I am a Honey Bee

All about my adventures with cooking, crafts, and travel

Carrots

Whole Wheat Carrot Cake Waffles with a Maple Cream Cream Cheese Drizzle

Whole Wheat Carrot Cake Waffles

I feel so out of the loop with things at times.

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I’m out of the loop with movies, books, shows, news. You name it. But the thing I am most out of the loop with is movies. The last movie I saw in theaters was Flight… back in November of 2012. Lame.

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This weekend Price binge watched a whole bunch of the Fast and Furious movies after Autumn went to sleep. I had no idea what was going on. I think I stopped watching the F&F movies after the second one. It was cool to watch the action scenes but I had no idea who was who or what was going on while I edited photos and drafted up blog posts.

He had seen them before so he schooled me on the movies but it was like in one ear and out the other. I did kinda understand what he was saying about the different movie names, although they still do sound the same to me. Like the first one was The Fast and The Furious and the fourth one was Fast and Furious. Not confusing at all guys…

I would like to actually watch all of the F&F movies at some point. But I think I’ll just be super sad watching so much Paul Walker. 🙁

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Anyway, today Price and I are starting Whole30 again for the month of April. I’m excited to be doing it again as we really enjoyed the results of our first Whole30. Plus, my friend Kellie is joining in on the action! Yes, it’s strict but it’s so worth the effort. I am going to miss having waffles for the month but absence makes the heart grow fonder, right?!?

So while I won’t be enjoying these waffles this month, you should. They will make for the best start for Easter morning.

I swear that even the Easter Bunny will enjoy these waffles.

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They are such a great flavor and texture. I love carrot cake so I loved these waffles.

But the thing that makes this breakfast so incredible is the drizzle. It has a cream cheese base, which is reminiscent of the cream cheese frosting you get on carrot cake. BUT it also has maple cream in it. It is the perfect mash up of cream cheese frosting and maple syrup.

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A few weeks ago I met Carrie for brunch and she generously gifted some homemade maple cream to me and Liz. I had never had maple cream before so I was so excited to try it. Of course, I immediately fell in love with it. I use some in the drizzle for these waffles but if you don’t have some then use some maple syrup. But I think that you need to try some maple cream as it’s so, so good.

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I hope that you enjoy these waffles as much as we did. xox

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Whole Wheat Carrot Cake Waffles with a Maple Cream Cream Cheese Drizzle

Makes

Ingredients

For the waffles

  • 1 Cup white whole wheat flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon table salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 Tablespoons packed brown sugar
  • 1 Cup milk
  • 4 Tablespoons butter, melted
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 cups finely grated carrots

For the Maple Cream Cream Cheese Drizzle

  • 4 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
  • 2 Tablespoons Maple Cream or maple syrup
  • 1 Cup powdered sugar
  • approximately 2-3 Tablespoons milk

Process

To make the Waffles

  1. Preheat your waffle iron per the manufacturer’s instructions.
  2. Into a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. Set aside.
  3. In a separate bowl whisk together the the egg, sugar, milk, melted butter, and vanilla extract.
  4. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients. Mix until just combined.
  5. Fold in the shredded carrots.
  6. Laddle 1/4- 1/3 Cup of batter into your hot waffle iron. Cook until the

To make the drizzle

  1. Beat the 4 oz of cream cheese until smooth and fluffy.
  2. Add the maple cream and continue to mix.
  3. Add the powdered sugar and beat until creamy.
  4. Starting with 2 Tablespoons slowly add the milk until you have reached the desired consistency.

Waffles adapted from Bakeaholic Mama,

Turkey Shepard’s Pie with Sweet Potato Mash

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I’ve figured out the rest of the pies I am going to feature this year!!!

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I don’t think I’ve ever been so prepared when it comes to blogging before. Woohoo!! Price and I formulated the list and I think it’s pretty awesome! It was fun to go through my Pinterest boards to come up with ideas for what to make and when.

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I’m gonna keep the list a secret but I can share there are 4 apple pies on there. So many apple pies!!! Damn, I love apple pies. They are so good. And it’s even better when you get to use the apples that you picked right off the tree. Last week’s Deep Dish Apple Pie was pretty epic so I’m hoping that the rest are as great as I imagine them to be.

As well, I imagine you’re gonna like this one too. We realized that I didn’t make many savory pies this year so I’ve added a few of them to the list, like this one!

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Shepard’s Pie is one of my favorite casseroles. Ah ha… okay… so you caught me! Shepard’s Pie is a casserole and not a pie but I am going to take some liberties with the name.

Speaking of pie stealing names… Boston Cream Pie! Whoopie Pie! Boston Cream Pie is a cake and Whoopie Pies are a cakie cookie. Totally makes sense… ha!

