Ending the Week Sweet

I lucked out with a 4 day weekend this week. I always have Thursdays off and then all of my classes got cancelled on Friday, but I’m not complaining. :-)

A lot of you have been asking what I have been up to lately, so I figured other than just sharing the recipes and meals I’ve been making/eating, I’d share a few pictures of what’s been consuming my time lately.

• A lot of studying—with mid-terms next week things get pretty busy as in reading, reading, reading, and memorizing.

• Packing for spring break—I’m taking a trip out to Boston starting next weekend for a few days to visit family. Any blogger’s in the area?—shoot me an email!

• Reviewing ALOT of great products I can’t wait to share!

• Enjoying the outdoors—I’ve been doing a lot of snowmobiling and four wheeling.

• Hanging out with my main squeeze and flying in his airplane. We flew up North to my hometown last weekend which was a lot of fun.

• And of course I couldn’t have a post without a new and sweet recipe right?! This cake is infused with a blend of aromatic spices, a fruit, AND a veggie! What a way to get five a day!!

Spiced Apple Carrot Cake

Serves 8

Ingredients:

1  cups  flour

1/2 + 1/4  cups Splenda (what I used) or  granulated sugar

1 1/8  teaspoons  baking soda

1/2 + 1/4 teaspoons  baking powder

1/2+ 1/4  teaspoons  cinnamon

1/8  teaspoon  ground cloves

1/8  teaspoon  ground nutmeg

1  teaspoons  unsweetened cocoa powder

  pinch of  freshly ground black pepper

1/8  teaspoon  salt

1/2  cup  unsweetened applesauce

1/2 c egg beaters

1/2 + 1/4  cups  packed coarsely grated carrots (about 3 medium)

1/2 + 1/4  cups  packed coarsely grated tart apples, such as Granny Smith (about 2 medium)

Frosting:

4 oz fat free cream cheese

1/4 c powdered sugar

1 tsp  coconut extract

2/3 c Cool Whip, thawed

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Grease 8 inch square pan and set aside. In a large bowl, combine flour, splenda or sugar, baking soda, baking powder, spices, cocoa, pepper, and salt. Whisk to combine, then stir in applesauce and eggbeaters. Stir in carrots and apples.

2. Pour into pan and bake until cakes pull away from pan sides and a cake tester inserted in center comes out clean, 25 minutes. Transfer cakes to cooling rack and let cool 10 minutes. Turn out onto rack and let cool completely.

3. Beat cream cheese, cool whip,  and extract until smooth and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Gradually add powdered sugar and mix until combined.

4. Once cake is cool, cut in half and cut each half in half horizontally. Spread some frosting over it, then top with second layer. Generously frost top and sides of cake with remaining frosting. Cut into 8 double-layer slices.

 

Anything new and exciting you’ve been up to?

Semi-Fine Dining

Well, Sunday is here and that means Monday tomorrow, but hopefully you all had a super weekend! We had Friday off of school for homecoming and such, so I was not complaining of a 3 day weekend =) So what did I do with 3 days? Homework, cleaned, shopped, and cooked a meal for my dad and I! He hasn’t seen my apartment since it was all boxes because he’s a over-the-road trucker, so our schedules usually conflict. This weekend my mom was gone, so it was perfect!

Not seeing my dad for 3 months was extremely crazy—he makes me laugh, and I needed a dose of dad humor and of course a big hug! I already knew what was on the menu for us—he and I are huge seafood fans (my mom doesn’t like it), so here’s our menu! It turned out fabulous!

Dad & Daughter Menu

• Crab Stuffed Chicken (recipe here)
• Homemade Roasted Garlic Wheat Bread (recipe below)
• Sliced Garden Tomatoes
• Brown Sugar Roasted Sweet Potatoes, Carrots, and Fennel (recipe below)

My dad was so excited—check out when I delivered his plate to him! (don’t mind the hat hair ha ha)

Love him!

With a look at this, could you blame him for his excitement?

Brown Sugar Roasted Sweet Potatoes, Carrots, and Fennel

(This was so flavorful, and perfect as a side dish for any fall meal!)

Serves:4

Ingredients:

• 2 large sweet potatoes
• 3 large carrots
• 2 fennel bulbs
• 2 Tbsp brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp olive or canola oil
• Salt/pepper to taste

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 425 F.
• Peel sweet potatoes and carrots in to your desired size/shape.
• Slice fennel bulb and cut into four sections.
• Toss all veggies with oil and brown sugar. Add salt and pepper.
• Take a casserole dish or roasting pan and spread veggies in a single layer.
• Cover pan with tinfoil and roast for 45-60 minutes, stirring every 15-20 mins. Roast until sweet potatoes and carrots are tender and fennel starts to brown.

Roasted Garlic Wheat Bread (bread machine)

Makes 2 pound loaf

Ingredients:

• 1 c water
• 1/2 sour cream
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 2 c bread flour
• 2 c whole wheat flour
• 1 tbsp wheat germ
• 1 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/4 tsp active dry yeast

Directions:

• Place ingredients in bread machine in above order.
• Choose wheat bread cycle if available, otherwise just the standard.

If you do not have a bread machine, you could easily make this my prepping yeast, mixing, and letting rise, then baking. I would suggest following another similar oven-baked bread recipe for a basic time guideline.

Fruit + Veggies = ?

