Chocolate Cake with Whipped Cream Frosting

I used to be the one who baked every single thing from scratch. Then I had kids, and well, I realized there is no shame in using a boxed mix every once in a while! Anything that saves time is worth a try. The key to making a boxed mix taste homemade is to add your own spin to it, don't follow the directions on the box.

I never use frosting in a can because I think it tastes horrible, it's always sickeningly sweet. I love homemade whipped cream, and it is easier to make than other frostings. I don't add much sugar and I think it complements the rich cake perfectly. You might like yours more sweet-you can always add a little more sugar! I also like to add gelatin to the whipped cream to stabilize it. It won't deflate into a watery mess and you can have a perfect cake for days, that is if you can keep from stuffing your face :-)

Here is my go to cake recipe:

Chocolate Cake with Whipped Cream Frosting 

One box of Betty Crocker chocolate fudge cake mix

3 eggs, beaten 

1 1/2 C water

1/3 C olive oil

2/3 C Greek yogurt

2 tsp vanilla  

Preheat oven to 325 if you are using a nonstick pan, or 350 if you are using a glass pan. 

Mix everything together until just combined. Bake in a greased 13x9 pan for 30-35 minutes. Check it early, you don't want it to dry out! 

While cake is cooling gather these ingredients for your whipped cream frosting:

2 tsp unflavored gelatin (just under one envelope)

2 Tbsp cold water

1 pint heavy whipping cream 

2-3 Tbsp sugar

2 tsp vanilla, or one vanilla bean, scraped 

Put the water in a small microwave safe dish and sprinkle gelatin over it. Let it sit until the gelatin has absorbed all the water. Microwave for 15-30 seconds-it will melt, but be careful you don't want it boiling over. Oops, I may have done just that! Whip cream in a stand mixer, just before soft peaks form add the sugar, vanilla, and liquid gelatin mixture. Whip little longer to insure the ingredients are well combined. 

Frost the cake once it's completely cool. Now you're ready to eat! You can make this ahead of time, the whipped cream keeps its texture for at least a few days. I don't know exactly how long it will keep...c'mon it's cake! In my house? Me *and* my husband? Two days, max.

Enjoy! 

OPI Couture de Minnie

I was going to post this yesterday, but I ended up taking E to the doctor and I ran out of time. Good news is he doesn't have a skin infection on his foot. He is just *really* allergic to insect/spider bites. What a relief! 

I have two polishes from the OPI Couture de Minnie Collection that will be released June. I lucked out because Ulta had them displayed early. Woohoo! I have always loved Minnie Mouse, so I think I'll have to buy the rest of the set. The bottle I'm holding is called Innie Minnie Mighty Bow. It's a beautiful blue toned red. It has a little bit of shimmer, but it's almost invisible unless you're in direct sun. I bought this one because I wanted something to go with the glitter, which is what my heart was really after! I think I only have two other reds, and they weren't exactly the right shade. I figured I might as well buy them together, they're part of a set so they'd complement each other, right? Well, it turns out that it looks even better than I imagined. IMMB has a perfect formula, it covered well with one coat, but I added a second just to make sure it looked its best in the photographs. It was really fast drying, too.

The glitter is called Minnie Style, and it's a mixture of matte white hexagons, and shiny pink and red hexagons. It was a little thick, but I added some Zoya thinner and it was fine after that. I dabbed the glitter on with the brush instead of brushing it on like I normally would. It distributed more evenly that way. I love the way these two polishes look together. Perfect!

Shade

Full sun.

Flash.

OPI Glacier Bay Blues

Glacier Bay Blues is an old black label OPI from their Canadian Collection, Fall 2004. It is discontinued, so when I found it on Amazon I had to get it. I think I paid about ten bucks. Not bad! I am completely head over heels in love with this color. It is absolutely breath taking! I thought it was a teal/purple duochrome but once I put it on I realized it's more of a dark purple, green, royal blue multichrome. Love it! The photographs show the blue and green shades accurately but try as I might I cannot capture the beauty of the purple. You have to see it in person!

