Co sleeping and a product review

Welcome back to another mommy Monday! Just from the title I might have already lost a few blog followers… Why? Just saying that word “co-sleeping” out loud is so controversial in our culture. Or, perhaps you just have no desire to read my thoughts on it (that’s okay too).. Whatever the case, if I’ve still got you, thanks!

In Korea I’ve discussed co-sleeping with many newbie moms like myself, as well as the more seasoned. Co-sleeping and attached-parenting is something the Asian culture practices as the norm. The differences to the western culture are that some Korean families all sleep together in their bedroom on a heated floor with a sleep mat.

Trust me when I say, we get it. Yes, we were the couple, kidless mind you, making that judgement from the outside swearing we’d never co-sleep and have our baby in bed with us. Hahaha…. Let’s fast forward shall we?

Enter our little bumblebee into our crazy life equation. The first few nights we had her in our room, but in a bassinet near our bed. It was working out…eh…okay. There were a lot of up and downs for feeding, as expected, but also separate up and downs for comforting, soothing and rocking. There were some nights I was so exhausted that I’d feed bumblebee while I’d lay in our bed, begin to burp her and we’d both pass out. I’d awake startled to realize what I’d done, only to find her still on my chest sound asleep and peaceful as could be. We continued to have this pattern a few nights and were both waking in the morning much more rested. ((Praise the lord!))

It wasn’t until I was researching some other baby products and doing some browsing on Amazon when the light upstairs finally popped on. She’s most comforted by us holding her and feels more safe and secure in our arms. Just my luck I came across an item, Snuggle Me Co-sleeping Cushion
, that claimed to replicated that sort of secureness, among other benefits, all the while keeping your little one safe in a co-sleeping environment.

Eek… Co-sleeping…I was conflicted. However as I started to really think about the past few nights, that’s essentially just what we were doing….

I was intrigued and decided to discuss the Snuggle Me with the Mr. before hitting that handy one click ship button on Amazon. We both were in agreement to try it out and decision that this was a safer way to co-sleep.

Let’s product review the Snuggle Me co-sleeper and lounge cushion. (No specific order)

This is a product designed for little ones aged 0-6 months.

The design and shape of the cushion not only hugs and comforts, but also helps to prevent and protect your little one from turning and rolling over, keeping them safely on their backside.

The cushion is made in the USA!! When does that ever happen?! Woot-woot! We strive to do our part and support those businesses, even while living abroad!

We have a King size bed so there is plenty of room to stretch out to begin with, however even if we didn’t have a King the Snuggle Me co-sleeper doesn’t take up that much room and should be ideal for other size beds as well.

The one we specifically purchased is made from 100% organic cotton, twill and fleece with a hypoallergenic fill. Also a very important note to mention is, the products are all free of lead flame retardant latex and phthalate bpa.

The cushion comes with a muslin travel bag! How handy! It easily can fold up, bend, basically act like a pillow in your weekend or luggage bags. Check plus! We absolutely plan to use and take it with us on scuba weekend trips and any future country hopping trips.

The Snuggle Me is all the listed above versatility plus the fact that it’s great for tummy time, infant massage and helping with ideal positioning in cases of acid reflux relief.

Our bumblebee now usually falls right asleep in the evening and we concluded it’s one of her favorite places to sleep, so much so that she almost sleeps through the entire night! Need I say more?? We’re incredibly pleased with the purchase and absolutely recommend to any soon to be parents! Get it added to those babyshower lists!

What are your thoughts on co-sleeping? Did you and your family do it? Did you use anything special to make the co-sleeping situation safer and comfortable for all? Would you try the Snuggle Me co-sleeper?
Love to hear from you!

Backpackbees

Click, Ship & treat yourself…or in this case the bébé !

Product Review: Purely Elizabeth Probiotic Granola

Good morning! Up and at em’ let’s kick it off with a product review of Purely Elizabeth’s Maple Walnut Probiotic Granola.

The flavor was great! The texture was great! Ohhh and the crunch was great too! Sweet but not too sweet, salty but not too salty, oaty… well you get the point. Everything I look for in granola I found! It was tasty just munching straight out of the bag, or getting a bit crazy like I did and throwing a serving on top with my Rice Krispy cereal, banana and Silk coconut milk this morning. MmmmmMmmm!

So why did I order THIS specific granola? I’m always on the hunt for healthy choices and this little granola claimed to foot the bill. It’s incredibly hard to find products that truly are healthier choices and not just claiming to be. You can pronounce and recognize basically all of the ingredients, again how rare is that?

