Make Your Own Birthday/Party Cake

 

 
 
 
 
A store bought cake can cost a lot of money, especially when you have three kids like me. Not to mention including buying cakes for friends and family, we would have to buy at least three cakes a year; that's a cost of at least $100 every year. $2,000 will be spent on birthday cakes by the time they turn 18! Luckily for me my wife is pretty talented in making her own cakes. This is not something easy like most of my recipes I post on here but with practice I think it's do-able. Also, my wife does 99% of the work so I am only describing the process of making the cake, can't really add any tips. If you have any trouble, ask Angel for some tips like how to make flowers or writing on the cake. (https://www.facebook.com/angel.hook.3)

Ingredients:

Butter cream (A lot, left overs can be frozen) 6-10 cups. Recipe
     - powered sugar
     - butter
     - vanilla extract
     - milk
Box cake mix (2)
Food coloring
Cake decorating supplies

Savings: $10-$40

 

 

 

 

Restaurant French Toast

 I learned how to make French Toast when I was about nine years old. It's probably one of the first things I learned how to cook on a stove. Even now as adult I still I really enjoy it for breakfast with my kids. Now I can make it a little fancier but not much has changed in how I make it.

Ingredients: 5 slices of bread (sour dough if possible)
5 Eggs
1 tbsp. ground cinnamon
2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 stick unsalted butter
1 cup powdered sugar or brown sugar
1 tsp. salt
1-2 cup syrup
(Serves 2 adults or 1 adult plus 3 children)

Savings: 10-20$

Surf and Turf Kabobs

Kabobs on the grill are a great way to save time and still have a great dinner. Forget about a long clean up after dinner of washing pots and pans and cleaning the kitchen. Forget about slaving over the stove preparing the main course and all of it's side dishes. The biggest challenge is cutting up the vegetable's and meat and sliding them onto a skewer; fire up the coals and your done!
Savings: 10-30$
Ingredients: 1 pound Top Sirloin/Flat Iron
 1 pound Swordfish/Tuna Nuggets
 1 Green Pepper
 1 Yellow Onion
 1 Tomato
 6-8 ounce mushrooms
 Marinade (Make your own marinade found here or to save more time buy some)
Serves 4

Zesty Baked Chicken

 Want muscles like that? Try this for recipe for a healthy protein packed dinner. Using a whole chicken is one of the most efficient ways to make a healthy and delicious meal. It is packed with lean protein and even the dark meat is full of nutrients like iron, zinc and B vitamins. A six ounce portion of white meat has 48 grams of protein and only 240 calories (dark meat has a little more calories but more essential nutrients). Healthy adults should consume about half of their body weight in protein a day and adults trying to build a lot of muscle should consume about one to one and a half times their body weight in protein. Try this recipe for a really painless meal that churns out a lot of flavor and necessary vitamins for the whole family.(She will probably be mad for posting this picture by the way!)

Savings: 10-15$
Ingredients: 1 whole chicken (try all natural for more flavor)
                      1 tbsp Sea Salt
                      2 tsp Pepper
                      1 tbsp Chili Powder
                      1Orange
                      1 Lime
                      2 tbsp Butter

I See, You See, We See

I was reading some of the "news" articles at Yahoo and came across this "supermarket guru article" on how to tell when meat is old and more. He has a lot of GREAT advice on how to avoid being tricked by the super sneaky markets. The only problem is, most of the stuff he said was wrong. Who declared this guy a supermarket expert? Someone needs to take that title back and give it to me! I'll show you some of the tips from the "expert" and then I'll show you what really to do in the supermarket. That's fair right?