The Purple Carrot | purplecarrotkc.com

Soft Serve Fruit Company

2012-06-01T10:31:00.003-05:00

Happy Friday and first day of June!!

I really have no idea where the month of May disappeared to, but I’m happily welcoming June into my life. I’m loving this summer weather (despite some already very warm days!), and the 23rd of June marks Erik’s and my 5th year anniversary. Life has been pretty crazy the past few years and these past few months and we’re hoping to get a vacation in sometime this summer too. Let me tell you, we could really use it. Hello, California!

Anyways … enough of that. I still have a few back posts from New York, and it’s time for some food. Or in this case … some soft serve!

The Soft Serve Fruit Company

One of the other places we hit up while in New York was The Soft Serve Fruit Company. Soft serve ice cream made of frozen fruit! I think about everyone has heard of the wonder of simply freezing bananas and throwing them in a blender to produce delicious, creamy “ice cream”, and this is a place very similar to that.

There are two NYC locations, one in Union Square at 25 East 17th and the other in Upper East Side at 1371 Third Ave.

The ice cream is made of three simple ingredients: fruit, water, and some cane sugar making it both dairy free and gluten free. I’m all for such a simple recipe! Their menu consists of sundaes, smoothies, a pretzel cone, and soft serve dishes that you can put a variety of toppings on. When we were there, the different soft serve flavors were banana, mango, dark chocolate and strawberry.

Both of us opted for dark chocolate and I topped mine with pomegranate and peanut butter.

I really love the concept of this place since it’s so simple and uses so few real ingredients. Overall I thought the dark chocolate flavor was pretty delicious, especially when paired with the sweet crunch of pomegranate arils. It was really airy and and light and I though I did enjoy it, I think I would have preferred a little more chocolate and a little less water so that it would have more substance and less air.

My only complaint? I thought the toppings make it a little pricey for what you get. The non fruit toppings are 50 cents each and fruit toppings are 75 cents each. I really like yogurt/ice cream shops in which you pay by weight, that way you can get a few more toppings without the price increasing so quickly!

A great place to stop for a delicious (and healthy!) treat. If I lived in NYC, I’m sure I would be returning.

What’s your favorite place to get fro yo/ice cream??

Come one, come all ... An Merican Adventour

2012-05-28T12:47:00.004-05:00

Happy Memorial Day!!

I hope everyone has had a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend that included an extra day off work, good food, and time with family and friends. But if yours didn’t, I feel for you, mine did not either. Work beckons.

I wanted to stop in and invite you all to an awesome event coming up in KC this Wednesday night! Drum roll please ….

An Merican Adventour

An Merican Adventour is an all ages eclectic concert happening on Wednesday, May 30th at Arts Tech featuring the likes of 2 traveling bands -- Listener and La De Les – alongside 2 great local acts -- Ebony Tusks and Max Justus.

And now I’m going to totally rip off all the description from the Facebook event page (that you should join!) because I can’t say it better myself …

“Make plans to be here to kick off your Summer!

Only 5 dollars to see all 4 acts of this great bill!

Doors at 7:00PM. Show starts at 8:00PM
Listener, La De Les, Ebony Tusks, Max Justus
$5

Arts Tech
1522 Holmes Kansas City MO 64108

Come check out and support this awesome space that are up to some very cool things!

ArtsTech’s mission is to better the lives of underserved urban youth through the development of marketable artistic and technical skills. ArtsTech accomplishes this by:
1. operating a center for youth enterprise that provides hands-on training and experience in visual arts, graphic design, photography, ceramics, silk-screening, and computers; and
2. building and managing collaborative partnerships that use art and technology as educational tools for the benefit of youth in the community.

Come on out and lets have some fun!”

All right, who wants to come?? Word on the street is, some Purple Carrot baked goods for all to enjoy are making an appearance …

An awesome time, at an awesome just $5 price tag, supporting a great organization! Hope to see some of you there

Motorino Pizzeria Napoletana

2012-05-24T11:35:00.000-05:00

Time for some New York pizza!

After our lunch at Angelica Kitchen, we stopped by Motorino Pizzeria Napoletana. Yes, we had just eaten. The idea was to get a pizza to go … Ha.

Motorino Pizzeria Napoletana

Motorino serves Neapolitan style pizza, which happens to be what Erik is so obsessed with. Some days, all I hear about at home is wood fired pizza ovens, Caputo flour, San Marzano tomatoes, and bufala mozzarella. (No, we don’t even eat cheese, ha). He is completely enamored with everything that is authentic Neapolitan pizza.

Where all the magic happens.

We ordered the marina pizza to go.

We got about exactly one block down the street before Erik had to stop and try it. Probably not even that far.

