Ninja Turtle Cake

I recently "traded work" with a gal.  She made some stellar artwork for my ebook, and in exchange, I made her a ninja turtle cake for her boyfriends birthday (further confirming my notion that boys never fully grow up...).  This was a really fun cake to make.  I only wish I could've eaten it, too!  I used this yellow cake recipe.

, 

As for the chocolate frosting, I have found a new favorite.  Seriously.  This is so good.  I made some minor adjustments to accommodate my love for dark chocolate.  This is probably the easiest and tastiest frosting I've ever made, so it will probably become a staple in my cake-making in the future.  Here's the recipe:

Dark Chocolate Frosting

Ingredients:
*1 cup butter-softened
*4 cups powdered sugar
*1 1/4 c Hershey's dark cocoa powder
*1 T vanilla
*1/3 c milk

Directions:
*Cream butter.
*Mix in powdered sugar slowly.
*Add vanilla and cocoa.
*Slowly mix in the milk.

That's it!  Easy and delicious!

Here's how I put the cake together:

1 layer of yellow cake

cover with chocolate frosting

1 layer of yellow cake

cover with chocolate frosting

cover sides with chocolate frosting and smooth it out (if it's not sooth, the bumps will show through the fondant)

Then, the fondant.

This easy marshmallow fondant is SO easy to make and work with.  I've used it a number of times and always love the results.  It will be white.  Split it up into portions for the different colors.  For this ninja turtle cake, I rolled most of it into green, a small portion orange, and a small portion white.  I used Wilton's gel colors.  I stuck some white for the eyes, cut slits out of the orange, and placed the orange mask over his eyes.  I then used black squeeze frosting to dot the eyes.  Then the mouth...I rolled out the white, and used a knife to cut it into shape.  Then I used the black frosting to make the teeth.  

When working with this fondant, powdered sugar is your friend.  It will prevent sticking.  BUT, you'll end up with the white stuff all over your cake.  To get it off, get your hands a TINY bit wet and rub it over the powdered sugar spots.  This will clean up your cake.  You can also use a slightly wet rag, but I like the control I have with my own fingers.  Also, when layering fondant over fondant, if you rub your moist fingers between the layers, they will stick better.  And again, the key here is only "sightly damp" fingers (I wet my hands and then dab them on a dry towel first).  

From start to finish, this cake took me about 3 hours.  I LOVE how it turned out!

Spice Rubs: Easy Gift Idea

I love these spice rubs because they are so easy to whip up, are great for a frugal budget, and are a practical gift idea.  My kids each took turns helping me whip up a few batches of these this past Christmas.  These are great for BBQ meats!

Here are a few recipes you can try.  Just mix all the ingredients together, and store in a small jar!

All Purpose Spice Rub

2 TBS + 1 tsp sea salt

2 TBS packed brown sugar

2 TBS paprika

1 TBS black pepper

1 TBS dried thyme

1 TBS dried oregano

3/4 TBS cayenne pepper

Creole Rub

2 1/2 TBS smoked paprika

2 TBS sea salt

1 1/2 TBS garlic powder

1 1/4 TBS cayenne pepper

1 TBS onion powder

1 TBS black pepper

1 TBS dried thyme

1 TBS dried oregano

Sweet & Spicy Paprika Rub

3 1/2 tsp paprika

3 TBS packed brown sugar

3 tsp sea salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

3/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp garlic powder

These recipes each fill one small Ball jar.  To make your jar look pretty, place your lid on top of the jar, place a square piece of fabric or an upside down cupcake liner on top, and then put the band on and secure.  Tie with a ribbon and label with a tag.

Planning for Zoe's #4

My little Zoe bug turns 4 next month.  I can't believe she's already such a big girl.  

She has a pretty special birthday....she was born on my 23rd birthday!  And as if that wasn't cool enough, I was born on my dad's 23rd birthday!  I'm totally not kidding.  3 generations, all one birthday, 23 years apart.  It's pretty amazing and special.  (She was born via csection, however the only reason they did it that day was because I was in labor...I was totally opposed to sharing a birthday up until that moment.)

Because we share a birthday, I feel a big responsibility to make it very special for her.  Growing up, there were years where my dad would get to choose the cake we shared or he'd get the choice of where we went for our birthday.  I think I had some birthday scars, to say the least!  I really want to Zoe to 1) experience the specialness of her birthday and 2) experience the specialness of sharing a birthday.  For me, at least right now, they almost have to be 2 separate things.  She needs a party all her own.  One where we sing just to her, decorate how she likes, eat what she wants.  That's important.  At the same time, we like to capitalize on all the "free birthday" places together.  It's fun to go to restaurants and ask for our free birthday pizookie or fudge or ice cream or whatever.  

Anywho, she and I sat down today to begin planning her big day.  She has chosen a tinkerbell theme.  Thank God for Pinterest...I don't know how people planned parties on their own 20 years ago.  Seems hard.  Tinkerbell posed a little issue for the sake of the boys at her party until I realized we could make them Peter Pan hats or Captain Hook bandanas, etc.  Score! 

