Today is my SIL Jody’s birthday, so we invited her and her family over. And it’s was a beautiful day! Sun is shining, and while its on the cool side, I absolutely love this weather.
I started out my day with a big cup of coffee. I turned on my oven and started putting together my carrot cake, when all of a sudden my kitchen was filled with smoke! I cooked all the ribs in the oven yesterday, and I didn’t realize some of the juices spilled onto the bottom of my oven! So I turned it off and within 30 minutes it was cool enough for me to clean (and it needed to be cleaned anyway!) 😀
So I decided to make my breakfast – a simple breakfast taco with strawberries and cantaloupe on the side.
Then it was time to make the cake! Warning: this is not a low fat, low calorie cake! But it is so good!
Spiced Carrot Cake with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
- 2.5 cups flour
- 1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 pound carrots, shredded (I used my food processor – nice and quick!)
- 1.5 cups white sugar
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
- 4 large eggs
- 1.5 cups vegetable oil (see what I mean about not being low fat!)
Mix together dry ingredients. Shred the carrots. In the food processor, add both sugars, and the eggs and mix until combined, about 20 seconds. Next, with the processor going, start pouring in the oil until it becomes almost frothy. I put my dry ingredients in my biggest bowl – simply add the carrots and processor mix to the flour and mix well until well incorporated.
Put the cake batter into a 13 x 9 pan that has been sprayed with Pam. Into a preheated 350 oven, bake for 35 to 40 minutes, turning the cake around half way through. Mine took exactly 35 minutes.
Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 5 tablespoons butter, softened,
- 1 tablespoon sour cream
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Add everything to food processor except powdered sugar. Pulse until combined, about 10 seconds. Add the powdered sugar and process until smooth – about another 10 seconds.
Wait at least two hours for the cake to cool before putting the frosting on. I didn’t even want to figure out the calories for this one – but calories don’t count when its someone’s birthday, right? :D Um, pretty sure this piece of cake was insulin worthy!
Our main dish was our Chicago Style Ribs. What? You haven’t made this dry rub or barbecue sauce yet?? The summer is almost over people! While this rub and barbecue sauce is so good the ribs sucked! They were tough, not tender at all. I don’t know where I went wrong and was mad at myself that I just didn’t make scampi steak! Luckily my sides and dessert saved the day!
I decided to do a baked potato bar on the side. The key to a crispy baked potato is to scrub the potatoes and let them dry completely. Once dried, rub with olive oil and roll the potatoes in a sea salt, cracked pepper mixture. Bake at 400 for 60 minutes. I had sour cream, whipped butter, bacon bits, and cheddar cheese as potato fixins. Put your potatoes on racks to let them dry completely:
My two other side dishes were black bean and corn salad and insalata caprese.
Black Bean and Corn Salad
- 1 14 ounce can of black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 14 ounce can of corn, drained and rinsed
- 1.5 teaspoons ground cumin
- juice of 1 lime
- 1 teaspoon Frank’s red hot suace
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil
- 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
- salt and pepper to taste
Once the beans and corn have drained, add to bowl. Mix in all other ingredients and refrigerate for at least an hour so the flavors can meld.
Insalata Caprese
- sliced tomato
- sliced fresh mozzarella
- chopped fresh basil
- salt and pepper to taste
- drizzle of olive oil
- (and I know this doesn’t belong, but I drizzle with a good balsamic vinegar!) You can make it to this step below and refrigerate. About 5 minutes before serving, add the olive oil and vinegar drizzle
So here is my plate – I ate everything but the ribs!
My SIL kept telling me that she had snowman placemats that she bought for me, and kept forgetting to bring over. She remembered! Not only do I love snowmen but my favorite color is blue! And of course I had to use them for dinner tonight! Thanks Jody!
