Back in Action

And we're baaaaack!

At least in some form.  Two kids, two restaurants and much more later, I've decided to come back to the blog world at least a little bit. Now that I'm getting settled in to life with two kids I miss the creative outlet it allows. 

I've tried my hand at having a kid related blog and a food blog and that obviously didn't work either. So here we are back at The Purple Carrot, where everything I feel like posting will be found. Kids, food, family, life, whatever ... Looking back, one of my favorite things about blogging is to be able to look to past years and remember what was going on and having a record of fun memories and different seasons of life.

So here's to another era of The Purple Carrot, whatever it may look like!

Chocolate chip zucchini bread

It's the time of year for garden bounty!! So far in surplus I have zucchini. Lots and lots of zucchini. Giant zucchini and small zucchini. Straight zucchini and crooked zucchini. And what do you do with zucchini that's gotten huge in the garden? Make bread, of course!!

With chocolate chips thrown in. You know, for good measure.

Chocolate chip zucchini bread

Ingredients
- 3 cups shredded zucchini

- 1 1/2 cups cane sugar

- 2/3 cup melted coconut oil

- 2 teaspoons vanilla

- 4 eggs

- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

- 1/2 cup cocoa powder

- 2 teaspoons baking soda

- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

- 1 teaspoon sea salt

- 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Instructions

1. Heat oven at 350 degrees

2. In large mixing bowl stir together wet ingredients: zucchini, sugar, oil, vanilla and eggs

3. Add dry ingredients: flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon

4. Divide batter between two 8 inch loaf pans

5. Bake for about 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean 

6. Let cool completely before digging in

Eaten best with a large glass of milk. Yum yum!

Happy zucchini'ing!

Raw blueberry pie (with video)

This past Monday was National Blueberry Pie Day and I got invited onto Kansas City Live to help celebrate with my raw blueberry pie.  I hadn’t made this or blogged about it in over a year so I thought it was time for an updated post about it with better pictures! So here we are. Recipe complete with the Kansas City Live video.  Enjoy!
 
Video

As I said in the segment, this is a great spring and summer pie because it’s no bake, refreshing and so simple to whip up.Thanks for having me, Kansas City Live, it was a lot of fun!

Raw Blueberry Pie
Ingredients:
Crust:
- 1 cup natural almonds
- 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- 1 cup dates, pitted
- 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil (may need to add a little more depending on the wetness of your dates)
- Pinch of salt

Filling:
- 2 cups frozen blueberries (helps if they’re slightly thawed)
- 1/2 cup agave nectar or honey (honey tends to be sweeter so use less)
- 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
- 2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
- Pinch of salt

Instructions: Crust:
- Blend (or finely chop) almonds, coconut and dates one by one then mix together along with coconut oil and salt. Flatten into 9 inch pie pan.

Filling:
-Place all ingredients into high powered blender or food processor and blend until creamy. Pour over crust and refrigerate for at least two hours before serving.

il Lazzarone KC

Well, Kansas City … we’re coming for you!
As I’ve said before, Erik originally looked at putting a pizzeria in Kansas City but when we moved to St Joe, it made sense to start here! And we’re very excited to announce that il Lazzarone will be expanding to Kansas City Spring 2015!
We will be located in the River Market at 412 Delaware right next to our favorite coffee shop and friends, Quay Coffee.

Please visit our Facebook page for updates or follow us on Twitter and Instagram!

We look forward to joining the neighborhood and sharing some awesome pizza!

Long time no blog

Long time no blog! I probably have about 0 readers at this point but that’s okay.  Life has been full and is always busy with a 1 year old.  I’m not sure why but they don’t appreciate when mom sits on her computer instead of playing ; ) I find most of my “updating” happens via Instagram because it’s nice and quick.
So … what’s new?

