Fresh Ingredient Monday

     Just to keep things interesting, as if my life were not already so...(hey I gotta get it where I can) I have decided to present a new ingredient for cooking each Monday, whether I use it that day in cooking, or used it during the week. (Most often I am sure on the weekend!) Yup, that will keep 'em coming back for more (and me striving to have an actual goal to progress toward each week!) Let's get a fresh start then!
     Today's Ingredient; AGAVE NECTAR (from http://www.allaboutagave.com/)


While agave (pronounced ah-GAH-vay) is best recognized as the plant from which tequila is made, it has also been used for thousands of years as an ingredient in food. The nectar made from the plant is known in Mexico as aguamiel, or "honey water."

The Aztecs prized the agave as a gift from the gods and used the liquid from its core to flavor foods and drinks. Now, due to increasing awareness of agave nectar's many beneficial properties, it is becoming the preferred sweetener of health conscious consumers, doctors, and natural foods cooks alike.

Where Does Agave Nectar Come From?

Agave nectar (sometimes called agave syrup) is most often produced from the Blue Agaves that thrive in the volcanic soils of Southern Mexico. Agaves are large, spikey plants that resemble cactus or yuccas in both form and habitat, but they are actually succulents similar to the familiar Aloe Vera.
In many regards agave nectar bridges the gap between real and artificial sweeteners. While it has all the useful properties of real sugars, its lower glycemic index helps protect against health risks associated with higher glycemic sweeteners.
Agave nectar can be used in many more applications than artificial sweeteners, while also producing more palatable results. Since it is composed of real sugars (fructose and glucose), agave nectar performs admirably in the kitchen and bakery. It matches refined sugars in all the qualities mentioned above, serving as a browning agent, a humectant, a softener, and a preservative. 




SO, what glorious recipe did I create with this hot little commodity? Try these good morning muffins on for size!


P.S,: A word about Mueslix; for any of you who don't know, Mueslix is a cereal containing (usually) various grain flakes, chopped raisins and dates, oats, sliced almonds and maybe a light sweetner. I grew up on the stuff, we were introduced to it in Germany and used to make it ourselves for years afterwards. I chose this cereal because all the ingredients are great in carrot cake and they would be perfectly  proportioned for these muffins, especially since I personally only like a little texture while I am enjoying a great carrot cake. If you can't find it, sub in the above ingredients in your own preferred amounts.




     Glorious Carrot Cake Deliciousness Morning Muffin Madness (or Morning Carrot Cake for short!)


3/4 - 1 c Mueslix breakfast cereal
1/2 c quick cooking oats
1/2 - 1 c fat reduced buttermilk (or half buttermilk half unsweetened applesauce)
2 c unbleached all purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 c brown sugar (not packed)
1/2 c agave nectar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
3/4 c canola/vegetable oil
1 c finely shredded carrots
1/2 tsp cinnamon
dash ginger, salt,  and ground cloves
1/2 c white chocolate chips


Crush cereal more fine, mix with oats and buttermilk (I used half buttermilk half applesauce because that was all I had, but I really liked the flavor too!) Let set while mixing other ingredients (for a total of 5+ minutes at least) Mix eggs, vanilla, and oil. Add sugar and agave. Sift flour, baking soda, and spices/salt together, then add to wet ingredients. Preheat oven to 350^ and spray muffin tins while waiting for wet ingredients to set longer. Add carrots and cereal mixture to wet ingredients. Mix in white chocolate chips. Spoon into muffing cups till 3/4 full. Bake for about 20 min or till toothpick comes out clean. Should make 18, enjoy!

The Most Amazing Coconut Cake EVER

       Yup my poor 5 yr old had 2 cakes for his birthday this year. I couldn't help myself, the pictures looked too good! And I made it all from scratch, including the fresh coconut... (I even got to pound it with a nail and get all that good coconut water AND roast it and the flesh for the topping!) All and all, it was a very exciting venture. I have included the recipe link to cookinglight.com (the magazine) for this fantastico but very time consuming cake and it was quite worth it, although do NOT refrigerate with the coconut on all ready, that seemed to make it (the coconut) a little tough. Enjoy when you get the time and chance... The bigger beauty here is that this newer health conscience recipe cuts calories from 622 to 332, fat from 38.5 to 10.8 and sat fat from 19.5 to 7.5 per serving compared to the old ways, so you don't even have to take a dive nutritionally! And it was tasty too...
                                                        Cooking Light's Coconut Cake

