The nastiest & coolest cakes I’ve ever had…
Friday was such a FUN day at work. We all revert to being kids again by dressing up, decorating our offices and hosting contests/prizes for the best dressed and decorated. In the midst of all that, we managed to get some work done and then finish the day with a DESSERT LUCK. The dessert luck is all about making your favorite spookie scary or fun Halloween treat. It totally makes the day fly by and I LOVE it. This year before our dessert luck, a group of my co-workers did a skit
“The Princess and The PASTA Shell”. It was so HILARIOUS!
Ok ~ I guess I should back track a little to the start of my day and work up to the desserts 
I had a breakfast repeat of Almond Butter Apricot Toast with creamy vanilla decaf Organic Fair Trade Coffee. MMMM ~ even the skeleton hand (that MOVES) wanted some of it!
My Co-worker and I were chatting about FOOD ( a topic that seems to ALWAYS appear in my life 
and we both had one word come to mind ~ TACOS!!! So, I traded in my leftover Smokey Black Bean Salsa Chili for this.
Chips & Salsa at TR2 ~ aka Taqueria Rosita 2.
We were chatting along when I looked up to see this FREAKY spider above me. – LOVE the light covers ~ hate the nasty spider.
I ordered two of my FAVORITE Chicken Tacos Mexican style (with cheese, hot sauce, cabbage and AVOCADO!!) I added more salsa too – I LOVE these!
We worked a bit more before the festivities started. Here a few highlights of the baked goods. My co-worker made this NASTY Kitty Litter Cake!
Being the sick person I am, I HAD to try it. I picked up the scooper and their was “POOH!” stuck on it.
But, that didn’t stop me from digging in. I actually got in trouble for scooping the pooh from the middle of the cake versus cutting it – oops!
My curly pooh was melted tootsie roll ~ genius! It’s actually two cakes mixed with pudding and topped with crushed cookies. I had a bite of each out of curiosity. And NO, on any ordinary day I would NOT eat pooh if you asked me too for those wondering
My other talented co-worker made this FANTASTIC Pumpkin Cake. I totally think she deserves the best decorated cake award.
It was a Red VELVET cake made orange for Halloween ~ so creative!
Funky bloody eyeballs!
There was a ton of other stuff too but I wasn’t feeling desserts (shocker!). I had one of my Carrot Pumpkin Cupcakes with Whipped Frosting and shared the bites of the other things with 2 of my co-workers.
When I got home, I had a super cool package waiting for me from Kristina! We had agreed to do a goodie swap ~ I sent her TJ’s gooides and she sent me fun stuff from where she lives. She put so much thought into everything and wrote the sweetest letter. There is a bunch of organic stuff and all the bars have great stats too. Thanks girlie – I LOVE it all and can’t wait to dig in.
Oh wait ~ I DID dig into this Gorge Delights Just Fruit Bar. 100% DELICIOUS! Do you all know if they sell these anywhere in California? I MUST find them!
Fantastic stats ~ LOVE that it is just that – FRUIT only, nothing added. It’s a BIG size bar too.
The Husband had to work late so I lounged around and made myself scared by watching My Super Sweet Psycho 16. I told him I wasn’t cooking tonight since I wasn’t hungry and would probably have cereal or a salad. He decided to surprise me by bringing home Mary’s Pizza Shack! I had a small salad with their housemade Italian Dressing.
Then, stole a little salad plates worth of his spaghetti with meatballs. It was awesome!
I am off to the Farmer’s Market, then shopping and errands today. I think we are staying low key tonight (avoiding our friends parties since we are not dressing up and staying in to watch scary movies and eat hand out candy and Annie’s Bunny Friends!
Happy Halloween!
Mother’s Cookie Giveaway Winners
Thanks to all for playing along in my Mother’s Cookie Giveaway. These little cookies will always hold a special place in my heart since I LOVED them as a kid.
