Carrot Cake

As the holidays draw closer together, desserts will have to be made; one common holiday favorite is Carrot Cake.  It’s actually one of the healthier cakes. J I make it for one of my friends on his birthday every year! It’s super fast and very light!

For this recipe you’ll have to make two separate mixtures and then after they are made combine them.  

Mixture 1: Mix all ingredients together in one bowl.

1 ½ c. grated carrots (nearer to 2)

1 c. chopped walnuts

1 sm. Can drained crushed pineapple

Mixture 2: Mix all ingredients in a bigger bowl.

2 c. flour                        2 tsp. baking soda

2 c. sugar                      1 c. oil

2 tsp. cinnamon            4 eggs

                   2 tsp. vanilla

Beat mixture 2 for 2 minutes.  Add mixture 1 to mixture 2.    

And then Bake. To bake:

 either put it in a 4 inch deep round pan and cook at 350 degrees for 1 hour, (then test)

 OR

 in a greased 10 inch pan at 300 º for 1 ½ hours.

Cornbread

 I know this isn’t super healthy, but it’s perfect for a quick snack, or for dinner parties!

Ingredients:

1 stick margarine (melted in 9 x 13 inch pan)

3 Jiffy Corn Bread Mix

4 Eggs

2 cans regular size creamed corn

1 cup sour cream or slightly more

First preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix all ingredients together in bowl (order truly doesn’t matter in this dish).   

After margarine has melted take pan out of oven and while hot add mixture into pan and bake for 35 – 45 minutes.   

Remove and cut in squares and serve.

 However be careful and watch it the last 15 minutes at least because it can and will burn quick if you’re not quick :)

Chicken Crepes

 One delicious dish that my family loves is my mother’s Chicken Crepes. This amazing dinner dish is paired great with steamed veggies or even a salad!  It’s very healthy (if you wish to go healthier, use less of the sauce), however it takes a little longer to prepare than most dishes.

 Ingredients:

Crepe Batter:

 2/3 cups flour

2 eggs

3 Tablespoons cooled, melted butter or margarine

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

 About ½ tsp. vanilla (to taste)                                       

 Note:  I usually at least double the recipe when I make it for  breakfast

Chicken filling:

¼ cup butter or margarine

¾ lb. mushrooms, chopped

½ cup chopped green onion

2 ½ cups diced cooked chicken

½ cup sherry

½ teaspoon salt

Dash pepper

Sauce:

¼ cup flour

2/3 cup sherry

1 can (10 ¾ oz) condensed chicken broth, undiluted

2 cups light cream

½ teaspoon salt, dash of pepper

Salad oil

½ cup grated Swiss cheese

1. Batter:  In medium bowl, combine flour, eggs, butter, salt, ½ cup of milk.  Beat with rotary beater until smooth; beat in rest of milk and vanilla.  Refrigerate, covered for 3 hours or overnight.  (I rarely ever have the time to refrigerate, so I don’t unless I plan ahead and fix it the night before)

2. Make Filling:  Heat butter in a large skillet.  Add mushrooms and onion; sauté 10 minutes.  Add chicken, sherry, salt, and pepper.  Cook over high heat, stirring until liquid is gone.

3. Make sauce:  In saucepan, blend flour with sherry.  Stir in broth, cream, salt and pepper.  Over medium heat bring to boiling, stirring.  Reduce heat; simmer, stirring 2 minutes.  Add half of sauce to filling; stir until blended; set aside.

4. To cook crepes: Slowly heat 7 inch skillet; brush lightly with oil (or spray Pam) Pour in 2 Tablespoons batter (I use between a ¼ and ½ cup) and an 8 inch skillet, rotating to cover bottom.

5. Cook over medium heat until golden; turn; brown other side.  Cool on rack or plate.  Repeat (makes about 15 if using original recipe) Heat oven to 425 F.

6. Place ¼ cup filling on each crepe; roll up.  Arrange seam side down, in a single layer in buttered, 3 quart shallow baking dish.  Pour rest of sauce over crepes; sprinkle with grated cheese.  Bake 15 minutes or until bubbly.  Serves 6 to 8 servings.

Typically it’s a dinner dish, however one thing we’ve learned to do is just use the Crepes for breakfast and use cream cheese or jelly, or both! Try it sometime! ^_^

Zucchini Bread

 I found one odd breakfast food that I love is zucchini bread! I use it in place of muffins.  I know it sounds weird, but it’s a lot healthier without the preservatives of factory made muffins. And you can eat it on the go just like a muffin too… not to mention it’s cheaper!

Ingredients:

1 large unpeeled zucchini

4 eggs

2 cup sugar

1  cup oil

1  tsp vanilla

3  cup flour

1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon

1  tsp salt

1 tsp  baking powder

1 tsp  baking soda

1 cup chopped walnuts (or pecans)

1 cup chopped raisons

(NOTE: use of shredder is dangerous, don’t let little kids make it.)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Use shredding blade of food processor.  Shred the whole zucchini and put in a bowl. 

With mixing blade in food processor, mix eggs, sugar, zucchini, oil and vanilla – process until well mixed.  In a large mixing bowl mix remaining ingredients.  Pour zucchini mixture over flour mixture and mix well. 

Put in 2  9x5 greased loaf pans.  Bake about 1 – 2 hours.