Strawberries and Cream Cake

I made this cake for Easter. It was AMAZING! However, humility aside it was extremely difficult. I actually ended up trying it 3 times before I got it to perfection so don't get flustered and if you get it on the first try...don't tell me. J/k well kind of...I made this for Easter this year. Ya I know that was like 9 months ago but life gets busy OK! It's posted now!
Tip: Scroll down to the "strawberry jam filling" you need to make this 8 hours ahead of time! Get started on that! 

The Cake

• 2 cups sifted cake flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon table salt
• 1 1/4 cups sugar, divided
• 1/2 cup canola oil 
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 4 large egg yolks
• 8 large egg whites
• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar

1. 1. Preheat oven to 350°. Stir together first 3 ingredients and 1 cup sugar in a large bowl. Make a well in center of mixture; add oil, next 2 ingredients, and 1/4 cup water. Beat at medium-high speed with an electric mixer 3 to 4 minutes or until smooth.
2. 2. Beat egg whites and cream of tartar at medium-high speed until soft peaks form. Gradually add remaining 1/4 cup sugar, 1 Tbsp. at a time, beating until stiff peaks form. Gently stir one-fourth of egg white mixture into flour mixture; gently fold in remaining egg white mixture. Spoon batter into 6 greased and floured 8-inch round cake pans.
3. 3. Bake at 350° for 12 to 15 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks, and cool completely (about 1 hour).
4. 4. Spread filling between cake layers, leaving a 1/4-inch border around edges (about 2/3 cup between each layer). Cover cake with plastic wrap, and chill 8 to 24 hours. Spread Strawberry Frosting on top and sides of cake. Chill 2 hours before serving

Strawberry Jam Filling

• 4 cups mashed fresh strawberries
• 2 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 (3-oz.) package strawberry-flavored gelatin

1. 1. Stir together strawberries and sugar in a large saucepan; let stand 30 minutes.
2. 2. Bring strawberry mixture to a boil over medium heat; boil 5 minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in gelatin until dissolved; cool completely (about 1 hour). Cover and chill 8 hours.

Strawberry Frosting

• 1 tablespoon strawberry-flavored gelatin
• 2 tablespoons boiling water
• 1 cup whipping cream 
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 (8-oz.) container sour cream 

1. 1. Stir together first 2 ingredients in a small bowl; cool completely (about 20 minutes).
2. 2. Beat whipping cream and gelatin mixture at high speed with an electric mixer until foamy; gradually add sugar, beating until soft peaks form. Stir in sour cream, 1/4 cup at a time, stirring just until blended after each addition.

Enjoy! It is delicious! 

Sweet and Sour Baked Chicken

This is now one of my all time favorite recipes I think it's one of Ben's too. I love good Chinese food. I am really happy with this recipe and didn't think it was too difficult. Also, When I made it I cut the following recipe in half. It was the perfect amount  for the two of us. We didn't have any rice or anything with it so take that into account. 

The Chicken

3-4 boneless chicken breasts

salt + pepper to taste

1 cup of cornstarch (more as needed)

2 eggs beaten

1/4 cup oil

The Sweet and Sour Sauce

3/4 cup sugar

4 Tbsp. Ketchup

1/2 cup distilled white vinegar

1 Tbsp. soy sauce

1 tsp garlic powder

Preheat oven to 325º. Rinse chicken with cold water and cut into cubes. Pour oil into pan to begin heating. Put cornstarch in one bowl and the eggs in another. Dip chicken into cornstarch then eggs then set in pan. You don't want the chicken to completely cook you just want it to be a nice golden brown on each side. When they are ready transfer onto greased 9x13 baking pan. In a bowl add together all of the sweet and sour sauce ingredients and mix together. Pour over chicken. Bake for 1 hour turning chicken every 15 minutes.

Enjoy! 

Sweet Potato Casserole

For Thanksgiving we had my friend, her husband, and her little boy over. My friend said she didn't really like the whole marshmallow sweet potato thing so I found a recipe and tried it out. I think its my new favorite! It is amazing! 

