Tasty Tidbits

HAPPY EASTER!

I hope you have a joyous day tomorrow.

He is risen! He is risen indeed!

We went grocery shopping together this week!! I am so excited about this cart of goodies. We've already made a little dent in them & this weekend I plan to roast the squash & sweet potatoes to prep for quick meals during the week.

Right behind the cans of organic tomatoes, there's a small box of Yogi Bedtime Caramel Tea peeking through. We tried it on Thursday night & it was delicious. I'm not sure whether I slept better or it's in my head, but it was a great bedtime treat & I did wake up well-rested.

Our next Nature Box came! We got to choose what we wanted this time, plus they sent a bonus bag of BBQ sunflower seeds. Yay! We'd already eaten one of the bags before I snapped the pic, we were that excited for this.

Here's what we've been eating in the last week:

Breakfasts

• Pineapple banana green smoothies
• Peach yogurt with Homemade Coconut Cherry Granola
• Cinnamon quinoa
• Baked cherry oatmeal topped with coconut butter
• Bananas & crunchy pb

Lunches

• Leftovers
• Sandwiches
• Carrot & celery sticks
• Salad with leftover sweet potato fries, avocado & Gena's Almond Butter Dressing
• Apples, grapefruit, oranges & clementines

Dinners

Saturday:

• Jessica's Roasted Red Pepper White Bean Burgers - We loved these! They were super flavorful & actually pretty easy to make.
• Sweet potato fries
• Green salad

Sunday: 
Family dinner at our house with grandparents & parents

• Pasta bake: penne & rotini with tomato sauce, mushrooms, onions, kale & parmesan
• Green salad
• Hot cross buns

Monday:

• Out with friends: Guacamole & chips (me)
• Leftover pasta (Bup)

Tuesday:

• As Good As Gluten's Brown Rice & Flaxseed Pizza Crust topped with bbq sauce, onion, mushrooms, roasted red peppers, spinach, avocado, feta, roasted garlic & pineapple - This was my first attempt using brown rice flour in a pizza crust. It turned out so well! Lots of flavor & we never would have known it was gluten free.

Wednesday:
Out with family for my mother-n-law's bday dinner

• Pizza topped with tomatoes, bell peppers, onions, & spinach (me)
• Mushroom raviolis (Bup)

Thursday: 
Maundy Thursday Dinner + Service at church

• Lentil Soup
• Bread

Friday:

• The Kitchn's Butternut Squash & Coconut Curry, adapted
• Green salad

Treats

• Bunny Butt Cake
• Trader Joe's Sipping Chocolate

Chocolate Bunny Butt Cake + Healthy Peanut Butter Frosting

Last weekend, we had my grandparents over for dinner & to play pinochle. Since we won't see them on Easter, I wanted to have it be an Easter-ish dinner. I asked the Bup what he wanted for dessert and he said, "Chocolate cake!" Surprise! That's what he always wants...

I started thinking of how to make chocolate cake more spring/Easter themed, & stumbled on the Bunny Butt Cake, courtesy of Betty Crocker. Of course, I had to healthify it, so I made my own cake & frosting.

This cake is dense & chocolatey. It's my favorite chocolate cake - one of the few cakes that I could eat without any frosting. That's really saying something, because usually I'm a frosting nut & don't much care about the cake part. While I'm not going to say this is a health food & you should have it every day, it is fairly healthy for chocolate cake.

And the frosting!!!! It's delicious! This is my new go-to peanut butter frosting. It has no butter & no refined sugars, yet it's sweet & smooth, just like it should be. Even if you don't make the cake, you could still use the frosting for other cakes/cupcakes. Believe me, it's yummy!

If you need a dessert for Easter, I hope you'll try this!

Chocolate Bunny Butt Cake
Adapted from Eating Well
Serves 8-10

1 3/4 c white whole wheat flour or spelt flour

3/4 c evaporated cane juice (or organic sugar)

2/3 c unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 c buttermilk (I used 2 T apple cider vinegar + 1 c unsweetened almond milk)

3/4 c packed light brown sugar

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1/4 c coconut oil, melted

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 c hot strong black coffee

1 batch Healthy Peanut Butter Frosting (see recipe below)

2-4 T shredded coconut.

Preheat oven to 325°F. Coat a 1 1/2-quart ovenproof bowl (8 inches across top) and 6 muffin cups from a regular-size muffin tin with coooking spray.  