There’s nothing like pizza fresh out of the oven, and especially since we were in NYC, it was an injustice to wait any longer. Plus, I’m positive there’s always room for some pizza in our stomachs!

Delicious pizza! Erik is turning me into an obsessed pizza lover too, slice by slice.

Motoronio used to be Uno Pizzeria Napoletana, started by Anthony Mangieri, who now has a pizzeria in California. Erik would have loved to try Mangieri’s pizza (and whenever we make a trip to CA, you know we will be there!) but Motorino still serves a great pizza.

I liked the quote on their menu board …

“You better cut the pizza in four pieces because I’m not hungry enough to eat six”.

Ha, that’s about right for me every time!

Now I’m hungry for some pizza!

Angelica Kitchen

2012-05-23T09:55:00.002-05:00

Happy Wednesday!

What’s everyone been up to this week? I got to meet with some friends for lunch yesterday at Blue Nile and then worked the rest of my afternoon at Mudpie. It was a nice break up of my usual work day.

Moving right along … there’s just a few more New York restaurant posts to come and today we have …

Angelica Kitchen

I seemed to see Angelica Kitchen popping up everywhere on favorite vegan restaurants in NYC, and a pizza place Erik wanted to try was close by so Angelica Kitchen it was.

Angelia Kitchen is located at 300 East 12th Street and they’re open daily from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.

It was so fun while going to new restaurants in New York to have a wide range of menu items to chose from. Kansas City is really coming along in the veggie world and has a lot to offer, but of course it’s way too different to be able to compare the two.

I decided on a special of the day, which was the quesadilla.

And Erik got the “Wrapsody” which consists of a “seasonal selection of roasted vegetables, balsamic marinated beets, creamy hummus, dill pickles, sunflower sprouts & arugula, folded & wrapped in a soft whole wheat tortilla”.

We ended up splitting both items so we could try more food. Our favorite of the two was the quesadilla, but to be honest, we didn’t love either option. They were both okay, but neither of them made me eager to want to go back. It seems like everyone online raves about their cornbread so afterwards I was sort of wishing I would have tried it instead!

Coming up, a few different pizza places in the city to further Erik’s pizza passion

Prima Pizza

2012-05-22T11:00:00.000-05:00

Onward with New York eating!

After lunch at Poppy’s, we opted for Prima Pizza for dinner. Erik grew up going to Prima, so it holds sentimental value and we usually always visit when we’re in New York. And now that Erik’s obsessed with pizza it’s even more of a necessity.

Prima is located in Cornwall, New York on Main Street and is a tradition pizza joint with multiple delicious pies on the menu as well as subs, salads, pastas, and more. They even ship pizzas anywhere in the United States overnight.

Our pie included lots of tomatoes, olive oil, garlic and basil. Simple and delicious.

It’s the crust that counts …

Prima, I’m sure we’ll be back!

El mustache

2012-05-21T09:17:00.000-05:00

Hey all!

Hope everyone had a fabulous weekend. I still have a lot of pictures and places to blog all about, but for now just wanted to stop in to say hi. We went to a family member’s wedding this weekend here in KC, so my dad and grandma were in town.

One of the most exciting parts is that my dad brought the retro flower quilt my mom has been slaving away on for me. It is finished! And I absolutely love it. My mom is the best! I’m going to take some more pictures later, but for now here’s a photo of the whole thing:

THANK YOU, MOM! I love you!

El mustache

Erik has recently taken it upon himself to grow a mustache, ha. If you haven’t been around for awhile and don’t know my husband very well, it’s mostly a joke, but as you may be able to tell … he’s having tons of fun with it.

Someone at the wedding even asked Erik if I was his daughter. I didn't quite understand until I saw this next slightly creepy picture.

I now see how that might have happened … ha! I love my husband.

And on a slightly more serious note, here’s me and my wonderful grandma!

After everything hard and sad that’s happened to us lately, it was nice to have a weekend filled with positive, good things! We are blessed.

What did you do this weekend??

Poppy's Burgers & Fries

2012-05-17T10:25:00.001-05:00

Onward with the New York eats posting!

The funeral was in Highland Falls and we were staying with relatives in Monroe. On Sunday, we made the rounds driving by the sights Erik grew up around, old houses, familiar surroundings, etc. As lunch time drew near, we headed to Beacon.

Last time we were in NY, Erik and I really liked Beacon, so it was fun to see what had changed in the past few years. Though to a smaller scale, we decided it was kind of like Crossroads meets Westside here in KC. Trendy, artsy, and has a fun vibe.

Poppy’s

We decided to try out Poppy’s for lunch. It’s located at 184 Main Street and is a simple burger joint serving up local, grass fed meat.