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Anyway, I used to make this for myself ALL THE TIME when I was in high school. I loved having something ready for when I got home after my internship or after one of my babysitting jobs. It helped me not get something junky on the way home. I would have something healthy when I arrived home that I could heat up. I would always used lean ground turkey, fresh veggies, and a low fat garlicky mashed potato on top. I focused on keeping things really healthy by not loading it up with butter and cream so I would add herbs and other seasonings to amp up the flavors.

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And I think I pulled that off with this Sweet Potato Topped Turkey Shepard’s Pie as well! I used a lean ground turkey to keep the fat down, as compared to using ground beef chuck. But this recipe is more at my life’s current pace now with frozen veggies… hello convenience! As well, with keeping things nice and easy, I didn’t peel the sweet potatoes, but you certainly can if you prefer it that way.

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This is the best kind of recipe for back to school dinners and fall comfort food. It makes a big batch that is great to enjoy solo, with plenty of leftovers, or as a big family. Eat up!!

I hope everyone has a great weekend!!!

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 Turkey Shepard’s Pie with Sweet Potato Mash

Makes 8 servings

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds sweet potatoes, cut into 1″ cubes
  • 3 Tablespoons butter
  • Coarse salt and ground pepper
  • 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 6 medium carrots, halved lengthwise, quartered if large, and thinly sliced
  • 2 pounds ground turkey
  • 8 oz frozen pearl onions
  • 8 oz frozen peas
  • 8 oz frozen corn
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 6 oz tomato paste
  • 3/4 Cup water
  • 1/4 cup Worcestershire Sauce

Process

  1. Preheat over to 400 degrees.
  2. Fill a medium sized pot with salted water, add the potatoes and bring to a boil. Boil for 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are fork tender. Drain, and return to the pot, removed from heat. Add the butter and mash together with a potato masher.
  3. In a large skillet, heat the vegetable oil over medium high heat. Add the carrots and saute for 2 minutes.
  4. Add the ground turkey to the carrots. Break apart the turkey into small pieces while browning it. Cook for 3 minutes.
  5. Add the frozen vegetables, seasonings. Saute for a 2 minutes. Move the filling to the outside of the skillet to create a clear space in the center.
  6. Add the tomato paste in the center of the skillet, break apart and cook for 1 minute. Mix the entire mixture together and add the water and Worcestershire Sauce. Cook for another 2 minutes.
  7. Evenly pour the filling into a 8 x 13 pan. Top the filling with the mashed sweet potatoes.
  8. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes prior to serving.

The BEST you’ll ever have… My Signature Macaroni Salad

My Signature Macaroni Salad is the BEST macaroni salad EVER. It’s going to be the side dish that everyone loves at your BBQ.

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I wish that macaroni salad was a food group.

And, of course, you’d get to have 4-6 servings to meet your daily servings requirements.

…

Read More

Slow Cooker ‘Roast’ Chicken

You know when you have one of those moments of “well, like, duh!” because something you never considered before made perfect sense. Why didn’t I think of that moment. Well, that happened to me when I was hopping around on Julie of The Little Kitchen and I saw in her sidebar a recipe for ‘Whole Chicken in a Slow Cooker‘. I kept going “that makes sense! Why haven’t I thought of this? It has to be so good! I have to make it!!”

This was one of the juiciest chickens I have ever had (other was beer can chicken- OMG!). It was so moist, flavorful, and cooked perfectly. Any rub on the chicken would work, even just salt and pepper with some lemons in the mix. This is more about technique, not about the ingredients. Don’t want sweet potatoes- fine… just throw some fingerlings in there. I think the biggest thing to consider is how long to cook it. I would not do this on a week day since I am away from home for 10 hours. This would just fall apart too much then. I suggest this on a nice weekend when you want to relax and do nothing or if you have errands up to your eyeballs and you have no time to cook and just have dinner (almost) appear in front of you.

Slow Cooker ‘Roast’ Chicken

Serves 4

Ingredients

  • 2 onions
  • 2 large sweet potatoes
  • 4-5 carrots
  • 3 1/2 -4 1/2 pound whole roasting/frying chicken
  • Preferred seasoning blend

Process

  1. Remove giblets bag from chicken to discard and rinse entirely. Pat chicken dry completely with paper towels.
  2. Cut all vegetables in large pieces, such as carrots in 2″ long pieces, and the onion in 8 large wedges.
  3. Rub the chicken with your selected rub to completely coat it.
  4. Place onions, carrots and sweet potatoes inside the slow cooker to create a layer on the bottom. Then put chicken on top of the vegetables.
  5. Set slow cooker for 6 hours. Check the internal temperature of the leg, if it is 160 degrees F then it is done. If you used a chicken with a pop up thermometer then remove the chicken when it has popped.
  6. If you crock pot is broiler safe (consult your product information) then put the entire crock pot into the oven for 4-5 minutes. If your crock pot is not broiler safe then carefully remove the chicken and place on a glass baking dish or a large baking sheet. Allow the chicken to rest for 5-10 minutes prior to cutting.