Soooo, I cried a lot this past weekend. No, not because of the crazy pregnancy hormones, or because I just want to meet this baby. Okay, some of it was that…

I dropped my beloved camera…on the concrete.

The body of the 7D seems to be fine, but the 50mm f/1.4 lens, is acting up. My husband took it apart twice to try to fix it, but the auto focus just isn’t working right, and the manual focus still has some issues when turning the focus ring.

It was midway through this photo shoot that it happened. So, some of these photos were taken with the 7D and some with my iPhone 4S.

Can you tell which photos were taken with my iPhone and which was with the Canon 7D?

Well, besides the instagramed photo.

Anyway, despite the awful weekend, this pie certainly cheered me up. I had been wanting to make it all week and was so thankful that I finally made it.

Don’t yell at me, I used store-bought pie crust because standing in the kitchen these days is killer. My feet hate me after I bake….but my taste buds love me!

So, you should make this pie, but never ever ever drop your camera.

We’re considering the 50mm f/1.2 L lens. Anyone have it? Recommend it? Not worth the money?

Help!

Strawberry Pie

adapted from Sing For Your Supper

Ingredients

• 9″ pie crust (store bought or whole wheat)
• 1 1/2 – 2 pounds fresh strawberries
• 1/2 of a lemon, for fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 2 3/4 teaspoon corn starch
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons cold water
• 1 package unflavored powdered gelatin

How-To

1. Pre-bake your pie crust until light golden brown. Set aside to cool.
2. Slice 3 cups of the strawberries and then crush them with a fork.
3. In a medium sauce pan, over medium heat, stir the crushed strawberries, lemon juice, corn starch, and sugar together. Let it simmer for about 7 minutes until it thickens, stirring occasionally.
4. Remove from the heat and in a small bowl, combine the water and gelatin. Stir the softened gelatin into the warm strawberry mixture.
5. Pour the strawberry mixture into your baked pie crust.
6. Halve or quarter the remaining strawberries and decorate the top with them.
7. Allow the pie to chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours until set.

Don’t yell at me. I’ve finally made a chocolate & carrots cupcake! This is it, folks!

I’m so excited to share this recipe with you. It definitely rivals the black bean cupcakes in moistness. Plus, the decadent peanut butter frosting on top makes it the perfect balance of naughty and nice! You’ll appreciate the niceness when you read the ingredients!

As an added bonus, the cupcakes aren’t made with any oil or butter. Just substitute apple sauce for that one! Thanks to Musselman’s natural unsweetened apple sauce, these cupcakes came to life.

Boy, do I wish I could have another bite out of this right about now!

Do yourselves a favor and go make these cupcakes and head down this page to enter to win your very own pack of Musselman’s apple sauce!

Healthier Chocolate Cupcakes

slightly adapted from Yammie’s Noshery

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/3 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa powder
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 2/3 cup Musselman’s Natural unsweetened applesauce
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg, slightly beaten
• 1 cup finely shredded carrot (about two large carrots)

How-To

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
2. Line a muffin pan with paper liners and spray with canola oil. Set aside.
3. In a bowl, stir the flours, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, and baking powder together.
4. Add in the remaining ingredients and stir until just combined.
5. Pour into the prepared muffin tin, filling a little more than 3/4 the way full.
6. Bake for 20 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.

Servings: 10 cupcakes

Peanut Butter Frosting

slightly adapted from Jackie Geilhart

Ingredients

• 1 (8 ounce) package of 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4-1 cup of creamy natural peanut butter (I use skippy)

How-To

1. With your electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter together until creamy.
2. Add in the powdered sugar and vanilla extract.
3. Beat until blended completely.
4. Carefully stir in the peanut butter until just mixed. Don’t over mix.
5. Pour into a pastry bag or use a knife to decorate the cupcakes!

Giveaway:

Prizes: 

• Musselman’s Cinnamon Apple Sauce single-serve cups
• Musselman’s Natural Apple Sauce multi-serve jar
• Musselman’s Apple Sauce single-serve cups
• Special recipe cars

To Enter: 

(Mandatory): Leave a comment on this post telling me how you enjoy your apple sauce or just say hey!

Deadline: May 18, 2012 at 11:59am Eastern Time

Extra Entry:

• Become a follower on twitter (current or new followers)! Leave a separate comment telling me you are a follower.
• Tweet about this post saying something like:
  I want to win a giveaway from @musselmansapple while I drool over @chocandcarrots cupcakes! http://bit.ly/IxCJKz
  Leave a separate comment telling me that you tweeted.

