A Cake Off you say? Don’t mind if I do.

When it comes to Team Cake vs Team Pie, I am Team Why Can’t I Have Both? There’s no such thing as too much dessert. When I was looking for inspiration for a cake to submit for this contest, I searched Pinterest for cake and might have ended up eating half a box of cookies because it made me so hungry. This is why I am not a food blogger.

Half way through mixing the batter I realized I needed 3 9-inch cake pans but all I had in my cabinet was 1 9-inch cake pan and 2 8-inch cake pans. I thought really hard about how to make that work before giving up and sending my husband to the store to get the right pans. Be smarter than me and make sure you have the cake pans you need BEFORE you’ve already separated all the eggs and have the mixer going. This recipe has kind of a lot of steps, but I promise it’s worth it for the results: moist but light cake with an amazing flavor and super light frosting with exactly the right amount of sweet.

Mixed Berry Cake With Lemon Whipped Cream Icing
Adapted from A Latte Food

• 4 eggs, separated
• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 1/2 cups flour all purpose flour
• 2 Tbsp cornstarch
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup milk
• 1/3 cup greek yogurt
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice, fresh
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

• 2 cups mixed berries (I used raspberries, blackberries, strawberries and blueberries)
• 3/4 cup sugar

• 1 pint heavy whipping cream
• 1 8 oz cream cheese
• 2 Tbsp lemon zest (about the zest of 2 large lemons)
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tsp lemon juice

 

I extended my AeroGarden giveaway so it ends TONIGHT! Quick, go enter! And if you’re still looking for an awesome Christmas gift for someone hard to buy for, you can use the code Digital20 for 20% off your order from the AeroGarden website. And a huge thanks to AeroGarden for working with me over the past few months and for sponsoring this post!

A few months ago when Linc was still super new and I wasn’t feeling much like leaving the house, my crazy babywearing friends (spoken with the utmost affection) agreed to have a meet-up at my house to show me how to use my new woven wrap. Since then, Friday morning playdates have been a regular thing. One of my friend’s 6 year old daughter described it as “All they do is drink tea and talk about wraps. It’s a total MomFest.” So obviously we call it MomFest now.

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I was going to call this “What’s For Dinner: Stuff I Bought At Target” but my friend Amy pointed out some Targets don’t have as much food as others. Maybe your Target doesn’t have a frozen food section, or dried herbs, or the specific brand of tomatoes I like, or any sausage. I don’t want to get angry emails saying “I TRIED TO MAKE YOUR RECIPE BUT THEY DIDN’T HAVE RAVIOLI AT MY TARGET SO MY LIFE IS RUINED.”

You wouldn’t think people could get so mad over a problem easily solved (try the grocery store! Or even Walmart!), but then you’d remember this is the internet.  The most hateful comments I’ve ever gotten were about a tutu.

But back to food, since food is pretty much all I have left to enjoy at 32 weeks pregnant. Delicious, cheesy food.

A recipe that only takes a handful of ingredients that I can keep on hand AND children eat is the Holy Grail of dinners around here. I don’t even consider frozen ravioli cheating when it comes to “homemade” – if I didn’t get it from a drive-thru, we’re doing really well. (Have I mentioned I just discovered the joys of frozen meatballs and rotisserie chickens from the grocery store too???) Both kids ate the noodles, Caroline ate a ton of sausage and Evan pushed the tomatoes around on his plate. I added lots of red pepper flakes for my helping, but if you made it for grown ups you could use spicy sausage for even better flavor – the package I used was “garlic and cheese”.

Ravioli With Sausage And Tomatoes

1 24 oz bag frozen ravioli (cheese, spinach & cheese, whatever)
1 28 oz can Tuttorosso diced tomatoes
16 oz Italian sausage (whatever kind you like – if you buy precooked chicken sausage this would be even faster)
1 TBS dried basil
1 TBS dried oregano
Parmesan cheese
Red pepper flakes
Salt

Cook the ravioli according to package directions. Most of the time that involves boiling a pot of water and just tossing them in for a few minutes. In the mean time, cut the sausage into small/medium sized pieces and brown it in a skillet until fully cooked. Drain the sausage of most of the fat. Open the tomato can and drain about 3/4 of the liquid (If you want saucier tomatoes you can skip that step. Saucy!) then throw them in the pan with the sausage. Add basil and oregano, then salt to taste. Simmer the sauce for just a few minutes to let the sausage soak up some of the tomatoes. Drain the ravioli and you’re ready to serve! Top with cheese and red pepper to taste.

It almost seems too easy, but I promise the tomatoes + sausage make a delicious combination. I’m a big fan of the Tuttorosso brand (they actually sent me a few cans, but I already had a dozen in my pantry) and they’re easy to find – look for the green and yellow labels. Technically this should serve 4, but if you are hungry or pregnant I’d say only 2 grown ups plus 2 kids.

