Healthier Carrot Cake

I got this recipe from a co-worker friend a few months ago, and since I cannot pin it through an email, I'm putting it on the blog! Thanks, Debbie, for this great recipe! This was the recipe we used for Kendrick's 1st birthday cake, although we used a cream cheese frosting for the frosting. It was so decadent and moist, and I had no problem finishing up the extra cupcakes. This is the only picture I have of the cake.

As a side note: This probably isn't a great cake for a mold haha. It didn't really turn out great from the mold. It's dense.It'll be nice to have this in my back pocket this winter when I'm craving something sweet that doesn't pack quite as many calories.

Healthy Carrot Cake

Ingredients

Cake:

• 4 EGGS
• 1 ¼ CUP APPLESAUCE
• 1 CUP SUGAR
• 1 CUP BROWN SUGAR
• 2 TSP. VANILLA
• 2 CUPS FLOUR
• 2 TSP. BAKING SODA
• 2 TSP. BAKING POWDER
• 3 TSP. CINNAMON
• ½ TSP NUTMEG
• 3 CUPS GRATED CARROTS

Frosting:

• 1 PKG SUGAR FREE CHEESECAKE PUDDING MIX
• 1 CUP MILK
• 8 OZ. THAWED COOL WHIP FREE

Instructions

COMBINE ALL INGREDIENTS AND POUR INTO 9X13 PAN.
BAKE 325 50-55 MINUTES

Grandma Vi's Turkey Enchiladas

Enchiladas for me are typically hit or miss. I'm not overly fond of the typical enchiladas you'd order at a restaurant, but these ones are in a whole different ballpark!

I first had them at Grandma Vi's a few years ago, and she had found the recipe in a magazine (although she can't remember which one, so if YOU happen to recognize it, please let me know so I can give credit where credit is due!)

The recipe actually calls for turkey, but I have only been making them with chicken: Both are awesome, and this would be a really great way to use up leftover turkey from Thanksgiving!

I'm not going to lie: This is a pretty involved recipe as far as enchiladas go. Most of the time, it's "throw a few cans in a bowl with some shredded chicken or ground beef" for the filling, but this one has a LOT of stuff in it. But that is really what makes this so delicious, and I promise you won't regret it!

My boys just absolutely LOVE these enchiladas! (This was Cashel's "THIS STUFF IS SO GOOD I COULD SCREAM!" face on Valentine's Day)

Grandma Vi's Turkey Enchiladas

Ingredients

8 tortillas
1 tsp hot pepper sauce (optional)
2 C shredded chicken
1/4 C chopped green onions
14oz can no salt diced tomatoes
15oz can black beans, rinsed
1 1/2 C salsa
3/4 C shredded Colby & Monterey Jack cheese
1/2 C light sour cream
1/4 C chopped fresh cilantro
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Directions

Heat oven to 375 degrees F.
Lightly coat a 3-qt rectangular baking dish with cooking spray; set aside.
For filling, stir together turkey, half the tomatoes with juice, beans, 1/2 C salsa, 1/2 C cheese, 1/2 C sour cream, scallions, cilantro, cumin, salt & pepper.
Spoon about 2/3 C filling on each tortilla. Roll tortillas around filling.
Place, seam sides down to hold tortillas together, in prepared dish; set aside.

For sauce, stir together remaining tomatoes and juice, salsa and hot pepper sauce. Spoon over enchiladas. Cover dish with foil and bake 30 min. Uncover and top with remaining cheese; bake 5 to 10 min more or until heated through and cheese is melted. Sprinkle with cilantro and scallions.

305 calories; 26g fat; 871mg sodium, 29g carbs, 40mb cholesterol, 26g protein, 14g fiber

What We've Been Eating: Spring/Summer 2014

My friend Jill introduced me to this, and I think I bought one a week and ate them myself for almost a month. SO delicious!

A typical breakfast at our house (back when Kendrick was eating purees still...sniff sniff)

Whenever we have the opportunity to get Papa John's pizza, we take the opportunity.

Breakfast on vacation in Brainerd: Belgian waffles and OJ

The other days...it was my homemade cinnamon rolls and coffee :)

One of our favorite meals to make for family and friends: Chicken Teriyaki Sandwiches with Swiss. A Pinterest Win!