No purchase necessary to enter. Prizes will only be shipped within the United States. Winner will be selected at random by chocolate & carrots using Random.org. All entries received after the giveaway closing day and time will not be considered. Entries that do not follow the entry requirements will not be considered. Winners will be notified via email and will have 24 hours to confirm receipt of the email. If the winners do not reply within 24 hours, another winner(s) will be selected. Giveaways will be mailed to the winners’ address.  This giveaway has been sponsored by Musselman’s. This is a sponsored post.  I received a two packs of Musselman’s natural single-serve cups and one mulit-serve pack as compensation.  All opinions stated are my own.

On one of our last date nights before the baby comes, Logan and I decided to check out a new restaurant to Columbia, SC: Café Caturra. It’s located in one of our favorite shopping centers, Trenholm Plaza and has oodles of outdoor seating….view of the parking lot, but still, outdoors.

The menu has loads to choose from, primarily small plate dishes, but great serving sizes.

We decided to start out with the Hummus Trio: Classic, Kalamata Olive, and Roasted Red Pepper. The classic hummus was my favorite. Logan’s was the kalamata olive (which I was totally shocked to learn because he HATES olives. He picks them off of pizza…crazy).

We also ordered two small garden salads….gotta have the veggies! They were beautiful and fresh. With thick slices of Parmesan cheese and buttered croutons on top with a side of the creamy balsamic dressing, this salad was delicious.

Next, came our pizza. We ordered the Proscuitto & Arugula pizza, as per our waiter’s advice. Oh boy, was he right! Their pizzas are a Neopolitan-style cooked pizzas with fresh tomato sauce and sliced mozzarella. This pizza was then topped with thin slices of proscuitto, arugula and shaved Parmesan cheese. Melt. In. Your. Mouth.

Finally, we ordered the Small Burgers. They were super juicy, and topped with melted white cheddar cheese and a slice of bacon! For a non-beef eater, they certainly turned helped me want to eat beef more often.

Not only was the food fabulous, the service was terrific. Probably one of the best serviced restaurants in Columbia. We had so many of the wait staff come up to us, just asking if we needed anything. Even though the place was PACKED, they left us with huge smiles, thanking us for coming! Trust me, you don’t usually get this from the busboys. So nice!!!

Oh, and they don’t have those little note pads to put in our orders, they used these electronic things, which I’m sure helped speed things up for the kitchen. So smart. Love it!

The only complaint I had was that we ironically were asked by 3 of the wait staff if we wanted more bread for our hummus dish, to all 3 we said yes. None brought any bread. I know they were super busy, we just thought it was funny.

Overall Ratings (Instead of stars, I’m giving it ‘C’s.) Highest: CCCCC Price: $$$$$

Food: CCCCC

Waitstaff: CCCCC

Atmosphere: CCCCC

Overall: CCCCC

Price: $ ($5-$10) — but you’ll need 1 or 2 plates to satisfy.

I’ve tried this recipe a number times, tweaking it a little bit every time either in my methods or in ingredients. This is the perfect balance of all. They are light and fluffy, yet give you the health benefits of the whole grains to keep you fuller for longer!

They are wonderful as sausage egg biscuits, butter & jam or even plain!

And if you remember, these were the biscuits that I froze for later. All you have to do is pop them in either the microwave or toaster oven from frozen and they’re as good as freshly baked!

P.S. These would be delicious along side these for your mom this Sunday on Mother’s Day! Don’t forget!

P.P.S. Our glider is supposed to arrive today! Yay! The nursery will be complete!

Whole Grain Fluffy Biscuits

adapted from Food

Ingredients

• 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• dash of salt
• 6 tablespoons very cold unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons
• 1 cup light buttermilk (or 1 cup milk with 1 tablespoon lemon juice or vinegar, let sit for 5 minutes)
• Extra unbleached all-purpose flour for dusting

How-To

1. Preheat the oven to 450°F.
2. In your Blendtec blender (or food processor), pulse the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and butter for a few seconds until the butter is broken up and the mixture is a meal consistency.
3. Pour the mixture into a bowl.
4. Add in the buttermilk. Stir just until mixed with a spoon.
5. Place the dough on a well floured surface.
6. Knead the dough 4-5 times, flouring the top and bottom well between kneading (this will allow for fluffy layers).
7. With your hands, push the dough out to about 1/2″ thickness. Cut with a biscuit cutter (I used about a 3″ diameter cutter).
8. Place on a baking sheet that has been covered with a silpat mat or parchment paper about 1″ apart from each other.
9. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until light golden brown on the top and bottom.
10. Serve hot and thank me later!