  

Mixture Ingredients

2 1/2 cups cooked, mashed sweet potatos ( I peeled mine, chopped them up, boiled them, and then mashed them)

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1/5 tsp salt 

3/4 tsp vanilla extract

1 egg beaten

3 Tbsp. unsalted butter melted

Crust Ingredients

2/3 cup brown sugar

3 Tbsp all purpose flour

1/2 cup finely chopped pecans

3 Tbsp. butter melted

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees and prep a medium to small sized casserole dish with cooking spray. I used a 9×9 inch casserole dish.
2. Use a mixer to whip together cooked, mashed sweet potatoes (instructions to cook, bake, or microwave sweet potatoes above), 2/3 cup granulated sugar, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 egg – beaten, 3 tablespoons unsalted melted butter. Mix until the potatoes are light and fluffy.
3. Pour the potato mixture into the prepared casserole dish and bake for 30 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, combine the crust ingredients in a small bowl – 2/3 cup brown sugar, 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans, 3 tablespoons melted butter and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract.
5. Sprinkle the crust over the casserole after it has baked for 30 minutes. Bake for 10-15 minutes longer, until the pecan crust is lightly browned and crunchy.

I found this recipe on http://centercutcook.com/ 

Cooked Cabbage with Sausage

This is a recipe I got from my dad. He usually makes it in the dutch oven but I'm going to give you the recipe for the regular oven.

1/2 head of cabbage

1 lb smoked sausage (I just use one of those "U" shaped pkg's of sausage. We like more sausage than cabbage too)

1/4 cup water

Onion if desired

Mix all ingredients together in a baking dish. Cook at 350°F for 45-60min. Stirring halfway through. You will now when its ready because it will start to settle.

I served with BBQ Chicken. They go really well together!

Enjoy!

Guacamole

I love love love guacamole and avocados  I think its because for so many years for some strange reason I thought they would be disgusting and then I tried them and they weren't so thats the story and I'm sticking to it. As much as I love them sometimes they go bad at my house because basically I forget that I have them. It actually happens with multiple food items a lot more often than it should. Anywhoo...the  other day I was a local grocery store they had avocados and a recipe for guacamole. I bought the avocados and went home and made the guacamole and I am sitting here eating its deliciousness as I type this up.

3 ripe avocados, pitted, peeled, mashed

1 can (10 oz) Original Diced Tomatoes and Chiles

1/2 cup chopped onoin

1 Tbsp. lime juice

1/2 tsp salt

Black Pepper

Mix until well blended! 

Strawberry Bacon Salad with Greek Yogurt Poppyseed Dressing

This salad is freaking amazing! Oh my goodness. I'm going to have to make it every week. The dressing is to die for and then the way all the ingredients compliment each other...oh my heavens!

Salad:

6-8 cups baby spinach or 1 head of romaine lettuce

2 cups fresh sliced strawberries

1/4 cup toasted almonds, chopped (I just grabbed the bag of already sliced ones on the salad dressing aisle.)

8 slices bacon cooked and crumbled (don't forget you could use turkey bacon to make it a little more healthy!)

Dressing:

1/2 cup greek yogurt

1/2 cup mayonaise

1/4 cup white vinegar

4 Tbsp. Sugar

A little salt and pepper

1 tsp. poppy seeds

Mix all the salad ingredients together. Make the dressing. Don't add the dressing to the salad until you are ready to serve...Voila! That's it! 

Not my pic. I like to cook and bake and eat the food not so good at taking pictures  of it :D

Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie

Made this smoothie after the gym today...Soooo good! Packed with protein too but doesn't have the taste of protein :D

2 bananas peeled and frozen

1/3 cup creamy peanut butter

1/2 cup milk

6 oz vanilla ice cream

Blend and Enjoy!!!

I need to be better at photographing food. I just found this picture on google images but the actual color of the smoothie looks similar to what mine looks like.