For instance, instead of typical organic cane sugar, Purely Elizabeth contains organic coconut palm sugar, a considerably healthier sugar, as well as coconut oil too. I felt like the ingredients spoke volumes….take a look for yourself!

“Organic Gluten Free Oats, Organic Coconut Palm Sugar, Organic Virgin Coconut Oil, Walnuts, Organic Maple Syrup, Sunflower Seeds, Organic Puffed Amaranth, Organic Chia Seeds, Organic Quinoa Flakes, Organic Millet Flakes, Natural Flavor, Cinnamon, Sea Salt, Probiotic Cultures (Organic Inulin, Palm Oil, Bacillus ans GBI-30 6086).”

Since becoming pregnant I’m really mindful of what I’m putting into my body because I know what I’m ingesting essentially our bumblebee is too. Also, before moving to Korea, I had some serious stomach issues. All sorts of foods irritated my stomach to include some forms of dairy. I was pretty much plagued with an ongoing nightly upset stomach, sometimes even getting physically ill. Most of my issues have since gone, occasionally I do have an issue, however I really feel it was a change in my food and lifestyle. Korean food culture staples are fermented foods. Kimchi and other fermented foods have probiotic lactic acid bacteria (LAB), the good little gut fighters! So it wasn’t even a question adding a little extra help to my daily routine with my morning granola. Bring on those healthy probiotics!!

Oh…wait…did you catch that last statement? Probiotics! YES! This granola made with GanedenBC30. The site says, “It’s a Non-GMO, vegan strain of probiotics.” Why all the fuss? Well, “GanedenBC30 a strain of probiotic that survives the baking process, due to its protective spore. Once the probiotics hit your gut, where the moisture level and temperature are just right, the probiotics work their magic!” How awesome is that?!

Not keen on maple? Don’t worry! Other flavor options with probiotics are CHOCOLATE SEA SALT. I’m not really a chocolate person, (GASP), so I didn’t order. However, If you are not looking for probiotics, but just a great granola, they also have the following options available:

::GRAIN-FREE::
BANANA NUT BUTTER
ORIGINAL

::ANCIENT GRAIN GRANOLA::
ORIGINAL ANCIENT GRAIN
BLUEBERRY HEMP
PUMPKIN FIG
CRANBERRY PECAN

There were two downsides to the granola and Purely Elizabeth. One is the serving size. The bag list 1/3 cup at 130 calories as the recommended serving size. After topping off my breakfast bowl and realizing just how delicious the granola was, I wanted moreeeee! Hahaha! What can I say? Mommas gotta eat!!

The other downside was dealing direct with the company Purely Elizabeth. Typically we’re big fans of Amazon Prime because of our location, however the specific probiotic granola I was after wasn’t being sold via Amazon, just other Purely Elizabeth varieties. So I had to place an order from the company direct. I ended up having a hard time ordering because it listed my shipping state as an option initially, only to reject the order at the end. I had to send an email, as well as three follow-up emails to rectify and place the order. I’ll be fair and will mention that once I did finally get a response back and assistance to place the order, it was easy. However…I almost gave up. (Better step up your game Purely Elizabeth!)

Would I order the granola again? While I’m not sure if go directly to the company website and deal with that again…. I’d absolutely go the Amazon route! I’m thinking blueberry hemp and possibly the banana one are calling my name next.

Did you hear that noise in your kitchen? That’s the sound of your breakfast spoon clinking against your soon to be tasty breakfast bowl after you place your order on Amazon Purely Elizabeth Ancient Grain Granola Variety 3 Pack Original + Cranberry Pecan + Blueberry Hemp
, or take a gamble and deal with the site directly here. Stateside folks also can pop into a local Whole Foods store, or select Target and grab some up too (lucky ducks).

What are your favorite granola brands? Do you have any crazy concoctions you’d like to share with us?

Backpackbees

Yammy & BarbeCooks

We’ve lived and traveled all over the US and have tasted many platters of BBQ. Pulled pork, beef brisket, chicken, homemade smoked sausage, southern style, northern style, mid-western style, heck even Korean style, we’ve sought after and love them all for different delicious reasons.

When I sit and think about the BBQ culture in America the thoughts that come to my mind immediately are that American-style BBQ isn’t just about chucking a hunk of meat on a grill, only then to remove a few moments later. No, American-style BBQ is a prideful, timely, and passionate involved cuisine. We will take the time to smoke our cuts of meats over heat from hand selected seasoned woods and special charcoals to creating a perfect fire for that perfect amount of time, all just to get that perfect end result of BBQ. And when all of these factors are done just so, oh how incredible that end result is.