Whisk flour, granulated sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Add buttermilk, brown sugar, egg, oil and vanilla. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Add hot coffee and beat to blend. Don't worry - the batter is supposed to be thin.

Pour cake batter into the muffin cups, filling each about 2/3 full. Pour remaining batter into the ovenproof bowl.

Bake cupcakes 20-22 minutes, and the bowl 60-70 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes each before removing from muffin cups and bowl. Cool completely on wire racks.

Place large dome cake, flat side down, on a large serving platter. Coat with frosting to desired thickness, reserving some frosting for the feet and tail.  Place 2 cupcakes for feet on the bottom of the cake. Place 1 cupcake for the tail a few inches up, centered between the feet. Secure each cupcake with a toothpick through the center, pushing in until it does not show. Carefully coat feet and tail with frosting. Sprinkle shredded coconut onto the tail, pressing gently so that it sticks to the frosting.

Note: This chocolate cake can also be made in 2 round 9" or 8" pans, or a 9x13 pan. Baking times will vary.


Healthy Peanut Butter Frosting
Makes 2.5 cups of frosting

1 1/3 c natural peanut butter
16 dates
2/3 c water
1/4-1/2 tsp. salt (if your pb has salt in it, use the lesser amount and adjust to taste)
1/3 c old-fashioned oats
3 T maple syrup
1/2 c unsweetened almond milk

Combine all ingredients in a high speed blender or food processor. Process until smooth and creamy, adding more milk if necessary. Refrigerate in an airtight container for 2 hours to allow flavors to meld and frosting to thicken. This can be done ahead of time; I made mine the night before. When the cakes are cooling, remove from fridge to allow to come to room temperature for easier spreading. Extra frosting can be frozen in an airtight container for about 3 months.

Tasty Tidbits

The crocuses are up! Welcome to spring!

Although the sprinkling of snow we got here on Friday indicates otherwise, it's time to start planning & planting for the upcoming garden season. The Bup got compost this week & did some work on building up our raised beds. I'm hoping to plant some onion sets, spring peas, seed potatoes, & leafy greens this weekend. It'll all depend on the weather!

Mom made this pretty table runner. I've since ironed both it & the tablecloth in anticipation of having my parents & grandparents over for dinner on Sunday. We'll follow up dinner with our favorite: 6-handed pinochle! Hopefully the women's team wins. :-)

Here's what we've been eating in the last week:

Breakfasts

• Mint Chocolate Green Smoothie
• Peach yogurt with Angela's Blissful Buckwheat Granola Clusters, Bear Naked Fit Granola, Triple Berry Crunch, & Homemade Coconut Cherry Granola
• Overnight oats with chia seeds
• Baked cherry oatmeal topped with coconut butter
• Bananas & crunchy pb

Lunches

• Leftovers
• Sandwiches
• Baked sweet potato
• Roasted seasoned potatoes
• Salad with avocado & Gena's Almond Butter Dressing - This tastes similar to peanut sauce! Super yummy!
• Apples, grapefruit, oranges & clementines

[scenes of my stove while cooking Sat. night dinner]

Dinners

Saturday:

• Ashley's Black Bean Polenta Burrito Bowls
• Green salad

Sunday: 

• Mega Salad's with carrots, onion, mushrooms, chickpeas, walnuts, kiwi, dried cranberries & Fat Free Vegan's Hidden Cashew Ranch Dressing

Monday:

• Sweet Potato, Corn, & Lentil Soup
• Homemade bread

Tuesday:

• Polenta fries (made with leftover polenta from Sat. night)
• Mega Salad with leftover black bean mixture, onion, carrots, mushrooms, avocado, dried cranberries & Fat Free Vegan's Hidden Cashew Ranch Dressing

Wednesday:

• Heidi's Skinny Spaghetti Squash Alfredo - This sauce was easy to make & we even had leftovers. I love spaghetti squash!
• Steamed broccoli

Thursday: 
Dinner at Mom & Pops' before choir

• Vegetable & Bean Jambalaya
• Italian seasoned bread
• Green salad

Friday:

• Jessica's Roasted Red Pepper Quinoa White Bean Burgers
• Sweet potato fries
• Green salad

Treats

• Peanut butter oatmeal cookies
• Dark chocolate Wilbur buds
• Trader Joe's Sipping Chocolate
• Maple frozen yogurt with peanut butter sauce (made with melted pb + almond milk)
• Katie's Copycat Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs - These are delicious!!! Luckily it only made 7 or else I'd never stop eating them!