Their menu consists of five different sandwiches, two choices of sides, and an array of different burger toppings to chose from. Their cooler of drinks includes a large selection of cane sugar sodas, organic iced teas, juices, and seasonal local and New York State beer.

Once ordering at the counter, your meal is brought out to you in a simple paper bag, burgers wrapped in foil. I liked the simplicity of it all.

Our greasy fries [that tasted pretty good to me!] …

And their veggie burger which is a bean patty with lettuce, tomato, and aioli.

I really like Poppy’s concept of simplicity and quality with local, natural sourcing.

As we walked out after our lunch, we noticed that “Chef Poppy” is a past winner of Food Network’s Chopped. I’ve watched a lot of Chopped in my day, so it was fun to discover.

Thanks, Poppy’s!

The Candle Cafe

2012-05-15T09:40:00.000-05:00

So many pictures, so little time …

Upon getting back from New York last week, I jumped right back into work and trying to get things done around the house since everything had been so up in the air and crazy the past few weeks. Now I’ve had time to go through all my pictures, and it’s time for some of the more upbeat New York highlights, that is food! We flew into LaGuardia so before heading north to where we would be most of the week, we stopped in the city for lunch.

I sent out a tweet before we took off asking if there were any NYC vegan restaurants I could not do without, and JJ suggested Candle Café. I had heard good things about it before, so that is where we headed.

Candle Cafe

We went to Candle Café East, located at1307 Third Avenue between 74th & 75th St, which is the casual version of the more upscale Candle 79.

We started lunch with a side of guacamole. Can’t ever go wrong with that! It was just the right amount of chunky, and full of flavor.

Our meals consisted of seitan burgers and the Indian platter special.

The consensus was all definitely all positive and I especially loved my Indian platter! My favorite part was the curried sweet potatoes, but each part of the Indian dish was full of flavor and went so well together. As I’m staring at the picture, I’m wishing I had that plate of food in front of me right now … yum!

There were so many other menu items I would have loved to try from other entrees and sides, delicious sounding soups to yummy looking drinks and juices.

An overall great dining experience, and if I lived closer, I would definitely be a frequent visitor.

Little Freshie

2012-05-14T09:25:00.002-05:00

Hope everyone had a lovely Mother’s Day!

My mom also had a birthday last week, so she had double the holidays celebrating her. Sadly, we only talked via phone since she’s 6 hours away in Nebraska, but at least she’s got plenty of quilting to do to keep her busy ; ) My dad will be in KC next weekend and will hopefully be bringing the retro flower quilt my mom has been slaving away on for me. I can’t wait to see it completed, it’s a really neat quilt! Check out her blog for a sneak peak. My mom is the best!!

Now onto part II of our relaxing Saturday … after checking out Café Gratitude, we headed over to Little Freshie for some coffee.

Little Freshie

I mentioned Little Freshie briefly in a blog post not too long ago, and I was so excited to hear they were open when we got back from NY. If you’re not familiar, it’s a new hand crafted soda fountain and espresso bar located right next door to Fud at 811 W 17th Street. The Westside has long been one of our favorite Kansas City spots and it’s so wonderful to welcome Little Freshie.

It’s started by Lindsay Laricks, who is also the creative genius behind Fresher Than Fresh snow cones. If you thought Fresher Than Fresh was awesome [like we do!] then you will be overly delighted with her new storefront. The design, décor, and overall atmosphere of Little Freshie is perfect, I don’t think Lindsay could have done it any better.

Erik and I both got the pour over coffee. I’m typically a tea drinker, but can’t seem to stay away from coffee at least a couple times a week. Erik doesn’t care for coffee much at all, but even he really likes this.

What is pour over coffee, you ask? It’s a method of brewing coffee (as far as I’ve seen one coffee cup at a time upon ordering) in which you pour hot water slowly over the ground-up beans with the idea of extracting more flavor. It seems to be one of the latest food trends, and I think I know why … it makes really good coffee!

Along with their drinks, they have an assortment of treats such as macaroons, scones, cookies and other sweets, as well as a small retail display that houses some pretty cute merchandise.

So basically, everyone needs to stop what they’re doing and go to Little Freshie right now, because you will love it!

The end.

First Meal at Cafe Gratitude

2012-05-12T20:17:00.000-05:00

Happy Mother’s Day weekend!

We’ve been trying to acclimate back into “normal” life after everything going on, and getting back from the funeral in NY. There’s a lot still to do, but we decided to take it easy this Saturday to catch a little much needed breather. Enter … the perfect time to check out two of Kansas City’s newest additions; Café Gratitude and Little Freshie.

Café Gratitude

I blogged about the grand opening house of Café Gratitude a few weeks ago, and we finally had the opportunity to eat a meal there today.

