Fantastic Whole Wheat Carrot Cake

Ingredients

2 cups white whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon

3/4 cup oil

3/4 cup honey

4 eggs

2 cups grated carrots

1 cup unsweetened crushed canned pineapple, drained

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

1 Combine dry ingredients.

2 Add oil, honey, and eggs; mix well.

3 Stir in remaining 3 ingredients.

4 Bake for 35-40 minutes at 350 degrees.

Pesto. Yes it is that good.

I really like pesto. I use it as an alternative to mayonnaise on sandwiches and as a topper for pastas. It makes for a nice change. It's very flavorful. And a little tiny jar lasts me a really long time. Tonight I tried making it fresh for the first time ever and it was fantastic! The best part is that it took about 5 minutes to make and had almost no cleanup.

• 1 cup packed, coarsely chopped fresh basil (can vary by a third cup either way)
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese (fresh grated is best)
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoons pine nuts or sunflower kernels
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 1 clove garlic, peeled

Directions

1. In a food processor or blender, combine all the ingredients; cover and process until blended. Cover and freeze for up to 3 months.

Chicken Enchiladas

2-3 chicken breasts (cooked and cut)
1 4oz can of green chilies
1/2 onion (chopped)
Butter
1 pkg cream cheese
1 cup whipping cream
1 cup half/half
10 corn tortillas
cheese- your choice (mozzarella, cheddar, or jack)
salt and pepper to taste


Saute onion and green chilies in butter. Soften cream cheese in microwave. Combine cooked chicken, green chilies, onion, and cream cheese. Butter corn tortillas on both sides, fill with chicken mixture and roll. Place in casserole dish seam side down. Combine cream, half/half, salt and pepper, pour over the enchiladas. Top with cheese. Bake at 350 for 30 mins.

Steak Sous-Vide

Start to finish, this recipe will take about 50-60 minutes.

You will need:

A large pot

Zip-loc bags, one for each steak

A cooking torch

A thermometer

Steaks, any size (I prefer porterhouse or NY strip)

Your favorite steak seasoning (I usually go for McCormac's Montreal Steak)

Prepare:

1. Fill the large pot with water and attach the thermometer so you can measure water temp.

2. Begin heating the water slowly, you will want it to be about 120F

3. Place each steak in a bag, and squeeze out as much air as possible. Do not pre-season the meat.

Cook!

4. Place the bagged steaks in the water once it reaches 120F.

5. Heat the steaks at 120F for 30 minutes. You will need to keep an eye on the thermometer to make sure the water isn't too hot or cold.

6. After the 30 minutes at 120F, turn up the heat and increase the water temp to about 138F.

7. Heat the bagged steaks at 138F for 15 minutes.

8. Remove the bags from the pot, and remove the steaks from the bags.

9. One by one, dab each steak dry with paper towels to remove excess moisture.

10. Using the cooking torch, evenly brown the outside surface of the meat on all sides. Be careful, as fat pockets may pop and spit small bits of hot oil.

At this point the steaks are fully cooked and ready to eat. I recommend taste-testing before adding any seasoning or condiment.

Enjoy!

Strawberry-Watermelon Slushie





2 cups cubed seedless watermelon
1 pint fresh strawberries, halved (I actually used a little less than a pint.  Maybe 3/4 of it)
1/3 C sugar
1/3 C fresh lemon juice
2-4 C ice cubes

In a blender, combine the watermelon, strawberries, sugar and lemon juice; cover and process on high until smooth. With blender running, gradually add ice cubes until desired consistency is reached.  Pour into chilled glasses and serve immediately.

Yield: 5-7 cups

Sausage & Pasta with Basil

This is a yummy twist on traditional spaghetti.  Sorry no picture.

1 pound ground sausage
1 large  onion, chopped (I use about half an onion)
1 bell pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (14.5 oz) chopped tomatoes
12 oz spaghetti
2 to 3 tablespoons dry basil
1 to 2 tablespoons dry parsley
3/4 to 1 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup olive oil


- Cook sausage until it begins to brown.  Add onion and bell pepper; continue to cook, stirring until onion is soft but not brown.  Stir in garlic, then tomatoes and their liquid.  Bring to boil; reduce heat and boil gently, uncovered, stirring often, until slightly thickened.

- Meanwhile, cook spaghetti according to package directions.  Drain well.

