Love Me Some Paula Deen Carrot Cake!

I made some slight "healthier" substitutes.

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

Mix in a big bowl:
2 cups sugar
2 cups flower
2 t ground cinnamon
2 t baking soda
1 t salt

Now mix the following in:
1 1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs

Finally, add this to the mix and mix some more:
3 cups grated carrot

Pour into three 9" cake pans and bake for about 40 minutes each.

Meanwhile, work on the healthier frosting (not by much but every lil bit counts!)
2 8oz light cream cheese packages
1 stick of salted butter at room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar
1 t vanilla
Beat until fluffy

Okay... so I guess the only healthy substitute I had was the cream cheese, but it's got carrots and I think next time I will try using 2 eggs and 2 egg whites, maybe less oil.... see where it goes? All I know is - it was delicious and no butter in the actual cake - just the frosting so that's a good sign! Could probably substitute the butter in the frosting with something lighter!

My Simple Use What I Have Veggie Sandwich

So I whipped out whatever I had in the fridge to make myself a delicious veggie sandwich.

2 slices of wheat bread
1/2 roma tomato cut into four slices
cheese - whatever mix I had in the fridge
arugula - cuz I have it leftover from my steak sandwiches
peppercinnis - who doesn't have some in their fridge for sandwiches?!
grey poupon - do you happen to have any grey poupon??

After toasting the wheat bread, I put one side with cheese and the tomatoes into the microwave for 30 seconds (to melt the cheese), then added the arugula, peppercinies and put grey poupon on the other slice of bread.

Done!

Lunch in less than 5 minutes and man was it good!

Steak Sandwiches

I didn't have any crunchy bread so I decided to make some focaccia bread for some yummy steak sandwiches.

Foccaccia Bread (Mormon Cookbook):
1 1/2 T active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1 1/2 T sugar
Let yeast do its thang!

Mix together:
3 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup warm water
2 T EVOO
yeast from above
Then, after mixing, use another 1/2 cup warm water to mix and then knead the dough for about 5 minutes. Let rise for 1-2 hours and then place into 9 inch greased pan, pinch tops and let rise for 30 minutes (maybe more cuz my 30 did not do much!) Preheat oven for 400 degrees and then bake for 20-25 minutes.

Meanwhile, work on the steak sandwich (Martha Stewart Food Magazine, Fast Issue) as follows... first, mix:
1 T dijon mustard
2 T balsamic vinegar
1 T EVOO
salt and pepper for seasoning

Marinate 1 lb skirt steak for about 15 minutes and in the meantime, cut one red onion into long pieces and season with salt and pepper.

Cook the skirt steak and red onions in a medium sauce pan on medium-high for about 5-7 minutes each side.

After the steak is done, take the remaining red onions and chop it in a food processor for a bit and then add about 2 T of vinegar.

Grab some argula, some mustard, and put together your sandwiches with the foccaccia bread, steak and onions and then you're done!!!!!!

I'm Packing 32 Pounds

I know I'm pregnant and that's why I'm packing 32 pounds - mostly in my belly, some of it distributed to my swollen feet, legs, and bigger chest.... but mostly it's in my belly. So I've been wondering lately, isn't it uncomfortable to have a big belly if you're not pregnant? Isn't it uncomfortable to not visually see your feet when you look down, without bending over because your stomach is in the way? Sometimes, when I sit next to men at work, our bellies are comparable - theirs from years of too much beer, not enough exercise, and mine from a growing baby!

I know I can't do anymore ab exercises on my back (I can do them with an angle, put some pillows behind my back, etc.) but how I miss them.

Here are some of my favorites that I can still do.

Sit on a big bouncy exercise ball. It strengthens your core.

Sit up straight when working. It helps your stomach stay in versus letting it all hang out. The muscles start to train itself to tuck in and reduce the image of a large belly.

Pretend like you're a belly dancer or ballroom dancer or hip hop dancer and move your hips, pump up your legs and twist and shout. It really does work.

Use a hula hoop with weights. Hula much? Just get a hoop - the Asian ones have a padding with weights under it - and hula!

