Day 168: Green Bean Pilaf

Day 168.

We are always looking for new and interesting side dishes. This one fit the bill!

Here's what you'll need.

1 tablespoon butter
1/3 cup thin spaghetti, broken up
1 cup white rice
1 3/4 cup chicken stock
1 cup frozen green beans


Begin by melting the butter in a lidded skillet.


Add in the spaghetti and let it brown slightly.


Once it begins to brown, add the rice.


Give it a good stir.


Pour in the chicken stock.


Bring to a boil. Place a lid on it and reduce to a simmer. Simmer for about 18 minutes, or until all liquid is absorbed.


Add in the green beans (and a glug of chicken stock if it seems dry) and slap the lid back on it. Cook for another 5 minutes, or until beans are done.


Stir well.


Serve hot.

Day 110: PW's Carrot Cake

Day 110.

This is Pioneer Woman's recipe for carrot cake. It is the most amazing carrot cake I've had in my life.

Here's what you'll need.

2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cups grated carrots

Preheat oven to 350*


We'll start with the carrots. It took 6 of these babies to make 2 cups grated. Peel them and cut the root tips off of them.


You can grate these by hand, or, if you're lucky like me with a great mom who buys you stuff, use this puppy.


Grate all the carrots. Like this.


Mix together the sugar, eggs and oil.


Add in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon.


Mix well.


Add in the carrots.


Mix well.


Now, the beauty of this recipe is that you can make it into pretty well any cake form you wish. Cupcakes, sheet cake, bundt, etc. I usually do cupcakes, 'cause they're cute.


I bake the cupcakes for 20-25 minutes.

Now.
For the icing.

You will need.

1 stick of butter, softened
1 8oz package cream cheese
1 pound powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup finely chopped pecans (or walnuts)


Add the butter and cream cheese to a mixing bowl.


Mix well.


Mix in the powdered sugar and vanilla.


Mix in the nuts.

Spread on cooled cupcakes.

Day 13: Amazing Chocolate Pie

Day 13.

I hope you'll forgive me for not getting this posted yesterday. I was gone allllllll day, and didn't even fix supper before I went to work. I made this today to take to some friends who had just had a baby. Hopefully K thinks all the labor was worth it for the pie!

Here's what you'll need.

2 sticks butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 graham cracker pie shell or 1 baked pie shell.


You'll need to melt the chocolate. I start out at 60 seconds in the microwave, stir, then go in 30 second increments until all melted.


Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.


Once the chocolate has cooled a little, pour it into the butter/sugar mixture.


Now. Add in the vanilla and mix. Then. Crack one egg into the bowl, and beat for 4-6 minutes. Repeat with the other 3 eggs, beating each one for 4-6 minutes. This gives the pie its fluffiness, so it's important to mix each egg at least 4 minutes. I usually do the first three eggs for 4 minutes, then the last one for 5 on a little higher speed. It's also helpful to use a whisk attachment for your mixer if you have one.


You should end up with something like this.


Break out your pie shell. I've used regular, prebaked shells and graham cracker crust. Today I used graham cracker, just because I didn't have a lot of time.


Plop it into the shell and refrigerate at least 4 hours. Top with whipped cream before serving.

Day 9: Crash Hot Potatoes

Day 9.

This recipe comes from Ree, The Pioneer Woman. You can check out her website here: http://thepioneerwoman.com/
I love, love, love her site. And her cookbook. I even went to the cookbook signing.

Here's what you'll need for these.

Red potatoes
Some olive oil
Spices

Bring a big pot of water to a boil. Boil the potatoes until fork tender.


After your potatoes are done, pour some olive oil onto a baking sheet.


Use a pastry brush to really spread the oil around.


Take the potatoes out of the water, and put them on the baking sheet.


Using your potato masher, crash 'em down just until the skins pop open.


Douse them in olive oil again, then sprinkle on some spices. We usually do garlic powder and sometimes parsley. I've also made them with rosemary.


Bake them in a preheated 450* degree oven for 20-25 minutes, or until the skin gets nice and crispy. Sometimes we like to top these with shredded cheese and pop them back under the broiler until the cheese is melty. MMMMmmm. Gotta love that PW. :)