Although right now I am fully confident I could eat the entire thing entirely by myself.

I made a test loaf of cranberry orange bread and ate 75% of it before I remembered I needed to take a picture if I wanted to post the recipe. My second try was even more delicious AND I managed to wait until it was cool to take it out of the pan so I had a nice loaf for photos. It’s definitely a dessert bread, but who says you can’t have dessert in the morning with a cup of coffee, dessert at noon with a little butter and two slices of dessert after dinner? Cranberry orange bread, as well as artisan bread, reminds me of the holidays, although I can’t quite remember why. It’s also a good way to include cranberries with Thanksgiving in case you’re one of those crazy people who don’t like real cranberry sauce and for those who already have too much on their plate, consider getting some fresh bread from your local bakery for some delicious options.

Cranberry Orange Bread

12 oz cranberries
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup orange juice

2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt

1 egg
1/2 cup orange juice
1 1/2 Tablespoons orange zest (about 1 medium orange)
3/4 cup plain yogurt (I used Greek yogurt)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

Combine the cranberries, 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup orange juice in a bowl. Stir well and let the berries soak while you mix the batter. Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl and whisk to combine. Combine the wet ingredients in a medium bowl and stir well, making sure to fully beat the egg. Add the wet ingredients and the berry mixture to the dry ingredients and stir. Use a spatula to scrape the bowl and make sure it’s fully combined. Pour batter into a greased loaf pan (approximately 9x5x3) and bake at 350 for one hour or until a cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean. Use the tester or a toothpick to poke holes in the top of the loaf.

Mix 1 Tablespoon water and 1 cup powdered sugar in a small bowl. Add a splash or two of orange juice until you get a good drizzling consistency. When the loaf has cooled a little, run a sharp knife around the edge and flip the pan over to release the bread. Put the cranberry orange bread right-side up on a plate and drizzle with the glaze. Eat and enjoy.

Yum yum yum yum. I will say, 12 oz of cranberries is a lot of cranberries, as you can see from the sliced shots. You can adjust the amount of cranberries down (or add more orange zest if you want it to be EXTRA orange-y) without affecting the recipe or cook time.

It’s What’s for Dinner! I’m hoping resurrecting this feature will encourage me to cook more. I like cooking. It’s better for me and my family than the pizza/fast food/frozen stuff cycle we’ve been on while E’s schedule was totally crazy. Even if I’m not making intentionally diet-friendly recipes there are definitely more vegetables in these than in a #2 from McDonalds (large size, with a Diet Coke). So here’s what we’ve been eating for the past week:

Dragon Noodles – Budget Bytes (A++++ Will make again (and again and again and another million more times.) It’s too spicy for the kids so I have to make them something else but it is totally worth it.)
Pesto Shrimp Skewers and Malt Vinegar Oven Fries – SkinnyTaste and BabyBabyLemon (my fries were delicious but not photogenic)
Korean Beef – Lizzy Writes (I added sriracha, so of course it was delicious)
Baked Hummus and Spinach Dip and Homemade Whole Wheat Pitas – Naturally Ella and Budget Bytes (E had work so I was just feeding myself and the kids, so hummus was a perfect choice)

Cheeseburger Quesadillas – Skinny Taste (she made hers with buffalo meat, but I used my delicious grass-fed cow)
Greek Salad with Beef Kebabs – ripped out of Rachael Ray’s magazine (salad was delicious, kebabs were a little meh but BOTH kids ate a ton of meat and cucumbers)
Summer Vegetables with Sausage and Potatoes – Skinny Taste (yummy)
Crockpot Beef and Pepper Tacos  – I made this one up! See below for the recipe…

Crockpot Beef and Pepper Tacos
Serves at least 4, with leftovers

1 Beef roast, 2-3 lbs
Bell peppers, various colors, sliced
1 onion, chopped
1 jalapeno, chopped (or more, to taste)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 T chili powder
1 T garlic powder
1 tsp cumin
1/2 T salt
1 tsp paprika
Black pepper
Red pepper flakes, to taste
2 cups beef broth or stock

Mix the spices together in a small bowl and rub them all over the roast. Put the roast in the crockpot and surround it with the peppers, onion, jalapeno and garlic. And 2 cups beef broth (more or less, depending on the size of your crockpot – it should come up about half way on the roast) and then put the lid on. Cook on low for 5-6 hours or until the beef is fall-apart tender. Shred it up and put it on a plate for serving. Put the cooked beef and peppers in tortillas with lettuce, pico de gallo, and avocado. I put hot sauce on mine too, since it was good but a little boring – I love spicy! Caroline liked it though, so mild was definitely a good choice.

I made the pico de gallo too. I win at dinner this week.

So, have you tried any really great recipes recently?