Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

I would prefer to put a pumpkin recipe up here, but I haven't had the time to make anything pumpkin.

We did have a birthday, however, the request was carrot cake.

Although I admit, it's still ridiculously delicious.

Carrot Cake

3 cups whole wheat flour

2 tsp baking soda

1 TBSP cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp ginger

1 1/2 cup honey

3/4 cup buttermilk

3 eggs

1/2 cup oil

2 tsp vanilla

2 cups shredded carrots

1 can crushed pineapples

Bake at 350˚ for 50 minutes

Cream Cheese Frosting

8 oz cream cheese (room temperature)

1/2 cup butter (room temperature)

1/3 cup honey

1 tsp vanilla

Whip all ingredients until thoroughly mixed and enjoy!

Chocolate Beet Cake

What? Beets in chocolate cake? Can it be? Oh, it can. And it's delicious. I have a confession to make. I have learned to love many things in recent years. Beets are not one of them. I've tried. Oh, how I've tried. I guess I just never thought of putting them in a chocolate cake. Now I know. And now I love them. As long as they're in chocolate.

I'm not actually going to put the recipe here because I want you to visit my friend Claudia's blog. She has wonderful things there, including the chocolate beet cake recipe.

By the way, she uses coconut sugar in the cake. Sucanat would work as well. But don't forget to put one or the other in the cake. If you do forget because you are overwhelmed and have a screaming 7 month old and a screaming 8 year old and two more who are yelling, "MOM!" constantly, all the grandparents and aunts and uncles who came to celebrate your four year old's birthday will be grossed out and your father-in-law might even be quite rude and hurt your already very embarrassed feelings. Totally hypothetical. I just thought I'd throw it out there...

Enjoy!

Yummiest Cornbread Ever

Ok.  

You can't eat chili without cornbread.  You just can't. This recipe of Jessica's is truly delicious.  In fact, it is so delicious that I renamed it, "Yummiest Cornbread Ever".  "Whole Wheat Cornbread" just didn't do it justice.

It just didn't.

Yummiest Cornbread Ever

1 c. whole wheat flour
1 c. whole grain yellow cornmeal
4 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1/3 c. honey
1 c. milk
1/4 c. oil

Blend all ingredients 20 seconds and pour into greased 8" or 9" pan.  Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.
(I usually double it and use a 9x13 pan.  I bake it for about 35 minutes)

13 Bean Chili

I'm super excited to help Jessica out with her blog.  Although, I realized that at least for this recipe, I had to call her and get the recipe before I could put it on here.  So, who knows if I will actually help?  Here's hoping!

And so it begins.  I have been waiting and waiting for the weather to cool off so that I could make chili.  It's one of the best things on a cold day, don't you think?  
Well, you should. 

13 Bean Chili

3 cups dry beans (I used a 13 bean combo, but you can use 12, 15, whatever you can find)

5 cups water

4 cups vegetable broth

3 garlic cloves, chopped

1 onion, chopped

1 bell pepper (I'm sure you can use whatever color you prefer)

28 oz. can diced tomatoes

28 oz. can tomato sauce

1 can diced green chiles (optional)

1 TBSP chili powder

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1/4 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp paprika

1 1/2 tsp cumin

1 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

Directions:

   Rinse beans and place in crock pot with water.  Cover crock pot, set to low and soak overnight.  In the morning, add the broth, garlic, onion, and bell pepper.  Turn to high and let sit for about 5 hours.  Add the rest of the ingredients and cook until the beans are tender.  Serve it up with some cornbread and Enjoy!

P.S. I'm not as good as Jessica, and am addicted to dairy.  So, I sprinkled mine with a little cheese.  Plus, I think it looks cool in the picture :)

Speed Bread

I love how fast and easy this is. And yum. My mother-in-law came for dinner tonight and she said this recipe needed to be here. (I made the garlic herb version tonight.) So, here it is.

Speed Bread

4 c. whole wheat flour
1 t. salt
4 t. baking powder
1/2 c. olive oil

Blend in food processor or mixer.

Add 1 1/3 cup milk or almond milk (my mom would suggest buttermilk, I'm sure, and I'm guessing she'd be right.)

Mix until dough forms a ball. Pat dough into an ungreased baking dish. Cut into squares before baking. Bake at 450 for 12-15 minutes until golden.

You can also add 1/2 t. garlic powder and 1 t. parsley flakes with the milk to make garlic herb bread.

Mexican Beans

Try these guys. You will love them. Eat them in enchiladas, on tacos, with chips, or (our fave) on tostadas. Or just plain.

Mexican Beans

3 c. dry pinto beans
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, chopped
5 t. salt (I know. Use the good stuff like Real Salt and enjoy its goodness and good-for-you-ness.)
1 t. pepper
1/4 t. cumin
1 jalepeno, diced and seeded (I usually seed 1/2 and leave the rest. I like hot.)
9 c. water

Put it all in the slow cooker on high for 8ish hours. Drain (reserving liquid). Mash, adding liquid to desired consistency. Serve.

NOTE: The beans are healthier if you soak them overnight first. But, if you're not always on top of things and forget to soak them, they will cook up beautifully anyway.

Some News

So, I have been so busy that I've hardly posted, as you've noticed. Sorry about that. It might have something to do with not sleeping since I was about 7 months pregnant, which was nine or so months ago. Maybe.

I digress.

So, I decided to enlist my cute sisters and darling mother to help me. So, you may see some of their whole food deliciousness on my blog, too! Yea!

Welcome to Mom (or Mumsie or Barbara or Barb or Babs or whatever she'll go by here) and Adrienne (AKA Panda) and Stacy (who goes by Stacy)!