Carrot-Banana Breakfast Cake

Summer time is time for BBQs, lemonade, blueberries, and pies all with a good amount of sun. I begin to feel refreshed, plus I've been having lemonade and iced teas almost everyday I love it! Today was the first day of summer classes...yuck but it must be done I am almost finished with undergrad yay! I cannot wait until next summer when at last I will be able to take a real vacation...hopefully! Yesterday I organized my recipes folder and tentative schedule of recipes that have been completed, but not yet posted. I am a recipe hoarder if there is such thing I am it. It's terrible I go through the web, magazines, and books collecting recipes that I will bake and well I think all you foodies and bloggers know that can get just a tad outta hand...a lot *hides recipes under the bed*. There's just always something new and completely delicious and pretty that I want to recreate or eat basically ::sigh::

This was a great combination! Am so proud of this cake :)

One of the new things that I have been trying out is trying out and experimenting with recipes as you may or may not know I have type 1 diabetes and sugar consumption is and should be limited...meaning no crazy binges on twizzlers or Slurpee's...I can't even remember the time I last had a Slurpee. So you may be wondering what's the deal with all of this baking then, right? Well some people ::cough:: non-diabetics think it's a cruel thing to do to myself, but AHA! I am trying to prove a point and have in fact proved it! Making desserts, being able to control (insert evil laugh) the ingredients and most importantly amount(s) of sugar they may contain gives me great joy! Take that chronic illness. I get so entertained by the making process (oh the nice smells and the equipment and all sorts of ingredients and variations of mixing ingredients, and techniques) that I find it satisfying. And even more satisfying when I share them with family and friends. Yes, I try my own goods but I'm more in control of how much I eat because I made it.
So who has the upper hand now: Fatima: 10+    Diabetes: 0

It was very moist and the banana really made the carrot pop, I recommend it not just for breakfast but anytime you want something not so sweet and genuinely healthy!

 
I had a request for a carrot cake recently and since I have already made carrot cake I wanted to try something different and something less sweet and more healthy. Do you know how hard it was to find a base recipe*? It was a challenge but I found a very lovely recipe and I worked it through to make it my own...and ta-da Carrot-Banana Breakfast Cake (low sugar)! I made this cake for Memorial Day lunch that I had with Brian and his family and they loved it!!

Carrot-Banana Breakfast Cake (low-sugar)

Ingredients 

• 6 packets of Splenda
• 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 4 extra large eggs
• 4 oz vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup grated carrots (cut into small pieces after)
• 3 large bananas
• 1/2 cup pecans
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
•  1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

Topping

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup pecans

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 F. In a large mixing bowl whisk Splenda, light brown sugar, eggs and oil. In a separate bowl mash the bananas and set aside. In another bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg. Gradually add flour mixture to the egg mixture, whisk well until ingredients are well combined. With a spatula fold in bananas, carrots, and pecans into the batter. Butter a 9 inch round baking pan (I used my trusty springform pan). Pour the batter into the pan and place in the oven for 35-40 minutes. At 30 minutes I began checking the cake. Leave in the pan for a good 10 minutes then take it out and place it on your cooling rack.

For the topping: I am profoundly in love with this topping: butter and pecans! (Must be a Texas thing thang, hahaha)

So heat a skillet on medium heat and add butter to melt, add pecans! All you have to do is fry them for 5 minutes stir often, no one likes burned nuts and voila! Add it to your cake while it's still hot it's amazing!!!

~As always bake with lots of love :)

recipe adapted from Huletts

Chocolate Chip Pound Cake + GIVEAWAY

It's been quite some time since I wanted to make a chocolate chip pound cake like the one I used to eat when I was little. And I'm glad I found the perfect recipe! Not only that but Tropical Traditions is sponsoring my first giveaway, Yay! Super excited specially since Magnolia75: The Baking Lounge is turning 1 year old in a month!! But more about that later, for now let me tell you how fantastic this pound cake turned out to be.

I have to say using coconut oil instead of butter really goes a long way with desserts. I previously made an orange cake with coconut oil and well it was gone before I could even take a picture of it--THAT GOOD! :) So I made this chocolate chip pound cake I wanted the same reaction and I sure got it--it was half way gone before it was completely cool.

My mom drinking coffee with this pound cake, I prefer cold milk though!