Chocolate; My Drug of Choice

     So late last night as I am laying in bed trying to wind down after the 1/4 bag of lovely dark chocolate York Peppermint flavored hard shelled candy goodness, with a side of Dove Dark Chocolate Promises (maybe 2, or 3, or 4, I seem to have lost count!) I realized that chocolate, no, dark chocolate truly is my personal drug of choice. Others may have alcohol, prescription medication, hot bubble baths or even a few crazy hobbies (I don't know, is stamp collecting even in still?!) but I have chosen my special dark cocoa to get me over a few rough spots here and there. Last night, after a particularly nerve racking and emotionally challenging day (yeah it felt a little pathetic considering I had only spent the day with my kids, but whatever) I needed something to settle my nerves a little. Since I don't drink, getting sloshed was a little out of the question. Prescription meds are also not in the books because I try to avoid any long term mood altering chemically ridden entirely addictive colorful little pills, and lets just say that a hot bath or some side hobby was not going to cut it. Then I remembered my parents sweet little chocoholic stash in the top drawer of their dresser, and life was about to get good again.
     
     INTERMISSION:     For each of your individual nutritional and educational benefits, I am including another new and favorite website AllChocolate.Com in which you have the joy of not only discovering the many health benefits of chocolate (namely dark chocolate) but plenty of fabulous recipes, information, tips, tools, history, and pretty much anything else your little chocolate heart could possible imagine (I know I could scarcely believe it myself!) The most important health facts of which I will summarize in part below;
Chocolate (namely dark) is full of anti-oxidants (the same kind of natural compounds found in fruit, vegg, grain etc). It has also been studied to show positive effects on the cardiovascular system (including reduced blood pressure, increased blood flow etc) which would explain the amazing and quick effects of such a divine food on my system last night, increased blood flow and decreased blood pressure are all positive results when it comes to regulating your emotions and getting enough of that all important life-sustaining  element...oxygen...to your brain! Also, according to this fantastic website, chocolate has a low glycemic index (how your body reacts to the sugars you eat), plenty of minerals, and that ever important effect on your endorphins (my personal favorite).
  
     I believe it would be safe to say that dark chocolate, in moderation, is not only healthy but a nutritional and positive alternative to the other drugs out there for sustaining one's mental and emotional health and well-being. In fact, I fully support it and would go so far to say that dark chocolate is an absolute necessity when it comes to one's health (both mentally and physically!) as I can attest to it's personal benefits in my own life, *sigh*. I would also like to propose that dark chocolate can actually help with my headaches. I was so excited last night to discover, yet again, another piece of evidence to support my migraine/headache theory. I gave in to some cheapy milk chocolate less than worthy cup of hot cocoa (due to a rather crazy romp in the snow at 22 degrees, with some cabin fevered kids) and sustained a miserable headache that was not to be calmed with any assortment of OTC medicinal complexes. By the time I ate my fill of dark chocolate before bed, I had my headache completely under wraps and and my mood quite calmed down. Coincidence? I think not! For I have done, at my own personal sacrifice and the benefit of my blog and my dear readers, many personal studies of such nature for the last several weeks. The result? Dark Chocolate always wins! And for me the most important affect was I've had no sugar hangover the next morning! Glorious, Glorious food! If this is but one weakness for me in this life, then so be it! And for your personal enjoyment, thanks to a friend who shared her secret a couple years back, a delicious double chocolate cake recipe fit for a king!

     Double Yummy Chocolate Cake Goodness


1 boxed chocolate cake (I prefer Pillsbury)
1 c sour cream
required ingredients in the box less about 1/4 c water
1 small box chocolate pudding mix
1 1/2 12oz bag mini chocolate chips


Follow directions on box for regular cake mix, add the other ingredients, heat oven, lightly spray two cake pans and fill as even as possible then bake for about 45-60 min (depends on oven, just make sure you check frequently toward the end and remove when cake tester is clean and cake pulls from side of pan) Cool and top with fabulous frosting following this recipe (including a delicious frosting layer in the middle!)


     Better Homes and Gardens Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting


1 6 oz package semisweet chocolate
1/4 c butter
1/2 c sour cream
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 to 2 3/4 c confectioner's sugar (powdered sugar)


Melt the chocolate and butter either in a double boiler or in the microwave (stirring every 20sec); cool slightly. Blend in cream, vanilla, and 1/4 tsp salt. Slowly beat in sugar till spreading consistency and frost those beautiful double chocolate cakes!