Carrot Cake... and Other Sweets

I didn't mean to take a two-week blogging break, but hey, things happen. Things like a sick baby, work projects, a few appointments and events, and an early Thanksgiving celebration with the in-laws.

I'll also be taking next week off to spend time with family and celebrate Thanksgiving. But before that, I'm leaving you with a peek at my birthday celebration (which happened at our place earlier this month) and the desserts I made for Scott's family's Thanksgiving gathering.

Plenty of treats to satisfy any sweet tooth!

My birthday was a low-key afternoon party with desserts and drinks. I served up a spread of puppy chow, compost cookies, pumpkin bars, chocolate chip cheeseball, and a banana cake with chocolate icing (just used a box cake mix and added an over-ripe banana to the batter).

And for Scott's family party, I made oatmeal carmelitas and a carrot cake. Lots of butter in the bars... and lots of sugar in the cake... so very good.

Carrot Cake
Recipe from my mom

Ingredients:
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
2 cups flour
2 to 3 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
2 cups grated carrots

Frosting:
1/2 cup butter or margarine
3 oz. cream cheese
3 3/4 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 to 3 Tbsp milk

In mixing bowl, combine eggs, sugar, and oil; mix well. Combine flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg. Beat into eggs mixture. Stir in carrots. Pour into 2 greased and floured 9-inch round pans. Bake 35 to 40 minutes at 350 degrees or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes before removing from pans.

Frosting: Cream butter and cream cheese. Gradually add powdered sugar and vanilla. Add enough milk to desired consistency. Frost cake (I chose to only frost the top of each layer). Garnish with a few grated carrots if desired. Refrigerate.

Wishing you a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Cooking and Baking

I've tried several new recipes over the past months and thought I'd share. My go-to resource for simple, quick recipes: Taste of Home. My mom has been getting the magazine for years and bought me a subscription. I also reference the website on a fairly regular basis.

Apple Chicken Quesadillas
Good sweet + savory combination. Though tasty, these quesadillas fell apart a little too easily. I'm thinking more cheese might prevent that from happening in the future. (Isn't "more cheese" always the answer?!)

Garlicky Beef and Tomato Pasta
A hearty meal that Scott liked. I think I was hoping for a little more flavor though. My shortcut: canned spinach.

(Another garlic + beef + tomato combo that we both loved: Garlic Beef Enchiladas... sorry, forgot to snap a photo!)

Caramel Brownies
My addition to the Fourth of July dessert spread (dense, fudgy, and rich -- my favorite kind of brownie!). They were pretty easy to whip up too, but the caramels did take awhile to melt over low heat.

I also made some Reese's bars from a recipe my family has been making for forever.

Salsa Skillet Pork Chops
Great flavor and mix of meat + veggies + beans. We both liked this one and it was one of the easiest dinner recipes I've tried recently.

(Looks like the link is now requiring a subscriber sign-in... but you can find it in the current June/July issue too. The basic recipe: salt and pepper 6 pork loin chops -- or I used cutlets; brown on both sides in a skillet; then add 2 c. corn, 15 oz. pinto beans, and 1 1/4 c. chunky salsa plus a little water and a teaspoon of cumin; simmer, covered, for 6-8 minutes.)

And this one isn't Taste of Home, but this simple steak salad and side of fruit was a great summer meal. I just sliced and heated leftover steak and served it over spinach salad with chopped red onion, halved grape tomatoes, and a light dressing. Blue cheese crumbles would have been another good topping to add.

What's your favorite source for easy recipes? What have you been cooking and baking lately?

Book Club: Room: A Novel

Well, it's been almost three weeks since our last book club meeting. At the time of the meeting, I hadn't actually finished the book, but I finally reached the end last week, so here's the delayed post!

I hosted this past month and went with a "breakfast for dinner" theme. I love brunch foods, and they are easy to prep ahead and then bake or cook right before guests arrive. Plus, even if I couldn't drink mimosas, I was happy to serve them!

Used my mom's recipe... though I think she usually adds more gooey topping than the recipe calls for :)

Pecan Rolls / Monkey Bread
1 cup chopped pecans (I left these out this time around)

1/2 package of frozen Rhodes dinner rolls

1 package instant butterscotch pudding

1/4 c margarine or butter

1/2 c brown sugar

Spray a Bundt pan with non-stick cooking spray. Sprinkle with 3/4 c chopped pecans. Place rolls around.  Add dry pudding. Combine melted margarine/butter and brown sugar. Drizzle over rolls and sprinkle with remaining nuts. 

Place in a cold oven overnight. Remove and heat oven to 325 degrees. Bake for 30 minutes. Let rolls sit for 2 minutes and serve inverted on plate.

Get the recipe here! So easy and good.

We discussed Plague Tales this time around. This book moved back and forth between two different times and places, each with its own set of conflicts surrounding an outbreak of the plague. Some of us enjoyed the sections dedicated to the "past" and some to the "future" (though technically the book was written in 1997 so the "future" section took place in 2005). Though some of the language was a bit cheesy and plot twists were a bit convenient at times, the group felt the overall story was entertaining and easy to read.

