Carrot Cake (sweetened with crushed pineapple and juice)

Dear David's birthday, his first, and I wanted to make something special and healthy. I found this recipe on Cooks.com, but the original recipe called for 6 tablespoons of sugar. I wanted something totally sugar free for my baby and only sweetened with fruit juice concentrate, so I just cut the sugar and added more crushed pineapple and unsweetened pineapple juice concentrate. The recipe turned out great and even my mother was asking for the recipe and my father-in-law enjoyed it, too!

Ingredients:

1 c. all-purpose flour 

3/4 c. whole wheat flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. olive oil 

2 eggs
1/4 c. unsweetened pineapple juice concentrate
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. shredded carrots
1/2 c. raisins
3/4 c. crushed unsweetened pineapple, drained

Very first step, preheat the oven to 350°F and grease and flour two 8x8x2 inch pans. Next, I grated the carrots using this old outdated archaic food processor. It looks like its from the 60's, because it is from the 60's. A hand me down from my mother that I will not let go. It's dependable and efficient. They don't make 'em like this one anymore!

After that, I tossed the dry ingredients in one bowl. In a second bowl, I stirred the oil, eggs, juice and vanilla.

Stir the liquid into dry ingredients until smooth. 

 

Add the carrots, raisins and pineapple. 

Scrape the batter into prepared pans and bake 35-40 minutes. Cool in the pan on a rack for about one hour or if you are like me, till you have time to come back and frost, which may be the next day.

The finishing touch, frost with Cream Cheese Frosting. See recipe below. I hope your family enjoys it as much as mine did!

Cream Cheese Frosting

For Carrot Cake or Applesauce Cake.

1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese
5 tbsp. unsweetened pineapple juice concentrate
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. finely grated orange zest

Beat all ingredients together until smooth.

Bacon, Celery Salad with Tomatoes; The New BLT!

It was one of those days where I was too lazy to go to the store and buy lettuce for a BLT, but noticed that I had plenty of celery in my fridge. Maybe lazy is not so much the word, but my hands were full with my two youngest at home and one with bronchitis. No way I was going to the store with these two in pursuit.

"Hmmmm, could I substitute celery for lettuce in my BLT?", I wondered to myself.

I think I should experiment and see if this can happen. The bacon was already under the broiler.  The toast in the toaster. What do I have to loose? I needed to decide soon or find something else for my Sunday afternoon lunch because my stomach was growling and so was the stomach of my three year old.

I made the leap and gave it a try, and let me tell you, I am so glad I did. It was wonderful and even my three old enjoyed it and asked for seconds!

Ingredients:
4 stalks of celery, washed and diced into small bite size pieces
1/3 pint of grape tomatoes
2 thin slices of onion, diced
4 TBSP Real Mayonnaise
A dash of salt, pepper, and basil

 Did I mention that I didn't have large tomatoes...only grape tomatoes in the fridge?!

 

All the vegetables diced and ready for the mayo, salt, pepper, and basil.

 

Ready for the toast and bacon!

 

This was delicious and something I will do again, especially when I am lacking the appropriate ingredients for the same old BLT. My new BLT, the BCsT; Bacon, Celery salad with Tomatoes!

Homemade Flour Tortillas

It seems like forever since I posted a recipe to this blog and only yesterday when I was holding my youngest newborn son, just a tiny babe...Now, he is no longer a tiny babe, but a strong growing boy almost one year old. This realization just increases my desire to find healthy unprocessed meals for my family to consume. Tonight's experiment, homemade flour tortillas!

I have always wanted to try these, but was afraid it would be difficult or take too much time, but in reality, it was so easy, a few simple ingredients and a few easy steps. My inspiration for this recipe was a blog called Tasty Kitchen. I am so grateful for the detailed steps and all the pictures that made this so easy for a visual learner like myself. I see myself using this recipe often! Next time, I think I will try whole wheat flower and see how it tastes.

Ingredients

• 3 cups Organic, Unbleached Flour
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• ½ teaspoons Baking Powder
• ⅓ cups Olive Oil
• 1 cup Hot Water

 

Mix the flour, salt, and baking powder with a whisk. Add the olive oil and mix with your fingers until all the oil is incorporated and the mixture looks like fine crumbs. Add 1 cup of hot water and mix until a ball is formed. Cover with plastic wrap and let the dough rest for about 30 minutes or let it rest over night to have it prepared in advanced.

 

Divide the dough into 12 balls and roll out one at a time on a floured surface.  Notice I only have eight in the bowl...I remembered to take a picture after I already started rolling out the dough.

 

 

Brush off excess flour. Cook on a hot, ungreased griddle over medium-high heat. Turn the tortilla when brown blisters form on the first side and you notice air bubbles forming. Stack the tortillas and serve warm.

  

I think we have a winner with this recipe! My daughter is all smiles as she enjoys a supper of slow cooker pork fajitas with lettuce, cheese, and black bean and corn salsa. My school aged children will be enjoying these tortillas for school lunch as a quesadilla with extra cheese and pork from today's slow cooker meal.

Whole Wheat Sugar Free Apple Cake

I love the fall weather and especially the crispness and sweetness of the apples. I recently purchased 20 lbs of organic Fuji apples from Azure Standard, a provider of quality bulk and natural foods. I think half is already gone. My favorite clean eating recipe for apples is apple cake and my kids love it, too! What I love most about this recipe is no sugar is needed. The apples' own sweetness makes this recipe a delightful dessert.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 stick (8tbsps) unsalted butter, softened and cooled
• ½ cup apple sauce unsweetened
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup and 2 tablespoons whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 3-4 large apples, cored, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray an 8- to 9-inch pan with olive oil.  Using an electric mixer or hand whisk, mix the butter, apple sauce, eggs, and vanilla until well combined.