This chocolate chip pound cake is moist and the texture is not the same as store bought pound cake it's more heavy and not as soft. The chocolate chips were evenly distributed throughout the cake and there's this coconutty taste that is heightened by the chocolate chips. I had a slice with milk and the coconut taste really came out it was as if I had added shredded coconut in the recipe (which I did not), very nice. I believe the coconut oil gave it just enough moisture because it's not greasy at all. I find that most pound cake recipes have too much butter that leaves the cake overly greasy, so Tropical Traditions Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil was the right choice, plus it's organic! And there's a giveaway for all the lovely Magnolia 75: The Baking Lounge readers!!

Chocolate Chip Pound Cake

Ingredients

• 2 cups of chocolate chips
• 3 cups all purpose flour (plus additional for dusting the pan)
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup coconut oil (I used Tropical Traditions Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil)
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons maple syrup
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk

Directions

Preheat oven 325. Butter your baking pan and slightly dust with flour. In a bowl place 2 tablespoons of flour and combine the 2 cups of chocolate chips until they are coated in flour. This step is necessary in order to keep the chocolate chips from sinking to the bottom of the batter. 

In a separate bowl whisk sugar and coconut oil for about 2 minutes and then add vanilla extract, whisk until combined and add maple syrup. Gradually add eggs mixing well after each one. Add 1 cup of flour, and 1/2 cup of buttermilk, then add 1 cup of flour and the last 1/2 cup of buttermilk and lastly add your last cup of flour. Combine well after each addition. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Pour the batter onto the pan and spread evenly. Bake for 1 hour. At 40 minutes check the cake make sure all is well. Let it cool in the baking pan for 30 minutes after it's out of the oven. Then invert pan and let it cool completely.

Bake with love!

            ~*~*Giveaway is now closed*~*~
Congratulations to Jodie from BinomialBaker she is the Tropical Traditions giveaway winner!! Yay!

* I shall contact Jodie about your prize shortly. And many thank you's to everyone who entered! Thank you so much for the comments too! I love comments :)

Win 1 quart of  Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil!

This Giveaway is open to U.S.& Canada.

Tropical Traditions is giving away 1 quart of their Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil to one lucky Magnolia75: The Baking Lounge reader! Yay! I will email the winner and gather your shipping info and Tropical Traditions will ship it directly to you. Giveaway closes Wednesday, May 30th, 12:01 am (CST).

How to enter: Subscribe to Tropical Traditions Newsletter and leave a comment on this post telling me you did so. This step is required.

Additional entries: Leave a separate comment for each of the steps below. You can enter up to 9 times :)

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The giveaway is open until Wednesday, May 30th, 12:01 am (CST). The giveaway is open to all U.S. and Canada residents. Be sure a valid email address is included with your comment(s). Winner will be chosen randomly and announced on this post. I will email the winner and if the winner doesn’t respond in 48 hours, a new winner will be chosen. Good luck! 

Tropical Traditions is America's source for coconut oil. Their Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil is hand crafted in small batches by family producers, and it is the highest quality coconut oil they offer. You can read more about how virgin coconut oil is different from other coconut oils on their website: What is Virgin Coconut Oil? You can also watch the video they produced about Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil:

Tropical Traditions also carries other varieties of affordable high quality coconut oil. Visit their website to check on current sales, to learn about the many uses of coconut oil, and to read about all the  advantages of buying coconut oil online. Since the FDA does not want us to discuss the health benefits of coconut oil on a page where it is being sold or given away, here is the best website to read about the health benefits of coconut oil.

Disclaimer: Tropical Traditions provided me with a free sample of this product to review, and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose.  Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a product giveaway in return for the free product.

Simple and Spicy Spaghetti

Today was non-other than productive. Every time a semester ends I do a semi-thorough room cleanse. Why, "semi" because today I found paperwork from long ago that obviously found its way to the trash today. Basically everything that doesn't get done during the semester, gets done on days like today.

Also I thought today was Thursday, not Wednesday, so major disappointment when I got home from my niece's award ceremony, and found that Grey's Anatomy was not on. Any Grey's fans out there? Please let me know what you think about this CRAZY season finale!!

So I made this spaghetti after seeing it somewhere online, and because I didn't have enough tomato sauce. (Note to self: get tomato sauce). One of the things that I really liked about this recipe was that it was simply butter and crackled pepper. I am not against butter or hot pepper, no way!

