Lemon-Rosemary Cupcakes

Yet another adaptation of the amazing Rosemary Olive Oil Cake.  The last adaptation I made was absolutely delicious and a big hit among the friends I shared it with (Olive Oil & Beer Cake).  Today's adaptation was very similar to that one, but I cut the recipe in half, used lemonade instead of beer, and made mini-cupcakes instead of cake.

Lemon-Rosemary Cupcakes

1/2 c lemonade

1/2 c olive oil

1/2 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

1 heaping tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 c brown sugar

1/2 c white sugar

1/4 c whole wheat flour

1 c flour

1 tsp crushed rosemary

makes approx. 30 mini cupcakes

Bake at 350 for 15 min 

Delightfully light, airy, and refreshing.  

These cupcakes are coming with me to a birthday party for one of my friends. 

Crockpot Herb Chicken

Rinse and trim fat off 3 b/s chicken breasts.

Rub with olive oil, garlic powder, mustard powder, oregano, and basil.

Place in the bottom of the crockpot.

Pour 1/2 c veggie stock over chicken. 

Cook on low for 6 hours.

Chicken should fall apart when you retrieve it from the crockpot.  

The chicken went great with the Pumpkin Lasagna I made today.  Like this one, but I added some extra-special ingredients this time and made it even better. 

I mixed about 1 c mashed potatoes into the pumpkin/ricotta mixture, and I added 1/4 c marinara sauce to the water/alfredo mixture. Also, I forgot to add any seasonings, but it came out delicious anyway!

In other news, I had haggis for dinner last night.  It was edible.  

Carrot-Pumpkin Soup

Snow Day today!  The forecast was so bad, school was called off before anything started falling from the sky.  But there was ice raining down by 10, and the snow started sometime after 1 and accumulated very, very fast.  I decided the weather called for a batch of soup.  

Carrot-Pumpkin Soup

8 medium carrots

1/4 small onion

1 inch ginger root

1/4 c pumpkin

5 small cloves garlic

vegetable stock

water

mustard powder

sage powder

3 tbsp butter

olive oil

Chop the carrots, grate the ginger, and put them in a large soup pot with the butter and a little bit of water.  Cover and steam.  Add some veggie stock when the carrots are almost done.  

Remove from heat when done.  

In a separate pan, saute the onion (chopped) and the garlic (minced) in olive oil.  

Put the carrots in a food processor and blend til smooth.  Set aside.  Put the onions/garlic into the large soup pot with c 2 cups of veggie stock and 1 1/2 c water.  Add the mustard powder, sage powder, and pumpkin.  Stir well.  When the soup is simmering, add the carrots.  Stir well, bring to a boil, let simmer for awhile. 

Goes well with Cider Rolls.  I added about 2 tsp of cinnamon to the recipe today.  

So delicious. 

Arugula-Mushroom Rolls

It's been a fabulous weekend!  Yesterday the temp got up above 70 and I got to spend some quality bonding time with my horse.  Today, it was in the mid-60s and I had a really great 10.6 mile run.  I intended to run 5 or 6, but it was so nice outside, and I felt good, so I just kept on going.  It feels great to be back to a good running schedule.  I'm at 2 weeks above 30 miles each now.  

A run like today's needs a good carb & protein loaded dinner, and this one hit the spot.

For the dough:

3 scant tsp yeast

6 oz hot water

1/2 tsp salt

garlic powder

onion powder

crushed rosemary

1/2 c wheat flour

1 1/2 c flour

Let rise in a warm place.

Once the dough has risen, place it on a floured surface and use your fingers to spread it into a large rectangle.  Flip is over occasionally so that both sides get some flour on them.  Spread some pesto on the flattened dough, then grate some cheese on top.  Cover with sliced mushrooms, add some more cheese, cover with handfuls of arugula. Add more cheese.  Roll it up and place on a greased baking pan. 

Grate some cheese on top.

Bake at 450 for 20 min.

Makes a wonderful meal with some home-made meatballs.

Top with avocado if you're addicted like I am.

Here's a link to my first attempt at Arugula Rolls.

Pumpkin-Cranberry Bread Pudding

Pumpkin-Cranberry Bread Pudding

10 slices dried bread

1 egg

1/4 c heavy cream

1/4 c milk

1/2 c pumpkin

1 tbs cinnamon

1 tbs cocoa powder

1/4 c cranberries

Mix together everything but the bread and cranberries.  

Break the bread into small pieces and mix them into the other ingredients.  Once the bread has soaked up the gooey goodness, press it into a greased 9x9 pan, or into cupcake wrappers.  Press the cranberries into the top.  

Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

I think I will eat these for breakfast this week with some scrambled eggs and fried potatoes...just thinking about it is making me hungry. 

Inspiration for this came from this recipe at Our Lady of Second Helpings.

I saw her post and it sounded good.  I did not refer back to her post when I actually made mine...I just made up my own recipe as I went along.  Cause that's where all the fun is.

Olive Oil & Beer Cake

A few months ago I made a Rosemary Olive Oil Cake.  It was yummy, but way too sweet for my tastes.  Tonight, I was itching to bake something, but couldn't decide what, so I organized my recipe box while I was thinking about it.  I came across the recipe for the Olive Oil Cake and decided it was time to try it again.  However, the original recipe called for white wine, and I don't have any right now.  But I did have a bottle of beer that I didn't particularly want to drink.  So I decided to substitute beer for wine.  I also changed the flour and sugar types/amounts from the original recipe.

ingredients listed in the order that I added them to the mixing bowl

1 c Shock-Top Raspberry Wheat Beer 

1 c olive oil

4 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

2 1/4 tsp baking powder

1+ tbs crushed rosemary

1/2 c brown sugar

1 c white sugar

1/2 c wheat flour

2 c white flour

pour batter into a 9x9 pan

bake at 350 for 50 min

I had to cut the cake into 4 pieces in order to remove it from the pan

 For my taste-test...I ate the pieces that stuck to the pan

Delicious.

Stuffed & Bacon-wrapped Chicken

Pre-heat oven to 375.

Finely chop a little bit of onion and celery.  Brown the onion in olive oil, add 1 clove minced garlic and 1 tsp minced ginger, cook for another minute or two.  Add the onion/garlic/ginger to a bowl with the celery.  Tear up 4 pieces of dried bread and add them to the bowl.  Mix with veggie stock until moist.  

Butterfly 3 b/s chicken breasts.  Spread some stuffing on top of each one, then roll them up.  Wrap each chicken roll with a slice or two of bacon. Place the rolls in an oven dish.  

Bake for 1 hr. 

Deliciousness.

You're welcome.

Cider-Whiskey Pot Roast

2 large gold potatoes, chopped

3 medium carrots, chopped

1/2 c chopped cabbage

1/2 c mushrooms

2.5 lb pot roast

1/2 c Jameson Irish Whiskey

1 c apple cider

1 tbsp finely chopped ginger

flour

cinnamon

Spread the potatoes on the bottom of a crock pot.  Layer the carrots on top, then the cabbage, then the ginger.  Coat the roast with flour and cinnamon, then place it on top of the vegetables.  Scatter the mushrooms around the roast.  Mix the cider and whiskey and pour it over the roast.  

Cook on high for 7 hours.

When done, shred the roast to be used in various dishes throughout the week. 

I think it will make a nice pulled-beef sandwich.  

I think I will also use some of it for home-made lo mein later this week.

Here's tomorrow's lunch.