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. 

Creamed Onions

Growing up I always hated the creamed onions! However I actually grew to like them. And surprisingly are fairly healthy, like all onions are healthy for you (when not deep fried and breaded haha).

Ingredients:

2 or 3  pkgs frozen onions or 2 bottles onions

6 T butter

6 T flour

½ tsp salt

3 cups milk

First:

Pan Fry the onions to get them slightly browned.  Remove from stove-top and place on the side.

Then make the sauce:

Melt butter in saucepan on low heat. Add flour and salt and stir until mixed thoroughly. Stir in milk all at once. Cook quickly and continue stirring until sauce thickens.  (Sauce should be medium thickness)  Add onions, mix together and place in greased oven proof pan.  Sprinkle nutmeg on top and bake at 350 until slightly browned about half hour.   Serve HOT. (I tried it cold… I would not recommend it!!)

Brussel Sprouts

Yes I know, everyone hates brussel sprouts… However I actually like them! Well provided they are cooked right ;) Here’s one simple, quick, and healthy way to cook them, and make them delicious! ^_^

Ingredients:

2 pkgs fresh Brussel sprouts

Olive Oil

1 lb bag of small Carrots

Grape Tomatoes (optional)

Coat a 9 x 12 inch baking dish with olive oil.  Clean the brussel sprouts and cut them in half lengthwise.  Place the brussel sprouts in pan and stir to coat them with oil.  If needed add a bit more oil.  Slice carrots lengthwise into small strips and add them into the dish.  Add grape tomatoes sliced in half if used (This gives the dish a sweeter taste, but I usually make it without it, however my vegan friends love them put in the dish).  Then bake it in oven on 400 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour (depending on the oven).  Make sure to stir occasionally.  Remove when the sprouts are soft and edible. Enjoy! :)

Chicken Caesar Salad

One of my favorite dishes to fix in a pinch is a chicken Caesar salad. It’s easy to fix, healthy, and refreshing. You can add ingredients to your liking, and if more people show up it’s not hard to add more servings.

1 package of lettuce

1 Handful of Croutons

1 Handful of Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

1 Jar of Caesar Dressing

1 Can of White Chicken Meat (Or fresh roasted/Grilled chicken breasts)

 First prepare the chicken, by either draining the water out of the can or slicing the fresh chicken breasts.  Once the chicken is ready, the rest is simple. All you have to do is mix the lettuce, the croutons, and the chicken in a bowl.  After this, pour the Caesar dressing as much as desired, the less you use the healthier it will be. Finally sprinkle the cheese over the salad.  Mix and enjoy.

However, if desired, you may turn this into a wrap for on-the-go needs.  All you do is place the salad in a wrap of your choice; I recommend either a whole grain or a spinach wrap. Then fold the wrap in your desired style, whether that’s burrito, lunch wrap, or whatever.