We've got it all figured out and I'm going to get going on my budgeting and prep for the party now.  For those of you new to my blog, I aim to spend no more than $100 at each kids birthday party.  This includes food, favors, decor, games, etc.  I can't wait to show you all how this one turns out! 

Until then, here are a few that I've done in the past:

Ladybug Theme

Orange/Blue Boys Birthday

Train Themed

Superhero Theme

Somehow, I missed doing a post for Ellie's Rapunzel birthday last year :/  Hope these themes get you by until I post our Tinkerbell (Peter Pan) party details!

Birthday Door Way Surprise

My son and nephew have birthdays just 1 day apart.  They almost had the same birthday, except the hospital sent me home saying I wasn't actually in active labor yet (hmph...note to doctors: moms who have to have a csection should not be required to spend so many hours in active labor first...totally not fair).  Moving on...

For my nephew's birthday, she hung balloons from his doorway as a wake-up surprise.  The balloons were quickly popped and so she replaced them with these cute tissue paper puffs.  

I LOVE this idea!  Whether with balloons, tissue paper puffs, streamers, ribbons, etc., I think this would be such a fun surprise for a little one to wake up to on their birthday morning!  

What special surprises have you done for your kiddos birthday's?  

Aaron's 1st Birthday Party

Yesterday our little guy turned 1!  We threw him a birthday party with some friends and family.  Although I've been quite exhausted from caring for my kids and injured husband (he tore his ACL, MCL, and PCL), I still managed to decorate and plan an orange & blue themed party for my sweet Aaron.  Here are some of my favorites as far as decorating and food went:

I made a banner out of a variety of blue and orange scrapbook papers, yarn, and ribbon.  This was by far my favorite birthday project.

Dipped oreos were a hit!  I dipped oreos in vanilla melty chips, and then drizzled melted blue melty chips over the top.  They were so tasty!

The kids all loved cheese and grape kabobs.

Old Crystal Light containers were decorated with scrapbook paper and made into fork & spoon holders.

An old jar was wrapped with scrapbook paper and stuffed with orange and blue straws (you can find single-colored packs of straws at Michael's for $1).

Napkins rolled and wrapped with ribbons.

Orange and blue Jell-o.  Yum!

I used ribbon and some mini-clothespins (also found at Michael's) to hang pictures of Aaron.

Red Velvet cupcakes with Pioneer Woman's Cream Cheese Frosting.  I made #1 banners using toothpicks and scrapbook paper.  Who knew that Red Velvet was so messy?  I had never done it before, and I would never do it again ;)  The cake in the background is Party Chip Rainbow with Cream Cheese Frosting.  The #1 candle was from the Dollar Store!

The total party cost (including nachos to eat, orange and blue candies for munching, and sodas to drink) was about $100.  Perfect, fun, and frugal for a 1 year old!  Plus, I actually had a $25 gift card to Michael's from Teacher Appreciation week, so I really only spent $75!!!  

I learned that a little bit of scrapbook paper can go a LONG way in terms of decorating!  

Aaron was a little ham, and loved all of the attention.  He loved his new cars (poor boy, with 2 older sisters, he usually plays with dolls) and totally crashed at bedtime.  Thanks to everyone who came to celebrate our sweet little guy!  

Homemade Yogurt

So, one of my monthly goals is to pick one commonly eaten, processed-ish food that my family regularly eats/buys, and figure out a tasty, easy, and cost effective way to make it myself.  The goal is that after each month, I am buying one less processed product from the store, and I am completely taking responsibility for making it on my own.  So, not taking it out of our diets, but rather replacing it with a homemade, healthful version.  Thus far, I have successfully replaced our granola bars, our nutrigrain/cereal & fruit bars, and our marshmallows (recipe to follow later this week-I will be trying out some peppermint marshmallows!).  Bread has been hit-or-miss.  I just need to develop the skill of making a soft sandwich bread that my children will eat.  Yogurt has been on my list for a while, but the recipe has seemed a little daunting to me, and I have yet to actually do it. 

Today, I almost did a happy dance when I learned that I could actually make yogurt in my crockpot, with far fewer steps and much less difficulty than the stove/pot approach.  I will be trying out homemade yogurt later this week.  It is much more cost-effective than buying yogurt from the store, plus there are really only 2 ingredients, plus any fruit or other flavorings you might add yourself.  Knowing exactly what is in your food is such a huge plus!  I am so excited I can hardly wait!  I will, of course, share my results and recipe with you after I give it a whirl!

Mmmm.  My daughter's chocolate cupcakes just came out of the oven.  She is bringing cupcakes to preschool tomorrow since her birthday is Saturday (tomorrow is her last day at preschool for the week).  I made exactly enough for each of the kids in her class so that I can't be tempted to eat one ;)