Servings: 1 dozen biscuits

Forewarning: These are highly addictive and you will never want to buy graham crackers again. If you’re okay with this…continue on.

They aren’t as hard and crunchy as your typical store-bought, preservative-filled, non-whole-wheat graham crackers. These are more like shortbread, but with the graham cracker flavor.

They make a really good s’more. In fact, I need some more right about now!

This is what they look like pre-baked. Just so you can get the idea of what you’re looking for when you’re making them.

Well, these were a total hit and a winning ‘suzy homemaker’ recipe in my book!

Homemade Whole Wheat Graham Crackers

adapted from Tracey’s Culinary Adventures

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1/4 cup natural cane sugar
• 1/4 cup honey

How-To

1. In a bowl, stir the flour, baking soda, and cinnamon together. Set aside.
2. In the bowl of your stand mixer (or in a bowl with an electric mixer), beat the remaining ingredients together until combined.
3. Add in the half of the flour mixture until combined.
4. Add in the remaining flour mixture and beat until combined. You may have to scrape down the sides.
5. Shape the dough into a rectangle on a large piece of plastic wrap. Wrap it up in the plastic wrap.
6. Place the wrapped dough into the fridge for at least 30 minutes until chilled and hard.
7. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
8. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface until it’s 1/8″ thick.
9. Cut the dough out into 3″ x 3″ squares with a pastry cutter or a knife. I ended up taking the scrapes, making another rectangle, wrapping it in plastic, chilling in the fridge, and cutting out more squares to bake.
10. Place the squares on a baking sheet that have been covered with a silpat mat or parchment paper, leaving 1″ between them.
11. Score the squares down the middle and poke some holes in the top with a fork.
12. Freeze the baking sheet filled with the un-baked crackers for at least 10 minutes to allow the cookies to cool.
13. Bake for 7 minutes, rotate the pan in the oven, and bake for another 6-7 minutes until light brown around the edges.
14. Allow to cool completely before removing from the baking sheets.
15. Store in an airtight container or plastic bag for up to 1 week.

Servings: 18-20 sheets.

I’ve been loving walnuts recently. I’ve turned to them during my pregnancy as a natural way to cut back on inflammation (especially when I had an overactive sciatic nerve problem) and for a great source of Omega 3 Fatty Acids for both my health and the health of my baby!

My favorite ways to eat walnuts are:

• plain
• muffins
• candied on salads
• trail mix
• and turtle candy!!!

The caramel in these turtle candies is soft & sweet and it compliments the crunchy walnuts and the rich chocolate. However, I wish I had gotten my caramel just slightly harder, but I was having a major kitchen disaster.

The calphalon pans that I got 4 years ago were cheap and the non-stick is starting to wear away. Make caramel in these pots and the non-stick stuff gets deposited into the candy. I did it once and had to throw the whole pot of candy away. Ugh. So, I have to use my one and only all-clad metal pot to make the caramel. It’s only 1 quart in size which is ridiculously small for making caramel. Needless to say, I had caramel all over the stove, which my husband graciously scraped off when he got home from work. I desperately need a bigger all-clad pot. Any one want to get it for me? I’ll make you theseeee?

But, even after all of that drama, these were pretty incredible. Logan took them into work to share with his coworkers and a few of them said they were their favorite thing that I had ever made. And these people know their sweets. They get to taste test all of my creations!

Turtle Candies

adapted from The Comfort of Cooking

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter + more to grease the baking sheets
• 1/2-3/4 pound of walnut halves and pieces
• 1 cup low fat evaporated milk
• 1 cup light corn syrup
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups 60% cacao Ghirardelli chocolate chips

How-To

1. Cover two baking sheets with parchment paper and spread a good layer of softened butter on top.
2. Arrange the walnut pieces in clumps on the baking sheet. You’ll be pouring the caramel and chocolate on top of them soon. Just be sure to leave about 1-2 inches of space between each one, in case the caramel or chocolate spreads.
3. In a large metal sauce pan, combine 1/2 cup of the evaporated milk, the corn syrup, and the sugar together.
4. In another bowl, combine the remaining 1/2 cup of the evaporated milk and the 4 tablespoons of butter. Set aside.
5. Bring the contents of the sauce pan up to a boil, stirring occasionally.
6. Add in the evaporated milk and butter you set aside.
7. Stir the mixture constantly until it reaches a temperature of 240°F, according to your candy thermometer.
8. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract.
9. Allow the caramel to cool to 200°F.
10. Spoon about a tablespoon of the caramel over each walnut cluster.
11. Allow the caramel to harden slightly while you melt your chocolate.
12. Over a double boiler (or a glass bowl hovering over a pot of simmering water), melt the chocolate.
13. Allow the chocolate to cool a bit, until you can touch it with your fingers and not burn yourself.
14. Spoon some chocolate over the caramel walnut clusters.
15. Put in the fridge or freezer to harden.
16. Keep cold until ready to serve. I thought they tasted best frozen, especially in the summer!

