Carrot Bread with Cream Cheese

I had a few lonely carrots left over in the garden, and I wanted to make something with them in the spirit of not wasteing. It's been a goal to waste the least amount of produce from my garden this year. I'm doing my best to use, give away, or freeze whatever the garden gives me. So' with that in mind I needed to find a home for my carrots. I was going to make carrot muffins, but I forgot muffin pan liners at the store. So here is Carrot Bread!

2 cups grated carrots

1/2 cup walnuts

1cup light brown sugar

11/2 cup flour

1/2 baking powder

2teaspoons cinnamon, 1 teaspoon nutmeg, 1 teaspoon cloves, 1/2 teaspoon ginger, 1/2 teaspoon salt

2 Tablespoon sugar

2/3 veg oil

2teaspoons vanilla

2 large eggs

-mix dry ingredients. Mix wet wet ingredients. Mix both together. Stir in carrots and walnuts. put in a greased bread pan.

Cream cheese topping: Mix 1/3 cup sugar, 1 package cream cheese, 1 egg.

Top bread with half the cream cheese mixture(I made a small cheese cake with the left over mixture)

Bake at 350 for 55 min

cool in pan 10 min

Chicken and Andouille Gumbo

I made this recently, while it was 100+ degrees outside, but really it was deserving of a cold rainy day. I was suprised at how easy it was.

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1 Tablespoon oil

1 link andouille sausage finely chopped

3 medium celery stalks cut into 1/2 inch chunks

1 medium onion cut into 1/2 inch chunks

1 green bellpepper cut into 1/2 inch chunks

12 ounces okra sliced crosswise in 1/2 inch chunks(I couldn't find fresh, so I used frozen)

8 cups chicken broth

2lbs skinless chicken breast cut in 1/4ths

1 can(28ounces) plum tomatoes coarsley chopped with juice(2 cups, add water if needed)

2 dried bay leaves

1 Tablespoon worcestershire sauce

1. Heat a large skillet over meduim heat. Toast flour, stirring with a wooden spoon, for 3 minutes. cook until it has a toasted aroma and is the color of peanut butter. transfer to a large bowl and let cool.

2. Heat oil in large pot. Cook sausage for 1 min. Raise heat to high. add onion, celery, and bellpepper. cook for 3 min stirring occasionally. add okra cook for another 3 min.

3.meanwhile whisk broth into flour; add to pot. stir in chicken, tomatoes, and bay leaves; bring to boil. reduce heat to meduim and simmer 1 hour.

4. romove from heat; cover to keep warm. Transfer chicken to a plate, let cool 5 min. Remove bones, shred and add back to pot. Discard bay leaves. Stir in worchestershire sauce.

Cupcakes.

Some may say cupcakes are over done these days, but really can there ever be enough tiny little cakes running around this world? I made two of my favorite cupcake recipes for my sisters baby shower....lemon rosemary cupcakes and black bottom cherry cupcakes. So cute and so fun to eat!

Rosemary Lemon Cupcakes

1/2 cup butter softened

2eggs

.let eggs sit out for half an hour before making cupcakes

13/4 cups cake flour

2teaspoon rosemary(finely chopped)

11/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1cup sugar

11/2 teaspoons lemon extract

2/3 cup milk

2teaspoons lemon peel

3 Tablespoon lemon juice

-mix dry ingredients

-beat butter for 30 seconds. add lemon extract, and sugar beat until fluffy(2min). add eggs one at a time beating well.

-alternately add milk and flour mixture to butter mixture, beating well after each addition. Stir in in lemon peel and juice.

bake in pan with liners at 350 for -min. Let cool and ice.(1 cup powdered sugar-enough lemon juice to allow for a spreading consistancy-1/2lemon peel)

Black Bottom Cupcakes

-Mix 8oz of cream cheese, 1 egg, 1/3 cup of sugar until fluffy. Stir in 1 cup chocolatechips. set aside.

-Mix 11/2 cups flour, 1 cup sugar, 1/4 cup cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt.

-Mix 1/3 cup oil, 1 Tablespoon cider vinegar, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and 1 cup water.

-mix flour and oil mixtures together. Fill lined cupcake pans 1/3 the way full with batter then top off with 1 Tablespoon cream cheese mixture.

bake at 350 for 25-30 min. For cherry black bottoms. add 4 Tablesoons marchino cherry juice to cream cheese mixture. place a marschino cherry in the top of each cupcake, cover stems with a strip of foil to prevent burning.

Chocolate Spice Zucchini Bread

I modified the original recipe with extra spices, candied ginger, and chocolate. The end result was amazing. It reminded me of the holidays.

I large zucchini grated

1 cup light brown sugar

2 Tablespoons sugar

2/3 cup vegetable oil

2teaspoons vanilla

2 large eggs

11/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

2t cinnamon, 1t nutmeg, 1/4 t ginger, 1/2t cloves, 3/4 t salt

1/2 cup candied ginger chopped

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

6oz(half the bag) chocolate chips ground in the food processor.

mix dry ingredients. mix wet ingredients. mix together. Stir in candied ginger, zucchini, walnuts, and chocolate. put in a greased and floured bread pan. bake at 350 for 45-55 min. cool in pan for 10 min

Zucchini Parmesan Bread

Zucchini Parmesan Bread

In a quest for an alternative to the normal zucchini bread recipe, I came across this little treasure on marthastewart.com. It's a great accompaniment to soup, or a pot of beans. It is baby and husband approved!

