Gluten Free Carrot Pineapple Cake

With my abundance of carrots, I've been experimenting a little bit and trying some new things. I started with Nigella's Venitian Carrot Cake recipe and took some creative liberties with it. It uses almond flour instead of wheat flour so it's a more dense "cake" than what you'd normally think of when you think carrot cake. This also means it's gluten free!

For the cake:

1/2 cup olive oil (not extra-virgin)
2 cups grated carrots
1/2 cup golden rasins
1 cup chopped fresh pineapple (I don't know why canned wouldn't work but I used fresh)
1/4 cup pineapple juice
1/2 cup sugar or sweetner of your choice
1 tsp vanilla
3 eggs
2 1/2 cups almond flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
Zest and juice of 1 lemon

You'll also need a 9" springform pan.

Mix the raisins with the pineapple and pineapple juice and let them soak while you work on other things.

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line the base of your springform with parchment paper or grease it really well.

Pat the carrots dry with a towel to blot up excess moisture.

Whisk the sugar and olive oil together. Whisk in the vanilla and eggs. Fold in the ground almonds, carrots, raisin pineapple mix, cinnamon, nutmeg, and the lemon zest and juice.

Pour the batter into the springform pan and smooth the top the best you can. It will be rather thin, probably only an inch or so high in the pan.

Bake for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick in the middle comes out mostly clean. It was done in my oven at about 34 minutes, so just keep your eye on it.

Let cool for about 15 minutes on a rack before you pop the sides off the springform.

For the topping:
250 grams (about 1 cup) Mascarpone
1 tbsp powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Mix together well and spread over the top of the cake.

*****

Be sure to swing by and visit Balancing Beauty and Bedlam for more Tasty Tuesday recipes!

Menu Plan Monday- April 11, 2011

Last week:

Okay, so I made burritos with black beans and sweet potatoes and I didn't use a recipe. Maybe that was my downfall... they weren't bad but there was something off about them and I didn't enjoy them nearly as much as I hoped I would. Oh well, it was worth a try!

The Polenta "Pizza" with Spinach and Bacon got four thumbs up but we both thought you could probably decrease the amount of polenta for a slightly thinner less dense "crust." It was really really good though. I highly recommend it!

The Stroganoff Skillet Dinner was tasty too, and pretty quick to put together.

This Week:

Sweet Potato & Caramelized Onion Quesdadillas - Meatless meal for this week... I know sweet potatoes have got to be good for more than just sweet potato fries and eating plain with sugar and butter and cinnamon!

Chopped Salad with Fried Garbanzo Beans- I liked this last time I made it but I think I might roast the chickpeas in the oven this time instead of frying them.

Almond Crusted Salmon- Salmony goodness, what more needs to be said?

Smoked Salmon BLT- Once I got having salmon into my head I had to make these too.

Somewhere in all of this I'm going to be making MORE with carrots. I have a wild abundance of them... I'm still open to recipe ideas.

What yummy things are you eating this week?

Carrot Salad with a Kick

Since the last slaw recipe I made was such a hit at the North American Women's Club meeting, I decided to try out another one this month. The fact that I have a giant box full of carrots also influenced the decision. I really like the sweet chili sauce in this. It gives it an extra spicy kick without it being burn your face off hot!

Ingredients:

4 carrots, grated or julienned
1 small head (or half of a larger head) of cabbage, shredded
15 grams fresh cilantro, stemmed and chopped
Handful of peanuts, chopped and toasted

Dressing
2 limes, zest of 1 and juice of both
1 inch fresh ginger, grated finely
2 tbsp sweet chili sauce
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
1-2 tbsp sugar or sweetner (mix everything together first and add until it's sweet enough for your tastes)

Mix together the carrots, cabbage, and cilantro. Whisk together the dressing ingredients and pour over the carrot mix. Sprinkle the peanuts on before serving.

Enjoy!

*****

Be sure to swing by and visit Balancing Beauty and Bedlam for more Tasty Tuesday recipes!

Menu Plan Monday- April 4, 2011

Last Week:

The Chicken Chimichangas were alright. I might keep looking for a REALLY good recipe.

The plan was to have Martijn make the Greek Lamb Kofta with Lemony Rice but he got held up at work so I did most of the prep work for him. I didn't mind though cause they were GOOOOOOOOOOOD!

I also made Pop-Up Pizza Pie but I wasn't wildly excited about it. I think if I want pizza I'll just have pizza!

This week:

Black Bean Sweet Potato uh... Somethings- I've seen several recipes around for black bean and sweet potato burritos. So I'm putting my spin on them and making tortilla bowls to put the fillings in. I hope they're good!

Polenta "Pizza" With Spinach & Bacon- More experiments with polenta! This time with slightly less bacon grease than in the previous attempts.

