Well, after an insanely delicious London Broil Sandwich from Issac Newton's on Saturday night (sorry...no pics:( , we were in the market for an extra healthy breakfast on Sunday. And after doing a little 'research,' I came across a recipe for Baked Oatmeal. Oats + Warm + Winter = Perfect!
I combined 2 recipes: One for healthy baked oatmeal & of course, a little *JAZZ* from my new favorite spiced oatmeal recipe:
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup Eggbeaters (or 2 eggs)
- 3 cups uncooked rolled oats
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 cup skim milk
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg*
- 1/2 teaspoon cardamom*
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves*
I mixed all the ingredients together, poured it into a 9x13 pan and let it sit in the fridge overnight. Sunday morning I baked the oats, uncovered, for 30 minutes at 350.
And (as you can see from the top picture) I served the oats with a little drizzle of maple syrup, a sprinkle of granola and a drizzle of unsweetened almond milk = YUM!!!! Scott put this on the "We'll have to have this again" list, so you know it was good:)
After that, I was sooooooooooooo excited to get in our 'exercise' for the day = a SUPER snowy walk in the park with Penny!
Even if we had to take a minor detour to the park since our main entrance was ...ummm...not in service;)
We got in QUITE the workout, since nearly EVERY step was a knee lift! It almost felt like we were climbing uphill! (good prep for our next trip though...hint, hint:)
It was all fun & games until this happened....
...and that's all I'm gonna say about That...
When we came back, I got to baking my treat for the afternoon. Since we were heading to my Aunt's for lunch, I thought I'd bring over a little sweet/salty treat from here:
How does "Kick Ass Carrot Cake" sound??? Pretty good, right?? :)
Carrot Cake Layers
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 1/2 tsp. fine sea salt
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 1/4 cup canola oil
- 4 large eggs
- 3 cups grated carrots
- Using a whisk attachment on a stand mixer, combine oil & sugar for 2 minutes or until well blended.
- Add in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
- Shift in the flour, cinnamon, ginger, baking soda & sea salt and mix until just combined.
- Fold in 3 cups of grated carrots.
- Pour cake batter into 2 round pans coated with butter & flour.
- Bake cakes at 350 for 40 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. (The cake didn't LOOK done at all, but the toothpick told me it was done...and it was right:)
- Allow cakes to cool 20 minutes in their pans, before turning onto a rack and allowing to cool completely.
While the cake is cooling, you can work on Awesome layer #2: Butterscotch sauce:
- 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- Combine all ingredients in a small sauce pan and place over low heat. Continue to stir until the butter is melted & the sugar is dissolved.
- Turn up the heat and bring the syrup to a boil. Allow to boil for 3 minutes without stirring (be careful the mixture doesn't boil over!)
- Allow to cool for a few minutes and spread a thin amount of sauce on both cake layers.
(Step 4: Go buy a small pint of vanilla ice cream, because even this small recipe made enough sauce for a few butterscotch sundaes. You didn't hear that from me:)
And FINALLY...the true Kick Ass layer = The Frosting:)
Blend:
- 10 oz. cream cheese
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3 cups confectioners sugar
And the 2 star ingredients: 1/3 cup pure maple syrup:
And 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt:
This made a TON of frosting....so I'd even cut back on it a bit for next time. It was a little heartbreaking to throw the last 1/2 cup in the garbage;) (couldn't keep it around...too "dangerous":)
The frosting was sooooooo smooth and glossy! I poured the frosting over the cake, as not to disturb the butterscotch sauce...
Probably not a technique my friend over at Piece of Cake Decorating would approve of, but for us lowly "decorators", it worked fine;) hahahahahaahahhaa...
Finally I finished off the cake with a half a cup of toasted walnuts. (You could also throw the walnuts *IN* the cake batter, if you'd like...)
After making a maple & frosting mess in my kitchen I was finished baking, we headed over to my Aunt's. Seriously, how cute is she??? She had the dining room all festive for Valentine's Day:)
I love Valentine's Day for it's "old school-ness"! Those old fashioned cards were the cutest!
Loved it! :)
For our "linner" (lunch/dinner:), we chowed down on more of my Mom's "Christmas Raviolis" (don't worry...she had them frozen:) and my Aunt made baked ziti & salad. SOOO GOOD!
And of course, some Carrot Cake for dessert:) This recipe was sooo good because it wasn't overly sweet, but had such a smoooooth & spicy taste. Delish!
And my Aunt's friend had also made one of my drop dead/all time favorites = Homemade Cinnamon Buns! Trying to eat just half of one of these was an iron clad willpower challenge for sure! :) They were to die for!
Wooshhhh and after seeing those cinnamon rolls again, I am READY for a no sugar day today;) hahahahahahaha...hope you guys had a great weekend and are ready for this week coming up! Ummm....which may inclued MORE snow for NJ?? Stay tuned... ;)