We got two things and split them … “I Am Transformed” and “I Am Magical”. Erik’s “I Am Magical” got put in to the kitchen wrong on accident, so instead we got to try “I Am Extraordinary”.

In case you’re confused, all the menu items are words of affirmation starting with “I Am …” so when you order, you get to say whatever you order, in my case “I Am Transformed” and when your item is brought to the table, the wait staff will say “You are transformed”, etc.

First up, “I Am Extraordinary”. We got it on the live wrap instead of bun, and it is their “BLT with spicy cashew aioli, crispy chipotle-maple coconut, romaine lettuce, tomato and avocado”.

And “I Am Transformed” which is “two seasonal corn tacos with brown rice, black beans, guacamole, salsa fresca and cashew nacho cheese”.

We enjoyed both menu items, and they both happened to have a pretty nice spicy kick to them. But the star of our meal was definitely dessert.

One thing about raw/vegan desserts … they are so delicious, especially considering how healthy the ingredients usually are! We got “I Am Awakening”, their key lime pie.

It was incredibly smooth, creamy, and delicious. Why did we only get one to share?? ; )

Really happy to have Café Gratitude in Kansas City!

Back to Kansas City

2012-05-09T10:27:00.000-05:00

Thanks again, everyone, for the kind words about my father-in-law.

Although he has lived in Missouri for awhile now, he’s from New York and wished to be buried there. So we came to New York on Saturday, the funeral was on Monday, and we are headed home today. It’s going to be really different when we go back home and try to get settled into this new chapter of our lives, as his dad has lived with us for the past few years and much of our lives have been centered around his care. But on the other hand, it’s a blessing because he had fought a long, hard battle and he was ready to go. It’s a hard part of life that can be difficult to understand, but God is still good, and sometimes that’s just life, isn’t it?

While in New York, we tried to have as much “fun” as possible under the circumstances. New York is so pretty, I don’t seem to get bored with all the mountains, streams, rivers, trees and nature … not to mention the city.

So here are a few Instagram photos I’ve taken while here. I’ll blog some of the fun highlights in the next few days …

Thanks & April Food Photos Week 4

2012-05-01T22:30:00.000-05:00

Thanks everyone for the prayers and kind words about Erik’s dad!

He passed away Monday evening, April 30th. We got to spend the whole day with him, we were there when he passed, and he seemed very peaceful when he went. He was ready, and though it’s been a really hard thing to go through, we’re glad he’s not in pain anymore, and we know he’s in a much better place. He’s from New York, so we’ll be headed to the east coast at the end of the week for the funeral.

I’ll probably be blogging sporadically, but until then … here’s the completion of April Food Photos.

April Food Photos Week 4

Day 22: go green // My favorite reusable bags – Happy Earth Day!
Day 23: favorite carb // My husband’s pizza!
Day 24: farmers market // Badseed Farmers Market
Day 25: dining room // Best part of the dining room
Day 26: something salty // Our favorite salt
Day 27: kitchen décor // The newest addition to our kitchen
Day 28: guilty pleasure // I don’t feel any of the guilt, but I’m pretty sure I eat these cookies way too often!
Day 29: mix it up // Mixing up the normal tea with some coffee
Day 30: midnight snack // Not exactly midnight, but since Erik’s dad had been in the hospital, we’ve had a lot of late night Chipotle dinners

Also, thanks to everyone who participated in April Food Photos! March and April full of photos has been tons of fun. I’ve had a few people ask if there is a May version and I’m sorry to say there is not. Things have been too busy around here and it wasn’t something I could commit to for May. Maybe there will be another one in June. I might jump in on Fat Mum Slim’s non foodie May challenge for this month, but I’m not sure yet. Either way … it’s been fun!

To see a recap of all April Food Photos, click here.
To see a recap of all March Food photos, click here.

Update on life

2012-04-29T21:05:00.002-05:00

Hello, blog world!

I wanted to stop in and give an update on life. I haven’t been around the blog much lately and thought I’d fill you in. Long time blog readers will remember a few years back sometime around 2009 when I had talked about Erik’s dad getting sick. It was a shock to us all, and the starting of some very trying years. He was diagnosed with multiple myeloma cancer. Since then, he’s been in and out of the hospital, nursing home, Erik has been his primary caregiver, and for the majority of the time he’s lived with us.

He’s a very strong-willed person and has put up a tremendous fight sticking around longer than expected, but sadly, he’s now ready to go. This past week he’s been in the hospital, has said his good-byes, and is now waiting to be able to end his fight. He’s been in a lot of pain, and is simply tired and ready to be done.

If you would, please say a prayer for him and our family during this very difficult time. We know it’s for the best and that he will no longer be in pain, but it certainly doesn’t make it any easier to go through.

