Natalia's Favorite Carrot Cake Muffins

Carrot Cake Muffins

3 cups (270 grams) grated raw carrot (about 4 peeled carrots)

2 cups (260 grams) all-purpose flour

1 1/4 cups (250 grams) granulated white sugar

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3 eggs

1/2 teaspoon (3.5 grams) salt

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 cup coconut (sweetened)3 large eggs

3/4 cup (180 ml)  canola oil

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Place paper liners in 18 muffin cups.
2. Peel and finely grate the carrots and set aside.
3. In a large bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and ground cinnamon. Stir in the coconut. Set aside.
4. In a separate bowl whisk together the eggs, oil, and vanilla extract. 
5. Fold the wet ingredients, along with the grated carrot , into the flour mixture, stirring just until moistened. DO NOT OVER STIR!
6. Evenly divide the batter between the prepared muffin cups and bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  
7. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack. After about 10 minutes remove the muffins from the pans and cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.
Makes 12 standard-sized muffins.

 

Cream Cheese Frosting: (optional)

1/4 cup (56 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

4 ounces (1/2 cup) (110 grams) cream cheese, room temperature

1/3 cup confectioners' (powdered or icing) sugar

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1.  Beat the butter and cream cheese until very smooth with no lumps.
2. Gradually beat in the  powdered sugar until fully incorporated and smooth. Beat in the vanilla extract.

3. Place a dollop of the cream cheese frosting on the top of each muffin.

Healthy and delicious Linguini and Turkey Meatballs in Tomato Sauce

This meal is as close to Sunday at my Nonni's house as I can get while still being healthy.  My kids both LOVE this meal and always eat 4-5 meatballs.

1lb ground Turkey

1 egg

1/2 cup grated Romano or Parmesan cheese

2 Tbsp. Chopped Italian Parsley

1 slice of Bread

2 cloves of garlic (press with garlic press)

28 oz. can of tomatoes with salt and basil I use the one from Trader Joe’s

1.       Puree the can of tomatoes in blender until smooth.

2.       Dice up bread and blend in blender until it is like bread crumbs.

3.       In a large bowl mix turkey, egg, cheese, parsley, garlic and bread crumbs.

4.       Pour tomato puree into large sauce pot and turn heat to low.

5.       Using the ground Turkey mixture make 1 inch round balls until all the mix is used up. Drop balls one at a time in sauce, shake the pot to make room for more, they should not be on top of one another.  Let simmer for ½ hr. shaking the pot to cover the meatballs with sauce every so often.

6.       Boil water for Linguini and cook until al dente, about 10-15 minutes or according to package.

7.       Remove meatballs from sauce and set in a bowl or platter. Drain pasta and add it to the sauce that is left in the sauce pot.  Serve with meatballs and the rest of the cheese.

One Skillet Tamale Pie

This recipe I created back in college as a quick yummy cheap dinner of just meat and cornbread. I have added more ingredients over the years. If you want a vegetarian option replace the meat with 2 cans of black beans.

1lb ground Turkey, beef or 2 cans of Black beans

1 small onion diced

2 bell peppers of any color sliced in thin strips or ½ a bag of Frozen Mélange a trios’ from Trader Joe‘s

½ of a packet of McCormick Taco Seasoning, or Trader Joe’s Taco seasoning

2 Tbsp. Olive oil

1 box of Trader Joe’s Corn Bread mix, or 2 boxes of Jiff Corn Bread Mix

Optional extras include:

·         ½ Cup frozen corn to add into the Jiff Corn Bread mix.

·         1 Cup shredded cheese to mix in with meat and peppers

·         1 diced jalapeño pepper to mix in with corn bread mix.

Preheat oven to 350º

1. In an oven proof skillet heat olive oil and add peppers and onions. 

2. Sauté peppers and onions until soft. Add meat and taco seasoning to pepper mixture and sauté until meat is cooked.

3. Make Corn Bread Mix according to the package and pour over the top of the meat, pepper and onions. 

4. Put the skillet in the oven and cook until Corn Bread is golden, about 30 minutes.

Serve hot with sour cream, salsa and guac.