Simple, Spicy Spaghetti

Ingredients

• Spaghetti
• olive oil (about 3-4 tablespoons)
• butter (about 3 tablespoons)
• garlic (1 crushed clove)
• black pepper (a pinch)
• crackled pepper (to taste)
• cheddar cheese (optional)

Directions

Place a large skillet, or large enough skillet at medium heat, heat 8 cups of water once it begins to boil add spaghetti and then 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Turn to high heat. Leave spaghetti in boiling water, stir, bottom to top, top to bottom. Peel and crush the garlic and set aside. Once the pasta is ready (about 10 minutes), drain the water, and put the spaghetti back in the pan, add butter, black pepper, garlic, 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and crackled pepper. And it's ready to serve!

As you can tell this is a lot of pepper, even for me, so I added shredded cheddar cheese and wow even better!

Enjoy!

Cheesy Baked Tomatoes

It is the beginning of the first week after finals and goodness I am glad it is over. Most of my friends graduated or are graduating in the coming weeks so CONGRATS to all graduates!! I figure I should take it easy now that I have some what of free time at least until the 30th when summer classes start, it's okay I'm prepared I already ordered my book so I can read ahead...nerd much? Sadly, yes, shush.

Last week I explored a cookie recipe, it was awful, my mistake not the actual recipe. Ugh I don't even know what happened but I will try to perfect it BIG time sometime soon I hope, I've been wanting to make them for some time now. I posted a picture on twitter if you'd like to see some hardcore evidence of such cookie fail. I think things began to go wrong because I deviated from the recipe and started getting ideas about how I could make it my own, this typically works about 98% of the time, but for this time it was a fail. Oh well there's always next time.

Now, I found this cheesy baked tomato recipe and I couldn't imagine why I hadn't thought of it already. Like, how simple: you stuff tomatoes with cheese and bake them and voila! I mean come on these days there's nothing that hasn't been stuffed with cheese!

Great as a side dish, or snack.

 

 

Cheesy Baked Tomatoes

   Ingredients

• Tomatoes (as many as you'd like, I used two)
• Parmesan cheese (I used grated)
• Cheddar cheese (shredded)
• Oregano (pinch)
• Olive oil (1 drop per tomato half)

Directions

Cut tomatoes in half and with a spoon, scoop out the seeds. Pour in Parmesan cheese into tomato, stuff tomato with cheddar, as much as you'd like, but preferably to the top. Grab a pinch of oregano and crush with your hand over the tomatoes, just a little over each one. Place tomatoes onto a baking dish. Finally add 1 drop of olive oil over the top of the entire tomato. Once they are already prepped turn oven on to 450F and bake for 15 minutes until the tomatoes are tender and cheese is melted!

Who doesn't love cheese?

Look how melty they are...go make some, you'll want to eat two tomatoes.

 Bake with love :)

Chocolate Banana Oreo Dessert

My last exam is tomorrow! I've studied, I think I'm good to go. I am super excited for this summer! I have three things that I have to do this summer!! I won't share them until I've accomplished these tasks. I am going to enjoy the few weeks I have of real summer, before summer classes start,by reading 'One Day' and hopefully I'll finish (I'm half way through it) so that I can watch the movie.

I'm almost graduating!! During the last couple of days it has hit me. Technically I would be graduating this month, but I have 19 hours left...fun! Anyway, I have a feeling these last few undergraduate months are going to go by very quickly! Oh if only I can know right now where I will be this time next year!! Grr...nevertheless I'm ecstatic over this and I can't wait I have a feeling things will be okay. 

Chocolate Banana Oreo Dessert

Ingredients

• 1 scoop of chocolate ice cream
• 1/2 banana, sliced
• 2 Oreo cookies crushed

Directions
Very easy just compile ingredients in a cup and enjoy!

Van de Kamp's Parchment Baked Tilapia

Fish is healthy. I think I should eat more fish. Right around this time of year my dad makes a killer ceviche, can't wait for that. But in the mean time I will be enjoying some more of this. As part of Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program, I received some coupons to try out Van de Kamp's Parchment Baked fish. I don't really like to buy frozen fish because I've had bad experiences with frozen fish products, but after trying out this brand, well my mind is made up to only purchase this brand!! Let me tell you why...

Look at this beauty!

Well I really, really liked that Van de Kamp's products are safe guarded inside either parchment paper packets or plastic bag. This is awesome because it prevents the fish from smelling, or tasting like carton box. That is the one reason why I stopped eating frozen fish.

Enter Van de Kamp's Parchment Baked Tilapia. The fish is packaged inside parchment paper packets that keep in the moisture of the fish. I had never used parchment paper like this and I was amazed! Even better my baking sheets were not messy. I also liked the fact that it's easy to prepare--just pop in the oven and serve, because everything is already ready inside the packet!

Keep the packets closed and pop into the oven!

