Strawberry Cake with Thick Strawberry Glaze

I made this cake last month for a Mother’s Day dinner/birthday party for Andrew with Joe’s family. When I was throwing out cake ideas, Andrew got pretty pumped about the idea of strawberry cake – and I thought it would be a lovely springy sort of cake, so that’s what I went with. When we got to the dinner, though, we discovered that Joe’s grandma had made Andrew a chocolate cake shaped and decorated like a teddy bear – so all excitement about my humble strawberry sheet cake went right out the window. That sweet lady is a constant reminder to me of what I need to strive for in my culinary life; she’s an amazing baker!

Thankfully, everyone still loved this cake, me included. The cake itself is moist and packed with strawberry flavor, but it’s the sweet, sticky strawberry glaze that takes it over the top. The glaze was supposed to be a frosting, but I used more strawberries than the original recipe indicated, so it turned out to be thinner than a frosting but thicker than a traditional glaze. What a happy accident that was! Since strawberry season is now in full swing, I’m eager to try this again with juicy, sweet fresh strawberries.

Strawberry Cake with Thick Strawberry Glaze

adapted from Food Network

For the cake:

1 18.25-ounce box white cake mix

1 3-ounce box strawberry-flavored instant gelatin

1 15-ounce package frozen strawberries, thawed and pureed

4 large eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup water

For the frosting:

1/4 cup butter, softened

1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened

1 10-ounce package frozen strawberries, thawed and pureed

7 cups confectioners' sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 13 x 9-inch cake pan.

2. In a large bowl, combine cake mix and gelatin. Add pureed strawberries, eggs, oil, and water; beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Pour into prepared pans, and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely.

3. To make the frosting, beat the butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixture until smooth and creamy. Beat in the strawberries. Gradually add confectioners' sugar to desired thickness, beating until smooth.

4. Spread frosting over cooled cake. Store leftovers (if there are any!) in the refrigerator.

Greek Quinoa Salad

Earlier this week, glasses of wine in hand, my best friend and I watched The Bachelorette, just like we do every week (don't judge). In part of the episode, the bachelorette took two bachelors with her on a date. When they got their meals, both of the guys remarked on the “quinn-o-ah” on their plates. They talked about how much they liked “quinn-o-ah” and how healthy it was. They were, of course, talking about quinoa.

Maybe it was the wine, but I couldn’t stop giggling over their mispronunciation – even though I didn’t really know how to pronounce the word correctly myself until relatively recently, and to this day, when I say “quinoa” in my head, I still pronounce it exactly the way they did. I think it was the fact that both of these guys thought they were pretty awesome, so it was kind of fun to laugh at their mispronunciation when they were so obviously trying to impress a girl.

Regardless of how you pronounce it, quinoa is pretty amazing. In this recipe, it gets a Greek twist with the addition of spinach, chickpeas, feta, cucumbers, and lots of other yummy, healthy ingredients. It’s a feast for the eyes and for the body; it’s just as pretty to look at as it is healthy and delicious to eat, and I happily took this to work for lunch for more than a week. Even Andrew and Will loved this!

(P.S. Add kalamata olives if you’ve got ‘em. Joe hates them, so I left them out, but I missed them!)

Greek Quinoa Salad

adapted from Sweet Peas and Pumpkins

2 cups cooked quinoa

1/2 cup fresh baby spinach leaves, rolled into a chiffonade and thinly sliced

1 cucumber, diced

1 small red onion, diced

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved

1 can chickpeas, drained

1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

Juice of one lemon

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

Salt and pepper to taste

1. In a large bowl, combine the quinoa, spinach, cucumber, red onion, bell pepper, tomatoes, chickpeas, and feta. Toss to combine.

2. In a small bowl, combine the lemon juice, vinegar, olive oil, garlic, oregano, and salt and pepper. Stir until combined.

3. Pour the dressing over the quinoa. Stir well to fully coat the quinoa and vegetables.

Chicken Suiza Crescent Pockets

Yes, yes, I’m still stuffing things inside crescent rolls. I just love those flaky little pastries so. They’re so versatile, and they’re usually pretty easy to work with too. Although sometimes, I will admit, it can be kind of a pain to keep those edges sealed together. The night I made these, I was having a particularly difficult night keeping the edges sealed – but the end result was worth my frustration.

