Chocolate Beet Cake

So I watched this video, and it inspired me. Though my experience of making this cake was much less whimsical and dreamlike, I still played the music as I whisked to get a similar effect. (in case you're wondering, the song is "Babe" by Evenings.

I love vegetables, I love red (and pink fingers), I love heart-shaped cakes, and most of all, I love chocolate. Thus, I love this recipe.

The cake turned out so moist and delicious, with just a soft hint of beet, which was surprisingly lovely. My dog Bear really wanted to try it. I think that's a good sign.

ingredients:
2 c. beets (pureed)
2 c. flour (I used whole wheat pastry)
1.5 c. dark brown sugar
4 oz. semisweet chocolate (melted)
2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. butter
3 eggs

create:
1) preheat oven at 375
2) puree the beets (fresh is best!) in a processor, then add in the butter, vanilla, and eggs.
3) in a large bowl, whisk in the flour, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt.
4) then add the wet ingredients, plus the melted chocolate.
5) scoop into a pan, and bake for ohhh about 30 minutes. mine seemed to take a long while.



oh that's good...


(don't tell them it has veggies in it until after they eat) 

Pumpkin Granola

To make use of the excess pumpkin puree on my shelf, I've decided to whip up some granola with it. And who doesn't love granola? The breakfast (and snack) of champions. Here's the yumtastic recipe!

ingredients:
5 cups rolled oats
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
¾ tsp. salt
¾ cup brown sugar
½ cup pumpkin puree
¼ cup applesauce
¼ cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup pepitas (or hazlenuts, walnuts...)

ready go:
1. Preheat the oven to 325° F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, combine oats, spices, and salt. Mix that up.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together brown sugar, pumpkin puree, applesauce, maple syrup and vanilla extract. Whisk until smooth. Pour wet ingredients into oat mixture and stir until the oats are evenly coated. They will be moist. Evenly spread the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet.
4. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove pan from the oven and stir. Bake for an additional 15-20 minutes or until the granola is golden and crisp. Remove from the oven and stir in dried cranberries and pepitas. Let cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

don't forget to share! ;)

Homemade Sweet Potato & Spinach Gnocci

Ya'll, this is delicious and so very easy. Truly, easiest homemade pasta ever.

Grab some sweet potatoes, some spinach, some flour and voila! Pasta.

So what I did was this:

3lb. sweet potatoes
15 oz. frozen spinach
~3c. whole wheat flour

-Peel and boil up the sweet potatoes. Throw them in a processor to puree (also a cheap way to make babyfoods...).
-Thaw frozen spinach, and get out the excess water by dabbing with a paper towel.
-Trow that spinach into the processor too.
-Now just add in whatever spices you wish... oregano, basil, salt&peppa, rosemary, etc.
-Put the puree into a wide bowl and add about 2 cups of flour, and then slowly add the rest. You want to create a pliable dough that is dry enough to knead without getting sticky stuff all over your fingers.
-Roll out pieces at a time into dough-logs and then slice off about an inch of dough at a time.
-Toss dough pieces into boiling water.
-It'll only take the pasta bits about a minute until they rise to the surface of the water, and when they do, you can take them out and set them aside to be eaten.

Now it's all finished, but if you want, you can toss the gnocci in a skillet of olive oil and garlic, to give it a bit of a browning, but this isn't necessary.

Pesto White Wine Sauce:

2 Tbsp. organic pesto
1/3 c. white wine
4 Tbsp. cream
1 Tbsp. butter
S&P

-Let it simmer for about 5 minutes.

Now you can add whatever else you like to the gnocci... sauteed mushrooms, zucchini, etc.

Enjoy!