The only complaint I have with this polish is the formula. Saying it was a challenge to work with would be a huge understatement. Maybe I am just used to working with the newer Three Free polishes, I don't know. But this was a watery, cuticle-flooding disaster. And it was still patchy at three coats, so I had to add a fourth. Next time I wear it I'll probably layer two coats over black. Lastly, my fast dry topcoat, which works perfectly with EVERY OTHER polish I own didn't work well with GBB. It dented easily three hours after I put it on. 

Inside, filtered sunlight.

Outside, shade.

I love the way it looks in the bottle!

Outside, full sun. The purple you see in the bottle was the best representation I could get with my camera.

Inside.

This is a terrible, blurry, awful picture but I had to include it. It shows the green beautifully! Do I win an award for most awkward hand pose of all time? Arrrgggg The Claw!!!!

L'Oreal New Money

I hope all you moms out there had a wonderful Mother's Day! I enjoyed my weekend, and took some time off from my blog and work for Fit Mom Diet. The boys took me out to breakfast yesterday, cleaned the house, and let me relax. It was the best Mother's Day I've had yet. 

This is New Money by L'Oreal. I saw it at Target, and loved the color as soon as I laid eyes on it. It is a beautiful shade of chartreuse and I had to get it since its unique to my collection.  I was so impressed with the brush and the formula. It was a cinch to put on, the brush is thick, short, and rounded. I think it would be hard to mess up the application with such a perfect brush. The formula was the right consistency and covered well with two medium coats. It also dried lightening fast. I'll definitely have to buy more of their colors. The only downside I found was the size. The bottles are only a little over 11ml, and most of the other polishes I have are 15ml. It was cheaper, but I'd rather pay a few dollars more and get more polish! This color is so pretty, the pictures don't quite do it justice. 

Shade

Shade

Direct sun

With flash

OPI Vesper

This is the third Bond Girls Liquid Sand I have to show you guys. It's a really interesting polish. It looks maroon in the bottle, purple at one coat, and almost black at two coats. It has tiny particles of black and white glitter. It isn't the same shiny glitter as Jinx or Solitaire, it looks more like actual pieces of sand. The texture is also grittier, which I don't mind at all. It was more difficult to work with than the other Liquid Sands. I found if I put it on too thick it was really patchy-purple with black globs. Not good! The second time I wore it (what you see here) I was meticulous with the application and it looked ten times better!

I'm positing from my phone so it's much easier to put all the pictures at the end. Love this one, it wears like a coat of cement, too!

 

FireStorm

I love this manicure! I started with a base coat of Zoya Heidi, over that I sponged Zoya Sharon, OPI A Roll in The Hague, and Essie Watermelon. I liked the gradient and I wore it for a day just like that. Then, not surprisingly, I got bored. I didn't want to run to Sally's to pick up some striping tape so I just cut thin strips of scotch tape instead. I taped off each nail and used one thick coat of Zoya Storm over the top. I like the way they came out- but they aren't perfect so don't look too closely! 

Before the Storm hits. See what I did there? ;-)

The lines kind of remind me of lasers. I like that it's a bit edgy.

You can see the small holographic particles better here. 

Shhh, don't tell anyone my edges aren't perfect!

Fever=No Sleep for Mama

I was going to post something this weekend but E has been sick. I don't think I've gotten more than three or four hours of sleep a night for...well, I'm so tired I can't even remember! I think it's been four nights of terrible sleep. He seems fine during the day, but the nights are rough. He falls asleep ok, but he is restless and cries a lot. I slept many hours in the recliner holding him. Now I think I'll have to make my first ever chiropractic appointment. Ouch.

Yesterday my husband made breakfast, and dinner! He also ran some errands for me, did five loads of laundry, cleaned the kitchen...I am one lucky lady! I haven't had a break in a long time, sometimes I think staying at home is harder than having a job in the outside world. Well, at least for me :-)

Hopefully tonight will be a better night. What do you moms out there do when your little ones are feverish? Any tips or tricks you swear by?

Here is a photo of a manicure I did weeks ago. I am glad I have some of these saved up! This is OPI Live and Let Die over Zoya Ali. I love the almost-black green and hot pink together. And, yes, even a post about a sick baby has to have nail polish included somehow!