Welcome

Welcome to Strawberry Sprinkles! I hope you will find something yummy during your visit here.


A little about me. My name is Ashley. I am a 25 year old military spouse, mother, daughter, sister, chef, graphics junkie, maid...etc. etc. I have 2 little boys who are pretty much my entire life. I am married to Jason. He is in the USAF (active duty). Currently we are Americans misplaced in Belgium. Being here in Belgium has really helped the cook/baker inside of me come out. Over here there are no fast food or restaurants on every corner. You really have to know how to cook to be over here. So anyways that is how I got back into cooking & I have loved every minute of it.

What makes my site special is these recipes are ones that I personally try. I will never put up a recipe that I have not personally tried and made my self. I will include personal pictures along with the recipe. 

****Please DO NOT ADVERTISE on my blog!! If you would like to trade links or whatever it maybe I will be more than happy to do that but do not leave your blog in my comments as I do no do that to you..My email is below feel free to contact me.****



This is me and my youngest son. If you ever have any questions or you need to contact me please email me at reverie_pixels@yahoo.com

DISCLAIMER: I in no way claim these recipes. Most are things that have been handed down to me or found in magazines or some other way. I am simply sharing ones I like.

Also this blog does not focus on healthy eating. I make what I like and then exercise it off later =D Just making you aware.

Spicy Enchiladas

I am a huge Enchilada fan. I love Mexican food and so does my husband. My kids just don't know what's good and they don't like anything but popcorn chicken so their opinion doesn't count in this.

The original recipe calls for avocado and I am not a fan so I skipped that and I really ended up changing a lot of the recipe. So my version is below and the original version is linked below if any one is interested.

Please excuse the crappy pictures. It gets really dark in Belgium early and the lighting in the house is not the greatest. Really looking forward to moving to the states where our next house is going to have impeccable lighting I am making sure of it.

Bonus! The left overs heat up really well and taste amazing.



This bad boy has a pound of cheese! When I say it is amazing, please believe me haha!



Spicy Enchiladas my recipe
Inspired from The Novice Chef's Spicy Avocado Chicken Enchiladas

Ingredients:

for the sauce:
2 tablespoons butter
1 Jalapeno pepper, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 red or green pepper, minced
2 tbsps flour
1 1/4 cup chicken stock
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper
1 cup medium salsa
1/2 cup fat free sour cream or greek yogurt

for the enchiladas:
3 cups chopped cooked chicken breasts (about 4 breasts)
1 lb Monterrey Jack Cheese, shredded
1 small yellow onion, chopped
8-10 flour tortillas

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375

2. Heat the butter on high in a sauce pan. Then saute garlic & both kinds of peppers for a minute. Then add the flour and stir constantly for about 2 mins. Then add in your chicken stock, cumin, salt, & pepper and bring to a boil. Gently stir in salsa and sour cream or greek yogurt.

3. Pour a little sauce in the bottom of the pan about 1/2 cup. I don't like my Enchiladas super saucy so you could put a little more if you like.

4. Fill your tortillas with chicken, cheese, & onion (you can omit if you don't like onion). Place in the pan and continue on until pan is full. Then pour as much or as little of the sauce as you like on top of the filled tortillas then use whatever cheese you have left and put on top and bake for 20 mins.

For the best results DO NOT buy bag cheese! Buy the cheese in blocks and shred yourself. It always melts the best. Enjoy the cheesy goodness! It pairs well with chips and salsa or a salad.

3 layer Banana Cake

Moist... it's just not a word I like to use. It just I don't know quite how to explain my hatred of that word. There just is no other word to describe this delicious cake! It is super ..moist.. and just so good. The cream cheese frosting is the perfect compliment to this cake.

I made this cake for my 27th Birthday. I don't order cakes from bakeries here because the Belgians are huge on like pastry cake piled with lots of fruit. They are delicious but for my birthday I wanted cake, good old fashioned cake piled on with loads of yummy frosting. I also am a baker so that means I am super picky. So I decided none of my friends should deal with my serious obsession with food and worry about what I would like, commissary cake was not happening, and my husband can't bake to save his life.. poor guy lol. So I decided to make my first 3 layer cake. I am so glad that I did. We went out and had Indian food at Ashoks. If you ever find yourself in Belgium in the Mons area please do yourself a fantastic favor and look up Ashoks. The atmosphere is not only so inviting and authentic but the food is fantastic. The chef himself came out and checked on us quite a few times and gave ice cream to our friend's little boy.

I topped my cake with lots of sprinkles to celebrate turning 27 and my oldest son Jakob photo bombed the cake picture, it just makes it that much better.







3 Layer Banana Cake by The Novice Chef modified by me

Ingredients:

3/4 cup butter
2 cups granulated sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1/2 cup sour cream
4 oz non sweetened applesauce
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 cup mashed over ripe bananas (about 2 large bananas)

For the frosting:
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 (12 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
5 3/4 cups confectioners’ sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 275 degrees F (135 degrees C). Grease and flour 3 8-inch round cake pans. In a small bowl, mix mashed bananas with lemon juice, set aside. In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl, cream 3/4 cup butter and 2 cups sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in 2 teaspoons vanilla, sour cream and applesauce. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the milk. Stir in banana mixture.

Divide batter (about 2 1/2 cup batter in each pan) into prepared pans. Bake for 40-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove pans from oven and immediately place in freezer for 45 minutes. (This keeps the cake moist by immediately stopping the baking so the cake does not continue to bake when you remove it form the oven.)

For the frosting: In a large bowl, cream butter and cream cheese & cinnamon until smooth. Beat in vanilla. Add confectioners' sugar and beat on low speed until combined, then on high until frosting is smooth. Assemble the 3 layers with a thick layer of frosting in between each layer. Then apply a thin crumb coat on the top and sides. Pop back in the freezer to harden the crumb coat for about 10 minutes. Then apply a thick even layer around the outside of the cake.