1/3 cup olive oil
2 large eggs
1/3 cup milk

2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
dash of salt and pepper(I added a bit more of the pepper and it gave it a good bite)
1 cup grated Parmesan

2cups grated zucchini.

Whisk oil, eggs, and milk together. Mix dry ingredients including cheese. Mix both together and stir in zucchini. (batter will be thick). put in a greased bread pan. Bake at 375 for -70 minutes. tent with foil if the bread starts to brown. cool in pan for 15 minutes. Then yummy yummy yummy you have bread in your tummy!

watermelon juice

My garden took off this year and I've ended up with a bit more than we can eat. Most of the extra I'll be passing on to others or freezing. My watermelon plants are no exception and really when it comes down to it how many 10lb+ watermelons can one family eat? Thus was born my brilliant idea watermelon juice. It was delicious! I think it would be good mixed with fresh lemonaid or sparkling water.

Tempeh sandwich

I first discovered tempeh at a small cafe in the back of a health food store. They served as a "tempeh ruben". It's a great substatute for meat in various dishes. For those of you who don't know, Tempeh is fermented soybeans. This is my recipe, but there really is alot you can do with it.

Tempeh veggie sandwich

I get tempeh from Trader Joes(next to the meats, top shelf, by the soy cheese. ;))

.cut tempeh loaf in half and then again long ways

. soak each peice on a plate with soy/tamari sauce(don't worry about too much sauce, the tempeh doesn't absorb very much)

.season with salt and pepper

.fry in a pan with a little bit of oil

I usually complete the sandwich with lettuce, tomato, onion, mayo and avocado.

Apple Pumkin Muffins (and variation)

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 cups sugar

1 Tablespoon pumkin pie spice

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1 cup canned pumkin (or mashed banana, cooked sweet potato, yam ect)

1/2 vegetable oil(if you wish to leave out oil, add an extra cup of the above ingredient)

2 cups grated apple( zuccini, carrot, ect)

1/2 cup golden raisins

1/2 cup walnuts

In bowl mix first 5 ingredients. In another bowl mix eggs, pumkin(or?), and oil. stir into dry ingredients just until moist. fold in apple(or?), raisins, walnuts. Fill paper lined muffin cups 2/3 or more.

bake at 350 for 30 min . cool 5 min in pan.

The picture (above) is of the banana, carrot, zuccini variation. heavenly delicious.

Drink up

At our saturday farmers market here in town there's a guy who sells fabulous vegetarian greek fare at an outragous cost. It's good but I think I'd rather spend the extra 20 on produce not one lunch. However he does sell some of the most fabulous homemade lemonade you will ever taste. He's really a genuis when it comes to this brew. Each week the lemonade has a differant essence. Last week it was orange plum lemonade. Hints of ripe plums, and orange. Who would have thought. He's added the likes of lavendar, passion fruit, mango, basil, oregano, strawberry.

I decided to blend my own mix and being absent of lemons. I sqeezed oranges, added sliced strawberrys, and basil. Mix with ice, sugar, and desired amount of water it was so refreshing.

see picture bellow.

Today I made fresh limeade, with mint and sliced cucumber from the garden. With a hint of pineapple juice. Wow.

When I need a little more than baking

I love my kitchen. I love baking. I love the smell of fresh grated lemon peel, and pumkin pie spice. I bake when it's hot. When it's cold. I bake when I'm happy. I bake when I'm sad.(Sorry, I seem to be borrowing Dr. suesses writing style). It's my go to when I need to take the edge off. My prozac, bubble bath, chamomile tea.

But although baking seems to be my escape(well that and facebook, but don't tell anyone...its so not cool to admit to), I've needed a bit more as of late. Maybe a good book perhaps. Or maybe I should actually write in my blog!

The reasons why I suck at blogging... I have a hard time tieing myself down to one spot, Peter likes to type over the top of me, I'm not much for grammer or spelling, and finally I get moody and reclusive not wanting to talk to or at anyone not included in my safe circle.(the circle I'm afraid includes only those living with me..my husband, son, and dog.)

I also filter too much of my thinking...wondering who I'm going to affend with my raw thoughts. Recipes are safe, but opionions on life, parenting, religion, and politics can get a bit messy. I hate messy. I hate dealing with peoples rediculous emotions on matters that no one is forcing them to accept...just ponder.

I go so long between blog postings that I forget my password. So for sanitys sake, I want to blog a little....even when I don't feel like it.

lemon and garlic quinoa salad

1 cup dry quinoa

1/2 t sea salt

13/4 cup water

1/2 cup chopped carrots

1/3 cup minced parsley

1/4 cup sunflower seeds

Dressing:

3 to 4 garlic cloves minced

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/4 cup olive oil

1 to T tamari( soy sauce)

bring quiona, water, and salt to boil and let simmer for about 15 min. Let stand for 10 min. Add remainder of ingredients, and mixed dressing. Serve hot or cold.