Using random.org, the two winners are:
#4. Courtney F on Tue, 27th Oct 2009 8:48 am
I have never had a Mother’s cookie. GASP!! I know. I think I would try any, but the circus animals look yummy and hard to stop after one!
#9.. Grace on Tue, 27th Oct 2009 10:44 am
I’ve never had any Mother’s Cookies, believe it or not. I think I would most like to try the Taffy cookies!
Please email me your snail mail address danicasdaily @ gmail dot com so I can get your cookies in the mail.
No worries if you didn’t win ~ You can score a coupon to buy some of your own Mother’s Cookies by playing along in the Cookie Run Scavenger Hunt through November 10th!!!
Carrot Pumpkin Cupcakes w/Whipped Frosting
I LOVE Carrot Cake and PUMPKIN Muffins, but, I think even more, I LOVE WHIPPED CREAM FROSTING. This recipe combines all of the above and puts them together in a healthy fashion! You save on calories and fat by replacing the oil and eggs in the cake recipe with a can of pumpkin so you can indulge a little with REAL frosting~ YUM!
This is one of my favorite Weight Watcher Recipe go-to methods and you all might remember a little about this in Kristi’s guest post. You can use pumpkin in ANY cake mix to replace the fats. In this mix the pumpkin enhances the flavor and with chocolate cake, you don’t even taste the pumpkin!
Carrot Pumpkin Cupcakes w/Whipped Frosting
INGREDIENTS:
1 Box Carrot Cake Mix
1 15 oz canned Pumpkin
1/2 c water
** Optional: Add in raisins, chopped walnuts and/or 1 c shredded carrots with an additional 1/2 c water or possibly 1/2 c mini chocolate chips to add to the flavor of these E-Z cupcakes
INGREDIENTS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees or according to your box directions.
2. Combine cake mix, pumpkin and water. Beat for 2 minutes.
3. Line 2 muffin pans with liners and fill each cup about 1/2-2/3 full.
4. Cook for 15-20 minutes or until the cupcakes are cooked through and spring back to touch.
5. Allow to cool and frost.
** Frost with Homemade Whipped Cream, your favorite frosting or enjoy plain.
Makes 24 cupcakes, 2 Weight Watcher Points Each
Here is everything you need to make the Carrot Pumpkin Cupcakes. Sugars added for decoration
They fluff up BIG in the oven and are super moist when eaten.
WHIPPED FROSTING
1/2 pint Heavy Whipping Cream (sometimes you just have to!)
3 Tbsp Sugar
1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
Beat whipping cream, sugar and vanilla until fluffy ~ about 1-2 minutes. Do NOT overbeat or you will end up with cream cheese.
1 Tbsp = 1.5 Weight Watcher points.
** Since you saved a little on the cake mix (omitting the oil, eggs, etc), you can indulge a little in REAL whipped frosting. However, if you choose, you can use Fat Free Cool Whip for 0 Weight Watcher Points.
Frost, decorate & enjoy. I left a few not frosted for those who do not like frosting.
LOVE these fun pumpkin cupcake holders.
Happy Almost Halloween all! Enjoy these as a healthy treat!
Smokey Black Bean Chili in Squash Bowls
Can you believe it’s almost HALLOWEEN and time to Fall Back? I am so ready for the time change because it’s SOOO dark when I go to work in the morning. I have to admit that it’s a pretty awesome way to start my day by watching the sunrise as I drive into work though….
I am a total believer in eating what you crave. I woke up this morning craving two of my FAVORITE things ~ Apricot Preserves & Crunchy Nut Barn Almond Butter.
I LOVE that the BioNature Apricot Preserves are sweetened with apple juice vs sugar!
I toasted up 2 slices of Nature’s Pride 100% Whole Bread and smothered them in apricot almond goodness!
Mid morning I grabbed a Low-Fat Cabot Cheese and a mini fuji apple.
