Carrot Muffins

Do you struggle to get your kids (or yourself) to eat as many servings of veggis as you are "suppose" to be consuming? Or maybe I'm the only one.

These carrot muffins worked out GREAT for me, my 2 1/2 year old son absolutely loves these "cupcakes". No I don't put any frosting on them and he just gobbles them right up!

I found this recipe after my mom used her juicer to make some carrot juice and had about 3 cups of carrot pieces left over. What a waste that would be to just throw away!

The original recipe calls for raisins to be added, but anyone who really knows me knows that I really do NOT like raisins, but I love chocolate. So of coarse I switched the raisins for chocolate chips... yummmmm!

The muffins with nothing in them don't really have much flavor, but I love them with the chocolate chips. If you like raisins check out the original recipe here.

Makes about 24 small muffins.

Ingredients:

2 Cups All-Purpose Flour

1 TBSP Baking Powder

2 tsp Baking Soda

1/2 tsp Salt

1 tsp Ground Cinnamom

4 Eggs

1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil

1/2 Cup Applesauce

3/4 Cup Brown Sugar

3 Cups Shredded Carrots

1 Cup Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease muffin cups or line with paper muffin liners.

In a large bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. In a separate bowl, combine eggs, oil, applesauce, and brown sugar; beat well. Combine egg mixture and flour mixture; mix just until moistened. Add carrots and chocolate chips. Spoon into prepared muffin cups.

Bake in preheated oven for 18-25 minutes. Let cool for about 20 minutes.

Hooray for a healthy snack!

*If you want to make this even more healthy you can use whole grain flour, or add some benefiber in! I prefer all-purpose flour myself.

Caramel Fondant

I combined a soft caramel recipe with a fondant recipe. A word to the wise... I should have thought before hand that I was adding two recipes together therefore I only needed half of the recipes of each... but I realized it too late. So now we have a LOT of caramel fondant, but it sure is yummy and makes a great little soft caramel candy! (The ingredients listed below are for the full recipe that I used, so you will be making a LOT and it takes a while... but it can stay in the fridge until you are ready to use it for the weeks ahead!)

Ingredients

2 Cups Heavy Cream

1/2 Cup Sweetened Condensed Milk

2 Cups Light Corn Syrup

1/2 Cup Water

2 Cups Granulated Sugar

1/2 Cup (1 Stick) softened butter, cut into small cubes

1 bag of Mini Marshmallows

2 Lbs Powdered Sugar

1/2 Cup Shortening

Directions

Combine the cream and sweetened condensed milk in a small saucepan, and place the saucepan on a burner to the lowest heat setting. You want to warm the milk and cream, but DO NOT allow it to boil.

In a large saucepan combine the corn syrup, water, and granulated sugar over medium-high heat. Stir the candy until the sugar dissolves, then use a wet pastry brush to wash down the sides of the pan to prevent sugar crystals from forming and making the candy grainy.

Insert a candy thermometer and reduce the heat to medium. Allow the mixture to come to a boil and cook until the thermometer reads 250°.

Add the softened butter chunks and the warm milk-cream mixture. The temperature should go down about 30°.

Continue to cook the caramel, stirring constantly so that the bottom does not scorch. Cook it until the thermometer reads 235°, and the caramel is a beautiful golden brown.

Remove the caramel from the heat and add the bag of marshmallows. Stir in the marshmallows until they have all melted.

Allow mixture to cool for about 30 minutes.

Prepare the counter and your hands by covering with shortening.

Pour some powdered sugar on the counter, then on top pour some of the caramel-marshmallow mixture. It will take a while to knead all the powdered sugar into the mixture.

After you knead the powdered sugar in. Cover the fondant in shortening and wrap in saran wrap and place in a ziploc bag overnight.

When you are ready to use the fondant remove from fridge and allow to sit for about an hour. This will allow it to come closer to room temperature and be easier to work with.

This Caramel Fondant can be used on cakes or it is great as a nice delicious candy!

ENJOY!!!

**Just so you know, making fondant does tend to leave things a little messy!!!**

Apple Spice Cake

My mom and I made a cake for my Grandmother's birthday this year. She likes apple spice cake and my mom and I thought it would be yummy to have a caramel fondant... so that's what we did!!!
I based the recipe off this one found at allrecipes.com.

Ingredients

2 Cups All-purpose Flour
1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
1 tsp Ground Nutmeg
1 tsp Ground Allspice
1/2 tsp Salt
1 Cup Butter, Softened
2 Cups White Sugar
4 Eggs
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 TBSP Warm Water
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
3 Apples - Peeled, Cored and Chopped (or Grated)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Butter a 9x13" pan. Whisk together flour, spices, and salt. Set aside.
Cream together butter (or margarine) and sugar. Mix in eggs and vanilla. Stir together soda and 1 TBSP warm water, and mix into the sugar mixture. Stire in flour mixture, and apples until well blended. Pour batter into prepared pan.
Bake for approximately 45 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. Cool in pan. Once cool, shake pan to loosen cake. Turn onto plate.

