes the next morning I had cream of wheat, which inspired me to mix the two using the method of cream of wheat with cornmeal, I also added in some chopped dates.

and

Whatchamacallit: yet another Chocolate Covered Katie recipe, her cinnamon roll pie. but the chickpeas give it a totally different flavor, and I've never tasted anything like it before. its good, but i cant name one thing it tastes similar to.

As you can see I've been busy, and next weekend is my birthday, so I'll hopefully have some recipies and pictures to share with you then :)

Questions of the Day
are you super busy over the holidays? you know my answer ;)

what was your favorite Christmas present? I got an Indian cookbook, but my favorite would be tickets to my favorite band, muse

what was your new years resolution? mine was not to abandon this blog. also I'm trying to be healthier, which for me means activity and more vegetables :p

Oh And By The Way:   WELCOME TO 2013!!

 

Pumpkin Cream Parfait

Hey Guys (guy, to the probably one person read who reads my blog :p)

In case you haven't heard yet its fall. fall = pumpkin. This little creation is pumpkin, cinnamon, and Greek yogurt. That's all, but for something so little it packs such a flavor punch!

Pumpkin Cream Parfait
serves 1

1 container vanilla greek yogurt
1/2 cup pumpkin puree(canned is fine)
cinamon

layer the yogurt and pumpkin in a glass/jar (if your me use a wine glass). then sprinkle cinamon on top.

 See? so simple, I kinda feel silly calling it a recipie.

Nutrition info:
Calories: 145
Fat: 0g
Carbs: 19g
     sugar:14g
Protein: 17g

Question of the Day
Do you have any TV shows you watch regularly?
I watch Walking Dead every Sunday.

Pumpkin Waffles

 
Farewell 

The last of the pumpkin is gone, devoured by my hungry family. These waffles will call to you from the beyond; more, more, more they'll whisper to you after the last bite is gone. Cause they' just that yummy!

Pumpkin Waffles:
serves 4-6

1 1/2 c pumpkin
3/4 cup flour
1 cup whole wheat flour (you can use any flour you wish, as long as the total flour is 1 3/4 c)
2 t baking powder
1 t splenda
1/2 t salt
1 1/2 c milk/liquid of choice
3 eggs
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Whisk milk and eggs together with pumpkin. mix dry ingredients into wet. you can separate the eggs and whip the whites, then fold into the batter before cooking, if you want to have extra-fluffy waffles. cook for 3-5 minutes.

Eating these reminded me of Going out to breakfast at IHOP. I actually sat down at the kitchen table to eat them. my whole family ate them, then my dad had the leftovers for lunch.

Nutrition Info(serves 6):
Calories:223
Fat:6.8g(mostly from the nuts)
Carbs:33g
     sugar:2g
Protein:10g

Question of the Day:
Whats our favorite season?
mine is defiantly summer
 

Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Aloha

Aren't these things so cute? They remind me of summer and Curious George, what with the bananas and the man in the yellow hat and all. These little circles brighten my day :D and my stomach.

After I made these I thought of turning them inside out, making a batter with cocoa/carob powder and using diced banana as the "chips" try it, and see how they turn out!(and tell me)

Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes
serves 1-2

1/3 c flour
1/3 c rolled oats
1/2 t vanilla extract
1/2 mashed banana
1/8 t salt
3/4 t baking powder
1/4 c liquid (water/milk/what-ever-else-you-want)
chocolate chips


Mash the banana in a bowl, then mix in other wet ingredients. Add remaining ingredients and mix. You can omit the chocolate chips and opt to ad them in once the pancakes are in the pan if you want more control of pancake/chocolate chip ratio. Pour into skillet and cook on medium-low heat.

I found that these didn't really need to be topped with anything. I tried honey(I do not recommend), agave, maple syrup, and chocolate syrup, but it tasted better pure. I suppose you could top with milk or whipped cream if you MUST have something on top of them.

Nutrition Info(for 2):

Calroies:190
Fat: 4.3g
Carbs: 35
     Sugar: 3.2g
Protien: 4.7g

Question of the Day:
Do you ever watch any "little kid" shows?
I wasn't into Curious George when I was little but sometimes I'll watch it now.

Ingenious Kitchen Tip

 
Heyo 

Today I've gotta share this neat little trick i came up with to look at my recipes without shmaging (sh-mAg-ing. to made dirty and or messy) them. and yes I made the word shmaging up. I also use it to describe cookie dough that gets eaten before getting cooked. shmag (sh-mAg. raw cookie dough that's gonna get eaten before being baked).

You just clip your recipe to your kitchen cupboard handle with a clothespin and you ready to go! Now you're wondering why you didn't think of this sooner huh? 

Question of the Day:
do you have any clever tricks that are duh-why-didnt-i-think-of-that simple?

Strawberry Jelly Pancakes

 
Hello (again)

(the photo is a stock photo :( I couldn't seem to find the (2 separate) pictures I took of these beauties)

Its cold outside. I don't like cold.
So I needed something to warm me up(que pancakes), but my stomach was hanging on to summer(que strawberries). Unfortunately strawberries are not something I keep on hand, but I did have some homemade strawberry jam in my fridge, which works for me. Some creative baking and 15 minutes later I was completely satisfied.

Strawberry Jelly Pancakes:
     (makes about 8-12 pancakes, 4-6 servings)

2 c. flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 c. milk
1/4 c.(4 T) strawberry jelly(you may use sugar free, and subtract 20 calories per serving)

mix dry ingredients together, then add in wet, stir well. Cook these on a stove heated to  medium heat in a sprayed skillet.


Delicious, and a perfect blend of summer and fall. These were delicious and my family loved them :) You could use whatever kind of jelly you want to make different flavor pancakes (blueberry anybody?).

Nutrition Info (the sugar free version in parenthesis):
Calories: 197(170)
Fat: 0.7g
Carbs: 42g(37g)
    sugar: 6g (1g)

Question of the Day:
What's your favorite kind of fruit?

Nutella Cookies

Heyo

I found a recipe online for no-bake nutella cookies, but they were full of sugar. Which sounded like a challenge: make some healthy nutella cookies. now nutella isn't that healthy to begin with. Despite its health-food status, it's really just fudgy, frosting. But you can't have nutella cookies with out nutella(literally, you can't) so I vowed to make it as healthy as I could.

Normally the first thing I would do is substitute splenda for sugar, but because no-bake cookies are mixed on a stove-top(I find it ironic that no-bake recipes almost always require a stove) that was out. So what to put in instead? tru-via? agave? I had options but I was leery about substituting a liquid for a solid... Unless I reduced the amount of butter.... less butter is good. So agave it was.

The second thing to is get rid of some butter... but wait, we already did! Problem solved!

Healthy Nutella No-Bakes: 
     (makes 12 cookies)
3T agave
2T milk
1t+1/2t cocoa( you can try subbing chocolate protien powder if you wish)
2T peanut butter
3T nutella (I cut the original recipes amount in half)
1c rolled oats

In a saucepan mix the agave, milk and cocoa powder over medium low heat and mix until combined. stir in peanut butter and nutella until melted, then stir in the oats. mix thoroughly and reduce heat to low. quickly spoon cookies onto a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Refrigerate for 30 min.

These cookies came out even fudgyer then the original

Nutrition Info:
Calories: 67 per cookie
Fat: 3g
     saturated fat: >1g
Carbs: 8g
     sugar: 3g
Protien: 2g

Question of the Day:
What do you like to do on your days off?
Today is NEOEA day so no school for me! I get to spend it baking :) I'm even taking a vegan cooking class later today!