Monday Makings: Birthday Cake and Other Recent Recipes

On Mondays, I post something I've made recently, whether it's a craft, food, or something else. It's about encouraging and celebrating creativity, in my own life, and hopefully in yours too!

Happy Monday, everyone!

Today I’m going to share with you some delicious food that I’ve been making recently. Life is short, so let’s start with dessert first.

Last year, for my birthday, I wanted to make a non-traditional cake, so I opted for a chamomile cake, which was quite delicious. This year, perhaps because I’m pregnant and have been enjoying all sorts of different flavors, I decided that wasn’t weird enough for me. And that’s where this cake came in: Rosemary Corn Cake with Honey Brown Butter Buttercream. Say that five times fast.

How did I not ever know about using browned butter for frosting?! It’s so good! It has almost a toffee-like flavor and it is super tasty! Be warned, however, that this recipe does not call for enough frosting. I don’t generally put a lot of frosting on my cakes, but this was not enough to cover it, so I ended up making a batch and a half, and just barely made it. The cake itself is not very sweet at all, so you definitely need enough frosting to balance it out.

So now that we’ve covered dessert, let’s move on to dinner.

Chickpea Bulgur Wheat

Judah and I don’t eat a lot of meat to begin with, but we’re still trying to cut back, because it can get expensive, and it’s really not necessary for every meal. So, we’ve been looking into non-meat options. Enter chickpeas. Now, I really like meat, so this has to be really good to make up for the meatlessness. And it is. The avocado-mint sauce in this recipe really makes it, so don’t skimp on it! And I won’t judge if you make a double batch.

Tzatziki Sauce (Greek Yogurt and Cucumber Sauce)

This stuff is the best. Seriously. You’ll see in the recipe that you can start with regular yogurt and strain it, or you can start with Greek yogurt. If you use Greek yogurt, this sauce is so quick and easy to whip up. Judah and I like to put it on wraps with grilled chicken, chickpeas, and greens, but the possibilities are endless. You could even use it as a salad dressing! It’s light, healthy, and packed with flavor.

Chicken Florentine Artichoke Bake

I’ve started making a few freezer meals to have on hand after baby’s arrival, and this has been a recent favorite. Unlike a lot of freezer/crockpot meals that I’ve seen on Pinterest, which are mostly just meat, this casserole has a great mix of veggies, meat, and pasta. This recipe is from one of my favorite food bloggers, so if you have time, I’d recommended browsing her blog for some other great recipes.