• Our restaurant, il Lazzarone, has been open now about 7 months and Emersyn and I are enjoying our fill of pizza just about every day! Erik is working hard in his role as owner/pizzaioli and things are going well! We’ve been featured in many news outlets the most recent of which being The Pitch (Article can be found riiiiiight here)

Follow us on Facebook for updates!
 

• Emersyn has been growing like a weed! She’s 15 months old now and getting smarter and smarter each day! We were able to go on a family vacation to New York City a few months ago and we’re excited to spend our second Christmas holiday as a family of three!

   
May this be the beginning of a blog renaissance, ha.
Lesley

Moist carrot cake with cream cheese frosting

Til the Easter season!
I haven’t found my way to The Purple Carrot in far too long and after making this carrot cake a few days ago, I knew it was the perfect thing to share. We found it to be extremely moist and delicious! I’ve been doing a lot of juicing lately as well and I never know what to do with all that pulp. 
Enter: a great way to use up pulp from juicing carrots!

Moist carrot cake with cream cheese frosting (makes one 9x13 inch pan or two 9 inch cake pans)
*adapted from All Recipes
Ingredients:

• Carrot cake
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/4 cups melted coconut oil
• 1/3 cup milk
• 2 cups cane sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 teaspooons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 cups grated carrots (I used the pulp from juicing carrots, works great!)
• Cream Cheese frosting
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 8 ounce cream cheese softened
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon almond extract (or vanilla – I ended up using almond because I was out of vanilla and ended up loving the flavor with this cake)

Instructions:
Cake

1. Preheat oven at 350 degrees and grease two 9 inch cake pans or one 9x13 inch pan
2. In large mixing bowl, beat together eggs, coconut oil, sugar, vanilla and milk
3. Mix in flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon
4. Stir in carrots
5. Bake for about 45 minutes or until toothpick in center comes out clean

Frosting

1. Combine all ingredients and beat until mixture is smooth and creamy.

Nom, nom, nom!
Happy Easter, all

il Lazzarone

If you keep up with The Purple Carrot on Facebook or Instagram, the following is not new to you but if not, guess what?



Yep, this is happening! For years now Erik has been toying with opening a pizza place and even almost bought a building in Kansas City a little over a year ago when we lived there but it just never quite worked out. Fast forward through our move back to St Joe, our house remodel (which is still in the works even though we live there now), a new precious baby aaaand here we are!

What?
This niche restaurant will be an authentic Neapolitan pizzeria called il Lazzarone. (I know, I'm sure the concept is shocking after how little we talk about pizza around here ;) It's not like we road tripped around the US just to eat pizza or anything).

Il Lazzarone: What is the meaning of il Lazzarone, you ask?
There is a lot in our name. The name represents not only a class of people but a way of life. Pizza started out as a peasant food. The il lazzarone or lazzaroni was seen to be this peasant class of people in Naples originating around 1770. Though the lazzarone were poor, they were known for living completely free, content, satisfied. The lazzarone avoided the rat race. They worked but they laughed. They worked but they rested. They worked but they stopped and ate… frequently. The only thing a lazzarone would eat was pizza and melon (accompanied of course by wine). They loved life, they lived freely, and most of all, they seized the moment.
That is what we wish to offer and convey. Come seize the moment, put your day on hold if just for 30 minutes, and come. Come to the table were you can experience both art and authenticity through food, wine and atmosphere.

Where? il Lazzarone will be opening at 1628 Frederick Avenue in Saint Joseph, Missouri.

When? We’re currently making progress on the work that needs to be completed on the inside and our Acunto oven is on its way here from Naples. Tentatively, we’ll be opening Spring 2014.
Follow along
Follow along with our building progress and updates via Facebook, Instagram and Twitter!
Coming up Coming up soon is a post on what you can expect to find at il Lazzarone!

Apple cinnamon muffins

I seem to be on a pretty good baking spree lately, much to the delight of my husband (okay, and myself, ha). We had a lot of apples in the fridge and I was looking to make a “breakfast” item so these babies were the natural progression. And we loved them. Perfect for a quick breakfast treat, snack during the day or dessert after dinner!