I like to top with a little more soy sauce once on the plate.

Indian Curried Cauliflower with Potatoes and Peas

I had to be a bit creative with dinner last night as it was the end of the week. Curry is a great spur of the moment, thrown together, hodge podge of whatever you have. I usually make Thai curries with coconut milk, but a less spicy indian style curry sounded good. This smells so good cooking you want to jump in the pan...please refrain.

2T olive oil

2 yukon gold potatoes- peeled and chopped into 1/2" chunks

1 sm onion chopped

2 cloves garlic minced

1 T minced ginger

1T yellow curry paste- I used powder and added a tsp thai mussamen curry paste for spice

the amount of curry is really up to your liking

1/2 t cumin

2 t salt

11/2 cups water

1 sm cauliflower cut into flowerets

1 cup frozen peas

3 T chopped cilantro

Plain yogurt

-In a large skillet cook onion in oil until golden

-add potatoes, garlic, ginger, curry paste. cumin. Stir until coated and fragrant. 2-3 minutes

-add salt and water; bring to boil. cover and simmer for 10 min.

-add cauliflower; cover and simmer another 10 min or until cauliflower is tender.

-add peas, remove lid, and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated.

-garnish with cilantro, and serve over rice with plain yogurt on the side.

Crab Manicotti

Oh this is good stuff! I found this recipe in a healthy cooking/ taste of home magazine. It's extremely easy, and I even changed it up a bit to use some of the things I had here at home. I'll give the original(which is low-fat) along with my twisted one. The recipe is for only two servings but you can double, triple ect. for however many people you are cooking for or for how hungry you might be.

4 uncooked manicotti shells

(I used lasagna noodles and rolled them up with the filling inside)

1 Tbsp butter

4tsp. all purpose flour

1 cup fat-free milk(I used whole milk)

1 Tbsp grated parmesan (I used the powder)

7oz crabmeat( fresh, canned, in pouches) I used the trader Joes canned crab meat which is slightly less than 7 oz but it worked

1/3 cup reduced fat ricotta cheese (I used cottage cheese)

1/4 cup shredded part skim milk mozzarella(I used an italian cheese blend)

1/4 tsp lemon pepper (I used grated lemon peel )

1/4 tsp pepper

1/8 tsp. Garlic powder( I grated garlic- the way to go!)

Minced fresh parsley

-cook noodles

-melt butter in a sauce pan. Gradually add flour; gradually add milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir 2 minutes until thick. Stir in parmesan cheese.

-mix crab, ricotta, cheese, lemon, pepper, and garlic. Fill your noodles with the mixture.

-put a 1/4 cup of the sauce mixture on the bottom of a 8in baking dish coated with cooking spray. Top with stuffed noodles then pouring remaining sauce over top.

-cover and bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Sprinkle parsley on top. Enjoy!

Garbanzo(chick pea) Burgers

I copied this recipe from a cook book my sister had that all the proceeds from sales went to Haiti. It was full of great some what unusual recipes. I'll try to find a link to where you can find the cook book forsale. I've been wanting to try my hand at making my own "veggie burgers" for a while now. Very simple and delicious enjoy!

15 oz can of gabanzo beans

1 sm carrot grated

2 garlic cloves

1 sm onoin chopped

2 eggs

blend the above ingredients in the food processer until beans are smooth

add 1 tsp salt, 1/2 cup bread crumbs, 1 tbsp oil

I cooked them on my non-stick griddle(saves me from having to add more oil by useing a pan) I cooked them at 250 for about 5 minutes each side

I dressed them up just like a regular burger.

lemonaid and blogs

Welcome Back to Me! I had pledged at the start of 2010 that I would join the ranks of millions of other people in this world and start blogging(or start again). As with most resolutions they get lost somewhere between the doctor appiontments, dinner, laundry, and what ever mandatories that consume our time. I was inspired to pick of my tiny little resolution and dust it(puff, puff) when I spent a week with my sister, who is an avid blog reader. She showed me some amazing blogs.(I think she should blog. She's an awesome mom, homemaker who rocks organic living like no other) My goal in doing this is not to meet Oprah when my blog gets a billion hits, I'm just hoping that I can lend a few readers the fun ideas and inspiration that I've enjoyed from other blogs.

I've been living on lemons lately. It's such a happy ball of juice. I've made three lemon pies in the past month. My husband also loves fresh lemonaid, so I had a brilliant idea and I made the usual lemonaid but added it to some celestial seasonings True Blueberry tea that I had iced from the day before. LOVE was born in my pitcher!!!!

The even more marvelous thing is that it comes in a Fruit Tea Sampler, so you can choose Raspberry, peach, Berry, or Cherry if you like.

I brew a tea pot with 3-4 tea packets. chill. Juice about 5 lemons. Add sugar and more water to taste.