Black Dagger Brotherhood and carrot cake...

      Hi everyone.  So sorry I haven't been posting that many reviews lately....its just that, well, my amazing parents got me the entire Black Dagger Brotherhood series for my birthday! YAY!  So I've basically been sitting in bed or on the couch rereading the first few books and reading (for the first time) the rest.  LOVE this series! I just finished Phury's story and AHH!! All the changes that happen! Anyway, since I haven't been posting much lately I'm going to try and post a review for Blood of the Maple in the next few days.
      For today though, here is a special treat (literally).  Vegan Carrot Cake.  Need I say more!  Okay, so I'm a really healthy eater.  Most of the meals I make are vegetarian or vegan-only because I don't like cooking meat (but I love eating it).  And also because those cuisines are healthy.  Anyway, my parents eat a lot of chicken and meat with their meals so when they hear or see the word "vegan" they tend to avoid it.  Well, I had a discussion with my mom about how a lot of vegan food is really good, health-wise because of the substitutions such as applesauce and flaxseed.  Fast-forward a few days and I offer to bake my sister a carrot cake for her friend.  It had to be vegan.  I hadn't baked anything since Thanksgiving (I know! its been too long!) so I was more than happy to do it.  I searched the internet and found a recipe which was not healthy BUT was vegan and so delicious.  It took every ounce of willpower to not go back for 3rds.  I ended up making 2 cakes.  One for my sister's friend and one for my family.  Anyway, my mom was shocked at how delicious a vegan dessert could be.  Personally, I could taste no difference between a vegan carrot cake and a regular non-vegan carrot cake.  The only thing I did differently on my family's carrot cake was the icing.  I used regular cream cheese.  The vegan cream cheese was too watery for my taste.  Click here for the recipe.

I do not own image

Image from Hell Yeah It's Vegan

Food: PW's "Pie that will make you cry"

Picture from Pioneer Woman

Over Thanksgiving I did a ton of baking.  Among all the desserts, I made a pecan pie.  Now, I had never made pie before in my life.  I know what you're thinking-why of all days would you choose Thanksgiving to make a pie for the first time; what if you messed up?  Let me tell you, I was terribly nervous that it wouldn't turn out alright.  Before baking I did a lot of research to find the best pecan pie recipe.  Pioneer Woman's "Pie That Will Make You Cry" aka Pecan Pie was the recipe I chose.  I also made a Whiskey Maple Cream sauce to drizzle over.  I followed the recipe and I was astounded by how it literally "will make you cry" it is so deliciously amazing!  For a few minutes all I heard were yummy sounds coming from the entire family.  MAKE IT MAKE IT MAKE IT!!!!! You will not be disappointed :)  You can find the recipe here.   You can also find step-by-step instructions here.  I used this crust recipe (perfectly flaky).  Here is the Whiskey Maple Cream Sauce recipe.

FOOD: Banana Spiced Oatmeal

I have a crazy obsession with oatmeal.  It’s the perfect food.  It's healthy. It's delicious.  It's filling.  AND there are so many different ways to cook it that it never gets old!  This recipe started off slightly different...I came across it on Kath Eats Real Food and modified it a bit.  

Here’s what you need:

½ c. of quick oats (Quaker)

½ c. of milk

½ c. of water

1 banana

cinnamon

¼ tsp vanilla

2 tsp of brown sugar and some more for sprinkling

nutmeg

How to make: 

1-add the oats, milk, water, and banana (sliced) into a saucepan and put on medium heat.

2-once it starts boiling stir it and let it sit for 30 sec. then stir it again...repeat until it has a creamy texture and isn’t runny (watery)...at this point I usually use the spatula to mash up the banana slices a bit but that is optional

3- once it is at the desired texture turn off the stove.

4-sprinkle cinnamon (I usually put a lot-enough to cover the top but its up to you and how much you like) and nutmeg (as much as you like) on top; add the sugar and vanilla;  stir/mix everything together

5-put it in a bowl and sprinkle the some cinnamon and sugar on top

6-enjoy some holiday tasting oatmeal

(You can modify the recipe all you want)