A New Direction and Carrot Cake!

             I've decided that in order to keep my motivation for writing here going, I'm taking some-what of a new motivational direction with this blog (this doesn't mean I won't write about other things as well though)! I am an avid "Farmers Market" goer and believe in everything local and fresh. We buy all of our beef and pork from a local farm and get farm fresh eggs almost every week. I also make it a personal mission of mine to try and go every chance I get to buy fresh produce; so the Farmers Market is nothing new to me. I am using this as my inspiration to keep this blog going. I will commit to going every week to the Farmers Market (usually on Saturday, as in the winter this is the only day it is put on) and to find something that inspires me. Whether it be something to cook or bake with, or try a new DIY/craft. So with all that, meet squash:

            Acorn squash, to be specific. Now, to some of you this might not be that daunting. To me, it's terrifying. We're not big squash eaters in this household. I would love to be, except I haven't the foggiest idea how to prepare them half the time, not to mention the other half is somewhat of a picky eater - more of a "Gimme a steak, skip the veg" kind-a guy. I got this lovely squash from the queen herself, The Squash Queen. Now, I'll be honest with you, I picked this pretty thing up and asked her point-blank what it was because I certainly didn't know! After informing me of it's name and giving me some suggestions on how to prepare it (involving one that I followed), I paid for the squash and came home.
           As soon as I got home, I knew I was in for it. I don't want to just roast the thing and have it as a side for supper - how boring is that?! I wanted to do something interesting - I wanted to stick to what I do best and bake something! So, after some research about exactly what this beautiful squash is (and learning that it's high in fiber and potassium with Vitamin C, B magnesium and manganese - who knew?) and several "What can I do with this?!" questions to the other half, he suggested a carrot cake. I've known you can replace fats in recipes with vegetable and fruit purees for a while, so I figured I'd do the same with a carrot cake. I adapted the Canadian Living Carrot Cake recipe I found online that I've used before. And wha-la!

 

          So how do I turn the above squash into this, you ask? First I split it open and scooped out the seeds (which, for some reason, I was surprised to see!) and then placed it on an aluminum foil covered baking sheet. I placed a couple of tablespoons of water on the bottom of the pan to keep the squash moist and almost steam it in the oven. Next, I placed butter, brown sugar, salt and cinnamon into the crevices of the squash like such:

1 tbsp. of butter,each

1 tbsp. of brown sugar, each

pinch of salt in each

1/4 tsp. cinnamon, divided between the two pieces

 

            Cover the squash with more aluminum foil and place in a 400 degree for about 45 minutes - this depends on the size of your squash and your own oven. Just check it after about 40 minutes, if it is fork-tender, remove the squash and let cool fully. You'll notice when you take the squash out that there will be a pool of brown-sugar-butter-goodness in the squash itself - DO NOT DUMP THIS OUT! Once everything has cooled, pour the brown-sugar-butter goodness into a blender and then scoop out the squash flesh and put in the blender as well. I have a Magic Bullet smoothie maker knock-off so I just used that. I hate the bulk of my blender.

            Puree the squash and liquid until you have a very smooth consistency with NO LUMPS. The puree looks like baby food. Just a warning.

          Now you're ready to bake the cake! Gather all of your other ingredients for the carrot cake:

Ingredients:

2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tbsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

salt

2 c. grated carrots

1 c. brown sugar

1 c. squash puree

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

3 eggs

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and pre-grease a 9x9 metal pan.
2. Mix all the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder and soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt) in a large bowl.
3. Mix all wet ingredients (brown sugar, squash puree, vanilla and eggs) in a smaller bowl.
4. Put the grated carrots into the flour mixture and mix around until the carrots are coated with flour*
5. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated. Don't worry if the batter looks slightly "gluey/gluppy".
6. Bake in the oven for approximately 45-50 minutes (again, depends on your oven). Check the cake at about 45 minutes with a tooth-pick. 

7. Let cool completely on a rack before icing.

*Mix the carrots in the flour first as this coats them in flour and helps them "stick" all throughout the cake instead of sinking to the bottom. This will help you have an even distribution of carrots throughout the cake!

      

        While the cake cools, you can prepare the icing:

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Icing

1 package (8 oz.) of cream cheese, room temperature

3/4 c. icing (powdered) sugar

1 tsp. heaping cinnamon

2 tsp. lemon juice

1. Mix everything together with electric beaters until incorporated and fluffy!

2. Ice your carrot cake.

           Ta-da! The kids (or in my case, the other half) will be none-the-wiser! He actually ate my "picture piece" without me asking him to try it! Carrot cake = win in my house.

           I hope you enjoy! Again, if you try this recipe don't be afraid to experiment! Let me know how it turns out either way. Til then, more on dogs, love, chocolate and everything in-between!

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Recovery and Baking - Banana Cinnamon Cocoa Muffins

            True to the title of this blog, today's post is all about dogs (my two and agility), love (for said dogs and baking) and chocolate (Banana Cinnamon Cocoa Muffins, to be exact). **Note to readers: I will not always be this good at sticking to the title of the blog - hence the "and Everything In-between" - have to cover my butt somehow, right?