New Challenge! I’ve really been in a slump lately with the exercise. Once I stop going to the gym I can find a million excuses not to go! But today I stumbled upon a challenge. It’s a seven week challenge, and in a sense, for every pound you lose in seven weeks you donate that many pounds of food to your local food pantry. You can get all the details here. Anybody with me on this challenge? So I had to send them my starting weight – and mind you, I usually weigh myself in the morning, not at night, but it wasn’t pretty either way. My starting weight for this challenge: 167! My goal is to lose a pound a week, which could be the equivalent to 28 sticks of butter to my local food pantry!
If you have time to leave a comment to wish my SIL Jody a happy birthday, I would appreciate it! 😀
Alright, time to snuggle with my hubby – my favorite part of every day! Come back tomorrow night, I promise to post my copy cat Panera Bread Broccoli Soup! See you then!
happy birthday jodi! have a wonderful day!
the salads sound wonderful, and that cake!
I absolutely love carrot cake. This spiced up version sounds delicious. Can’t wait to try it.
Everything looks wonderful! The addition of black pepper in that carrot cake sounds interesting too.
YUM for the cake and the salad, I wish I had some of that right now!
happy birthday to your SIL! 🙂
Wow wow wow! So much good lookin’ food in this post. You had me at “carrot cake” – absolute fave. I need to get my best friend’s amazing recipe and make it stat! Calories are not something I would be considering when baking or eating a slice of that delight you created!!
Also love the black bean and corn salad – been making that stuff ALL summer long – so good!
happy birthday jody! sorry the ribs didnt turn out as expected but the sides definitely look like they made up for it. the potato skins look so crisped and delicious!!!!
good job on deciding to do a workout challenge…it can be pretty easy to fall into a gym rut and youve already proven that you are great at these challenges (ummm 30 day shred?!?! i could barely stick to a week LOL).
Happy Birthday, Jody!! You are a lucky gal to have a SIL who will cook you a meal like that!
And who needs ribs with those awesome potatoes, the salads and the cake? Heaven!
happy bday to your SIL!!!
i had a lil piece of carrot cake last night, im sure yours was way better though!
ill have to check out the challenge too!
Happy Birthday Jody!
That challenge sounds interesting, I’ll give it some thought today 🙂
All the food looks yummy…but that cake…WOW!
Happy birthday Jody!
Oh wow, now that’s a cake recipe! Yahoo!
I LOVE Panera but, I don’t eat out often due to budget cuts lol. I can’t wait for the copy cat recipe!!
The spiced carrot cake sounds AMAZING… I have been craving carrot cake… I should make it! 🙂
Oh, what a fiesta! And I LOVE that you actually went for the real carrot cake instead of skimping…if you’re gonna indulge, have the real thing to truly satisfy you, I say!
And I think your challenge is a GREAT idea! I’m not looking to lose weight, but I WILL cheer you from the sidelines!
LOVE carrot cake! 😀
I’m off to look at the food bank challenge. This sounds like something I’ll be interested in!
Happy Birthday to Jody!! 🙂
Mmm I love carrot cake. Sorry to hear your ribs sucked. I hate when that happens, it always seems like a personal defeat to me! Cute snowman!!! 🙂
Happy Birthday Jody – hope you enjoyed all of that delicious food!
So Biz…my piece of cake is in the mail, right? Dang, that looks like the best non-chocolate dessert I’ve ever seen!!!
Shelley – it was so good there are no leftovers! 😀
Can’t you just feel fall coming – I love this weather as well 🙂
Sorry the ribs weren’t your best BUT everything else looks absolutely fantastic!! I’m in love with that carrot cake (you can see the cinnamon – love)!
That’s a great challenge! Good luck!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY JODY!!
Ha! I just made baked potatoes in the real oven instead of the microwave for the first time ever (I’m 42!). Wow. What a difference it makes. I looked up how to do it online and found the method you just described somewhere else.
Salting the outside makes such a HUGE difference in how much I need to put on the flesh.
Anyways, food at your house always looks great!
Also, Happy birthday Jody!