Chocolate Cake Recipe

Ingredients for the cake:

2 Cups Sugar
1 3/4 Cups Flour
3/4 Cup Cocoa Powder ( I use Hershey's)
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 Cup milk
1/2 Cup Veg Oil
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 Cup Boiling water


Ingredients for the Frosting:

1/2 Cup melted butter
2/3 Cup Cocoa powder
3 Cups powdered Sugar
1/3 Cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract


Heat Oven to 350.

1. Grease and flour two 9 inch round baking pans.
2. Combine ALL dry ingredients in a large bowl.
3.  Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla to dry ingredients and mix with an electric mixer for 2 minutes on medium speed. Pour in boiling water. (batter will be thin)
4. Pour half into each pan. Bake 30-40 minutes or until toothpick come out clean.....cool for 10 minutes and remove from pan to cool completely.
5. Frost.

To Make Frosting:
1. Pour melted butter into a large bowl, stir in cocoa powder.
2. Alternatley add powdered sugar and milk, beating with an electric mixer on medium speed to spreading consistency. Add a table spoon more milk if needed, stir in vanilla.

Place 1st cake on a plate or cake stand. Using a rubber spatula to spread 1/2 Cup of Frosting on top of the 1st cake, place 2nd cake on top and carefully spread the remaining frosting on top and around cake. Cake is ready to serve. Decorate with Berries, or powdered sugar if desired.

Giada De Laurentiis Raspberry Tiramisu Recipe

What you will need to make this mouth watering dessert:

1 cup seedless rasberry jam
6 tablespoons Grand Marnier
1 Pound marscapone cheese (room temp)
1 Cup heavy cream
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla etract
48 ladyfingers
3 3/4 cups fresh raspberries
Cofectioners' sugar

1.Stir together jam and 4 tablespoons of Grand Marnier in a small bowl.
2.Stir together the marscapone and remaining Grand Marnier in a large bowl. Using and electric mixer, beat cream, granulated sugar, and vanilla in another large bowl until soft peaks form. Using a large rubber spatula, stir a fourth of the whipped cream into marscapone mixture to lighten. Fold the remaining whipped cream into the marscapone mixture.
3. Line the bottom of a trifle bowl or other nice serving bowl with a third of the ladyfingers. Spread a third of the jam mixture over the ladyfingers, spread a third of the marscapone mixture over the jam layer and then cover with 1 cup of the raspberries. Repeat layering steps with the remaining ingrediants. Top the last layer with the remaining 3/4 cup of raspberries and refrigerate for atleas 3 hrs or overnight.
4. Dust the top with confectioners' sugar and serve.

New twist on Holiday Brisket

1 cup dry red wine
1 cup beef broth
1/2 cup cranberry juice
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 large onion  peeled and sliced
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
1 (4-pound) trimmed flat-cut brisket
Salt and pepper to taste
12 ounces medium portobello mushrooms, gills scrapped and sliced
1 cup dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 300°F

1.In a small pot over medium heat stir together cranberry juice and sugar until sugar is melted, set aside and cool. Whisk wine, broth, cranberry concentrate and flour to blend in medium bowl; pour into 15 x 10 x 2-inch roasting pan. Mix in onion, garlic and rosemary.

2. Sprinkle brisket on all sides with salt and pepper. Place brisket, fat side up, in roasting pan. Spoon some of wine mixture over. Cover pan tightly with heavy-duty foil.

3.Bake brisket until very tender, basting with pan juices every hour, about 3 1/2 hours. Transfer brisket to plate; cool 1 hour at room temperature. Thinly slice brisket across grain. Arrange slices in pan with sauce, overlapping slices slightly. (Brisket can be prepared 2 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Place mushrooms and cranberries in sauce around brisket. Cover pan with foil. Bake until mushrooms are tender and brisket is heated through, about 30 minutes (40 minutes if brisket has been refrigerated).

Transfer sliced brisket and sauce to platter and serve.