best recipe EVER!

Okay so I don't really consider myself a good cook.  I can follow a recipe really well and I usually succeed with baking.  I have attempted not using a recipe a few times and it has ended in basically feeding the trash.  I made a carrot layer cake for a dinner party the other night and it was flippin' fantastic.  Like better than any carrot cake I have ever had, including Rock Bottom Brewery's carrot cake and Whole Foods' carrot cake.  I have to share this awesome recipe!

Carrot Cake

The cake:

• 4 eggs
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 1 cup brown sugar (packed)
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3 tsp vanilla extract
• 8 oz can crushed pineapple (drained)
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg (optional)
• 3 cups grated carrots

The frosting:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened (make sure it is soft enough)
• 8 oz  cream cheese, softened (make sure it is soft enough)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 1/2 cups confectioners sugar

 Directions:

1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 9 inch cake pans.
2.) In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, applesauce, sugars, vanilla and pineapple. Mix in flour, baking soda. baking powder, salt, cinnamon & nutmeg. Stir in carrots. Pour into prepared pans.
3.) Bake in the preheated oven about 40-45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Let pans cool for 10-15 minutes on a baking rack, the turn and remove cakes from pan and cool on wire racks until completely cool.  Cool them completely!  Don't even make the frosting until they are cooled!

4.) Frosting: combine butter, cheese and vanilla until smooth.  Slowly beat in sugar.  Beat until smooth.  Frost your cake and top with pecans :)

Enjoy and be ready to want to make another!

halibut for dinner

I have found my go to halibut recipe!

• 1 cup shredded cheddar
• 1/2 cup mayo
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 2 Tbsp flour
• 1 1/2 tsp lemon juice
• 1/4 tsp cayenne
• halibut

Preheat oven to 450. Lightly grease baking dish. Mix 1/2 the cheddar, mayo, sour cream, lemon juice, flour and cayenne. Arrange halibut and slather with mixture. Top with remaining cheddar. Bake for 10 minutes @ 450. Reduce heat to 350 and bake for 15 more minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork.

We all thoroughly enjoyed this dish, even Miss Avery!

"that soup" and "that peachy dessert thingy"

Just 2 recipes I stole from daytime television. They are really easy and pretty yummy. Avery LOVES the soup and who doesn't like dessert? I am mostly just documenting this so I don't lose the recipe again ;)

"THAT SOUP"

Ingredients:

4 pre-cooked honey-garlic sausages (500 g) (or whatever you can find at the store)
7 to 8 cups (1.8 - 2 L) chicken broth
1 bay leaf
1 tbsp (15 mL) dried parsley
1 tsp (5 mL) dried thyme
6 Swiss chard leaves, trimmed and chopped (I just use spinach leaves)
3 carrots, thinly sliced (or handful baby carrots, sliced)
2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
1/2 onion (i omit the onion)
one 19 fl oz can (540 mL) white kidney beans, drained and rinsed (i use great northern beans)
3 handfuls broad egg noodles
I usually throw in about a cup of frozen corn too

Preparation:

1. Slice up sausages
2. Simmer broth and herbs in a large pot, loosely covered, while you chop vegetables.
3. Add veggies to pot. Thinly slice the sausages and add to pot.
4. Roughly mash about 1/3 of the kidney beans and add, along with the whole beans, to the pot.
5. Add noodles to the pot.
6. Simmer 20 minutes, or until noodles and veggies are tender. Makes 6 dinner servings.



"THAT PEACHY THINGY"

Ingredients:

1 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 cup pecan pieces (or walnut pieces)
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, soft
1/3 cup granulated sugar
pinch salt
Two 14 fl. oz. (398 mL) can sliced peaches or apricots in juice or syrup*
1 tsp vanilla extract

* Or 1 1/2 cups sliced home-canned or fresh peaches, apricots or plums. But do not use frozen fruit.

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 375 F (190 C).
2. Melt tablespoon butter in 8 X 8-inch glass baking dish but putting the butter in the baking dish into the warming oven for a few minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons brown sugar. Set aside.
2. To make crumble topping, in a large bowl, mix pecan pieces, flour, 1/2 cup brown sugar, rolled oats, soft butter, sugar and salt until no dry flour is left. Mixture will be crumbly.
3. Drain canned peaches (juices are not used). If home-canned peaches are in halves, slice into segments. Spread peach slices in baking dish pan over melted butter and brown sugar. Do not stir. Sprinkle vanilla over peaches. Sprinkle crumble mixture evenly over peaches.
4. Bake about 25 minutes, until crumble is lightly browned and fruit juices are bubbly. Makes 1 Peach Pecan Crisp.

Avery and I had a taste or two of this yummy casserole at a Moms Club get together the other day. Just wanted to share.

Hash Brown Casserole:

• 1 bag hash browns
  
• 6 eggs
• 1 large can diced green chilies
  
• 1 can enchilada sauce
• 1 package sausage cooked and chopped
• 1 package bacon cooked and chopped up
• salt and pepper
• 1 bag cheddar cheese (about 4 cups)

Get a big bowl and mix it all up (mix half the cheese inside). Put in casserole dish and put the other half of the cheese on top. Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes.

Avery enjoying some Thanksgiving dinner. The sparkling apple cider and cornbread were her favorites.