             Last night was the fourth week of agility for us three (Beginners agility for Loki and Foundations for Lexi). It was a great session for both of them - even Lexi. She still is terrified of the equipment however there is hope! I finally got her to step on the travel boards and give me a "target" a couple times - and she actually (somewhat) enjoyed it! I'm finding that no matter what, I have to really believe in accomplishing our goals and envision what I want her to do before hand in order for us to get anywhere. Lots of praise and treats helps too, of course. I'm thinking some "behaviour shaping" with some clicker training is in order in the future - stay tuned for that adventure. Loki, as usual, enjoyed every moment we were there. We worked on jumps for the first time, and he loved it of course. We spent the majority of the time off-leash for the first time as well and, knock on wood for next week, it was successful! I'm finding with these two that everyday is one step forward and it is by no means either instant/immediate or without a lot of practice and trial and error. It is also very exhausting to train two dogs back-to-back for 2+ hours straight. Most people would think that this isn't very difficult however, in order to be successful, you must be very "present" and live in the moment. You also have to be very enthusiastic and animated, there to catch every correct move and let them know it! Energy begets energy, that's for sure. So this is the "Recovery" portion of this post. Next, baking.....

            Yes, you read that right. Banana. Cinnamon. Cocoa. Muffins. Do you think I could have fit any other ingredients in there? Well obviously I did. Below is a picture of what went into them - minus some yogurt and cocoa (more about those later). **Note: Before I go any further, let me just inform you that I am not a typical baker - I commit the cardinal sin of not following recipes - not even my own. For any of you that are not adventurous I suggest you close your eyes for this part or avoid this blog altogether. For those of you who are - scroll on down and follow my experiments!

Ingredients

 Approx. 5 very ripe large bananas

1 tbsp honey

1 c. apple sauce*

1 egg

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 c. (heaping) packed brown sugar

2 c. flour

1 tsp baking soda

2 tbsp baking powder

pinch of salt

1 1/2 tbsp. cinnamon
1 1/2 tbsp. cocoa powder**

*I ran out of applesauce about half-way through measuring a cup so I just topped it off with plain yogurt
**I felt like these muffins needed a little chocolate kick so I added some cocoa powder in there - it's not necessary so feel free to omit it (or add more ha!)

 

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Pre-grease two muffin trays.

2. Mix the dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking powder and soda, cinnamon and optional cocoa powder) together in a large bowl.

3. Mash the bananas to desired size (I left mine pretty chunky so you could really see the banana in the muffins but that's, again, up to you!) in a smaller bowl. Then add all the wet ingredients (including the brown sugar) in with the bananas and mix until well incorporated. 

4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until everything is just incorporated. DO NOT OVER MIX! I can't stress this enough - the muffins will be hard as a rock and dry if you over mix them.

5. Bake for 18-22 minutes or just until a tooth pick insereted in the center of the muffins comes out clean. This took 20 minutes in my oven.

6. Stuff your face!

 

          These muffins come out light, fluffy and moist. Unlike most banana bread, it doesn't feel like you're eating a dense loaf. Warning, this makes it very easy to eat several in one sitting. I should add the chocolate isn't very strong - it's more of a subtle background note so if you want them really chocolate-y you should add more cocoa.

          So there you have it! Agility and baking all in one! Hope you enjoy! If you do end up trying these, leave a comment and let me know how they turned out and if you experimented on your own!

   .......Back to homework I go.

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Brand new. First time. Scary.

        That's what this experience is to me. Not so sure why it's scary - this is a blog that will probably be forgotten with time, pushed off to the side collecting dust much like my most recent (by most recent I mean it's been collecting dust for almost 2 years now) knitting adventure. I would like to say I will commit to this as other bloggers I have seen do, posting religiously every day, not disappointing their followers - but let's face it, this may not be possible and I currently have no followers (at least there's no one to disappoint!). One step in the right direction.
         I have started this blog as a way to voice my experiences in life and, hopefully, use it as a tool in my current exploration in bettering myself and my quality of life. (In this case, I may point out that my above paragraph is very negative and not a great way to start off! Think positive, right?)
        Let me start off by, briefly (ha), introducing myself. I am a twenty-something HR student living in my hometown in Northwestern Ontario. I am engaged, living with my fiancée in our very first house; we have three cats (2 most of the time - one seems to wonder back and forth between our home and a neighbour's home) and 2 dogs. I love to cook but I really have a sweet tooth so baking is #1 for me. Unfortunately for me, the other half does not have a sweet tooth so that usually means I end up eating the entire cheesecake, plate of cookies or pan of brownies. Enter the 25+ pounds I would love to lose (I really love baking way too much to let those pounds interfere with my eating of said baking!). I have recently discouvered dogs, and training dogs, as a huge passion for me as well. My two "fur-babies" are mixed breeds; Loki is almost a year and a half and is some sort of Border Collie/Lab mix (and something that has caused him to be extremely tall) and the youngest, Lexi is a German Shepherd/Husky mix who is just over a year. I am currently training them both in Agility (but as you will learn as time goes by that may dwindle down to one in Agility and another in - who knows -). Agility has become an obsession for me. I am still in the beginning stages of training so I've got a long way to go but I am in love. I am also an assistant trainer within the puppy classes at the local dog club. More on that in the future. Probably one of the biggest things you'll learn about me is that I have an anxiety disorder. This is one of the reasons for my "better life, better me" exploration - I have lived my life dictated by my anxiety for a long time and it is something I would like to change. One moment at a time.
       This is just the basics! There's a lot more to learn about me and I'm hoping that, through this blog, that will come through. Keep tuned and keep your fingers crossed that the dust doesn't settle! More on dogs, love, chocolate and everything in-between.