Beef Stroganoff Hamburger Dinner in a Skillet- Sometimes I wonder if Food Network chefs get paid by the number of words they can cram into a recipe's title.

Melt Sandwiches and Carrot Soup


My mother in law bought 20 kilos of carrots (that's 44 POUNDS) and shared some of her bounty with me so most side dishes and meals are going to have carrots somehow incorporated into them even if they're not listed in the ingredients of the recipe! Do you have a favorite carrot recipe? Please share!

Organ Donor Registration in The Netherlands

One of the things on my 101 list is to sign up to be an organ donor. I hadn't done it before here because I wasn't really sure about the process. It's SO simple I feel silly for not doing it sooner! Unfortunately, all of the forms are in Dutch but they're pretty self explanatory.

In The Netherlands there is a national donorregister (donor registry). Anyone registered living in a Dutch municipality over the age of twelve is eligible to register for organ donation.

There are a couple of ways to register to be a donor. The easiest way is to do it online with your DigiD (Digital Identification). If you're unfamiliar with what a DigiD is or need to get one, you can visit their website for more information. The second way is to print out the form (link is a PDF file) and mail it in.

After you fill in your personal details (name, address, birthdate, and sex) there will be 4 options to choose from.

The options on the form are as follows:

Keuze 1: Ja, ik geef toestemming (Option 1: Yes, I give permission)
Keuze 2: Nee, ik geef geen toestemming (Option 2: No I don't give permission)
Keuze 3: Mijn nabestaanden beslissen (Option 3: My next of kin will decide)
Keuze 4: Een specifike persoon beslist (Option 4: A specific person will decide)

If you choose Option 1, you then need to decide which organs and tissues you give permission for transplantation. I had to look some of these up since my Dutch body-part knowledge is still in it's infancy!

alvleesklier - pancreas
darmen - intestines
hoornvliezen - corneas
longen - lungs
bloedvaten -arteries
hart - heart
huid - skin
nieren - kidneys
botweefsel, kraakbeen en pezen - bone tissue, cartilage and tendons
hartkleppen - heart valves
lever - liver

Options 2 & 3 don't require anything else to be filled in.

For Option 4, you do need to fill in the personal details of the person you wish to give permission to make the decisions regarding your organ donation.

Lastly you need to sign and date the form (not neccesarry to do if you use your DigiD to fill in the form online). The address to mail it in is listed at the bottom and you don't even need to buy a stamp!

After you've completed the form (online or mailed in), you'll get a donor card in the mail. Make sure to look at it and check that your information is correct and that's it. It takes 5 minutes (or 7 if you have to look up what a botweefsel is).

I hope this has been a little bit helpful to some of you. I know I just put off doing it forever since I didn't know how to go about it.

101 Things in 1001 Days

My slightly devious lovely friend Lori made a 101 in 1001 days list and strong-armed suggested that I do one to. Since I'm prone to cave under peer pressure pretty awesome, I decided to take the challenge on for myself.

The Challenge:
Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.

The Criteria:
Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of work on your part).

Why 1001 Days?
Many people have created lists in the past - frequently simple challenges such as New Year's resolutions or a 'Bucket List'. The key to beating procrastination is to set a deadline that is realistic. 1001 Days (about 2.75 years) is a better period of time than a year, because it allows you several seasons to complete the tasks, which is better for organising and timing some tasks such as overseas trips, study semesters, or outdoor activities.

This list of 101 goals was started Mar 29, 2011 and is scheduled to finish Dec 25, 2013

I've broken my list into vaguely formed categories and I'll make a tab in the navigation bar with an updated "Master List" of my progress.

Bloggy Related
1- Post my menu every week for 6 months
2- Do 3 tutorials on my blog
3- Finish blog re-design
4- Set up categories and tags and "index" all blog posts
5- Blog everyday for a month straight
6- Post monthly updates about 101 project on my blog
7- Participate in 5 o'clock Fridays every week for 3 months straight

Food & Cooking

8- Try cooking with almond flour
9- Make homemade corn tortillas
10- Try 10 new cooking "techniques"
11- Try 5 new foods
12- Make sourdough bread from scratch (including the starter)
13- Buy a cheesemaking kit and make 3 types of cheese
14- Make homemade ketchup
15- Have a meatless meal for dinner at least once a week
16- Make 15 recipes with Jello in them
17- Try cooking rabbit
18- Participate in at least 10 of the next 12 Daring Cooks challenges
19- Make a custom recipe book
20- Do all of my food shopping at the market for 2 weeks (nothing from the grocery store)
21- Have a tea party
22- Buy a contact grill (thrifted if possible)

Health & Fitness

23- Get up before 8 a.m. everyday for a month
24- Take a yoga class
25- Go on a 30km bike ride without dying
26- Do the 30-Day Shred
27- Do the 200 sit-ups challenge
28- Drink 2 litres of water a day for a month
29- Get contacts
30- Get my wisdom teeth pulled
31- Sign up to be an organ donor
32- Go to the doctor and do something about my hairloss

