VEGAN Butternut Squash Soup!

Ingredients

• 1 Large Butternut Squash
• 1 Onion
• 4 Cups Vegetable Broth
• Pepper
• Salt

Instructions

1. Scoop out all the seeds.
2. Place it on a tray. Rub vegetable oil on the inside of it and put a little bit of salt and pepper on top. 
3. Put it in the oven at 400° for about an hour and a half. 
4. In the meantime, cut up the onion and put them in a pot with some oil until it is soft. 
5. When you take the squash out, you're going to want to let it sit for about 30 minutes. 
6. Once cooled down, scoop it out of the peel and put in pot that has the onions to cook a little more.
7. Add in the vegetable broth and then use a hand blender to make it a creamy texture. 
8. Put some basil on top and serve!

Soft And Tasty Banana Bread

Recipe 

• 3 large overripe bananas, mashed 
• 1/2 cup of salted sugar, room temperature
• 1 cup of granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2/3 cup vanilla almond milk 
• 1 tsp of cinnamon extract
• 2 cups of all purpose flour
• 1 tbsp of baking powder
• 1/4 tsp of baking soda  

Instructions

1. Preheat oven at 350°
2. Mash the bananas either with a fork, mixer or kitchen aid. All works really well. Make sure there are no clumps.
3. In the same bowl, mix in the sugar, butter, and eggs until it is creamy.
4. Third, mix in all the dry ingredients until it is all blended together and there are no clumps.
5. After that, mix in the cinnamon extract and slowly add in the almond milk depending on how thick or thin you want your batter. 
6. Lastly before putting it in the oven, I drizzled a little bit of milk chocolate over the top just for a bit of color and a little bit more flavor.
7. Leave in the oven for 20-25 minutes so the middle is fully cooked.

It's completely your decision if you want to use a loaf pan or any other pan of your choice. I used a brownie pan for individuals. With  this recipe, I make 17 individual banana breads.

Gingerbread Cupcakes

Cupcakes

• 3 cups of all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons of ground ginger
• 2 teaspoons of cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon of black pepper
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1 cup of unsalted butter, softened ( 2 sticks )
• 1 cup of light brown sugar
• 1 cup of molasses
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon of freshly grated ginger, very fine
• 1 1/4 cups of milk

Cinnamon Buttercream

• 1 cup of unsalted butter
• 4 cups of powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons of cinnamon extract 

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix all dry ingredients.
3. Add wet ingredients except molasses. Thats the last ingredient that you add.
4. Fill cupcake wrappers a little more than half way.
5. Bake for about 20 minutes.

Fall Festivities!

Saturday morning I went on a walk on the Double Trouble Trail with my family. Fall is my absolute favorite time of the year from walking around looking at the different colored leaves to drinking a pumpkin coffee to even just sitting around the fire. That is exactly what I did too! Then the following day, I went apple picking. We went to Russo's Farm. I got stung by a bee for the first time on my knee. I'm still in pain as I'm writing this lol. I decided to bring my camera along for a couple shots. I've had a busy, but one of the best weekends in forever. 

Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes

Cupcakes

• 1 2/3 cups flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 cup salted butter, room temperature
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup + 1/8 cup milk
• 3/4 cup chopped strawberries

Frosting

• 1 c. butter, softened
• 3 1/2 c. powdered sugar
• 2-4 tbsp. milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda and baking power in a large mixing bowl.

3. Add butter, eggs, vanilla, sour cream and milk and beat on medium speed until smooth.

4. Fold in the strawberries.

5. Fill cupcakes liners a touch more than half way.

6. Bake for 18-20 minutes.

Two Tier Carrot Cake

 Ingredients

• 3 cups shredded carrots
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 4 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Frosting

• 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup butter , softened
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3-3/4 cups confectioners' sugar
• (optional) chopped pecans

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9x13 inch baking dish. In a large bowl, beat the first six ingredients until well blended. In another bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg; gradually beat into carrot mixture. Pour mixture into prepared pan.
2. Bake for 35-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. You can cover it with foil towards the end if the top looks like it's getting too brown. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack.
3. For the frosting: In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla until blended. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar until smooth adding a little milk if needed. Spread over cooled cake and topped with pecans if desired. Cover and refrigerate until serving.

Summer Day Out In New Jersey

As the weather this summer has been beautiful in New Jersey, I haven't gone anywhere new and exciting. Today, I went to the Barnegat Light. Although it being beautiful weather, I got very burnt. I loved it. We walked down the Jetty past the Lighthouse. The Jetty is basically a walkway to the water, but the walkway is all huge rocks. I decided to take my camera to post pictures and finally upload my very first blog post!