If you are wondering what I have been up too, I have been baking. 'Tis the season", right? Not all have been a success. First, I made brownies last week and forgot to add the water. Totally my fault, but sometimes it is hard to concentrate when you have a 2 1/4 foot tall little monster following you around and screaming at you for attention. Real fun! So yeah, I forgot the water and they were DRY! So dry that it hurt your jaw to chew them! Don't worry though, we made sure to eat all of them. Round # 2 of the brownie adventure was much better. Then, I tried fudge. I bought regular condensed milk rather than sweetened condensed milk. I thought, "oh no big deal". It is a big deal! Now I have a ton of chocolate goo that is not setting 24 hours later. BOO! But, the toffee I made is EXCELLENT! It sounds a little complicated, but really is easy and I did not use a candy thermometer.

White Chocolate Almond Toffee

• 1 cup unsalted butter, cut up
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 cup finely chopped almonds
• 12 ounces white chocolate chips
  

1. Line a 15x10x1" jelly-roll pan with non-stick foil,or spray regular foil with non-stick spray. In medium saucepan; heat butter, sugar, corn syrup, and 2 tbsp water. Heat over medium heat to melt butter. Increase heat to med-high and insert candy thermometer.
2. Cook mixture about 12 minutes until golden brown and temp reaches 300°F DO NOT STIR. Remove from heat and remove thermometer. Carefully stir in 1c. chopped almonds.
3. Quickly pour toffee onto prepared pan and spread to edges. Let stand in pan on a wire rack for 30mins.
4. Melt half of the chocolate in microwave on High for 45 seconds. Stir to smooth. Spread over top of cooled toffee. Refrigerate 20 minutes until firm.
5. Once bar is firm, flip over onto a piece of wax paper; remove foil. Microwave remaining chocolate on High 45 seconds and stir to smooth. Spread over toffee bar; sprinkle with remaining 1/4c. almonds. Use wax paper to slide toffee bar back onto baking pan. Refrigerate 20 more minutes.
6. Once chocolate is firm, break bar into 2.5" pieces. Store airtight at room temperature up to 1 month.

Our mini table top tree. Aka The Trailer Tree.

We tried to go see Santa yesterday, but Avery projectile vomited all over a restaurant and herself right before we had been planning on going. She was not sick, but kinda choked and had some OJ for the first time. Oooops. It smelt pretty horrible, but she is fine. She has been EXTRA grumpy lately. She cut tooth # 11. She has a total of 9 more teeth until she is completely finished teething. 1 incisor, 4 canines and 4 2 year molars. She has also come up with some new dance moves. I have been trying to get a video uploaded to FB, but our internet connection is VERY slow. We do not have much planned for the holidays as Sam is on call through Christmas. Sam's Mom and Step Dad are coming to visit for a couple days near Christmas and we are going to dinner Christmas day with some friends, but that is about it. The countdown to our Alaska trip has begun. T-48 days!

Turkey Leftovers?

Sam and I made some yummy soup with some of our turkey leftovers! It is SPICY and DELISH!

Tex Mex Turkey Soup

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 cup minced onion
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 poblano chopped
  
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano
• 4 cups water
• 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed tomato soup
• 1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1 cup salsa
• 4 cups shredded cooked turkey
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley
• 3 chicken bouillon cubes
• 1 (14 ounce) can black beans, rinsed, drained
• 2 cups frozen corn
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1. Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add minced onions and peppers and cook until onions begin to soften, about 4 minutes. Add garlic, chili powder, cumin and oregano and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.
2. Stir in water, tomato soup, diced tomatoes, salsa, shredded turkey, parsley and bouillon cubes. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes or until bouillon cubes dissolve. Add black beans, corn, sour cream and cilantro. Simmer for 20 to 30 minutes.
3. Serve soup with crushed tortilla chips, chopped green onion, shredded cheese and additional cilantro and sour cream.

What I Cooked for Lunch Today....mmmm

White Chicken Chili (spicy and delicious)

3 whole heads garlic (about 48 cloves), unpeeled
3/4 tsp salt, divided
3 tbsp olive oil, divided
2 poblano peppers
1 medium onion
1 small lime
1 1/2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 tbsp Southwestern Seasoning Mix
1 can (15.5 oz) Navy beans, drained
1 jar (16 oz) salsa verde
1/4 cup water

1. Trim fat from chicken, cube and cook

2. Slice about 1/4 in. off the pointed top of garlic heads to expose cloves. Place garlic cut side up in a microwave safe dish. Sprinkle garlic with 1/4 tsp of the salt and drizzle with 2 tbsp of the oil. Microwave on HIGH 3 minutes or until garlic is soft. Set aside to cool.

3. Meanwhile, finely dice peppers. Chop onion using a food chopper or food processor. Squeeze lime juice into crock pot. Combine peppers and onion into crock pot. Add seasoning mix, remaining 1 tbsp oil, remaining 1/2 tsp salt, chicken, 1/4 cup of water and the salsa to the crock pot. Gently squeeze cooled garlic from heads into small dish (discard skins); mash using a fork or potato masher and add to crock pot. Place on high for 1 hour.

4. Add beans to crock pot and turn down to low for another 30 min to 45 min (or until peppers are tender)

5. Serve with fresh cilantro, sour cream, salsa, and tortilla chips.