Sewing, Crafting, & Making

33- Sew 5 new shirts for myself
34- Make a new purse
35- Use up at least 3 pieces of fabric from my stash
36- Crochet a pair of slippers
37- Make an underwear pattern and some new undies
38- Make 10 projects from my retro craft books
39- Make and drop a toy for the Toy Society
40- Make a long pointy elf hat with a huge pom-pom on the end
41- Make a t-shirt rug
42- Make a denim rag quilt
43- Make mini "emergency" kits for purses
44- Make significant progress on my cat & sewing machine cross stitch (at least 1/4)
45- Make some fabric shopping bags
46- Make 10 new Christmas ornaments
47- Make a new wallet
48- Do a painting workshop at the Delft Factory
49- Make a birthday calendar of close friends and family and send cards
50- Make a photobook for my mom

Photography Related

51- Do the 100 snapshots project
52- Take a photo of the same place every month for a year and then turn it into a calendar for the next year
53- Make or buy a light tent/box
54- Have a family portrait taken

Places to Go & Things to See

55- Visit 5 new museums
56- Visit Mount Rushmore
57- Visit a castle
58- Visit the Badlands
59- Visit a zoo I've not been to before
60- Visit the Dr. A. F. Phillips Obervatory
61- Visit the button store in Amsterdam
62- Check out the local Stitch 'n Bitch group
63- Take a road trip
64- Go to the Apenheul
65- Go to the Albert Cuyp Markt in Amsterdam

Moolah Related

66- Save €10 for every task completed
67- Save €100 in €2 coins
68- Save €100 in €1 coins
69- Sell 10 sock monkeys
70- Re-open my etsy shop
71- Throw away, donate, or sell 50 things
72- Start a price book for groceries
73- Sell my extra sewing machines

Education-esque Things

74- Study up on European Geography (especially Eastern Europe)
75- Do the w3schools CSS tutorial
76- Take another Dutch course of some kind
77- Read every book that has won an Newbery Medal
78- Become a Dutch Citizen
79- Vote in a Dutch election

Organization & Household Chores

80- Finish clearing out my stuff from my parents house
81- Organize my craft cupboards
82- Shred and discard old un-needed paperwork and find a workable storage solution for the rest
83- Organize photo collection
84- Assemble 72-hour kits for the family
85- Paint the bathroom

Nice Things for Others

86- Get up and make Martijn breakfast everyday for 3 weeks on the weekdays
87- Make 10 "quiet books" for Humanitarian Aid
88- Send a random someone a care package

Just for Fun

89- Get a cool basket for my bike
90- Buy a piece of art from an Art-o-Mat machine
91- Do a big jigsaw puzzle
92- Have a picnic in a park
93- Host a game night for friends
94- Replay all of the King's Quest games
95- Participate in a quiz team
96- Finish watching the final season of Battlestar Galactica
97- Get a manicure
98- Go to a dinner theatre show
99- Have a font made with my handwriting
100- Try Letterboxing
101- Go to the taping of a TV show

Menu Plan Monday- March 28, 2011

I found a meal planner called Dinner Tool. I'm still playing around with it a little but it looks like it might be kinda useful. You can plan your dinners and it will make a shopping list for you. One downside seems to be the recipe archiive didn't have a ton of recipes that I was feeling wild about, BUT they do allow you to add your own and share them. You can drag and drop your meal choices into the planner or click on I'm Feeling Hungry (which totally cracks me up for some reason):

Anyhow, like I said, I'm still playing around with it some so I didn't use it to do this week's menu... but I thought I'd share in case someone else finds it to be of use to them!

Last week:

I made the Quinoa & Black Beans and loooooved it. I only used one can of beans and canned corn instead of frozen. This is a keeper folks!

The Mexican Red Lentil Stew was also really good. I added some chicken to stretch it out a little and chopped up an avocado and added it into the bowls when I served it.

I took some creative liberties with the Lentil Shepherd's Pie. I changed the seasonings up a bit. I made pureed celeriac (mixed with a little instead mashed potato) for the top and sprinkled cheese over it. I really enjoyed the lentils in it and I think I'd make it again if I could remember the alterations I made!

I also made this Strawberry Spinach Salad even though it wasn't on my menu. You should make it too. Martijn even gobbled it up, and he's not much of a fruit man.

This week:

Chicken Chimichangas- These look tasty... I think I'll bake them instead of frying though.

Greek Lamb Kofta with Lemony Rice- Martijn is cooking this one for his dinner group this week.

Pop-Up Pizza Pie- I think I'll toss in more veggies and use real eggs but I think this looks really good.

Apple & Melted Brie Sandwiches with some kind of soup... Any suggestions?

What's on your menu this week?