A wonderful day in the kitchen

And I said: let there be cake.


Hurray for first post outside of the all about me post! I plan to add my picture to any posts I make. That way everyone knows whose post is who's...O.o odd english grammar...I don't even know if I did that right....XD Anyway!

So today was a fun day of being...domestic. I went shopping and proved my worth at the scanner. I got everything on the lost plus a few extras and kept the bill under 100. I was so proud of myself! But the real magic happened in my kitchen today. I was charged with the task of creating dinner while my grandmother spent the afternoon at the doctor's and running errands. Lasagna.....I have never in my life made lasagna before. This task seemed daunting to me. So while I spent the afternoon dreading my task, suddenly in the middle of doing my online things of fun...out of nowhere in particular...I was bitten by the bug of needing to bake something chocolatey. Okay so...the majority of my baking involves following a recipe on the back of a pillsbury box. I love to bake, don't get me wrong....is the load of dishes I have to wash afterwards that keeps me from diving in head first and baking from scratch. But I went ahead and did it. I found a guideline for making chocolate cake from scratch. It seemed simple. So I did it. I changed the recipe up a bit, and even now after I made it, I feel the need to make some changes. I have never in life baked a cake from scratch, let alone a chocolate one. So without further adue(spelling abilities not required):

2cups of sugar (I will reduce this amount to 1 cup the next time I make this cake)
1 3/4 cups of all purpose white flour
3/4 cocoa
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk (i suggest evaporated or sweetened condensed but I used regular milk it works just as well)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla
2/4 cup sour cream (i used 1/4 but I think it could have used another)
1 packet chocolate or vanilla pudding mix
2-4 squares of melted baking chocolate or equivalant of choco. chips
1 cup boiling water

preheat oven to 350. Mix all the dry ingrediants together then add in the wet except for the boiling water. Mix for 2 minutes on whatever speed that doesn't throw the batter onto the kitchen walls. When the water is ready pour it in. (I didn't do this step. The batter was rather thick and I think it would have helped alot) get two round pans or one big long pan, make sure it is rather coated well with grease and flower or the flour in the spray can....I love my flour in the spray can....just...not when it goes up my nose. Throw the puppies in the oven and bake for about 33 minutes. I cooked mine for a full 35 and I think those two extra minutes where a bit much. My cake came out good it tasted well, just a bit dry. I frosted it with buttercream (though I could have used another can...I had more cake than frosting....I don't like alot of frosting...but this cake needed more) So here is my finished results!
here they are right out of the oven...my sillyness tried to take them out of the pan too early and the left one broke in half...it officially became the bottom cake.

Please please excuse my shotting frosting abilities. XD I will win no prizes with this one...I like to call those crumbs in the frosting chocolate bits. Buttercream chocolate bits frosting. It's certainly home made, no one could possibly frost worse than I....watching me frost a cake is like watching a train wreck in slow motion...I had more frosting on me, the cuppard, the sink, and the cake tray than on the cake....^^

Then finally...dinner came..I had to face my fear. I could do it. I did afterall bake a chocolate cake all by myself for the very time from scratch. What was one little dish of lasagna? So I plunged in..hands first. I decided to make a little more fun. If I was going to do this...I needed to make it my own. First into the pan went the onions, then the 4 different colours of bell peppers: green, red, yellow, and orange. Followed by a knife tip of garlic and a handful of fresh parsley and last but not least the meat. I was excited, I could do this! I layed the small square dish with some uncooked noodles poured the sauce into the pan stirred it and then added a small layer onto the noodles. Topped it with mozerella and provologne and parmasan. Then I repeated this layer 2 more times. Popped it into the oven and an hour later Dinner arose from the oven bubbling and crunchy.

My my was it tasty and it even somewhat held its form when dished out! Today I have never been so proud of myself. Today was a day I spent fending for myself. I guess this is all part of the preparation for when I move. I am getting more and more excited...it seems...I may make it on my own afterall...at least when it comes to feeding myself :)

Recipe:
one sliver of each chopped finely:green bell pepper, red bell pepper, yellow bell pepper, orange bell pepper.
one cup chopped onion
1tsp minced garlic
1lb ground beef
1 bunch torn or chopped fresh parsley
1 jar of your fave sauce
1 box of no need to precook lasagna noodles.
cheeses of your desire

Dice the peppers and add to a skillet with the onions and garlic. splash in some olive oil and salt and pepper. Cooke until onions translucent and peppers soft. Add meat. Cook until most of the meat is cooked through. Drain well then add parsley cook a minute more then add in the sauce. Spray your baking pan with spray oil and layer in your noodles to cover the bottom of the pan then add in your sauce. Add in your cheeses. I used a moz and prov shredded cheese mix and topped with grated parm (the good kind not the kind in the green shaker can) repeat the process until you either run out of sauce or you fill the pan. Bake at 350 for about an hour or until the noodles are done.


dinner anddessert