I especially liked the last hundred pages or so, mainly because the action moves more quickly in that part of the book and the chapters are shorter so the shifts between times come more often. It felt like the plot moves forward a lot more at that point, while earlier in the book, it sometimes dragged for me. In the end, though there isn't a huge revelation, the connection between the two time periods also becomes more clear. This pick was definitely more plot-driven than other books we've read, which made for a fun read.

For next month (meaning this month—ha!), we'll be reading Room by Emma Donoghue.

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Amazon.com Review:
Amazon Best of the Month, September 2010: In many ways, Jack is a typical 5-year-old. He likes to read books, watch TV, and play games with his Ma. But Jack is different in a big way--he has lived his entire life in a single room, sharing the tiny space with only his mother and an unnerving nighttime visitor known as Old Nick. For Jack, Room is the only world he knows, but for Ma, it is a prison in which she has tried to craft a normal life for her son. When their insular world suddenly expands beyond the confines of their four walls, the consequences are piercing and extraordinary. Despite its profoundly disturbing premise, Emma Donoghue's Room is rife with moments of hope and beauty, and the dogged determination to live, even in the most desolate circumstances. A stunning and original novel of survival in captivity, readers who enter Room will leave staggered, as though, like Jack, they are seeing the world for the very first time.

Homemade Baked Goods & (Almost) Instant Gratification

I'd like to blame it on pregnancy cravings, but let's be honest... my love for homemade baked goods is nothing new.

And thanks to a couple of super-quick-and-easy recipes from event planner + entertaining expert Julie Blanner, I can have yummy brownies and cookies fresh from the oven anytime. Well, except that I'm trying to keep it all in moderation...

Julie and I first crossed paths when I interviewed her for an article I wrote for EA Bride Magazine. Meeting new people and learning new things are definitely perks of freelance writing!

I tried out Julie's brownie recipe a couple of weeks ago, and I made the peanut butter cookies last night. You can get these "five-minute" recipes (and a ton of other amazing tips!) on her blog. P.S. Her photos are infinitely better than mine.

In other news, our crib and mattress arrived today! Thanks to my winter coat, I'm not entirely sure our neighbors know we're expecting. But since our new items are currently hanging out in the tiny entrance to our condo building, the secret may be out :)

Best Brownies

"Healthy" Peanut Butter Cookies

How I'm Combating Dinner Boredom

This past weekend, I decided I was totally over the meals we've been having for dinner. Too many frozen pasta dinners and pizzas lately had put me over the edge.

Neither of us are big on cooking, but I decided the best way to combat my dinner boredom was to bite the bullet and track down some new recipes to try.

On Monday, I chose two recipes and picked up the ingredients I needed. I made The Daily Dish's Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos on Tuesday night (and we had leftovers for lunch the next day!). Then last night, I tried Skinny Baked Broccoli Mac & Cheese (plenty of leftovers too!).

Taquitos and mac & cheese aren't too far out of our comfort zones, but these dinners weren't coming from a box or the freezer. Although taking the time to plan meals and try new recipes isn't an original idea, it was just the change I needed to mix things up at dinnertime.

Happy weekend, friends!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles

Cookie dough without the "dangerous" raw eggs?  Yes, please!  For K's bridesmaid lunch and nails last Friday, I made these chocolate chip cookie dough truffles.  So darn good.  If I didn't have to bring them to share, I might have been tempted to eat them all myself.

You can find the recipe below and on Bakerella.com... which I discovered via {av} and her recent "chocolate fix" post. [I did not use the popsicle sticks in my version, but be sure to check out the Bakerella link for another really cute and creative variation!!]

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles
from The Cookie Dough Lover’s Cookbook
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
chocolate candy coating
popsicle sticks, cut in half (use kitchen scissors to make a clean, smooth cut)

• In a large bowl, beat butter and sugars with an electric mixer until light and fluffy (about 3 minutes).
• Mix in milk and vanilla.
• Add flour and salt and mix on low until combined.
• Stir in chocolate chips.
• Chill dough in refrigerator for about 30 minutes until firm enough to roll or scoop into 1-inch balls.
• Place rolled balls on a wax paper lined baking sheet and place in the freezer for at least 15 minutes. (I had mine in for about an hour so longer is okay, too)
• Melt candy coating following instructions on the package. Remove a couple of balls from the freezer at a time and insert the cut stick into the ball. Dip in candy coating and let any excess fall off back into the bowl.
• Add small sprinkles on top and place on wax paper to set. If the chocolate pools at the bottom of the ball, dot the balls on the wax paper until most of it is pulled off the ball and then place it on a clean spot of the wax paper to set.
• Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to a week.

The "dough" rolled up and ready to be dipped!

Dipped and decorated with gold sprinkles!

Baking for Birthday BBQs

As we head into another weekend, I thought I'd give you a peek at the bars I made for last Saturday.  It was my BFF's birthday and she hosted a low-key BBQ.  (N. and I have known each other since 5th grade when we went to school together in Kansas!)

