Showing posts with label recipe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label recipe. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

"Cup" Cakes

Here is a wonderful, budget-friendly idea for making a little dessert similar to "Warm Delights".  I call it a "cup" cake because we make it in a coffee cup.  Though it's not nearly as cute as a real cupcake, it sure is tasty!


All you have to do is put 4 tablespoons of cake mix and 2 tablespoons of water in a cup and mix it up.  (Earlier recipes suggest adding 1 1/2 teaspoons of mayonnaise for "instant" egg and oil which you would normally add to the cake mix but I don't find it necessary.)  If you want to get fancy, mix something in before you microwave it: chocolate syrup, caramel, fruit preserves, coconut, chocolate chips, whatever.  Microwave for 30-60 seconds.  You could put a little frosting on it when it's done   The first one I made for my son was a yellow cake and after I microwaved it I put canned cherry pie filling on top.  He loved it!  It's perfect for singles or smaller families that don't want to make a whole cake or 2 dozen cupcakes at once (or fire up the oven on a hot day.  You know what would be a really good topping?  Ice cream!)  And it's much more cost efficient than buying the real "Warm Delights".  You can often find cake mix on sale for $1.  Here is my little repurposing tip: I have found that after you use about 8 tablespoons of cake mix (2 "cup" cake servings) the rest of the mix will fit nicely in a jar that originally held spaghetti sauce and you can just spoon it out when you want it.  Let me know if you try this or what your favorite variations are!

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Money-saving + recipe

I don't usually talk about coupons or recipes here, but today I have a few odds and ends:

CVS stores have been springing up in St. Louis over the past year.  Shopping there can be a lot of fun because you can get ECBs (Extra Care Bucks-like money toward a future purchase) for buying certain things.  I used to shop CVS and Walgreens like a pro when I lived in Texas.  (Once at Walgreens I spent 4 cents for about $57 worth of stuff and got a rebate back on one item and a coupon good for $5 off my next purchase!)  This week at CVS you can get a 6x8, 10 page photo album for $7.99 and then get back $7.99 in ECBs, so it's free.  Nicole at Nicole's Nickels has some tips on how to make your photo book here.

Did you know that you can make cinnamon rolls from Trader Joe's (99 cent) pizza dough?  You could also use Pillsbury French Loaf (but it would take 2 cans and run you about $5).  I first read about this idea on My Dear Trash (go visit!) and then found this recipe for IKEA-Inspired Cinnamon Rolls on the kitchn (yet another chapter of apartment therapy).  They are so delicious!  We have been missing IKEA and their cinnamon rolls!


Lastly, I am trying to dig in to my thrift store stash and make some new things and I have decided to do a theme week: Totally 80s!  Come back this week and see how I update things that are obviously products of the 80s: chunky hearts, mauve, lace and peach ribbon and maybe ducks.  I don't know.  Wooden ducks are as quintessentially 80s as mauve and that sad shade of country blue.  Can they be updated?

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