Combine the flour, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl. Add them to the moist mixture. Mix again until the batter is smooth. Fold in the apple cubes.

 Pour the batter in the prepared pan. Bake until the cake is set and slightly browned, about 35 minutes. Serve with homemade ice cream or store bought works just as well.

Quick and Easy Chocolate Pudding

My oldest son and I have a love in common...we both truly and deeply love chocolate. My son especially loves chocolate pudding, but after reading the ingredients' list on a package of instant pudding and discovering that many of the ingredients are unrecognizable and even derived from petroleum, such as artificial food colorings and additives, I decided that chemically processed and artificially flavored pudding is not something I want my family to consume on a regular basis. I love the real food tips that are provided by one of my favorite bloggers, Lisa, at 100 Days of Real Food. She has a great article on artificial food dyes. After doing my own research and reading her article, I definitely decided that artificial food dyes and chemical supplements in food is not something I really want my family to eat.

So, I found this simple, easy, and less processed alternative. Granted, this recipe requires sugar, but sugar consumed occasionally and in small amounts by my family is acceptable by me. The original recipe, from Debra at allrecipes.com, required a full cup of sugar for 8 servings. I reduced the amount of sugar by half and only used a half cup instead and added butter and vanilla for extra smoothness and flavor. My kids love it! Now, if only I could make it taste great without the sugar...hmmmm...a work in progress.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup confectioners sugar (you could use granulated sugar instead, I just like the smoothness of the powdered sugar)
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup cornstarch
4 cups milk
1 TBSP vanilla
1 TBSP butter

In a microwave-safe bowl, whisk together the sugar, cocoa and cornstarch.

Whisk in milk a little at a time so the mixture does not have any dry lumps. Place in the microwave, and cook for 3 minutes on high. Stir, then cook at 1 minute intervals, stirring between cooking times for 2 to 4 minutes, or until shiny and thick. Stir in vanilla and butter.

I have a secret to share with you. If you don't know me by now, I am a little impatient, especially when it comes to chocolate...so...sometimes I cook for 2 minute intervals rather than 1 minute intervals as the original recipe states. My only caution is to watch the microwave to make sure the chocolate pudding does not bubble over your microwave safe container as its cooking.

Place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pudding to prevent a skin from forming (I know, I know, in previous blog entries I have written how I dread plastic wrap on warm food, but if someone comes up with a different way to prevent the surface of the pudding from forming a skin, let me know), and chill in the refrigerator or if you are like me, eat it immediately after its cool enough to touch your mouth! You could go without the plastic wrap. The chocolate skin on top tastes just like the pudding, just firmer and thicker in texture.

Unsweetened Banana Muffins with Chocolate (Carob) Chips

I am always in search of clean eating recipes for me and my family to consume, the entire purpose of this blog. When I use the phrase clean eating, I refer to unprocessed and totally sugar free without any honey, agave, and especially without any artificial sweeteners. Sometimes though....I crave something sweet, usually chocolate...o.k. to be honest the only sweet thing I usually crave is chocolate.

When you bake muffins following this recipe, the ripe bananas add enough sweetness that you do NOT need to add sugar, honey, or sweetener of any sort. Add some cinnamon along with the bananas and the muffins are sweet enough to eat. I have made this recipe before and have even included the recipe on my blog, but this time, we added "carob" chips to the mix for a different twist and to sedate my chocolate craving. To be honest though, "carob" chips are not chocolate and I would prefer 70-80% cocoa chocolate chips with very low sugar content, but the kids find dark chocolate too bitter for their taste buds.

What are "carob" chips you ask? I am so glad you asked..."Carob" chips are made from the carob plant. It is an evergreen plant native to the Mediterranean region, but now grows in other locations, like California. To find out more about "carob" chips, visit this link at eHow Food.

There are some health benefits to eating carob chips. Carob needs less sugar than chocolate to make it sweet, carob chips have one third of the calories of chocolate, and because it is not chocolate, it is safe for animals to eat!

 Ingredients:

6 lg. bananas
2 tsp cinnamon
2 eggs
2/3 cups melted butter
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp sea salt
3 cups organic whole wheat flour
1 cup "carob" chips or dark chocolate chips (70-80% cocoa content)

Mash bananas. Add cinnamon and slightly beaten eggs. Add melted butter.
Sift dry ingredients together and add to above mixture. Add carob or chocolate chips. Mix until moistened. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes. This makes two dozen muffins, which my kids loved as a snack!

Mix the dry ingredients together first. My kids love making this recipe!

Add the wet ingredients to the sifted dry ingredients.

My dear son loves to break the yokes with his fingers.

Corns, Beans and Rice

I still have many boxes of brown rice to eat and still have a few recipes up my sleeve to try. Here is one more I pulled out of my pocket by mixing ingredients I have on hand. My husband so enjoyed this dish that he ate it as his main meal rather than a side dish as originally intended.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup frozen sweet corn kernels cooked
• 3 cups cooked brown rice
• 2 cans pinto beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 green or red pepper diced

Dressing:

• 3-4 TBSP olive oil
• Juice of 1 lime or 2 TBSP bottled lime juice
• 1 TBSP ground cumin
• 1 TBSP  ground garlic
• 1 TBSP onion powder
• 3 TBSP cilantro
• kosher salt and ground black pepper to taste

Directions:
In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lime juice, cumin, garlic, onion powder, and salt/pepper. In a large bowl, mix the rice, corn, peppers and beans. Fold in the dressings with the rice and vegetables.