Apple cinnamon muffins with simple sugar glaze Adapted from Add a Pinch
*makes about a dozen (I was able to get a few more than a dozen)
Ingredients:

• For muffins
• 2 cups all-purpose flour (+ 2 teaspoons for coating apples)
• 1½ teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 cups apples, peeled and diced
• 1/3 cup (half a stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
• 1 cup organic cane sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• ½ cup milk
• For glaze
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 2-6 tablespoons milk or other liquid (depending on how quick you’d like it)

Instructions

• For muffins
• Preheat oven to 375º F. Coat muffin or cupcake pans to prevent sticking or line with cupcake liners.
• Stir together flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Set aside.
• Toss together diced apples and 2 teaspoons of flour to coat apples in a separate bowl. Set aside.
• Cream together butter and sugar until lightened in color, about 3 minutes. Add an egg, one at a time and then the vanilla.
• Gently fold in flour mixture, alternating with milk. Stir until just combined. Fold in diced apples.
• Scoop mixture into prepared pans, filling them about 3/4 cup full. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, about 30 minutes.
• For glaze
• Stir together powdered sugar and liquid until glaze is formed. Add more powdered sugar or liquid to desired consistency.

*Note: batter will be pretty thick


Enjoy!

Strawberry layer cake & mini red velvet whoopie pies

A bit overdue for a new blog post!
Winter is in full bloom here in the Midwest with cold weather and snow blanketed yards. Emersyn turned five months old on the 1st and we're getting more and more settled into our new place. Ive had many goodies that I've meant to share and have even taken photos but the actual sharing part is what I've had some troubles with ha.

So in light of Valentine's Day and the month of February, here's a few "red" goodies I've tried lately that we've gobbled right up. First, a strawberry layer cake via The Little Epicurean. Recipe can be found here. We really liked this cake.  It was light, fresh and delicious! A perfect Valentine’s Day treat.

And next up, red velvet whoopie pies! These are colored all naturally with beets and adapted from Baking a Moment. Erik’s work was having a cookie contest at work with the criteria being red cookies that were under 100 calories so I went with mini pies!  Each of these whoopie pies are approximately 50 calories each and about an inch round.  They’re also very addictive … yum!

Mini Red Velvet Whoopie Pies
**makes approximately 50 pies about an inch round
Ingredients:

• Cakes:
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 stick unsalted butter
• 1 egg, separated
• 3/4 cup beet puree (I roasted two beets in the oven at 400 degrees for 60 minutes then peeled and pureed)
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 1/2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons natural cocoa powder
• 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• Filling:
• 1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened
• 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions:

1. Cakes:
2. Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy, and then mix in the egg yolk.
3. Add in the beet puree, milk, lemon juice, vinegar, vanilla, and combine.
4. Add the flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt, and baking soda and combine.
5. In a separate bowl, whip the egg white until fluffy and stiff. Fold the egg white into the cake batter.
6. Drop approx 100 scoops of batter (about the size of a quarter) onto lined baking sheets, and bake at 375 degrees, for 7 minutes. Cool completely, and fill with fluffy cream cheese filling.
7. Filling:
8. Whip all the filling ingredients together until fluffy.

Door to Door Organics

One thing about living in St Joe versus Kansas City that is the hardest for us is ... food! Not only do we miss our favorite spots (Quay Coffee, Westside Local, Little Freshie, etc) but there's not an over abundance of fresh local and organic foods for groceries. We are thankful for the options Hyvee has but so often, I've found their organic produce to be lacking in quality and variety. Along with that, I love being able to purchase local products, especially meat and eggs, which our Hyvee doesn't offer.