I will keep you updated but for now … a few pictures from the past few years …

April Food Photos Week 3

2012-04-27T13:44:00.000-05:00

Hey all!

It’s been a long week so I haven’t been around as much as planned, but stopping in for …

April Food Photos Week 3

Day 15: sweetener of choice // Most of the time, organic cane sugar
Day 16: before & after // Pizza, of course!
Day 17: favorite knife // Our ceramic Kyocera
Day 18: raw // Raw broccoli (I know, not too exciting)
Day 19: sweet tooth // Vanilla chocolate chip cupcakes
Day 20: favorite cookbook // Basically, Pinterest and blogs!
Day 21: stovetop // Water boiling for tea

happy eating,

Cafe Gratitude KC Opening Celebration

2012-04-23T08:48:00.003-05:00

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

My parents came to town this weekend, so we were busy visiting and exploring. One highlight? Hitting up Good Ju Ju’s garage sale on Saturday. Lots of neat things going for great prices. I walked away with a couple purses, but I’m sure I could have found much more. The next weekend highlight was …

Café Gratitude Opening Celebration

Erik and I went to the Café Gratitude opening celebration this past Sunday night (on Earth Day … how fitting). I’ve been really excited for Café Gratitude to be opening and their celebration was definitely a success!

If you haven’t heard of it before, Café Gratitude is a vegan/raw restaurant that has been around for awhile in California. Thanks to Natalie George and her dream of opening one right here in Kansas City, it’s now made it to the wonderful Midwest, and her dreams have come true. They are officially opening to the public on May 1st and are located in the old Lulu’s building at 333 Southwest Boulevard.

There was a line to get in the door …

And inside, it was completely PACKED the whole entire evening!

Throughout the celebration, they were serving hors d'oeuvres, samples and drinks, and The Makepeace Brothers were there playing music. I wish I could tell you the name of everything they had to sample, but I don’t remember them all! Here’s a selection of what there was to offer, though, in picture format:

I’m so excited for Kansas City to have another vegan restaurant, and I’m thrilled to be able to eat there on a regularly opened night so soon! Check out The Purple Carrot on Facebook for some more photos from the night.

April Food Photos Week 2

2012-04-19T16:57:00.000-05:00

Happy [almost] weekend! My parents are in route to KC as I type, so today is pretty much my “Friday”, woo hoo!

Stopping in with a quick April Food Photo recap for Week 2 …

April Food Photos Week 2

Day 8: family meal // Pasta, Erik and me!
Day 9: favorite cooking oil // Definitely coconut oil
Day 10: plates // Love these plates
Day 11: vegetarian // Pizza, of course!
Day 12: oldest item in kitchen // Sifter, and ice cream scoop
Day 13: fast food // Long day + Friday night = Amy’s frozen food, and a cookie
Day 14: groceries // Thankful for Hyvee’s health food section

happy eating,

Coming Up in KC: Cafe Gratitude & Little Freshie

2012-04-17T18:01:00.000-05:00

Hey there, blog world!

I feel like a bit of a terrible blogger lately inundated with ONLY March Food Photo and April Food Photo posts with a recipe here and there. In an ideal world, they would be surrounded by lots of recipes and fun Kansas City happenings, but as you may have noticed, it’s not been an ideal world, ha. My internet has been having issues going in and out, so I'm using that as my excuse!

So today, I bring you a little bit more in form of two upcoming Kansas City additions I’m really excited for. First up … Café Gratitude!

Café Gratitude

There’s long been rumors of a Kansas City Café Gratitude and I’m so happy that these rumors are finally a reality! They're having an opening celebration THIS Sunday, on Earth Day. Taken from their official announcement here, these are the details:

"WHO: Friends, Family and Fans of Cafe Gratitude. If you're excited about CG coming to KC, please join us and bring a friend.
WHEN: Sunday, April 22nd, 2012
TIME: 6:00 pm to 10:00ish pm
WHERE: Cafe Gratitude, 333 Southwest Blvd, KCMO 64108
ATTIRE: Whatever makes you feel happy
WHAT: It's a celebration of a dream come true!
As part of our celebration, the MAKEPEACE BROTHERS will have us dancing, singing and feeling the celebration through their music. They've toured with Jason Mraz and if you've watched the movie, May I Be Frank, you'll recognize one of the members of the Makepeace Brothers - Conor Gaffney.
Your tastebuds will be happy as you will have a chance to sample some variations of Cafe Gratitude treats.
And of course, we'll have organic wine, beer and lemonade so we can raise our glasses and "CHEERS" to our new beginning!"

Be sure to check out their Facebook page for updates. You better believe that we will be there Sunday night, and I will be reporting back with a blog post!

Who else is going??

Little Freshie

And Little Freshie!