The owners of a new American style BBQ joint were just getting the restaurant ready, days before their grand opening, when they approached us while we were on an evening walk. They wanted to say hello and invite us to try out their BBQ on opening night. We were surprised and pleased by their openness to approach foreigners like that. (Thank you!) However after tasting many disappointing “Americanized” dish attempts served in Korean restaurants, we initially wondered just how “Americanized” the BBQ would really be? Perhaps it was our curiosity, or wanting to support a local friendly family business owner, whatever the case, when Yammy BarbeCooks officially opened their doors only a few steps away from our own, we thought why not? Let’s give it a go!

Have a hankering for BBQ chicken, or pork ribs? Maybe you are craving the sides like macaroni salad, potato salad, baked beans, or even the little buttery buns you get when you pop your bum down at a BBQ joint. Yammy & BarbeCooks has all of that and then some, to include off the wall additions like, chicken fried rice, shrimp fried rice, combination fried rice, oh and a fresh fruit salad too.

We’ve ordered the BBQ chicken platter and went back and ordered the Yammy platter. We were blown away! The portions were plentiful, you could see and taste the high quality ingredients used, and overall the meal was very decently priced.

The Yammy platter meats includes BBQ chicken, ribs, hot dogs, kielbasa, and little flank steaks.

The sauce that smothers the moist BBQ meat is perfect and packs a bit of heat in each bite (but not too hot). You pick up on a bit of bay leaf flavoring throughout too. Pure perfection!

Both platters also came served with side dishes that are not to be missed. From the perfectly crisp french fries, to the mashed potato salad, the macaroni salad, sweet little pickles, buttery little toasted buns, and perfectly grilled hot dogs.. Mmmhmmmmm. Try them all! Seriously!

The staff is super friendly and incredibly helpful! They are all family and make you feel welcomed and part of their family immediately upon entering. The restaurant is very clean and has an awesome at home in your dining room atmosphere vibe going on from inside, to the large outside wooden deck, where the vibe is like being at your neighbors grilling out on their deck.

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Backpackbees

Product Review: Bob Revolution Pro Stroller

Oh yeahhh… It’s time for a product review on a mommy Monday blog posting!! Wow… my last and one and only was back when I did a post on coconut butter. By the way that was delish!

Okay, okay enough with my magpieness. On with the review!

Gawdddd have you realized just how many strollers on the market there are?! It’s just insane! We are the couple that researches to death, this purchase wasn’t an exception.

As you could guess, being abroad, specifically in South Korea, is a bit of a challenge when it comes to purchases that you really should be checking out in person. A stroller is a purchase you want to touch, test out in the store aisle, judge height, check out the overall quality. Unfortunately that just wasn’t an option for us and we only want to pay for shipping once. Yes, you can purchase strollers in Korea, however baby products are extremely overpriced, even if you are looking for something simple.

Over our lunch breaks at work, we’d meet and watch YouTube video reviews on strollers for tall people, adjustable handlebars, all-terrain, comfort, ease of use, weight and storage capability, safety and overall quality and durability that would last and grow with our daughter. We watched and compared, watched and compared, and watched and compared some more. Finally we landed upon an agreed decision, the Bob Revolution Pro Stroller. We realized this purchase would be an investment not only for us, but for our little bumblebee.

We’re now just a little over the two month mark with our Bob and we’re loving it! It’s incredibly! To us it’s like we purchased a BMW or Mercedes, lol but for the Bebe.

As we sort of listed above, the features we love in no particular order are:

The ease of folding the BOB stroller up by pressing in the two pieces and just an easy flip like motion to unfold again. Oh and it’s fairly lightweight to lift in and out of our cars and you can easily remove all the wheels.

The suspension and shocks. No matter what the terrain, our infant bumblebee is riding around smoothly.

The plush padded handle bar that is not only incredibly functional, but also super comfortable on the hands. Calling all 6 foot parents and soon to be parents, this handle bar will adjust to a comfortable height for you. (Sooo nice!) No feet hitting the stroller and messing with your natural stride.

The stroller canopy is ginormous with peek-through window to see a toddler. We haven’t hit that stage just yet, but we have the Britax car seat attached (make sure you purchase the BOB Single Infant Car Seat Adapter for Britax to fit the car seat onto the stroller perhaps another product review later), however the canopy on the stroller does folds over the car seat and protect an infant from the elements if you use it that way.