I miss doing ab exercises. The above are the easiest.. there are also far more challenging ones that probably work quicker, alas, for another day though...

Tortilla Soup

Ever notice that any healthy soup you try to make requires purchasing more ingredients you don't have on hand? Since I made bread (not so healthy) last night, I wanted to pair it with a healthier soup. In my mind, I kept thinking black bean or lentil... maybe even a good tomato basil without too much cream in it. But everything required a lot of work soaking beans overnight or going to the store to buy some more stuff I would only use once.

It's as if I forgot about my favorite trusty compliance, the Vitamix. So I quickly googled the Vitamix Tortilla Soup recipe and granted I was without some items.. I had enough - and I changed it up a bit - so here's MY tortilla soup Vitamix recipe!

Tortilla Soup via Vita Mix
Ingredients:
1/4 cup cooked chicken diced
1/4 cup cooked corn (from can or frozen corn defrosted)
1/4 cup of tortilla chips

3 cups boiling water
4 sticks of celery
1 tomato
1 slice of onion (as if you were slicing onion for a burger - with all the layers in it)
1 slice of red pepper (about 7 little slices that one would use with hummus .... mmmmm)
1 garlic clove without skin
1 cut of a lettuce head (as if you were slicing for a burger)
1 chicken bouillon block for flavoring
1 T Season-All seasoning

Put above ingredients into Vitamix on Variable 1, speed 1 and immediately go to speed 10 and then immediately to Variable 2 and let it cook for 3-4 minutes.

Drop to Variable 1, down from speed 10 to 2 and drop in the chicken, corn and tortilla chips and let it mix for about 10 seconds and ....

DINNER IS SERVED!

With the bread from last night of course. And some cheese - we need our dairy.

I Made Bread!

For the first time EVER, I made bread last night.. from SCRATCH, without a bread maker. The recipe is my mother in law's and I snatched it from our cousin in law who has it on her website - only mine will be for amateurs like myself who have never made bread from scratch.

French Bread Recipe (makes two loaves)

Ingredients:
2 T yeast
1/2 cup of warm water
2 cups of hot water
cinch of sugar
3 T of sugar
1 t salt
1/3 shortening (melted)
6 cups of flour
1 egg white
Pam spray
cookie sheet

Yeasts of Fun: Put 1/2 cup of warm water in a bowl, sprinkle 2 T of dry active yeast (Costco kind is the best!) and a pinch of sugar - I'm not sure what pinch is so I just did about 1 t. Set aside and let the yeast do its thang (about 5 minutes)

Meanwhile, melt 1/1 cup of shortening and in a separate bowl, mix the following:
2 cups hot water
3 T sugar
1 t salt
1/3 cup of melted shortening

Mixing: Add the above mixture to the yeast that has been sitting for at least 5 minutes or until it's yeasty beasty. Next, add 3 cups of flour and mix mix mix with a mixer. Then, add 3 more cups and this time, mix with a spoon. A big wooden one is what I used. Now after you've mixed it... you let it sit for 10 minutes... come back and mix it... let is rest for 10 minutes.. come back and mix it... and so on and so forth - for a total of 5 times. I'm not sure if my yeast sat too long because I had to knead it since my mixture was huge and doughy - but apparently, you are supposed to just use the spoon. My wooden spoon failed and I had to resort to using my hands.

Once done, divide the dough into half - and here comes the fun sculpting part.

THAT'S DOUGH FUN: You roll out your dough on a floured board/table, and then you roll it up like into a cylinder... once you can't roll it anymore, you pinch the top so that it stays together in your cylinder form and pinch the sides so it comes in. You then pam your cookie sheet, put the formed dough cylinder with the cinched part on the bottom, and brush the sides and tops with the egg white (makes it crustier). Repeat with other roll.... let the two loaves sit and rise for 60 minutes, preheat your oven to 400 degrees and go do something else.

When ready, bake for about 20 minutes and POOF - you have just made your first set of bread loaves from scratch like moi!