Giveaway Closed.

Winner: Candy who said, ‘I like to put walnuts in my carrot cake, brownies and cookies. I also like to eat walnuts right out of the package.’

Giveaway:

Prizes: 

• California Walnuts Cutting Mat
• California Walnuts Spatula
• California Walnuts Mini Chopper
• California Walnuts Recipe Booklet
• One pound bag of California Walnuts

To Enter: 

(Mandatory): Leave a comment on this post telling me Your favorite way to enjoy walnuts! (recipe links welcome!)

Deadline: May 11, 2012 at 11:59am Eastern Time

Extra Entry:

• Become a fan of chocolate & carrots on facebook (current or new fans)! Leave a separate comment telling me you are a fan.

Side Note: California Walnuts is also running a contest on their facebook page! All you have to do to enter is submit your idea for naturally defending your body and staying healthy. The person with the most votes will receive a health club membership valued at $1200. Five runners up will each receive a five pound bag of California Walnuts.

No purchase necessary to enter. Prizes will only be shipped within the United States. Winner will be selected at random by chocolate & carrots using Random.org. All entries received after the giveaway closing day and time will not be considered. Entries that do not follow the entry requirements will not be considered. Winners will be notified via email and will have 24 hours to confirm receipt of the email. If the winners do not reply within 24 hours, another winner(s) will be selected. Giveaways will be mailed to the winners’ address.  This giveaway has been sponsored by California Walnuts. This is a sponsored post.  I received a one pound bag of walnuts as compensation.  All opinions stated are my own.

Dole recently asked me if I’d like to host a salad party!

I quickly took them up on their offer and couldn’t wait to have a party! Since we’re about to have this baby, I knew I had to do it quickly and it was the perfect opportunity to get some of our family together as a last ‘hoorah!’ before the baby comes.

Since we have some picky eaters in the family, having a salad party is a great way to please everyone’s palates. It also allows them to be creative and make their own ultimate salad!

I decided to make it very casual and we grilled an assortment of meats. We had all organic chicken, steak, and salmon! And of course, we had a number of different toppings so that our guests could make their own salad…just how they like it!

We also had garlic bread as a side and of course some brownies for dessert!

The toppings I chose to serve were:

• green bell peppers
• celery
• red onions
• pears
• carrots
• tomatoes

Of course you can choose as many different toppings as you want to serve. I just went for all fresh veggies and fruit!

I decided to make it an easy buffet style to serve up this great lunch. I don’t have a lot of stamina any more being so pregnant, so this was a perfect way to serve and make for easy clean up!

Hosting a Dole Salad Party is a simple and easy way to enjoy your friend’s and family’s company. Easy for the hostess/host and fun for your guests!

Since I was so ravenous (being hungry all the time when pregnant is hard work), I made my plate full of salad and topped with some steak and salmon (surf and turf?) and added tomatoes, carrots, green bell pepper, and pear. So delish!

What kind of salad would you have made up?

I’ll definitely be hosting another salad party after the baby is born. It’s a great way to eat healthy and have some fun with friends!

If you are interested in hosting your own Dole Salad Party and joining the Dole Salad Circle, you can become a member instantly here. You can get exclusive offers, recipes, and tips for your next salad party! You can also like Dole Salad guide on facebook and share your party’s photos!

Last weekend was a crazy one. I had a to-do list a mile long, got really overwhelmed by it, and my very, very sweet husband helped me conquer it all.

On Sunday, my goal was to get some freezer meals in the freezer for after baby arrives. We succeeded in making them all within 3 hours…dishes and all!

First off, we got started on the shrimp creole from Add a Pinch. We had to start this one first since it required some simmering and I doubled the recipe since it looked so good!

While the creole was simmering, I got started on the Queso Fundido from Life as Mom. It was probably the simplest dish we did all day, but I can’t wait to dig into it later! All that was required with this meal was sautéing some onions and hot italian sausage, putting it in a bake safe and freezer safe container, topping with cheese, and freezing it!

While I was busy watching the stove, my husband was busy cutting the gross fat pieces off of the 8 organic chicken breasts that we bought. I ended up only marinating 6 of the 8 breasts and used the other 2 breasts for the enchiladas (keep scrolling down for that recipe).

