Carrot Cupcakes

I know this is the second post in a row using carrots, but since my favorite grocery store had an amazing deal on them recently ($1.50 for three pounds), I knew I had to come up with some new recipes.  I forwarded a picture of the cupcakes to Dominic's teacher and told him I could make them for the classroom Halloween party.  His teacher's response back was, "the cupcakes look awesome and I love cream cheese frosting!" As a special surprise, I went over to the school at lunchtime on Friday and brought the classroom a dozen so they could "sample" them ahead of time.  These cupcakes can stand alone with no frosting, but they are super delicious with the cream cheese frosting!  A lot of cream cheese frosting recipes also have butter in them, this doesn't. It's plenty sweet just with the cream cheese and confectioners' sugar.  Enjoy!


Carrot Cupcakes:

1 cup white sugar
1 cup white flour
2 large eggs
1/2 cup canola oil
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups carrots, peeled and finely shredded

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put paper liners into a 12-cup muffin tin and set aside.  In large bowl, put all ingredients in the order given.  Mix with large spoon by hand until well combined and distribute evenly between the paper liners. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of a cupcake comes out clean.  Remove from oven and let cool for five minutes. Remove to wire rack to continue cooling. Makes 12 cupcakes.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
2 cups confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

In small bowl, put all ingredients in the order given.  Using an electric mixer, whip frosting until smooth. This is enough frosting to cover 24 cupcakes.

Carrot and Lentil Soup

While at my dentist's office this morning waiting to get some oral surgery done, I got into a conversation with the hygienist about salt.  Since she was reviewing my medical records, she was asking me about my cardiomyopathy.  I told her my cardiologist put me on a low-salt diet back when I was diagnosed with the heart condition and that before that I would enjoy canned soups (especially clam chowder).  Those days are definitely behind me!  I told her that I make my own soups these days, so I can control the ingredients (particularly salt).  Lentils are my new favorite thing to experiment with.  This past Friday, since we were getting ready to go out of town for the weekend, I didn't have tons of time to figure out dinner.  This soup was ready in less than an hour, so that left me plenty of time to pack! I used Ro-Tel Original diced tomatoes with green chilies because they pack kind of a bit of a kick, but it isn't overpowering.  I usually use the "house" brand of diced tomatoes from my favorite grocery store because they are less expensive and they have a good variety of different flavors.  Once in a great while, I will buy a name brand (only when it's on sale and I have a good coupon) which is why I had some Ro-Tel in my pantry :)  I had the rest of the soup that was left from Friday for lunch today.  Since my mouth was still kind of sore, it really hit the spot!

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons margarine
1 cup onion, chopped
2 cups carrots, chopped
2 cups dry lentils
8 cups water
10 ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper


In large stockpot, melt margarine slowly.  Add the chopped onion and saute with large spoon until the onion is just beginning to get soft.  Remove from heat and add the rest of the ingredients in the order given and then stir with a large spoon.  Return to the heat and bring to a boil.  Once the soup comes to a boil, cover and turn to a medium simmer for 35 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serves six.

Chocolate Brownies

A few years ago, I asked the hubby to buy me a cookbook (it was either for my birthday or Christmas)  called, "The Sneaky Chef - Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids' Favorite Meals."  It has a bunch of recipes that helps you "sneak" veggies and fruits into your children's favorite foods.  The cookbook only has one recipe for homemade brownies, but it uses a "purple" puree of spinach/collard greens along with blueberries.  I decided instead to come up with my own brownie recipe using yellow squash since I had one in my fridge (I usually don't keep spinach or collard greens on hand).  I let the hubby be my taste tester yesterday.  He and I shared a piece around lunchtime and his comment was "it doesn't taste like it has squash in it."  Cool, that's the exact reaction I was going for since there is actually an entire CUP in these brownies!!

Ingredients:

1 cup white flour
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/4 cup canola oil
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup yellow squash, peeled and finely shredded
1 tablespoon milk
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate morsels

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9 x 9 inch pan with non-stick cooking spray.  Set aside.  In large bowl, put all ingredients in the order given above.  With large spoon mix until well combined.  Pour into pan and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from oven and let pan cool on wire rack. You can eat this plain, sprinkled with powdered sugar or enjoy with ice cream.  Of course, a frosted brownie with "sprinkles" is always a big hit in this house!

Watermelon and Strawberry Chiller

If you are looking for a great way to use up leftover watermelon, then this chiller is for you! There are only three ingredients in this yummy drink.  Watermelon, frozen strawberries and lemon juice.  Yep, that's it!  While there are numerous chiller recipes out there, many of them contain sugar.  Why would you want to add sugar? Watermelon and strawberries are pretty sweet all on their own!!  For something a little different, I filled up an ice cube tray with some of the chiller mixture, tossed it into the freezer overnight and then put a few cubes into my glass of unsweetened tea instead of regular ice cubes. As the ice cubes melted, they lent a pretty neat taste to my tea!

I am definitely going to have one of these drinks today, the mercury around these parts is supposed to climb to over 90 degrees!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Phew, that's HOT!!
  

Ingredients:

6 cups seedless watermelon, cubed
1 cup frozen strawberries
1/2 cup lemon juice

In large bowl, put the watermelon, strawberries and lemon juice.  With large spoon, mix well.   Put two cups of the mixture at a time into a blender and "puree" until you get a smooth texture.  It took my blender about 10-15 seconds to get the right consistency. Serve immediately or keep refrigerated until ready to serve.  Makes 5 one-cup servings.

Peanut Butter/Honey Crispy Rice Treats

   
Where I live, lately it has felt like fall when you wake up and by late afternoon it feels like summer! I guess the weather can't make up it's mind.  I kind of felt that way about making these rice treats.  I kept going back and forth about whether I should make the "classic" ones with marshmallows or bump it up a notch and also add peanut butter and honey.  I'm glad I decided to try something different because these are delicious! I may never go back to making the classic ones again.    

Ingredients:

3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
3/4 cup honey
5 cups crispy rice cereal
1/4 cup margarine
10.5 ounce package mini marshmallows

In large pan, combine peanut butter and honey together with large spoon.  Turn on medium heat and stir occasionally for about 2-3 minutes until smooth.  Remove from heat and add the crispy rice cereal. Combine well and pour into large bowl. Set aside.  Reusing the same large pan, melt the margarine on medium heat and then add the marshmallows and simmer on low heat until all the marshmallows are melted.  Remove from heat and add to the mixture in the large bowl.  Mix well and then press into a lightly greased 9 x 13 inch pan.  Put in fridge for a minimum of one hour to firm up. Cut into 18 squares.  Cover with plastic wrap and keep at room temperature.