To frost the cake you can just dust with confectioners' sugar. Or you may use my recipe for caramel fondant. We used a Buttercream Frosting between the layers.

Orange Chicken

I finally found it!!! A delicious orange chicken recipe!!! This recipe is best if eaten fresh. It does take some time to make. And will feed about 6 people.

Ingredients

Sauce:
1 1/2 Cups Water
2 TBSP Orange Juice
1/4 Cup Lemon Juice
1/3 Cup Rice Vinegar
2 1/1 TBSP Soy Sauce
1 TBSP Grated Orange Zest
1 Cup Packed Brown Sugar
1/2 tsp Minced Fresh Ginger
1/2 tsp Minced Garlic
2 TBSP Chopped Green Onion
1/4 tsp Red Pepper Flakes

3 TBSP Cornstarch
2 TBSP Water

Chicken:
4-5 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts (cut into large chunks)
1 Cup All-Purpose Flour
1/4 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Pepper
3 TBSP Olive Oil

Directions

Pour 1 1/2 cups water, orange juice, lemon juice, rice vinegar, and soy sauce into a saucepan and set over medium-high heat. Stir in the orange zest brown sugar, ginger, garlic, chopped onion, and red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat, and cool 10-15 minutes

Place the chicken pieces into a resealable plastic bag. When contents of saucepan have cooled, pour 1 cup of sauce into bag. Reserve the remaining sauce. Seal the bag, and refrigerate at least 2 hours.

In another resealable plastic bag, mix the flour, salt, and pepper. Add the marinated chicken pieces, seal the bag, and shake to coat. Put a drying rack over a baking sheet, pour out contents onto drying rack.

Pour the oil into a large pot, making sure the oil does not come more than halfway up the sides. Heat the oil to 375°F on a deep-frying thermometer.

Preheat oven to 200°F. Line a baking sheet with paper towels.

Working in batches, fry the wings until golden brown and crispy, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer the wings to the paper towel-lined baking sheet and keep warm in the oven.

Pour the sauce into a skillet. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Mix together the cornstarch and 2 tablespoons water; stir into the sauce. Reduce heat to medium low.

Transfer the fried chicken to a large bowl. Pour the sauce over the wings and stir to coat evenly. Serve immediately with rice.

Chicken Broccoli Casserole

This may not be greatest looking, but lets be serious what casserole really makes you drool just by looking at it!?!

Ingredients:

Broccoli (1-2 bushels or 1 large frozen bag)
2 Cups Cooked Chicken, diced or shredded
1 Cup Mayonnaise (we prefer Miracle Whip in our home)
1 Can Cream of Chicken Soup
1 Egg
1/2 tsp Salt
1/8 tsp Pepper
Dash of Paprika
Dash of Cayenne Pepper (**Only if you like spicing it up!**)
1/4 Cup Bread Crumbs
4-6 oz. Shredded Cheese (I like a mild cheddar personally)

Directions

Preheat oven to 375°F.

In a small bowl mix together Mayonnaise, Cream of Chicken Soup, Egg, Salt, and Pepper. In a casserole dish lay out a layer of broccoli, then a layer of chicken. Cover the chicken layer with the mayonnaise mixture. At this point I like to add a light sprinkle of paprika and if I feel like spicing it up a little I will sprinkle just a little bit of cayenne on. Sprinkle bread crumbs on top (you can use more or less than the 1/4 cup, just make sure there is a nice even coat that is fairly thin). Finally I sprinkle it all with cheese. We like a lot of cheese... but adjust to your preference!

Bake for 45 minutes so the broccoli will be fully cooked and the cheese will be melted.

Ultimate Chili Nachos

Oh man are these Y.U.M.M.Y!!!!

My husband and I went to Applebee's the other day and ordered their Chili Nachos and I thought, "I'm sure I could figure out how to make this!"

And so I did!!!

We ate it as dinner, but you could put everything out together in a dish with the chips on the side and it would be awesome as a side dish... for those fun hanging out parties (like the Super Bowl)!

Ingredients:

1 lb Ground Beef
1 pkg of Taco Seasoning
1 (16 oz) can Refried Beans
1 (15.5 oz) can Kidney Beans
2 tsp Chili Powder
1 Clove of Garlic
1 (27 oz) can of Stewed Tomatoes
1 (15 oz) Can Nacho Cheese Sauce (we really like the Juanita's brand which I have found can be hard to find if you don't live near Mexico, but you can use any Chip Cheese Dip, or even Campbell's Condensed Cheese Soup and add half a can of milk)
*Tortilla Chips
*1 Jalepeño (sliced or chopped)
*Lettuce (chopped)
*Salsa
*Sour Cream
*Guacamole
*Tomatoes
*Red Onions
*Olives

*Optional


Directions:

Cook beef as directed on the taco seasoning package. Add refried beans, kidney beans, chili powder, garlic, and stewed tomatoes.
Then you build your nachos with all your favorite ingredients! I prefer them in a specific order... I know I'm weird! But I like the chips, meat mix, nacho cheese, lettuce, salsa, sour cream, guacamole, jalepeño, olives, and tomatoes.