I’m very excited for this one, I anticipate Little Freshie is going to be an awesome addition to the Westside Neighborhood, and housed right next door to Fud, and near other great places such as Westside Local, Blue Bird, and Chez Elle.

I don't have any idea when the official open date it, but I'm hoping it's not too far down the road. If anyone does know, you must fill us all in!

That's in for now ... until later ...

Vanilla chocolate chip cupcakes

2012-04-16T19:03:00.001-05:00

Hello,everyone!

Hope you all had a great weekend. I’ve been a complete slacker in the baking world lately, and finally got a chance to make some cupcakes this Sunday. This food blogger needs to get with it!

Anyways,I decided on a simple vanilla cake and added some chocolate chips at the end,because chocolate makes everything better. Yes, it does.

Now onward …

Vanilla chocolate chip cupcakes
** makes 12 cupcakes,adapted from food.com

Ingredients:

1 cup almond milk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons arrowroot (or cornstarch)
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup coconut oil
3/4 cup organic cane sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
Chocolate chips, as desired

Instructions:

Preheat oven at 350 degrees.
Mix together milk and apple cider vinegar inlarge bowl.
Beat the milk mixture with coconut oil, sugar,vanilla extract and almond extract until smooth
Sift in your flour, arrowroot, baking power and baking soda, and salt then mix ‘til smooth.
Mix in desired amount of chocolate chips (I used about 1/2 cup in mine), and place evenly into lined cupcake pan.
Bake 25-27 minutes.

Note: I topped my cupcakes with simple icing and some shaved chocolate. Not the prettiest topping, but as delicious as ever!

They turned out really moist and delicious!

April Food Photos Week 1

2012-04-09T08:15:00.001-05:00

Happy Monday!

I hope everyone had a fabulous Easter weekend! We spent our morning in church, come home and made lunch, relaxed a little bit and cleaned the house.

So to kick off the week, here’s recap of this week’s April Food Photos. In case you’re just tuning in, check out this post for all the details and we’re only a week in, so if you feel so inclined … join us!!

April Food Photos Week 1

Day 1: morning fuel // toasted rice tea
Day 2: childhood favorite // besides sweet potatoes, lemon iced tea from a can
Day 3: unused appliance // yogurt maker that has never been used
Day 4: homemade // spicy chickpea burgers with sweet potato fries
Day 5: kitchen light // my favorite light above our table
Day 6: local food // excited for the impending summer filled with Fresher Than Fresh snow cones
Day 7: who’s cooking // Erik balling some pizza dough

Have a great week!!

happy eating,

Things I'm loving lately

2012-04-04T18:29:00.001-05:00

Hello, and HAPPY APRIL to you all!

Did anyone get pranked on April 1st? I haven’t really ever played along with April Fool’s Day, but I do love reading about different pranks up on the web. Example? Here’s a list of some of the top web pranks that are mostly phony announcements from companies. Google always has a good one!

Next up, some randomness on The Purple Carrot. I thought it would be fun to share some non food related projects and finds as of late … it might be mostly fun for me, but I love it all so much I just can’t help but share!

Things I’m loving lately

First up, my latest favorite Etsy find. I had eyed a Mr. T teapot long ago, but sadly it had already sold. I don’t regularly get onto Etsy, but last week I happened to be browsing a bit, and accidentally run across more teapots! I jumped at the chance, and immediately purchased this baby:

I grew up watching The A-Team reruns, and now I’m a bit obsessed with Mr. T so Mr T + tea? A must have! This pot hails from the Lenny Mud shop on Etsy. (She still has a few more Mr. T related products in case you now have to have one too, ha).

I’ve also been in a Pinterest project-making mode. First it was a frame key holder, then it was chalkboard mugs and wine glasses. Now … it’s a yarn wreath!

My mom thinks it’s funny, she said she used to make wreathes similarly when she was younger. I guess styles really do always come back in!

In my excitement to make this, I didn’t even THINK about taking pictures along the way, but I’ll be making another one soon, so if anyone is interested let me know, and I’ll show you the blog of inspiration and how it was made step by step.

Apparently the color purple is a reoccurring theme in my life.

And it all happened by accident.

I never owned anything purple until I added some purple to my hair. Not long after, my blog name changed to The Purple Carrot, and it just seemed fitting! Now that I’ve started to purchase purple things, I can’t seem to stop! I guess it’s becoming one of my favorite colors by default, ha.

That’s why I was excited when I got these shoes for my birthday last month. My husband knows me well.

Last but not least, I FINALLY got these pictures hung on my wall (thanks to Erik’s help) after having them just sitting on my desk since Christmas. I absolutely love them!

They’re another Etsy find (surprise, surprise). The images are printed onto vintage dictionary pages and come from The Rekindled Page.

What are you loving lately??

