Homework? I think I'll bake a cake instead.

Sunday was a fantastic day.  It began with my first bike ride of the season, a 24 mile ride with a group of 8 people from the Triathlon Club.  It was a bit chilly cruising along at 20 MPH in the 52 degree weather and I will definitely be investing in a long sleeve cycling jersey this week.  Despite the chilly temperature, it was SO nice to get outside and ride-I reached my tipping point this week in cycling class and just cannot ride inside anymore this season.  After my ride, I spent the day doing homework at my favorite coffee shop.  I returned home and really just did not want to do more homework. The sun was shinning, buds were forming in the trees outside my window and I felt like celebrating.  What did I do? I baked a wholesome carrot cake and wrote a blog post. This cake is in loaf form-perfect for small households like mine. Baking this cake was definitely one of the best choices I have made lately.

  

Spelt Flour Carrot Cake (www.anjasfood4thought.com)
3/4 cup whole wheat or whole spelt floour
1/4 teaspoon salt1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup old fashioned oats
1/2 cup boiling water
1/4 cup butter, roughly chopped
1/3 cup palm sugar (substitute: 1/3 cup brown sugar mixed with 2 tablespoons molasses)
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup coarse grated carrots
1/3 cup chopped almonds or walnuts
Cream Cheese Frosting
1/2 cup cream cheese
3 tablespoons maple syrup
Directions:
Preheat oven to 175C/375F. Line medium-sized loaf pan with parchment paper.In a medium bowl, cover oats with boiling water. Place the butter on top of the oat water mixture so it will melt. Let stand for about 10 minutes to soak.In another bowl, combine flour salt and baking powder. Set aside. Whisk the eggs lightly, then add the palm sugar and beat until mixture is fluffy. Add the egg mixture to the oat mixture and stir until combined. Now combine wet and dry ingredients. Fold in grated carrots and chopped almonds. Transfer batter to prepared loaf tin. Bake for 40 minutes or until bakje tester comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then take out. Let cool completetely on wire racks. Just before serving, combine cream cheese and maple syrup until smooth. Apply frosting evenly on top of the cake. 
NOTE: As I was mixing up this cake batter, I came to the realization that it was missing something.  I quickly realized that carrot cakes normally have spices in them and this recipe did not. I quickly sampled the batter and knew I wanted to add spices, as I love spices.  I added a few teaspoons of cinnamon, ground ginger, nutmeg and allspice, along with a teaspoon of vanilla. 

When I woke up last Monday, there was a strange fog hanging over the ground. I think it was due to the combination of left over patches of snow on the ground, the 65 degree weather and the humidity.  I might be wrong, who knows. As soon as I looked outside, I threw on my rubber garden boots, grabbed my camera and went to take spontaneous photographs.

  I may or may not have been in my pajamas...sometimes photographic moments only last a short while and require your immediate attention, even if you are still in your pj's. 

Brinner!

Wellllll, it's spring break.  Which means I get to drink coffee with my Mother every morning, hang out with my dog, go for long runs in the 70 degree weather, cook in my favorite kitchen and eat meals with my family.  It doesn't take much to make me happy.  On Wednesday, I told my mom I had a new pancake recipe I wanted to try.  Every once and a while, we like to have breakfast for dinner (or as some call it, BRINNER) and Wednesday happened to be one of those evenings.  I found this recipe for sweet potato pancakes and was instantly intrigued.  I'm not talking about potato pancakes, like the kind you smother in ketchup. I'm talking about the kind you usually top with syrup and eat with a side of bacon.  I think my family was somewhat skeptical as I mixed up this orange pancake batter with Ghirardelli chocolate chips in it.

Truth is, I was a bit skeptical myself until we ate the ENTIRE batch of these pancakes immediately after they came off the griddle.  I don't think they lasted more than ten minutes.  There was just something about them...I can't really pinpoint what, that made them truly delicious.  During brinner, we all tried to figure out what made these griddle cakes so wonderful.   We think it may have been the texture, but we are still uncertain.  Looks like you will just have to make them to understand what I am talking about.

As far as pancakes go, these were relatively healthy. The original recipe calls for half whole wheat and half regular flour, I used gluten free flour.  There was no added oil or butter in the batter and only 2 table spoons of brown sugar (only 1 if you make a single batch, I doubled the recipe).  I can't forget about the semi-sweet chocolate chips that added a boost of antioxidants.  Of course, we topped these with pure maple syrup made by one of my mother's friends. Which reminds me-it is officially maple syrup season and I am dying to learn more about the process.  I hope to spend some time at a maple syrup shack this spring and will let you know all about it if I get the chance.

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Sweet Potato Pancakes (www.eatliverun.com)
Ingredients:
1/2 large sweet potato, baked then mashed with a fork
1/2 cup white flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 cup milk
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/2 cup (heaping) dark chocolate chips
butter to grease skillet
maple syrup for serving

**To make these pancakes gluten free, substitute 1 cup of Pamela's Baking Mix for the flour and do not add baking powder, as there are leavening agents in Pamela's. 

Directions: Grease a large skillet with butter and head over medium high heat. Combine all ingredients, mixing JUST UNTIL COMBINED and drop by quarter cups onto hot skillet. Cook for about two minutes each side then serve with warm maple syrup.

Post Race Breakfast.