- In large serving bowl, combine basil, parsley, 1/2 cup of the cheese and oil.  Add spaghetti and mix lightly.  Top with sausage-tomato sauce.  Serve with remaining cheese.

Speedy Spelt Drop Biscuits

2 cups Spelt flour
1TBS Baking Powder
½ tsp Salt
2 cups Buttermilk (or 2 cups milk + 2 TBS vinegar)
(Use only ½ of the milk to start, that is usually about right, if you use it all it will be too runny)

*Add whatever extras you want.  Some cheddar cheese is delicious (a handful or so).  If you want a garlicky flavor, add ~1tsp of garlic powder per batch I also really enjoy some basil in it.

bake on 400 for 12-15 min

Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos

A friend of ours made this when we came over for dinner the other night. They were so good. Josh ate like eight of them. So fantastic!

Recipe by OurBestBites.com

Ingredients:
1/3 C (3 oz) cream cheese
1/4 C green salsa
1T fresh lime juice
1/2 t cumin
1 t chili powder
1/2 t onion powder
1/4 t granulated garlic
3 T chopped cilantro
2 T sliced green onions

2 C shredded cooked chicken
1 C grated pepperjack cheese

small corn tortillas
kosher salt
cooking spray

Directions:
Heat oven to 425. Line a baking sheet with foil and lightly coat with cooking spray.

Heat cream cheese in the microwave for about 20-30 seconds so it's soft and easy to stir. Add green salsa, lime juice, cumin, chili powder, onion powder and granulated garlic. Stir to combine and then add cilantro and green onions. Add chicken and cheese and combine well.

You can prepare up to this step ahead of time. Just keep the mixture in the fridge.

Work with a few tortillas at a time and heat in the microwave until they are soft enough to roll without cracking. It helps to place them between damp paper towels. Usually 20-30 seconds will do it. If you find yours are cracking when you roll them or come unrolled right away, just try heating them longer and try the paper towel thing.

Place 2-3 T of chicken mixture on the lower third of a tortilla, keeping it about 1/2 inch from the edges.

Then roll it up as tight as you can.

Place seam side down on the baking sheet. Lay all of the taquitos on the baking sheet and make sure they are not touching each other. Spray the tops lightly with cooking spray or an oil mister and sprinkle some kosher salt on top.

Place pan in oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until crisp and the ends start to get golden brown.

Dip 'em in salsa, sour cream, guacamole, or this dressing.

Zucchini Bread

I tried a new recipe today. Here it is. 

Ingredients:

3 cups whole grain flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil (you could cut this back for sure; I used olive oil but I probably won't next time-- wrong flavor)
1 cup honey
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups grated zucchini (I'll add more next time-- maybe another half cup)
1 cup chopped walnuts



Directions:

Grease and flour two 8 x 4 inch pans. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
Sift flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon together in a bowl.
Beat eggs, oil, vanilla, and honey together in a large bowl. Add sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well. Stir in zucchini and nuts until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pans.
Bake for 40 to 60 minutes (it was closer to 40), or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes. Remove bread from pan, and completely cool-- soooo much better once it has been in the fridge for a couple hours!

Tasty Butter Milk Pancakes

This is super easy because every thing is 2 of something.

2 cups Buttermilk
(If you don't have butter milk use 2 cups milk and 2TBS of vinegar. This will work for any buttermilk recipe)
 2 TBS Honey
2 TBS Olive Oil
2 eggs (Yolks in the batter, save the whites out to whip up and add later)

2 cups whole grain flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Whip egg whites till stiff and set aside. Mix liquids.  Add dry ingredients. Fold in egg whites

Cook on a griddle at 350.

Enjoy!!

I made some of the strawberry sauce for topping

Simple Nectarine Pie

Okay so this is great because you don't have to peel or boil or anything. The nectarine peels just go soft when you bake it. So quick and so yummy. I adapted it from this recipe at food.com.

food.com

Ingredients:
pastry for a double-crust 9-inch pie
5 cups nectarines, sliced
1 cup sugar (I've done it with honey and I would recommend a bit more than 1/2 cup)
1/3-1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4-1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons sugar (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Wash, and slice nectarines. Mix together all ingredients. Put it in the pie crust. Sprinkle top with 2 tablespoons of sugar (optional). Bake 35 to 45 minutes or until crust is brown and juice begins to bubble through the slits in the crust.

Note: you may want to cover the edges with foil to prevent burning.