There is a decent sized storage area underneath. We’ve fit a diaper bag and some vegetable/fruit purchases in it. Also on the backside of the stroller, think where your knees face when pushing, is a flat pocket area that will hold flat items like diapers, wipes or a light blanket.

I haven’t jogged just yet with the stroller, however all reviews from runners say that it’s excellent for exercise. I’m excited to give it a go!

We want to be completely honest and up front with this product review and list the cons/ dislikes to this stroller as well. Guess what? We haven’t really found any just yet…. We do find ourselves in a bit of a pickle when it comes to taking the stroller into Korean restaurants and coffee shops due to the tightness of tables and such. So you could say that the overall size is sometimes a con? However you could argue the fact that it easily folds up and if needed you could fold it up and stick it in the corner. Stay tuned we will update this post as we continue to use regularly.

We purchased our Bob on (you guessed it) Amazon. You can find the direct link below or BOB Revolution Pro Single Stroller, Black <here.

Do you own a Bob? If you are looking for a stroller, what features are you most interested in? We’d love to hear from you!

Backpackbees

Click, Ship & treat yourself…or in this case the bébé !

Homemade Foie Gras Burgers

Enough of the Bebe post… although incredibly adorable… Lets talk burgers folks!

Sometimes a burger is MORE than just a burger. Let’s chat specifically about the foie gras burgers you’ve seen featured various times on our Instagram. To us, topping a homemade beef patty with a delicious hunk of perfectly seared foie gras is just sooooo comforting. The two belong together like peanut butter and jelly. Trust us on this one!

Look at that perfect rich buttery perfection. Mmmm!

We had the opportunity to share our homemade burgers with the Mr’s mom while she visited and helped us the first week after the birth of our bumblebee. Unfortunately, she wasn’t as excited to jump on the bee burger creation train (I know she’s laughing if she’s reading this).

If you’ve never had foie gras, we understand that you might hesitate to try, let’s be honest.. it’s intimidating. We also understand that if you do try, its one of those foods that are an acquired taste, you might love or loath. As a workaround we suggest throwing the foie gras on a burger like we do and you might find it less intimidating to try out. Give it a shot!

Have you ever tried foie gras? What did you think if so? We’d love to hear from you!

Backpackbees

Her Room

So now that we’ve opened up this chapter of our lives on the blog, we’ve been asked to share our bumblebees nursery.

As you know, we live in Korea, in an apartment, so it’s a bit more challenging to style a space that you can’t really completely make your own. Even if you’re not living abroad, maybe you too can relate in the way that you rent, you’ve got to work your magic in your own way to make it that special space that you are envisioning.

Recently IKEA came to Korea! What a godsend! Haha! All the furniture in the nursery is all from you guessed it… IKEA! (Side note silly… Koreans pronounce Ikea, E-key-a.)

So why exactly is IKEA a godsend you ask? Isn’t it just like transitional furniture you ask? Well… Unfortunately most Korean furniture is made from partial board, yes, much like IKEA, however muchhhhh more expensive. Yeah…

We really just wanted to keep things simple and clean-looking. We decided upon gray, black and white as the primary colors, no real theme. Simple.

Bedding and mostly everything you see was ordered from Amazon, or gifted from sweet families and friends. It was overwhelming in an amazing way to realize just how blessed we are, our bumblebee is, with all this showering of love from all around the globe! (Thank you all again!!)

So there you have it! We hope you enjoyed another look into our lives while we’re living abroad and navigating this new adventure together.

Can you relate with decorating restrictions in your home? It can be a monetary restriction, or perhaps you rent too, how did you overcome and make the space your own? Looking forward to hearing from you.

Backpackbees

New Chapter

It’s been awhile guys! So where have you been? Kidding… I know it was us, we basically fell off the blogosphere. But hey, with good reason!

They say that every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end. So here we are…at a new beginning, a new chapter in our lives, a close from another beginning’s end. Life is funny like that.. some chapters allow us to open on our own, while others are sort of forced open. Nevertheless, within these chapters of our books we are ever-growing and learning something from each of them.

Exactly where am I going with this? As you could have guessed, we’ve opened a brand new chapter in our lives. Yes, I struggled with the decision to post anything on our blog about my pregnancy, or if I’d keep that chapter of our lives closed from online and kept private. Ultimately I made the decision that it is a HUGE part of our lives and is an incredible blessing not to share with you all.