Lunch today involved more Halloween shopping or lack there of and at stop at the Over The Top Shop for Froyo!!!! Today’s mix included SNICKERDOODLE (YUM!!!), Peach-Mango Tart and Vanilla with sprinkles and crumbled waffle cone.
As I was eating this I was really thinking how it would be AWESOME to have a Cuisnart 45-Mix-It-In Soft Serve Froyo machine at home! Maybe for CHRISTMAS *wink, wink* LOL….I don’t know though – that could be a BAD thing to have froyo that accessible!
Lunch started out with this togo Thai Salad with Peanut Dressing.
However, the spicy broccoli shrimp I got to go with it was NASTY! It was ALL fish sauce and i just couldn’t eat it at all. I skipped lunch and opted for a bigger afternoon snack.
Whole Foods Organic Stone Wheat Crackers, Laughing Cow, Lean Turkey and FIZZY water! I was STILL hungry after so I grabbed an organic orange for dessert.
My co-worker who won the Organic Veggie Box from work broke out a super cool new to me veggie that I had to snap a picture of. Any guesses on what it is?
It’s a RADISH ~ Kinda crazy! I am not a fan of radishes but I had to try it because it looked like a mini watermelon. The flavor was interesting ~ it tastes like spicy cabbage. I like the heat, but, I am still debating the cabbage flavor.
When I got home The Husband was singing ~ “I got a cookie and you can’t have one!” LOL. Look at how AMAZING these snicker doodles are – perfectly round too! He got it at work. Of course, I snapped off a bite ~ MMMM ~ so much to LOVE about these cookies ~ cinnamon, sugar, butter, chewy….Need I say more.
Dinner tonight started out with roasted these cute Organic Sweet Dumpling Squashes I got at the market on Saturday. I decided they would make the perfect chili bowls.
I cut them in 1/2, de-seeded and rinsed them out.
Then, rubbed with a little Extra Virgin Olive Oil and sprinkled with sea salt.
Perfectly roasted at 400 for 30 minutes.
While the squash roasted, I whipped up a Smokey Black Bean Salsa Chili that I saw in the October issue of Cooking Light. The recipe was lightened up by the enlightened chef and sounded amazing ~ Beans, Bacon, Turkey, Spice ~ YUM!
I picked Trader Joe’s Spicy, Smoky Peach Salsa as the STAR ingredient.
Step 1 ~ Puree 1/2 your beans with brown sugar and water.
Stir in your remaining beans ~ I accidentally opened TJ’s Cuban beans instead of black beans ~ so I went with it!
Step 2 ~ Brown your 99% Lean ground turkey in nonstick spray. It’s important to pick the 99% lean to ensure you are getting turkey breast vs thigh meat and skin.
Step 3 ~ remove your browned turkey and add your onion and bell peppers.
and your BACON! Cook about 5-10 minutes until the onion is soft and slightly browned.
Step 4 ~ Add your turkey and spices.
Plus your bean mixture and salsa.
Step 5 ~ Add your beef broth, tomato paste and crushed red pepper flakes (b/c you forgot to with the spices . Stir to combine, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
I subbed ff Greek Yogurt for the sour cream and added, lime juice and cilantro.
To create a fantastic chili topper.
Sweet Dumpling Chili Bowl, plus Smokey Black Bean Chili plus cilantro lime “sour cream”. MMM ~ DELISH! I LOVED how easy this recipe was to make, but, I am not sure that the bacon really mattered. You didn’t really taste it and if I am adding calories for something like that, I want to TASTE it!
Sweet Roasted Squash in every bite! I really do think that this type of squash tastes bit like pumpkin, but, not as strong.
While the chili was simmering, I whipped up a batch of Carrot Pumpkin Cupcakes with Fresh Whipped Frosting. Would you believe me if I told you this is a low-cal recipe?!
Recipe coming up next! Tonight is the last night to WIN COOKIES!
Getting Figgy with it!
Filed under: Daily Eats, Product Reviews, Restaurant Reviews
Happy Hump Day all! I hope you all are having as much fun with SpringPad as I am. I honestly think Springing Recipes might be my newest addiction.