Enter: Door to Door Organics

We've gotten Door to Door over the years sporadically but for whatever reason, had stopped getting it for a few years while living in KC. Once we came back to St Joe, however, I almost immediately signed up again because we could no longer just swing by Badseed on a friday night, etc. After tagging them in an Instagram post of Emersyn hanging out with these awesomely huge rainbow carrots I got in my box one week …

… I got an email asking me if I'd be interested in reviewing them. I don't really do many reviews on The Purple Carrot these days but this is one company I really do appreciate and love to share!

What Is It?

Door to Door Kansas City delivers fresh organic/natural local produce and food products right to your door in the KC and surrounding areas.

How It Works

Each order starts with a produce box that you chose and customize.

You can make 5 substitutions to your weekly (or biweekly) box and shop their whole selection of vegetables and fruit. Their produce is always USDA Certified Organic and sourced locally whenever possible.

After that, you can shop through their ever growing selection of pantry staples. They have a variety of farm-fresh milk, free-range eggs, gourmet cheese, humanely raised meats, sustainably fished seafood, and artisan breads - to name a few.

One of my favorite features is that you can put your order on hold anytime you want for as long as needed so there's no weekly or monthly commitment if, for some reason, you need to take a break from receiving it.

Examples

I snapped some photos of some of the past couple weeks boxes for some examples.

We get the majority of our groceries through them and they always seem to be growing and improving their selections. They also do a great job of keeping everything cold via their packaging even if it be frozen meat or milk.

 

Their prices are overall very reasonable and in line with most healthfood stores and I've always been impressed with the quality. Less than a handful of times have I had to contact them with any problems with an order and each time they were quick to happily fix it. I highly suggest giving them a try! I mean, who doesn't want to skip the store and come home to their groceries sitting at your doorstep? Yeah. Visit their website for more details and to check out what all they have to offer! And give them a try!

***Enter the word "purple" at checkout on your first order and receive a $10 discount!***

PS: Dear D2D, please add Oddly Correct coffee, Little Freshie pops, meat from Local Pig, aaaand Kalona SuperNatural milk to your selections. Thank you ;)

Easy roasted vegetables

I think my all time favorite way to eat vegetables is to simply roast them. Without fail, they always taste good and you can mix and match about any veggies together to create a delicious roasted combination!

It's a colorful, filling go-to side dish that really only requires chopping, a little seasoning and placing them in the oven. 

Easy Roasted Vegetables

Ingredients:

• Chopped vegetables of choice 
• I used:
• Rainbow carrots
• Fingerling potatoes
• Sweet potatoes
• Broccoli
• Celery
• Zucchini squash
• Mushrooms
• Large red onion
• Extra virgin olive oil (or try coconut oil for a fun different flavor profile)
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven at 375 degrees.
2. Chop vegetables.
3. Mix chopped veggies together with salt, pepper, and enough olive oil to lightly coat all veggies.
4. Place flat on baking sheets, place in oven for 45 minutes to an hour.
5. Stir/flip veggies at least once halfway through.

Pumpkin coconut pie

Now that Thanksgiving has come and went, I'm having a hard time believing it's December and Christmas is so very close!

Despite the increasingly cold weather and darker evenings, I can't help but love winter in the Midwest around Christmastime. The snow, hot beverages, cuddling up in warm blankets, a cozy fire, yummy food, etc. One such ingredient of the season being pumpkin!

I made this pumpkin coconut pie for Thanksgiving and we both liked it so much I'm definitely going to be making it more throughout the holiday season!

I don't typically enjoy pumpkin pie all that much but the addition of coconut milk really gave it an extra punch that made me love this version.

Pumpkin Coconut Pie

Ingredients:

• pie crust of choice
• 1 15-ounce can pure pumpkin
• 3/4 cup coconut milk, stirred (the full fat kind in a can)
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten 
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Place all ingredients into a large mixer or bowl and mix well
3. Pour mixture into prepared pie crust
4. Bake for about 45 minutes or until pie is set up and slightly jiggly in the middle 
5. Let pie completely cool before serving

Enjoy!