Funny when I think back on this now…we didn’t know at first we were even pregnant with our little bumblebee until we were already a few good weeks in. Crazy! Huh? Then we didn’t announce to our families and friends until we knew we were in the clear. I’m so terribly superstitious with certain things, especially because of our past experience and struggles.

Prayerfully everything progressed as normal and healthy with our daughter and we baked perhaps the very best treat of our lives yet!

Live in Korea? Need an amazing photographer for maternity, newborn or family style photos? Excellent! We’ve got you covered! Check out Little Lime Tree Photography here.

Backpackbees

What’s cooking?

Continuing on with our new year quest for meal prepping and planning, consuming better foods and striving for less food waste, we’re glad you found your way back into our kitchen and home again for our food recap.

There’s just something very meditative about weekly food preparation, perhaps it’s my OCD coming out? Seriously…coming home after a long week of work and preparing/ menu planning for next weeks round of breakfast, lunches and dinners has a calming and relaxing end result when you really let yourself enjoy it. It also helps that the Mr. supports and recognizes the importance of it too. (I have express and give my pure gratitude to this man too! Feeling under the weather this week, he cooked almost all of the deliciousness for us shown below).

^Homemade buttermilk scones served with a nice cuppa vanilla honey rooibos tea.

^ Homemade oven baked chicken kiev, with a side of crispy curried carrots and sun-dried tomato and feta spread served on top of homemade rye bread.

^ No bake 5 minute brownie from Minimalist baker. Slowly trying to curb my crazy sweet tooth, plus I’ve been itching to use up my cacao powder Healthworks Raw Certified Organic Cacao Powder, 1 lb This was very different texture wise, not terrible, but filled the temporary void, left out the espresso the recipe called for.

^ Spicy Japchae, jabchae, chapchae, chop chae, or chap chae (Korean: 잡채) (glass noodles, peppers, sesame seeds, onions and veggie-meat) and Maneul Jangajji (chili paste and pickled garlic scapes). Served with a side of korean purple rice.

Lots of pickling, preserving and burning our mouths this past week! Mr. B Made some garlic scapes Korean style. If you don’t know, garlic scapes are the green parts of the garlic, do NOT throw these away, instead make Maneul Jangajji!

Maneul Jangajji

12 hrs total (11.5 soaking)

Directions:
Pepper mixture:
1 cup dried pepper flakes (ideally Korean peppers)
1 cup Gochujang (Korean red pepper paste)
3 Tbs white vinegar
2 Tbs fish sauce (or to taste)
6 garlic cloves minced
3 Tbs brown sugar
1/2 cup hot water (may have to add slightly more if scapes are very well-drained)

The intent is to have a thick paste with a consistency of cream spreadable peanut butter or very slightly watered down.

Scapes:
cut off whiter tougher parts of scapes and trim to 3″. Boiled salted water. Pour over scapes in an insulated bowl (glass/ceramic etc) and leave sit (make sure to cover with a plate) for 11-12 hours or longer until they start to yellow. Drain and cover with pepper mixture (easiest to do with gloved hands).

These can be eaten immediately or saved if packed in the mixture for several months in fridge.

(Best compliment ever was when Our Korean foodie friend was over eating dinner with us and said that this was better than her moms! Mr. B’s Korea cook level awesomeness was achieved!)

^ Spaghetti and our homemade meatballs! You know.. Plenty of garlic and basil, you know, a nice dose of nerve-steadying herbs.

^ Shared a meal with our dear friend over our ground beef patties seasoned with our own special blend of spices. The burgers had oyster mushrooms, red onions with torched sharp cheddar cheese, fried egg and foie gras flavored with homemade BBQ sauce and horseradish mayo. The buns were coated with foie gras oil and toasted in the pan for finishing. Annie’s White cheddar Mac and cheese and salads on the side (you know, keeping it classy).

^ Homemade almond biscotti from America’s Test Kitchen (Household favorite!)

^ A delicious mediterranean steak salad!

And last but not least…. freezer meal prep for the unknown weeks that are to come. Chuck steaks ground, seasoned and formed into 1/2 lb burgers. Not pictured, because someone fell asleep on the job, vegetable beef stew and slow cooker pork BBQ with homemade BBQ sauce.

Backpackbees

Click, Ship & treat yourself

What’s cooking?

Welcome back to our kitchen! Pull up a chair at our kitchen island and get comfy. Outside of our mini Mardi Gras feast and unbeetable Valentine cake, we’re sharing the recap of what we whipped up in our kitchen over the past week. We’ve got some exciting nostalgic dishes we’ve made a bit more modern to share with you!