On Saturday I participated in the UWL indoor triathlon.  I told myself I wasn't going to sign up for it this year, as I haven't trained quite as much as past years now that I'm in grad school.  A good friend and training buddy, J, talked me into it.  As always, I left the race feeling eager for warm weather and SUMMER TRIATHLON SEASON! Bring on the sunshine, long bike rides and exhausting runs.  I took first place in my age group and won the overall women's division, click here to check out the full results page.  J also won his age group and the men's overall division.  I guess our late night pool training sessions in between night class and paper writing paid off.

After arriving home from the tri, I knew I had to get right to work with studying for midterms and writing papers....but not before I fueled up with a post race meal.   I wasn't in the mood for my regular oatmeal, you all know that I eat oatmeal every.single.day.of.the.week.  I am a creature of habit like that.  I usually add cinnamon, dried apricots, dried cranberries, ground flax seed, slivered almonds and real maple syrup.  It is the highlight of my morning.  Anyways, to switch it up, I decided to make steel cut oats (BIG switch up, eh?).  I made these for the first time two weeks ago and oh my goodness, I have been missing out on a little slice of heaven for the past 23 years of my life.  Prior to last week, I didn't know what steel cut oats were.  I had seen them before in tins in the grocery store but didn't know how they looked different from regular oats. I took a few pictures so you don't have to wonder, like I did.

Uncooked steel cut oats

Anyways, I stepped outside of my box and tried a different kind of oats, which I started calling weekend oats- because they take about 40 minutes to cook.  And, if your week day morning are anything like mine, I certainly do not have time between my workout and getting to class to slave over the stove for 40 minutes.  Okay, its not slaving, but it does take time.  This recipe makes about 4 servings, so you can make them on a weekend and enjoy them throughout your week.  The local CoOp sells steel cut oats in the bulk section, which is where I purchased mine.  Most grocery stores sell them pre-packaged right next to rolled and quick oats.  You can top them with anything that fits your fancy- I chose to use orange zest, fresh blackberries and slivered almonds.  Steel cut oats are delectable, they really do taste different than standard oatmeal.  Don't ask me how or why, because I don't know.  Pleaseeeeeeee, just try them.

Trader Joe's Almond Milk= my favorite

Cranberry Orange Steel Cut Oats Recipe- www.cookieandkate.com
Adapted from The America’s Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook


Ingredients

3 cups water
1 cup almond milk (or other milk: cow’s milk, coconut milk, etc.)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter (or coconut oil)
1 cup steel-cut oats
1/4 teaspoon salt
zest of one orange and juice of one orange

Instructions:

1. In a large saucepan, bring the water and milk to a simmer over medium heat. In the meantime, melt the butter (or coconut oil) in a 12-inch skillet over medium heat. Toast the oats, stirring occasionally, until golden and fragrant, around 1 1/2 to 2 minutes.
2. Stir the oats into the simmering water/milk mixture. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer gently for about 20 minutes, until the mixture is very thick.
3. Stir in the salt. Continue to simmer the mixture, stirring occasionally, until almost all of the liquid is absorbed, about 10 minutes. The oatmeal should be very creamy at this point. Stir in the orange zest and juice, and let the oatmeal stand for 5 minutes before serving.
4. Portion into bowls and top with a fruit sauce, toasted nuts, a splash of milk, greek yogurt or really whatever you desire! 

Vegan Fudge.

A weekend with T wouldn't be complete unless some type of dessert was included, so we tried out a new recipe for fudge which was both vegan and raw.  I'm trying not to use overly processed baking ingredients like corn syrup and marshmallow fluff, which makes it difficult to make things such as fudge.  This recipe was just what I was looking for.  To be honest,  I wasn't a fan of this fudge the day we made it, but it has become much better with more time (freezing time, that is. read the recipe and you will understand).  This is NOT a typical recipe for fudge and I should have known better to expect it to be the same consistency of my mother's homemade fudge.  If you make this expecting it to taste like the decadent fudge you get up north at the candy shop in Eagle River (Wausau friends-you know exactly what I'm talking about!), you will be disappointed.   Once I was able to get past the fact that it was different (and much healthier), I actually started to like it.  Maybe a little bit too much, as I ate it after my brick (cycle-run) workout last Sunday.  Whoops. The recipe is from a fantastic blog, www.cookieandkate.com...check it out if you have time!

Easy, No Cook Fudge Recipe (www.cookieandkate.com)

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup coconut butter*
• 1 tablespoon peanut butter
• 2 small ripe bananas, cut into one-inch chunks
• 1/4 cup raw cacao powder** or regular cocoa powder
• 3 tablespoons agave nectar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• pinch sea salt

Instructions

1. Combine all ingredients in a food processor until smooth, roughly five minutes or so.
2. Use a spatula to pour the mixture into a flat, sealable container.
3. Place the container in the freezer. The fudge needs to be super cold in order to retain its shape, so I find that it’s best to store the fudge in the freezer. If you store it in the fridge, it will have a semi-solid mousse-like texture.
4. *To make your own coconut butter, pulse 8 ounces of shredded, unsweetened coconut in a food processor until smooth, which will take 8 to 12 minutes. Please note that 8 ounces of coconut will yield 1 cup of coconut butter, which is twice what you need for the recipe. I recommend 8 ounces because I have not had any luck making smaller batches in my food processor; too many flakes stick to the side. Perhaps a very smaller food processor could do the job. If you make 8 ounces’ worth, you can save 1/2 cup of coconut butter for later (it’s great on quick breads, muffins and more), or you can double the batch and toss twice the remaining ingredients into the food processor after making the coconut butter. Just pour the mixture into a bigger container and refrigerate/freeze as directed.