March Food Photos Week 4

2012-03-31T11:50:00.002-05:00

Time to wrap up March Food Photos!

It’s been a fun month, and I’m so glad so many of you participated. It’s been great getting to “meet” new people, and share food together! Just a quick reminder, April Food Photos is on! Check out this post to hear all about it, and get the month’s cues.

March Food Photos Week 1
March Food Photos Week 2

March Food Photos Week 3

March Foodie Photo-a-Day Week 4

Day 22: cooking inspiration // Blogs, the world wide web, and my husband!
Day 23: fridge // Very empty, and very boring
Day 24: dinner // Spicy sweet potato & black bean enchiladas (recipe here!)
Day 25: chop chop // The start of dinner
Day 26: spices // Love these vibrant colors
Day 27: chocolate // Been loving these chocolate chunks lately
Day 28: mug // DIY chalkboard mugs & wine glasses (how-to here!)
Day 29: dessert // Cashew ice cream, of course
Day 30: kitchen gadget // An old hand mixer
Day 31: recipe // Latest recipe on the blog, chocolate covered frozen banana pops (recipe here!)

Hope to see you all “back” for April!

Happy eating,

Chocolate covered frozen banana pops

2012-03-30T10:10:00.002-05:00

Hello, springtime weather!

Last night after dinner, Erik and I had an inkling for dessert. I did not feel like baking at all, because that would take too long and dirty more dishes than I wanted to dirty. We were out of cashew ice cream, which we often have on hand, and I didn’t have enough cashews to make more. Such a predicament, right? Ha.

That’s when the bananas spoke to us!

Or something like that.

Either way … our quick and delicious dessert was born.

Chocolate covered frozen banana pops

Ingredients:

3 large just ripe bananas (or 4 smaller bananas)
1 cup dark chocolate chips
2 tablespoons coconut oil (optional, but ads some delicious flavor)
Toppings of choice; shredded coconut, chopped nuts, sprinkles, etc
Popsicle sticks (we used kabob sticks, and they worked wonderfully)

Instructions:

Peel bananas, slice in half, and insert Popsicle sticks.
Prepare a parchment paper lined baking sheet to place bananas once they’ve been dipped.
Prepare your toppings ingredients, and place them in a bowl that you can easily roll bananas through, or on some parchment paper on your counter.
Place chocolate chips and coconut oil into a sauce pan over low-medium heat, and stir until completely melted. (Alternatively, microwave in a microwave safe bowl).
Once chocolate is melted, dip your bananas in one by one, covering them completely in chocolate.
Roll your chocolate covered bananas into your desired toppings, and place them onto a parchment lined cookie sheet.
Place cookie sheet into the freezer until set and frozen, about 2-3 hours. You can eat them much sooner but they taste the best when completely frozen.

We coated ours in chopped roasted almonds and unsweetened shredded coconut. Yum! They are delicious.

They make the perfect healthy spring treat, and would be a fantastic and quick dessert to tackle with kids.

Enjoy!

Happy chocolate dipping,

DIY: Chalkboard mugs & wine glasses

2012-03-27T21:01:00.000-05:00

Okay, you guys … it’s finally time once again for a DIY project!!

As I mentioned last time with my DIY frame key holder, I’ve found so much inspiration for my non creative brain on Pinterest! Without it, I don’t think I would be able to think of any cool projects to tackle. That being said, this particular DIY project comes straight from Pinterest and more specifically, Wit & Whistle blog. I take no credit for the coolness of this idea! But I wanted to share my own post about it because it was just that fun.

See??

DIY: Chalkboard paint mugs & wine glasses

What you need:

Mugs and/or other dishware
Chalkboard paint specifically made for dishware (As per Wit & Whistle’s blog, I ordered Pebeo Porcelaine paint in chalkboard black via Amazon and was very happy with it!)
Painter’s tape
A soft bristle paintbrush

Note: The above paint is microwave and dishwasher safe once baked.

How it’s done:

Place painter’s tape on the areas of the dishware you do not want to paint (make sure the dishware is clean and dry!)
Apply the paint to the area you’d like your “chalkboard” to be. Once covered completely, remove painter’s tape. It’s important to remove the tape before it dries so that paint is less likely to rip off with the tape.
Follow paint bottle’s instructions regarding baking and drying. If you’re using the above mentioned paint, first you need to let your dishes dry for about 24 hours.
Once 24 hours have past, bake in your kitchen oven at 300 degrees for 35-40 minutes. Let cool a little bit before you remove them from the oven.
Now you’re ready to decorate!!

Note: If you mess up while painting or if some paint smudges when tape is removed, simply wipe it off with a wet paper towel, or scrape it off if it has slightly dried.