You know your day is going to start off good when you have DESSERT for breakfast. It all started with a Chocolate Fig Vitatop.
Check out all the figginess going on in this Vitatop!
I LOVE adding frosting to my Vita-Tops so I broke out my FAVORITE Crunchy Almond Butter from the Nut Barn.
And layered it on! This was AMAZING and totally tasted like a chocolate covered fig newton ~ YUM! This might be one of my new favorite flavors.
I had some strawberries that my co-worker shared and a Tall FF Chai Tea Latte!
About 3 hours later I was ready for a snack. I had a Honey Crisp Apple with Almond Butter. Some things you can NEVER get enough of ~ ummm, like Almond Butter!
I had planned on having leftover Channa Masala for lunch until my two co-workers offered up going out to eat with a stop at the Halloween Store. Our office has a departmental decorating contest every year and we all participate to WIN the TROPHY plus prizes. We are on a quest for the perfect decorations ~ The Husband is being called in to build some stuff too Oh and I still need a costume! Why are ALL the women’s costumes so NOT work appropriate?! LOL…..
Before shopping we headed out to Fazerrati’s Pizza. I LOVE the name of this place ~ It honestly makes me think of Fonzie on Happy Days – like this is the name of the place he should’ve hung out vs Arnold’s.
I picked their One Slice, Salad Bar & Iced Tea. It’s pretty cool because they will make you ANY pizza you want for your one slice.
Lunch started here…..
I made up an AWESOME salad with pretty much everything on the salad bar.
Tons of Romaine
Cucumber
Red Bell Pepper
Egg slices
Mushroom Slices
Garbanzo Beans
Kidney Beans
LF Cottage Cheese
Sprinkle of Toasted Sunflower Seeds
Ranch dressing on the side with my fork for dipping!
For my slice I picked Vegetarian ~ I ate it ALL! The crust was AWESOME – so thick and chewy.
I wasn’t really hungry this afternoon but I wanted something sweet. So, I settled for some Trader Joe’s Hot Spiced Cider. Even the screaming witch was eyeing my CUP ~ it was DELISH! I saved on calories/points by using 1/2 water and 1/2 juice – it was just as sweet as drinking it straight up.
After work I headed off to my Weight Watcher meeting. Have I told you all that I just LOVE my new leader ~ she totally inspires me in everyway. I want to look as amazing as she does when I grow up I got TWO Bravo stars tonight ~ A for showing up when I didn’t want to after our Holiday Party tasting and B for being smart
When I walked in the door The Husband told me I had some FUN mail. First he showed me my new Health & Fitness Mags – fun! Then, he took me into the kitchen where I had a box from Nature’s Path!!!
* More Peanut Choco BARS ~ I LOVED the one I got at BlogHERFood09!
* Organic Sunflower Agave Plus Granola
* Organic Optimum Blueberry Cinnamon Cereal
Plus TWO Gluten-FREE versions
* Organic Whole O’s
* Crunchy Vanilla Sunrise
YUM! I LOVE everything of Nature’s Path I’ve had so far – I cannot wait to dig in and try these out. Thanks Nature’s Path – you can NEVER have too many cereals to mix and match!!! Reviews and A GIVEAWAY coming soon!
The Husband placed his order for dinner with me before I ran out this door this afternoon. He wanted tacos from Vasquez, our favorite local deli. This might just become a Wednesday tradition because these are the BEST tacos around. I had 2 Crunchy Chicken Tacos with Hot Sauce.
Plus a TJ’s Non-Pareils for dessert. These are eh, ok ~ I don’t think the chocolate is as good as some of their other chocolates. It’s pretty bitter and not creamy 
, but, they are not bad. I will not buy them again. There are too few calories in a day to waste them on eh, ok, foods.
You have one more day to WIN COOKIES! Off to read, relax and sleeeeeep!
Nite all!
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