a lovely living

On every major holiday I’m fortunate to not be the one in charge of the family meals. Talk about pressure! I’m thankful for my mother, grandmother and mother in law who always graciously take the reigns and prepare delicious meals for our family. My role typically comes into play for dessert which I’m always more than happy to tackle. This Easter I wanted something festive and fun. Last year I enjoyed making these sugar cookies which were great but very time consuming. This year I also went the cookie route, but chose to try a carrot cake cookie with a cream cheese frosting and a simple carrot decoration. Don’t give me credit for any of the creativity, all thanks goes to Cooking Classy for this recipe. I’m just here to prove that your average baker can tackle this with ease. Oh, and they’re delicious in case I forgot to mention that ;)

Carrot Cake Cookies via Cooking Classy:

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups (213g) all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 cup (4 oz) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup (106g) granulated sugar
1/4 cup (55g) packed light-brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup (118g) finely grated carrots
Chopped pecans or cinnamon, for decoration (optional)

Frosting
5 oz cream cheese, softened (don’t over-soften it)
6 Tbsp (3 oz) butter, softened
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups (220g) powdered sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg for 20 seconds, set aside.

In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, blend together butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar until creamy. Blend in egg and vanilla extract. With mixer set on low speed, add half of the flour mixture and mix just until combined, then mix in carrots, then mix in remaining 1/2 of the flour mixture just until combined. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl with a spatula to make sure everything is properly incorporated.

Scoop dough out with a medium 1 1/2 Tbsp cookie scoop and drop onto baking sheets lined with silicone liners, spacing cookies 2-inches apart. Bake in preheated oven until set (they should still be soft to the touch though), about 11 – 12 minutes. Cool on baking sheet several minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool. After 5 – 10 minutes of cooling on rack finish cooling completely in an airtight container so they don’t dry. Once cool, frost with cream cheese frosting and top with pecans if desired.

For the frosting:
In a mixing bowl fitted with the paddle attachment, whip together butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy. Mix in vanilla and powdered sugar and whip again until light and fluffy (if slightly runny chill in freezer about 5 minutes then mix one last time). If doing the carrot decoration set aside about 2 Tbsp to ting green and 2 Tbsp to tint orange.

Quick, chicken and broccoli are three words that my family can relate to. I do my best to prepare healthy, well-balanced meals most every night of the week. Although I am a full-time mom, that doesn’t not mean that I have all the time in the world to sit and prep meals. So when I come across recipes that I know my family will love and don’t require much prep work or cook time at all, I’m hooked. The next time I make this, I’ll lessen or omit the amount of ginger simply because I’m not that big of a fan of it. Otherwise, it’s right on point. Enjoy!

12 Minute Chicken & Broccoli via Gimme Some Oven:

INGREDIENTS:
3 Tbsp. reduced-sodium soy sauce
2 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar
2 Tbsp. honey
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. sesame oil
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
salt and pepper
1 bunch broccoli, chopped into small florets
1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions
1 tsp. toasted sesame seeds

DIRECTIONS:
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add chicken breasts, and season with a generous pinch of salt and pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is browned and mostly cooked through.

While the chicken is cooking, make your sauce. In a small bowl, whisk together soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, honey, cornstarch, garlic, ginger and sesame oil until combined. Set aside.

Once the chicken is browned, add the broccoli and stir to combine. Continue cooking for an additional 3 minutes, until the broccoli is bright green. Stir in the soy sauce mixture, and cook for an additional 1 minute until the sauce has thickened.

Remove from heat and serve immediately, garnished with green onions and toasted sesame seeds.

Today I’m sharing one of my latest go-to meals with you. I love this one because it’s relatively quick to prepare and covers all of the meat, veggie, pasta requirements of a dish that my family tends to enjoy. I found this recipe on Real Simple and made a few adjustments to enhance the flavor a bit more to our liking. It has some kick, so you may need to hold some of the crushed red pepper for those of you feeding children, but otherwise it’s quite delicious and a new favorite of ours.

Recipe adapted from Real Simple:

Orecchiette with Turkey & Broccoli

Ingredients
3/4 pound orecchiette
2 cups broccoli florets
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound ground turkey
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon fennel seed
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 teaspoon italian seasoning
1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
kosher salt
Parmesan, for serving

Directions
1. Cook the pasta according to the package directions, adding the broccoli during the last minute. Drain and return the pasta and broccoli to the pot.
2. Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the turkey, garlic, fennel seed, red pepper, italian seasoning and cook, breaking up the meat with a spoon, until browned, 3 to 5 minutes; season with ½ teaspoon salt.
3. Add diced tomatoes and heat through.
4. Toss the turkey mixture with the pasta and broccoli and the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil. Serve with Parmesan.