As you can see, I painted porcelain mugs as well as the bottom of wine glasses. I was a little worried about the glass baking but they turned out perfectly.

It’s a great way to keep track of whose glass is whose!

Once you get the right paint, this project is so simple and fun! The options and designs are limitless. It’s a great way to get creative, not only with where and how you apply the chalkboard paint but how you decorate them differently with chalk!

Love it.

Happy DIY’ing,

Spicy sweet potato and black bean enchiladas revisited

2012-03-26T19:56:00.002-05:00

Okay, it’s clearly not a secret to anyone that knows me that I love sweet potatoes!

I’ve told you guys probably countless times how I used to look forward to going to my grandma’s house because I knew she always had huge sweet potatoes. I would pick the biggest one, microwave it, and slather it in butter and salt. I’ve since started eating them in a bit healthier way, ha, but that is when my love of sweet potatoes began. And just last week, I talked about how I was sure to have my favorite food, sweet potato fries (with ketchup!) on my birthday.

This likely explains how I came to “like” North Carolina SweetPotato Commission on Facebook. I’m quite sure I took one look at their profile picture, and didn’t need to know any more. Ha, and to be honest, I had no idea this Facebook page that said “Sweet Potatoes” belonged to them until I noticed a recipe contest pop up in my feed. Sweet potatoes + recipe contest? I’m in!

The contest celebrates the versatility of sweet potatoes by looking past the typical way sweet potatoes are eaten (hence the name, No More Mallows, ha). Anyways … I immediately thought of my absolute favorite sweet potato recipe that I’ve talked about more than once on The Purple Carrot, so I just had to revisit it.

The natural sweetness of the sweet potatoes with the unlikely spicy pairing of chili powder, cumin, and jalapeños give these enchiladas an amazing flavor! It’s a regular in our house, and it’s always, always a hit!

All you need to make these babies are sweet potatoes (obviously!), tortillas, a can of black beans, some salsa, an onion, jalapenos, a few spices, and some cheddar cheese.

It’s really simple too! You start out by peeling and cubing your sweet potatoes, and placing them in the oven to roast for about 30 minutes. (Alternatively, you can microwave the cubed sweet potatoes if you’re in a jam).

While the sweet potatoes are roasting, sauté your chopped onion and jalapeños until softened, add your chili powder, cumin, and black beans, then mix it all together!

Put the mixture evenly into some tortillas, add salsa and cheese, and throw them in the oven for 35 to 40 minutes!

Spicy sweet potato & black bean enchiladas

*makes about 6 enchiladas

Ingredients:

3 medium-sized sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 can black beans, drained
1 medium onion, chopped
2-3 jalapenos, chopped (add more if you like it really hot!)
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1 jar salsa of choice
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
Pepper, to taste
Olive oil
Cheddar cheese of choice (I kept it vegan and used cheddar Daiya cheese)
Warm tortillas + any other desired toppings

Directions:

Preheat oven at about 375F.
Peel and chop sweet potatoes, tossing them in a little olive oil (optional). Place them on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and place them in the oven for about 30 minutes, or until tender.
In the meantime, chop your onion and jalapenos.
In a heated sauté pan, add about a tablespoon olive oil and once warn, add onions and jalapenos. When they become tender, add drained can of black beans, chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper and stir together.
Place into a bowl and set aside. Once the sweet potatoes are tender, add them to the black bean mixture. Stir until combined.
Place about a 1/3 of the salsa in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish, or until it’s covered with a small layer of liquid.
Spoon mixture evenly into about 6 tortillas, wrapping them up and placing them into your dish, tightly next to one another. Spread out remaining salsa (or however much you’d like) onto the top of the rolled tortillas. Next, layer cheese on top of the salsa.
Bake for 35-40 minutes.

We love to top our with vegan cashew sour cream. And yum! Thank goodness for sweet potatoes

Happy eating,

March Food Photos Week 3

2012-03-24T14:56:00.003-05:00

Happy weekend, everyone!

The week long rain fest here in KC has finally decided to depart, and there’s sunshine once again. I’m loving it! Stopping by for a quick week three recap of the March Food Photo Challenge. And quick reminder, the April edition has now been posted here.

March Foodie Photo-a-Day Week 3

Day 15: inside my freezer // some frozen goodies
Day 16: restaurant // ~~Patiently~~ awaiting the opening of Café Gratitude KC!
Day 17: something green // Green food for St. Patty’s day
Day 18: favorite food // That’s easy. Sweet potato fries with ketchup!
Day 19: pots and pans
Day 20: protein// Lentils three ways
Day 21: comfort // Homemade cashew cheese filled ravioli

Purple Carrot Makeover

On another note, as you can see, The Purple Carrot got a bit of a makeover with a new header … yay!

Happy eating,