Rafferty's was a huge find in Brainerd. The picture may be blurry, but their Pulled Pork pizza was out of htis world!

Lunch in Brainerd at Grizzly's: I had the Pulled Pork sandwich with slaw and a salad

Yummy scrambled eggs, bacon and toast with Biscoff spread

Lunch in Brainerd at Ernie's on Gull Lake

We picked an enormous boatload of strawberries from Schumaker's this year!



DELICIOUS fresh salsa. Recipe courtesy of my buddy Jim from work

Our fair share of yummy watermelon!

Sadly, we "grilled" on our griddle for the 4th of July. We got our new grill a week later!

Our Church's Annual 4th of July Picnic (on the 6th this year)

Centennial Picnic for work: HyVee catered

A "just alright" gyro at the International Fair in Worthington

You had better believe that as soon as the grill arrived, we put it together and made our very next meal on it!

Kendrick has been loving all the fresh fruit this time of year!

Cupcakes for the hubby's 35th birthday, but a week early for a surprise party!

It's CORN SEASON!! :)

Of course, there can never be too much cake, right? We got a real cake for his actual birthday a week later :)

Grapes and cheese have been a big time favorite at our house!

Cashel tried cotton candy for the first time at the Cottonwood County Fair. He didn't care for it too much, sadly, but Kendrick ate his leftovers right up.

Nutty Bars at Lake Okoboji

We froze 7 batches of sweet corn this year: More than we have ever done!

LOVING the fresh cherry tomatoes from the farmers' market

Like I said in my previous post: Any opportunity to get Papa John's, and we will take it!

What We've Been Eating: Early Winter 2014

Cashel really loved the Elmo cake I made for his birthday. It was a total frosting fail, as it ended up bitter when I added so much food coloring to make it so bright red! He didn't care haha

These cupcakes from River City Eater in Windom that we took on our first night away from the boys just before Valentine's Day weekend.

One of my absolute favorite meals of ALL time from Chevy's TexMex: Crispy Flautas with Jalapeno Jelly. I literally moaned through this entire meal, and may have closed my eyes numerous times. SO.GOOD.

Mark had this at Chevy's and was only mildly impressed. I'm pretty sure he wanted to disown me during this meal lol

Superbowl 2014: Mark bought a 5lb bag of chicken pieces...and then proceeded to freeze it...in a 5lb bag. Needless to say, I was really really sick of chicken for a while.

Valentine's Day: Strawberry Trifle

Valentine's Day: Grandma Vi's turkey enchiladas - SO DELICIOUS!

Coffee...and more coffee...and more coffee!!

Kendrick's first food: Peas. He wasn't too fond.

One of our all-time favorite meals at our house: Roast, Potatoes, Onions and Carrots. I only ever just sprinkle a packet of Lipton Onion Soup Mix in and put it in the crockpot for 8 hours.


This picture doesn't even remotely do this sandwich justice, but SO GOOD! Italian Chicken Sandwiches: A Pinterest Win!

My friend Mandy introduced me to this DELICIOUS country chicken chowder. Cashel refers to it as "soup", and LOVES it!

Blue cake pops I made for my friend Heather's baby shower

Baby shower spread, courtesy of Heather's Mom and sister

Pasta bar night at Minerva's with my good friend Angie!

...and my seconds: asparagus and mushrooms with pesto and garlic

And a truffle from Goodie's to round out the meal :)

Ben Lee's for lunch to meet up with Rach and Nancy

Chinese at Panda House in Worthington: VERY good!

Cupcakes for my sister-in-law's baby shower!

A very blurry pic (sorry) of Easter dinner. I was a smidge busy with the boys to really sit down and enjoy it for long.

A bunny cake for the boys made with love by Aunt Sharon. Cashel and (First) cousin (once removed) Alex loved it!

2 pans of lasagna for our friends Believe me - it tasted better than it looked!

This version, however, was MUCH easier! Another Pinterest Win: 15 Minute Skillet Lasagna.

A special day with my Mama - we had this delicious Meatloaf and stuffing at Sadies Tea Thyme in Fort Dodge for lunch.

Well, I think that's enough for one post. I'll be posting some Pinterest WINs hopefully soon! And no, we really don't eat out that much typically: I just didn't make anything extraordinarily exciting this month that I hadn't already posted about before.