It seems these days we are always hearing messages whether it be in print, on tv, or from your doctor that we should be meeting our quota of daily fruits and veggies. (Find out how many you really need here) For me, it’s never been a big deal, because thankfully fruits and veggies are always welcome on my plate! There is never really a meal that I eat that doesn’t have some type of produce.(Either fresh, frozen, or canned.) But for others who can’t down broccoli, or moms that have picky kids, you need to find recipes that can “sneak” produce in foods in unlikely ways. Today’s recipe contains one veggie and two fruits, so if you eat a slice (which is not hard to do!), you’ll knock off some out your daily fruit & veggie quota.

Carrot Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting

Makes: 16 slices

Ingredients:

Cake:

• 2 c cake flour
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 large eggs, room temp
• 2 egg whites, room temp
• 1/2 c granulated sugar (or Splenda if you prefer)
• 1/2 c apple butter (I used 1 jar of carrot baby food instead)
• 1/4 c canola oil
• 1 (8 oz) can crushed pineapple, drained
• 2 carrots, coarsely shredded (about 1 1/2 c)

Frosting:

• 1 (8 oz) package fat-free cream cheese, at room temp
• 1 1/2 c confectioner’s sugar
• 1/4 c plain reduced-fat (2%) Greek yogurt (I used Yoplait Thick and Creamy Cinnamon Roll yogurt instead)
• 3/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup walnuts, chopped (nuts are optional)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray 2 8-inch cake pans with nonstick spray.
• Whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl—set aside. With an electric mixer, beat the eggs and egg whites on high for about 2 minutes, or until thickened. Gradually add the granulated sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Reduce the speed to low. Add the flour mixture and beat until just blended. Stir in the pineapple, carrots, and raisins.
• Divide the batter evenly between the pans. Bake until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Let pan cool on racks completely.
• To make frosting, with an electric mixer on high speed. Beat the frosting ingredients in a medium bowl until smooth, about 1 minute.
• Place 1 cake layer, rounded side down, on a serving plate. With a narrow metal spatula, spread 1/2 c frosting over the layer. Top with remaining layer, rounded side up. Spread the remaining frosting over the top and sides of the cake. Sprinkle walnuts on the top of the cake.

[[Recipe adapted from here.]]

Carrot cake has to be one of my favorite cakes out there! I think my mom may have passed her love of it on to me—but I’m not complaining! What is your favorite cake to eat? Or are you just a frosting eater? Any super recipes?

Sweet Saturday Smack Down

 

The Contenders: Stevia Sweetener vs. Sucralose (Splenda)

First Up---Splenda

• Splenda contains chlorine.
• Sucralose is now formally FDA approved and has zero calories.
• Research on animals has shown that it has effects on liver and kidneys.
• Supposedly, artificial sweeteners can stimulate appetite.
• There has been no independent long-term research of sucralose performed on humans.
• Sucralose has been available in international markets for more than 13 years.
• Sucralose is actually derived from sugar.
• How it’s made: The process replaces the 3 hydrogen-oxygen groups present in the sugar molecule with 3 chlorine atoms. There is chlorine in many foods that we routinely eat so this is not considered toxic. Chlorine is present in all sorts of products including table salt, mushrooms and lettuce. When chlorine is added to sucrose, sucralose is created. Sucralose passes through the body undetected and is not converted into energy, nor is it considered a carbohydrate. Splenda is considered to taste like sugar with none of the calories.
• It is found in many soda drinks and sugar-free products.

Second Up---Stevia

• Stevia is an all-natural powdered sweetener.
• Unlike sucralose, it is deemed to actually have beneficial health factors such as not effecting blood sugar levels unlike sugar, prevents cavities, recommended for diabetics, and non-toxic extensively tested in animals and extensively used by humans with no adverse effects.
• The powdered form is up to 30 times sweeter than sugar, while it's extracts can be up to 300 times sweeter than sugar.
• It has been used since pre-Columbian times with no reported side effects such as toxicity.
• Stevia is quite popular in Japan where it has been used for over 35 years as a sweetener.
• In 2007, The Coca-Cola Company announced plans to obtain approval for rebiana for use as a food additive within the United States by 2009, as well as plans to market rebiana-sweetened products in 12 countries that allow stevia's use as a food additive.

Who Wins?

It really comes down to personal preference. Of course sucralose no doubt gets more rap then stevia, and of course stevia is natural, although sucralose is derived from sugar. The way they are processed also varies greatly—one is more chemical, the other is pretty natural. As far as taste goes, I have tried both, and although I consume Splenda a lot through the granulated powder and because it’s found in a lot of foods I eat. I recently tried stevia in the from of Pure Via and am considering switching over as much as possible because there was no real taste difference. It is more expensive than the Wal-Mart off-brand Splenda I buy, but I think it would be a worthwhile investment.

What’s your stand between the two?

Here’s a new recipe I came up with using the stevia sweetener!

Stevia and Maple Glazed Baby Carrots

Ingredients:

• 1 Tbsp pure maple syrup
• 1 packet of Pure Via or other stevia sweetener
• 1 1/2 c small baby carrots
• Microwave Steam Bag

Directions:

• Open steam bag and place all ingredients in.
• Microwave for 5-6 min, depending on how soft you like your carrots to be.
• Open steam bag carefully, pour onto plate—eat!

This was inspired by numerous steamed carrots at restaurants—easy, quick, and healthy.