Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Icing

Carrot cake is one of those classic desserts that will always be popular but it's not my personal favorite. I mean it's okay but I prefer to keep my vegetables as a side dish and chocolate in my dessert.  Anyways, I had somebody order a carrot cake from me for her daughter's 7th birthday recently.  She told me that her husband never eats her carrot cake but he went back for seconds of mine.  She has been asking for the recipe since so I thought I would be nice and share it here, with all of you.  You could also try my chocolate carrot cake recipe (mmm...chocolate) here.

Carrot Cake:

Ingredients: 

1-1/2 cups Sugar 
1/2 cup lightly packed brown sugar
1 cup Vegetable Oil 
4 whole Eggs 
2 cups All-purpose Flour 
1/2 teaspoon Salt 
1 teaspoon Baking Soda 
1 teaspoon Baking Powder 
2 teaspoons Ground Cinnamon 
2 cups Grated Carrots 
1 cup finely chopped pecans or walnuts, optional 


Directions:
1.  Preheat oven to 350F
2.  Mix together the sugar, oil and eggs in a large bowl.
3.  In another bowl mix together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon and add to wet mixture.
4. Then add carrots and nuts (if desired) and mix well.
5.  Pour into a greased and floured 9 x 13 pan and bake at 350F for about 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cool completely before frosting with the cream cheese icing (recipe below).

Mix the eggs, sugars, and oil.

Add the dry ingredients.

Add the carrots and nuts (a food processor is the ONLY way to grate that many carrots!)

Pour it in the pan.

And here is the final product

Cream Cheese Icing:

Ingredients:

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, softened
1 8oz. package of cream cheese, softened
4 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla

Directions:

Mix the butter and cream cheese on medium-high speed for a few minutes until smooth, light, and fluffy.  Add the vanilla.  Gradually add the powdered sugar, a little at a time, mixing on low speed. When the powdered sugar is incorporated beat on medium-high speed for about 30 seconds to make sure everything is well mixed and fluffy.  Frost cake. (and don't forget to lick the bowl!)

Mac and Cheese Soup

I tried a new recipe today for Mac and Cheese Soup that I got from a friend.  I thought my kids would like it but I didn't realize just how much they would absolutely LOVE it!  I probably should have known though considering one of my daughters asks for mac and cheese for lunch almost every day. (Just to clarify, I don't let her have mac and cheese everyday, but she still asks for it)  I liked it too.  It has all the flavor of everyone's favorite comfort food and yet it's a warm and delicious soup.  Yum!  Hopefully you will like it as much as I did. 

Mac and Cheese Soup:

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound of bacon (optional but really makes it so much better)
• 2 cups of dry elbow macaroni
• 3 tablespoons of butter
• 1/2 of a medium onion, diced
• 1/3 cup of all purpose flour
• 2-1/2 cups of chicken broth
• 2 cups of whole milk
• 4 cups of shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 2 tsp mustard
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:


1.  Prepare macaroni pasta according to package directions, drain and set aside.
2.  While the macaroni is cooking you can cook the bacon until crisp, then chop it up and set that aside.
3.  Melt butter in a medium to large pot.  Add the onion and saute until tender. Add the flour and cook over  medium to medium high heat, stirring constantly for about a minute.  It will be very thick. 
4.  Add the broth, about 1/2 cup at a time, constantly whisking until fully incorporated and smooth. Add the milk a little at a time, stirring after each addition.  
5.  Keep the soup on medium heat, stirring occasionally, until hot but NOT boiling. Stir in the cheese, about a cup at a time until completely melted and smooth.
6.  Add the cooked pasta and gently stir. Take a taste and see if it needs any salt or pepper.  Ladle soup into bowls and top with chopped bacon and additional cheese, if desired. 

You could add a little bit of celery if you want.  You could also add ham or mix the bacon into the soup instead of just sprinkling it on top. 

Super Easy Slow-Cooker Beef and Mushrooms

I love for my kids to be involved in things.  It's good for them to learn new things, make friends, and have fun while doing it.  However, sometimes their schedules can be more than a little difficult to work around.  I know everyone is busy and I am only preaching to the choir but some days I could SERIOUSLY use a couple more hours.  My girls have dance class from 4:30-5:30 on Tuesdays and my son has Cub Scouts from 4:15-5:15 on Thursdays so it's kind of difficult to have time to prepare dinner on those days.  So unless I want to feed my family PB&J all the time (hey, don't get me wrong, an occasional peanut butter sandwich for dinner is perfectly fine) I just throw some food in the crock pot.  Then dinner is magically done when we get home and I don't have to slave over a hot stove after battling kids to get them everywhere they need to go.  This is one of those easy crock-pot recipes for those days when you don't have time to make dinner.

Super Easy Slow-Cooker Beef and Mushrooms

Ingredients:

1 pound lean beef stew meat
1 can low-fat cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup water
1 packet dry onion soup mix
8 oz. fresh sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup sour cream (optional)

Directions:

Toss the meat in the bottom of your slow cooker.  Sprinkle the onion soup mix over the meat.  Toss in the mushrooms next.  Combine the canned soup and water and pour that over the top.  Cook on low for 7-8 hours.  If you want it a little creamier, stir in 1/2 cup of sour cream just before serving.  Serve over rice or noodles.