I really liked the presentation of the fish and the taste very much. The fish tasted just like fresh fish, the garlic butter was just right. The way it looked was definitely very restaurant like. I steamed broccoli, carrots and cauliflower as a side for the fish. Very healthy looking fish and flavorful! And it's baked!!



Baked fish rocks! Get a hold of some of this fish because you will not be disappointed!

Elote (Mexican Corn on the Cob)

 Tomorrow is cinco de mayo. So? We, Mexicans don't celebrate cinco de mayo. It's not like it's Mexican Independence day. Because in case you didn't know, it's not. Cinco de mayo commemorates the Battle of Puebla, where in 1862 the Mexican army fought against the French and won. So no there will be no party, it's just like any other day. What I don't understand is how lots of other people make a big deal about it, like seriously. But the more parties there are the merrier I suppose.


This is my second blog post today! Woot! I love it, I'm making up for all those days I didn't post. I may just have to post twice a day to catch up. I am determined to reach 100+ blog posts before my 1 yr. blogiversary. I also want to reach 100 and hopefully (+) likes on my Facebook page before then too. So if you enjoy my recipes, posts, rants, whatever, go like my page. Or if you would like for me to return the favor I'd totes do it!

I went to my fave store (Sprouts) and bought fresh corn 5 for $1. Great buy!

If you are having a cinco de mayo party then you have to and I mean you have to make Elotes (corn). It is a Mexican staple: corn on the cob! I love corn on the cob!! Perhaps you've seen the vendors that are typically outside Hispanic grocery stores that have corn on the cob anyway you want it. Delicious. and filling.

Ingredients!

Only with butter...

Elote (Mexican Corn on the cob)

Ingredients

• Unsalted butter or regular butter
• Sour cream (I used Mexican sour cream, because it's thicker and creamier)*
• Valentina Salsa (Best salsa EVER!, goes great with anything)*
• Chile powder for fruits (it's a combination of salt, lemon, and chile)*
• Lemon
• Parmesan Cheese (although you can also use queso fresco) 
• Lemon pepper (optional)
• Mayonnaise (optional)

*  These ingredients can be found at Hispanic grocery stores, or the Ethnic food aisle of your grocery store

 Directions

Fill a large pot with water and set on medium heat. Add corn with or without husk, your choice. Let the pot boil for about 40-45 minutes until corn is completely cooked, it should be nice and yellow and plump when it's fully cooked. Then remove your corn cob only, because if you remove them all and don't eat them right away they will dry. After you remove from pot, serve and prepare with your favorite toppings! 

Mouth watering!

Morning Carrot Muffins

Well, you've probably been wondering where I've been hiding the past couple of weeks. I've been hiding nowhere interesting, at school under a pile of books and paper. Not fun, not fun at all. I much rather cook and bake and sleep but soon enough I will (::waves fist in air::). I don't have my last Final until the 11th which sucks to be lingering about for days of uncertainty about one last exam, but oh well what am I going to do? Today and the last couple of days I've been sick, most likely a weakened immune system due to the lack of sleep, rest, satisfying meals, and allergies. Texas is filled with pollen and those annoying dandelion fuzzies that fly around and stick on your face, again not fun.

But enough of my woes. I made these morning muffins one morning and they were a definite cheer me up kinda muffin. There's a place here called La Madeleine that serves French style cuisine, it's very cozy and most of their food is great. However, my favorite two items on from their bakery are the bran muffins, and the strawberries romanoff. For years I have spent $2 on a muffin...actually I'd just order 3 and call it a day, and always wished I knew the recipe. Well when I found this recipe I just had to make it. So many things called my attention to this recipe but the fact that there were carrots in it, I had to make it. I love carrots in pastries.

Very moist and soft!

Morning Carrot Muffins

recipe adapted from Martha Stewart

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour (I used King Arthur)
• 1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 large egg
• 1/3 cup milk
• 4 medium carrots, shredded
• 1 medium ripe banana, mashed

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Coat your muffin pan with cooking spray or grease with butter, I used butter. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, nutmeg, and salt until there are no lumps. Stir in oats and raisins. Add oil, egg, milk, carrots, and banana and stir until all ingredients are well combined.

Fill each muffin cup with about 2 tablespoons of batter. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of a muffin comes out clean, 23 to 25 minutes. Serve muffins warm or at room temperature.

These are perfect morning muffins or anytime muffins really because they are not too sweet. They're filled with fruit (raisins & bananas) and veggies (carrots).

Bake with love!