Who makes boring cupcakes? Not you.

My friend shared with me a recipe for making rainbow cupcakes. It was so easy that now I can't help but want to color my batter.   

Simply buy white cake batter (Again, I'm a working mom, so no scratch here.  Though I have seem some recipes on Pinterest where you make up your mix in advance and bag for your pantry.  I may try that on a slow weekend...If so, I'll keep you posted).  To make up for my store bought mix, I always add a packet of pudding (vanilla or chocolate depending) to give my cupcakes more substance and moisture.

For July 4th, I split my batter into two bowls, coloring half blue with food coloring and the other red.  Coloring cake batter is similar to coloring the dough in "My attempt at Pinata Cookies", but not as messy for your hands. 

I then put 1/8 cup of red batter in the cupcake pan followed by 1/8 cup of blue batter.  Baked as instructed on my box and ......

fun cupcakes that look like I spent a ton of time in the kitchen grew in my oven.  

As always, Enjoy!

Enjoy your yogurt!

If you read the labels of yogurt, you'll notice the large amount of sugar.  Yikes! Even on the low fat and Greek options.  It made me feel like reducing sugar in my diet was impossible.


The best way to reduce sugar in yogurt is to eat the plain yogurt.  Unfortunately for me, I do not like, no better yet...HATE, the taste of plain yogurt. I tried adding Stevia to plain Greek yogurt with some fruit mixed in.  No Thank You!  


To make some yogurt with a sweet flavor, I took plain Greek yogurt, honey and some of the berries from my previous post "What to do with Berries" and blended them together.  Ahhhh....Much better!  


You can mix this up!  Try a banana and honey, pineapple (I like buying the fresh organic pineapple at Whole Foods that is already cut) and orange or strawberries and banana.  This doesn't completely eliminate sugar, but at least I know what sugar is in there and its source.  


Be creative and of course, Enjoy!

What to do with Berries

I don't know about you, but I have bought blueberries, raspberries and strawberries only to have them go bad in the fridge and get moldy before they were eaten.  I saw a great pin on Pinterest to wash your berries with one part vinegar and two parts water.  This actually works!  And it doesn't leave a bad taste on the berries.

Sometimes, I still don't get through them fast enough.  So here is my idea on creating single servings for berries.

I bought a large tub of Organic berries at Whole Foods.  Using Ziplock snack bags, I filled each with a handful of berries, trying to get an even amount of each. I cut the strawberries so they will not take as long to thaw. I placed my single servings in the freezer.  Now, whether I want to pack in my lunch for work to go with my yogurt, throw in a smoothie or just have as a snack, I have easy access to just the right amount of berries and I'm not worried about eating them all before they go bad in the fridge.  :)

My version of a "Green Monster"

I never thought I would like spinach and plain greek yogurt in a smoothie, but I have come to love it.  The key is adding fruit.  Here is my version of a green monster.

Mix 8 oz. of coconut water.  I like Vitacoco because I can find containers of it at the grocery store (yes, even Walmart) in sizes larger than the single serving.  A handful of spinach, about 1 cup.  Use organic spinach.  Spinach is one of the "dirty dozen" that has high amounts of pesticides.  I throw in two large spoonfuls of plain Greek yogurt.  Use plain to eliminate the sugar that would be in there if you used vanilla.  And no, it won't taste bad because of the fruit.  Add a banana or two, an orange if you want, and ice.  Blend and....

Ta Da!!!  All I can say is Yum!

My attempt at Pinata Cookies

I saw a wonderful idea/recipe for pinata cookies on Pinterest from the sheknows.com website and wanted to try them out.  Below is my version.  In order to have made the pinata cookies, I would have needed to make dough for 18 dozen cookies and essentially would have had a finished product of about 7 cookies.  In my life, this just won't work.  The dough below is for 9 dozen cookies, which was 2 packets of sugar cookie dough mix from the grocery store.  I ended up with just big circle cookies that were colorful and fun.  The kiddos loved them.  They are much more versatile and can be used for any party or holiday but just choosing different colors.  Red, white and blue for July 4th or red and pink with a heart cookie cutter for Valentine's Day.  Mix it up and most importantly enjoy yourself while you are doing it.  

 I don't make cookie dough from scratch.  As a busy mom, I am grateful for  the powder pack of sugar cookie mix at the grocery store.  After making up the dough, I divided into sections and colored each a different color.  I chose the bright food coloring.

Be careful!  Food coloring stains.
Next time, I will probably throw on some rubber gloves so I don't have rainbow hands for the next few days.

Line your container with plastic wrap.  Then layer your cookie dough.  Place in the freezer  for  4 hours.

Here is a picture of your frozen block of cookie dough.  I ran hot water on the outside of my container to loosen the frozen cookie dough from the sides and bottom.

Cut into slices.

Bake according to your dough recipe/instructions on your box ;)