For this version, I took my inspiration from this sandwich, which is one of our favorites. I made a creamy filling of chicken, cream cheese, sour cream, and salsa verde, and added a bit of honey for sweetness, some lime juice for tanginess, and lots of ooey gooey Swiss cheese. These were absolutely incredible and tasted exactly like enchiladas suizas but with less work, and in a handy little portable crescent roll package. They're sweet, spicy, and delicious. I’ll definitely be making these guys again.

Chicken Suiza Crescent Pockets

2 packages crescent rolls
1 1/2 cups cooked chicken, diced or shredded
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup prepared salsa verde
1 tablespoon honey
Juice of 1 lime
1/2 teaspoon cumin
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup shredded Swiss cheese
Cilantro

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Separate crescent dough into 8 rectangles (2 triangular rolls pressed together) and seal the edges.

2. In a bowl, combine chicken, cream cheese, sour cream, salsa verde, honey, lime juice, cumin, salt and pepper, and Swiss cheese.

3. Place about 1/4 cup of the chicken mixture in the center of each rectangle. Wrap crescent rolls around the filling and pinch the edges to seal completely. Place on ungreased baking sheets.

4. Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until rolls are golden brown. Sprinkle with cilantro, if desired.

Weekly Meal Planning, Week of 6.4.12

I hope you guys are having a great weekend. After the wonderful insanity of last weekend, I was eager to just spend a relaxing weekend at home, so that's precisely what we're doing. Yesterday we explored the deserted playground of a closed elementary school in our town, and the boys had so much fun. I think we'll probably go back today.

Other than that, the day's agenda is pretty wide open: some baking, some playing, hopefully some napping, and not much else.

As far as the food for this week goes, I'm pretty excited about the meals I've planned. I feel like I've finally gotten my cooking groove back, and I think these delicious meals are just going to continue that trend.

Monday: Fried pickle ranch burgers, fries. I honestly haven't been able to get these burgers out of my mind since the first time I made them. I want -- nay, I need -- to make them again.

Tuesday: Zucchini bacon pasta, garlic bread. I'm not sure exactly what this will end up looking like, but if it involves bacon, zucchini, and copious amounts of cheese, I'm sure I'll be happy with it.

Wednesday: Grilled chicken Caesar flatbreads. I'll marinate chicken in Caesar dressing, grill it, then pile it on grilled flatbreads along with some romaine and parmesan. I think this'll be a delicious summery meal.

Thursday: Joe's softball game is late this week, but I still haven't planned a meal for this evening. I kind of look forward to not cooking on Thursdays during softball season!

Friday: Crock pot cheddar beer chicken tacos and Mexican sour cream rice. This is probably the meal I'm most looking forward to this week.

Saturday: Bacon cheeseburger meatloaf, mashed potatoes, buttered corn. This meatloaf is all Joe ever talks about. Every time I ask him what he wants for dinner, he tells me he wants this. So I'm adding it to our menu in hopes that maybe he'll stop talking about it for a month or so. But I doubt he will.

Sunday: Santa Fe egg bake. I saw this in a booklet of casseroles and thought it looked amazing. I can't wait to eat it!

Burger and Fries Friday: Greek Burgers

Another Friday, another burger! And this one is absolutely delicious and positively packed with Greek flavor. I adapted this recipe from my friend Leigh, who is always there to help me out when I’m lacking kitchen inspiration. Since I love Greek food, I was pretty sure I’d love these burgers – and not surprisingly, I did!

The burgers themselves are loaded with feta cheese, sundried tomatoes, spinach, garlic, and red onion, and they’re topped off with tzatziki sauce, which is probably one of my favorite condiments in the entire world. The feta in the burgers themselves gave the entire meat mixture a great tanginess and kept them really moist. The only thing I wanted to add to the burgers, but didn’t, was kalamata olives. I love them, but Joe isn’t a fan, so next time I’ll just add the olives to my own burger.

If you’re a fan of Greek food, these burgers will remind you exactly why you love it.

Greek Burgers
adapted from One Day at a Time – From My Kitchen to Yours

1 pound ground beef
2 sundried tomatoes, chopped
2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion
1/2 cup finely chopped baby spinach leaves (I roll them up like basil and chiffonade them)
1/4 cup feta cheese
2 cloves garlic, minced or pasted
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon Greek seasoning
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Tzatziki sauce
Hamburger buns

1. In a large bowl, combine beef, tomatoes, red onion, spinach, feta, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, Greek seasoning, and salt and pepper. Divide into 4 equal patties.

2. In a large skillet, heat a tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat. Add burgers and cook to desired doneness.

3. Place each burger on a bun, and top with tzatziki sauce and any desired toppings (cucumber, tomatoes, onion, etc.)