By popular demand I am posting my carrot cake cupcake recipe.  After reviewing and practicing with several recipes, I pulled all of the ingredients I loved and came up with my own.  My Icing Recipe makes a lot of icing.  That’s because I like to pipe the icing on in thick twirly layers.  If you don’t like a lot of icing, cut the icing recipe by a third.  You can also freeze these well, frosting and all.  I’ve frozen them many times and pulled them out for special occasions. They are delish!

Ingredients

4 eggs

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup apple sauce

3/4 cup white sugar

1 1/4 cup brown sugar

1 8-oz. can of crushed pineapple, well drained

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup King Arthur Whole Wheat Flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Small pinch of ground cloves

3 cups grated carrots

1 1/2 cups chopped pecans or walnuts 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a small bowl, combine both flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs then add oil, apple sauce, sugars, pineapple and  vanilla.

Mix the flour mixture into the egg mixture until fully incorporated.

Stir in carrots.

Fold in pecans. Batter will be thick.

Pour into lined muffin tins.  Fill each liner 3/4 full.

Bake in the preheated oven for 18-20 min.

Let cupcakes cool completely before frosting.

Store for 3 days in the refrigerator.  For longer storage, cover well and place in the freezer for up to a month.

Cream Cheese Icing

Ingredients

3/4 cup butter, softened

12 oz. cream cheese, softened

5-6 cups confectioners’ sugar

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a medium bowl, cream together the  butter and cream cheese

Add vanilla.

Slowly, in 1/2 cup increments add the confectioners’ sugar.

Beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy.  If icing is too thick, you can add a small amount of milk in increments to desired consistancey.

Ice fully cooled cupcakes.  For a fancier frosting, put the icing in a pastry bag and pipe with decorating tips (Start at the outside diameter of the cupcake and work your way to the center.

Oh. My. Goodness.  These are SOOOO Good.

I was out of flour tortillas and my boys wanted some bean and cheese burritos.  I  really didn’t want to trudge out to the store to get any, so, on a whim I whipped out my best buddy, Google and searched for a recipe.  I had tried making them a long time ago and they tasted like a floury piece of rubber. Not only that I remember them being a WHOLE lot of trouble.  But Cameron’s big brown eyes were pleading so I thought, well I’ll just try it again.

I found this recipe from Chef John and only changed it a little.  They were super easy and tasted better than our favorite Mexican Restaurant’s tortillas. He suggests a tortilla press but I didn’t have one so so I used a rolling pin instead.  Mine were not perfect circles but they tasted so good no one cared.  I’ve made these a few times now and will NEVER EVER buy store bought ones again.

(Hint:  I read that someone said you could take two cast iron skillets and press your tortillas that way.  I haven’t tried it yet but I imagine it would be easier than using a rolling pin.)

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups flour

3/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp baking powder

5 TBL vegetable shortening

1 cup warm water

Directions

Mix dry ingredients.

With a pastry cutter, grind the shortening into the flour mixture until it looks like a crumbly mixture.

Make a well in the center and add water.

Mix until you have a soft dough.  Turn onto a floured work surface.

Kneed for about 3 minutes.

Put bowl over the dough and let it rest for 15 minutes.

Cut the dough into 8 equal pieces.  Pull out the piece ou will be working with and cover the rest with the bowl.

Either use your tortilla press or roll out until very thin.

Heat a non stick skillet on medium high.  Place your tortilla on the skillet and let cook on one side until it puffs up.  Flip.  Cook for a few more seconds on the second side.

Repeat with remaining dough.

Makes 8 flour tortillas.

I doubled this once and the tortillas turned out just as good.  I may need to triple the recipe next time because when I made 16 they were gone in about 5 minutes!  Hope you enjoy!

This is so great with a crisp, green veggie salad.  Add a loaf of french bread and you have a hearty winter meal.  (Or, we have it in the summer, when our tomato plants are producing well.)

INGREDIENTS:

2 Large Cans of diced Tomatoes (Or canned tomatoes from the garden)  About 5 cups of cooked tomatoes with their juices.

About 18 Leaves of Fresh Basil

1 Stick Butter

2/3 cup heavy cream

Cracked black pepper

In a saucepot, heat tomatoes and basil over medium heat until basil is wilted.  Remove from heat and pour tomatoes and basil into a blender.  Blend until pureed.

Pour contents of blender back into the saucepan and cook over medium low heat.  Chop butter and add to pot.  Stir until butter is melted.

Add cream.  Stir until well blended.  Cook over low heat for about five minutes.  Pour into serving bowls and sprinkle with cracked pepper.

I love fried rice, so I set out to discover a way to make fried rice that taste just like the chinese restaurant versions.  After several tries, I came up with the following.  It is so very delicious and my family gobbles it up quick when I make it.  You could add meat to it as well, but we like our fresh veggies and soy sauce.  Hope you enjoy!

Ingredients

2 TBL Sesame Seed Oil

1 TBL Olive Oil

1 cup chopped fresh carrots

1 cup chopped fresh celery

1 cup chopped white onion

2 TBL Minced Garlic

1 8 oz can water chestnuts, chopped

1/2 cup bean spouts

5 cups Cooked White Rice (I use the Jasamine Rice found in the oriental section of the grocery store)

3 eggs, beaten

2 TBL Oyster Sauce

3 TBL Soy Sauce

1 cup frozen peas, thawed

In a large skillet add both the sesame seed oil and olive oil.  Heat skillet over medium high heat.  Add Carrots, Celery, Onions, Garlic, bean sprouts and water chestnuts.  Saute until crisp tender.  Remove from heat while you cook the eggs.

In a heated nonstick skillet add about half of the beaten eggs.  Tilt your pan so that the eggs look like a giant sized pancake.  When the middle bubbles and the edges are dry, flip the entire egg to the other side.  Cook until done and transfer to the cutting board.  Repeat with the remaining eggs.  Cut cooked eggs into strips and set aside.

Turn vegetables back to medium heat and add the cooked rice.  Stir until al of the veggies are mixed into the rice.  Pat down rice mixture and place eggs on top.  Mix again, being careful to scrape the bottom of the pan so that the rice doesn’t burn.  Add the Oyster Sauce and Soy Sauce.  Stir again until the sauces are incorporated into the rice.

Add peas and stir again.  Remove from heat and let stand for a few minutes to let the flavors blend.  Serve with extra soy sauce on the side.