In two quart-sized freezer bags, I made the dijon marinade from Life as Mom and in the other bag I just squirted a bunch of Italian dressing in with the chicken. We labeled them and laid them flat to freeze! Easy peasy!

We’ll end up either grilling or baking these chicken breasts this summer.

Next, we prepared the enchiladas. I quickly got started on the homemade enchilada sauce since it took some time to simmer. I also boiled the chicken, sautéed the vegetables, and got the pan ready for freezing.

The only thing I did differently from the original recipe was used diced tomatoes in the enchilada sauce instead of crushed. That was totally a pregnancy brain fart, but it actually looks quite tasty with it all chunky like that! Oh, and I added the shredded chicken to it too, for added protein.

I had also made these cinnamon roll muffins from Taste & Tell for breakfast on Saturday. I adapted the recipe and used half whole wheat flour and half unbleached all-purpose flour, and used light buttermilk instead of the full fat buttermilk.

I also made just 6 of them and put them in a giant muffin pan for baking. Mmm, were they good!!! We ended up having four of them leftover, so I topped them with some of the glaze and frozen them in containers.

I did the same things from the biscuits I made on Sunday morning. (recipe to come…it’s my ALL-TIME new favorite biscuit recipe)

Freeze away!

Next, we quickly whipped up this Fiesta Black Bean Soup. So fast, so easy.

Then, I simmered some pizza/marinara sauce from Good (Cheap) Eats, on the stove for a bit. I doubled the recipe and filled two quart sized bags with the sauce and laid them flat to freeze.

Meanwhile, I prepared the pizza dough (keep scrolling down).

I used Love & Olive Oil’s recipe for frozen pizza dough for these. I adapted it slightly using unbleached all-purpose flour and a butt-load of Italian seasoning instead of her suggested seasonings. Needless to say, the dough smelled incredible!

I split the dough into two balls, wrapped them in plastic wrap and quickly put them in the freezer!

Everyone has told me how much I’ll appreciate having some healthy homemade freezer meals to have when I become a new mom. Now, I guess we just have to play the waiting game and wait for this baby AND wait to try all of these awesome freezer meals!

And for those who want to make these things as well, I’ve made a grocery list for all of these meals. Click on the image to print just this list.

I also used these freezer labels from Pinch a Little, to tape onto my containers for later.

These are the instructions for each meal for after they are frozen:

Shrimp Creole

• Thaw in the refrigerator.

Queso Fundido

• Thaw in the refrigerator.
• Bake at 350°F for 15-20 minutes.
• Serve with your favorite tortilla or tortilla chips.
• Top with salsa and sour cream.

Marinaded Chicken (Dijon & Italian)

• Thaw in the refrigerator
• Grill or bake as desired.
• Serve with your favorite vegetable.

Enchiladas

• Thaw in the refrigerator.
• Bake at 350°F, covered for 30 minutes.
• Bake for uncovered for another 10 minutes until cheese has melted.

Cinnamon Roll Muffins

• Heat from frozen in the microwave for about 1.5 minutes.

Biscuits

• Toast in the toaster oven until warm and slightly browned.

Fiesta Black Bean Soup

• Thaw in the refrigerator.
• Heat in a pot until hot.

Pizza Sauce

• Thaw in the refrigerator.
• Spread on pizza dough or heat and top pasta.

Pizza Dough

• Thaw in the refrigerator for 24 hours.
• Allow it to sit at room temperature for 2 hours to rise before baking.
• Roll out the dough into a circle.
• Top with toppings.
• Bake at 400°F until browned and bubbly.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this post and maybe you’ll end up making some of these great freezer meals!

With Mother’s Day around the corner, these mini meat crusted quiches are a quick way to have breakfast on the table! Head over to Land O’Moms for the recipe!

Also, a little baby update:

• I’m group B strep negative.
• I’m 60% effaced.
• I’m 0.5cm dilated.
• The baby has definitely dropped.
• I will probably deliver within the next 1-2 weeks!
• Ahhhh!

So, I was asked by my friend Kristan (a fellow pregnant foodie) to write a post for her and Shelly‘s website, That’s What We Said. They are two super funny gals and you really should get to know them. Just saying. We met at Blissdom where we had an excellent time.

Anyway. They asked me to write a post as part of their ‘What’s in your…?‘ series. Most of the posts are of the insides of purses of some pretty amazing bloggers. I decided to share what all I packed in my hospital bag!

Head over to That’s What We Said to read the post! I hope you like it…and if you have any suggestions of what I do and don’t need, I would love to know!