To kick off the summer season, we all relaxed on N. and M.'s deck from the afternoon into the evening.  M. grilled chicken, shrimp and corn-on-the-cob (seriously, amazing!).  Plus, they served a keg of Boulevard Wheat from the Kansas City brewery.

Adding to the spread of dips, chips, cheese, and sweets, I brought Peanut Butter M&M Blondies.  Nothing like a tasty bar topped with my favorite type of M&M.

via

Peanut Butter M&M Blondies

from greens and chocolate; adapted from my kitchen addiction

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

2 cups brown sugar

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups peanut butter M&Ms (from a medium sized bag)

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease 9x13 inch baking pan.

2) In medium saucepan, melt the butter and brown sugar, stirring until smooth.  When it is smooth, remove from heat and add peanut butter.  Allow to cool while combining the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Butter + brown sugar

Add the peanut butter...

Combine dry ingredients...

3) Add the eggs to the brown sugar and peanut butter mixture, mixing well after each addition.  Add the vanilla and stir to combine.  Pour the mixture into the mixed dry ingredients and stir until combined.  It will be a thick, smooth batter.

Add eggs... then vanilla

Pour into dry mixture

4) Pour into prepared baking dish and top with peanut butter M&M's, pressing them down into the batter.  Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes.  [My oven is "hot" so I could have pulled them out a few minutes earlier for softer, more gooey bars.]  Allow them to cool in pan before cutting into bars.

Ready for the oven...

After baking

YUM!

We also celebrated the 1st birthday of Scott's cousin's daughter (the one I've been nannying for over the last few months).  She's gone from a baby to a toddler before my eyes... from not even crawling to almost walking. 

When her mom D. asked if I would make a giant cupcake cake, just for the birthday girl, I was honored.  And it felt like things had come full circle since I made this cake for her baby shower last year.  How much has happened and changed since then!

Happy weekend!  For us Chicago folks, let's hope the sun comes back after all this rain.  I'm off to an end-of-the-year reception at DePaul today and then dinner with my ND girls tonight.

Saturday and Sunday are wide open.  Looks like I'll be paper writing... maybe making dinner on the grill with Scott... and hopefully heading to my third yoga class this week (feels good to get back into it!).

Cozy Up with Chicken Enchilada Crockpot Soup

Chicago got some snow overnight and this morning.  I'm happy it's Friday and plan to enjoy some rest and relaxation over the next two days... and hopefully some productivity too!  But before we head into the weekend, I wanted to share a little recipe. 

I made this Chicken Enchilada soup on Super Bowl Sunday.  (Hmm, my family and I were just emailing today about our love of southwestern-style food.)  Gotta love crockpot meals... not only are they are super easy to make, but you can also adapt them to your preferences or what's in your pantry.

I threw all the ingredients into the pot in the afternoon and served up the finished soup during Madonna's halftime show. Then Scott and I ate the leftovers throughout the week (yes, it's just as good left over).

So here's some cozy comfort food, just right for a wintery day...

Chicken Enchilada Crockpot Soup
from Jamie Cooks It Up, adapted from Real Mom Kitchen

Ingredients:

1 (14.5 ounce) can Mexican Style Stewed Tomatoes

2 (15 ounce) cans black beans

2 (15 ounce) cans corn

1/2 C onion, chopped

1/2 C red or green pepper, chopped

2 chicken breasts (can use frozen)

1 (10 ounce) can enchilada sauce

1 (10 ounce) can cream of chicken soup

2 1/2 C milk

4 chicken bullion cubes (or 4 t bullion granules)

1/2 t lime juice (can be bottled)

1/3 C sour cream

2 T butter

Toppings:

tortilla chips

cheddar cheese

cilantro

avocado

Look at all those cans... can't get much easier than that!

1) Pour the whole can of stewed tomatoes into your crock pot, juice included. Diced tomatoes work best.

I skipped the separate lime juice and cilantro since the tomatoes had some already.

2) Drain and rinse the black beans and add them to the pot.
3) Drain the corn and add them as well.

4) Roughly chop up 1/2 C onion and 1/2 C of red or green pepper and toss them in.

5) Pour the enchilada sauce into a medium sized mixing bowl. Add the cream of chicken soup, 2 1/2 C milk and then crumble the bullion cubes over the top.

6) Whisk it all together until nice and smooth.

7) Place two chicken breasts over the vegetables in your crock pot. (I used a whole package, which included four chicken breasts.)

8) Pour the sauce over the top of the chicken.

9) Cover your crock and cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 7-8, depending on how fast your crock pot cooks things.

10) Remove the chicken and place it on a plate. Shred it with a fork.

11) Add the 1/2 t lime juice, 1/3 C sour cream and 2 T butter to the soup. Whisk it in until the butter has melted and the sour cream is well combined.

12) Toss your chicken back into the pot, give it a stir and you are ready to eat.

Serve with tortilla chips and cheddar cheese (I added an extra dallop of sour cream too!). Cilantro and avocado are also fabulous.