Drumroll please..we tested out four more family recipes from Mr. B’s grandparents handwritten cookbook that dates back to 1949! It’s so special thinking about and picturing Howard and Rose cooking these very recipes together back then in their kitchen, perhaps doing the same exact things were doing in the present day.

^
This super crunchy coconut granola! It’s been perking up our morning Greek yogurt and fruit routine. Try it! Next time I’m thinking I’ll use coconut extract instead of vanilla.

^
Chicken Marsala with homemade garlic bread and garden salads.

^
Seared tuna, a fairly regular staple at our table, was served as the main dish alongside of diced oven roasted rutabaga.

^
The first family recipe tested was parsley curried corn. Originally we prepared as directed straight from the recipe, but in the end slightly altered it to more of our taste. SPICE! Yeah, we had to kick it up a notch and make it a bit more modern with the addition of hot madras curry powder. This dish was absolutely delicious and is a new favorite for sure.

^
The second B family recipe tested was, pork tenderloin in cream sauce. Again, after preparing as originally directed, we modernized and altered by seasoning to our taste, it just didn’t have the pizazz we were after. We ended up adding green peppercorns and chopped onions.

^
We paired the pork tenderloin with garden sweet peas, sautéed mushrooms in a pepper sauce and puréed sweet potatoes seasoned with maple, butter, pepper. D-licious!

^
Oven roasted eggplant halves stuffed with zucchini, yellow squash, spicy Italian sausage, onion, and gorgonzola cheese. Like spaghetti, these were even better served as leftover for lunch, the flavors just popped even more!

^
The stuffed eggplants were served with a side of roasted garlic butter mushrooms sprinkled liberally with salt and cracked black pepper. These little guys were like a vegetarian alternative to Escargot! The mushrooms gave the texture and the butter, garlic, salt and cracked black pepper brought the taste. Plus who doesn’t like the fact that the caps hold in all that buttery goodness? It’s all about those vehicles for butter 😉

The third family recipe tested was “Boston Baked Beans” and “BBQed Chicken”.

^
The Boston baked beans used dried beans and minimal ingredients which consisted of molasses, sugar, salt and a bit of pepper and home cured bacon. The Flavor was fantastic!

^
The BBQed chicken was a chicken quartered and the sauce was from scratch. The sauce simmered away for quite a bit of time on the stove, then it covered the chicken and was baked. This recipe was delicious with a delightful blend we were not accustomed to. Oh! the chicken came out super moist too!

^
Then there was a quick last-minute dessert created. Inspired by our recent trip to Manimal in Itaewon, Mr. B halved bananas and drizzled them with homemade caramel and then topped it all off with fresh vanilla whipped cream. Boom! Front runner to the Bananimal!

Alright folks, we will meet you back in our kitchen again soon!

Backpackbees

Unbeetable Valentine Cake

Any guesses what we’re hiding in our chocolate cake??

….No, it’s not arsenic. Ha-Ha! Geesh….

This chocolate cake features one-off the wall ingredient that makes it extremely moist. Yes, it literally melts in your mouth on contact.

So what is it?

Beets!

Yes, as in red beets

The chocolate in the cake hides the beet flavor amazingly well, you absolutely cannot taste even a faint flavor of a beet. Plus, we’ve got beets hiding out in our frosting too! O.M.G! Now that’s unbeetable, or unbeetlivable. Ha-Ha! I’ll stop while I’m ahead.

Beets are naturally a fall root veggie and were a staple at my grandparents dinner table quite frequently. Growing up in central Pennsylvania you could always count on someone bringing along pickled eggs and red beets. I feel like people either love or hate them, and unfortunately they often get labeled as tasting like dirt. I for one always enjoyed red beets, but never had the TRUE appreciation that I have for them now. Who would have guessed how versatile beets really are?!

Chocolate Beet Cake with Beet Cream Cheese Frosting
Makes one 8 or 9-inch layer cake
Originally adapted from Fine Cooking November 2001
I only slightly modified the recipe from Joy The Baker

For the Cake:
3 small-ish sized beets, unpeeled but trimmed of their greens
1 teaspoon safflower oil
6 ounces (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups buttermilk

For the Frosting:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
8 ounces (1 brick) cream cheese, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons finely grated beets
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons milk, depending on desired consistency
1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
A pinch of salt

We really hope you give beets a chance and bake this little festive guy over the weekend! For the full baking directions pop on over to Joy The Baker’s Blog and show her a little love on Valentine’s Day too. Xoxo!

Backpackbees