Vanilla Cake with Strawberry Cream Cheese Filling

Three months ago I made my son his second birthday cake. As I was planning the party I found a vanilla cake with strawberry cream cheese frosting on pinterest. Let me tell you, it was love at first sight. It looked so good, I knew I had to try it. I wanted to do a trial run because, what if it wasn't? But, as luck would have it, I ran out of time. I had never made a vanilla cake from scratch, and to be honest, I was really concerned when I read the ingrediants. It called for things I didn't have in my kitchen and I don't like making substitutions the first time I try a recipe. I just wasn't sure it would turn out well. I debated on what to do since I knew I wasn't going to have time to redo it and decided on using this vanilla buttermilk cake recipe from Lick the Bowl Good. I really cannot say enough about this blog. I have tried several of her recipes and they all turn out really good. I have never met her or spoken to her, so my opinion is in no way tainted. She just has really good recipes. Because I've used her recipes before and had a lot of success, I felt more comfortable knowing what the finished product would be then someone I've never heard of before. I've had complete disasters before from random people and I didn't want to risk it with a birthday cake.

The one thing I was really worried about is the size of the cake. I wanted to make a 9x13 size sheet cake because I wanted to decorate the top of it, but because I wanted to do a filling, I needed enough for two layers. The Vanilla Cake recipe I used made plenty for me to do this, so I was really really happy. I didn't have to use all the strawberries it called for in the strawberry cream cheese frosting because I only did one layer. I used maybe 1/2 to 2/3 of the strawberries it called for. I spread the cream cheese frosting out and then laid sliced strawberries on top. I put the second layer on and frosted it in the remaining cream cheese frosting. It tasted really good, but I kept having to stick it into the freezer because it was kind of soft. It wasn't very good for decorating. Oh well, live and learn. I used a buttercream recipe to decorate the guys and write "Happy Birthday."

I made this again this past weekend for Memorial Day, which I don't like to repeat recipes because I have so many to try..haha! I used fresh locally grown strawberries we picked a few days previously and decorated the cake with blue frosting to make it red white and blue.

This cake recieved more compliments then anything I've ever made. I had people come back up for seconds, so you know that's a good sign. :)  Seriously, go make it! And splurge on the ingredients, get the buttermilk and get the cake flour, you won't regret it!

Stop on over to Lick the Bowl Good for the Vanilla Buttermilk Cake recipe.

Check out Perry's Plate for their recipe for the Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting. Or you could always make the recipe they give with it. It has a lot of good reviews, I just wanted to stick with what I know. :)

Five Years, 3 addresses, 1 Business and a baby

My husband and I just celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary. I know a lot of people say they can't believe its been so long but I feel the opposite! I feel like we've been married forever! I honestly really have to think about it to remember my prebaby life, let alone my prehubby life! In the past five years we've had a lot of fun, and maybe some not so fun times. ;) I'm so glad we've stuck it out though, he's my guy and theres no way I'm letting him go!

So on our anniversary we both worked, afterwards we got pizza from a local pizzeria we'd never been to before. We came home and watched a movie. Laid back and wonderful. Seriously, no complaints here. :)

I love you hun!

 

 

Shirt- Banana Republic about $20

Skirt- Sexymodest.com $19

Shoes- Target $7.48 

Instagram....Insta-whaaat?

Hey all!

I've been toying around with the idea of getting a public Instagram for a while now and finally decided to do it a couple weeks ago. I've been updating for a few weeks regularly on some things I've been up to and some things that interest me. You can find anything from fitness to food to motherhood on there. So if you have one, come follow along! 

@alisha_masten

Mother's Day: Awesome or Hallmark?

I've always appreciated Mother's Day, you would be hardpressed to find someone who loves and is as close to their mother as I am. That hasn't stopped me from viewing Mother's Day as many view Valentine's Day, a commercial holiday. That doesnt mean I didn't celebrate Valentines Day or Mothers Day, absolutely not! But I maybe haven't been as enthusiastic about them I guess you could say. I became a mother  2 years and 3 months ago. My first mother's day was nice, but to be honest, my husband kind of forgot about it until the last minute. We didn't do much, I can't even remember what to be honest. Frankly, I hadn't felt like I'd earned it. Afterall, I'd only been a mom for a few months. My second Mothers Day was wrought with drama and even though all ended well, it was a little stressful. My husband did take me to a Japanese steakhouse by us, so that was nice. This year was awesome, I am now a believer in Mothers Day.

 

It started by attending church with my family. We had three awesome speakers who spoke on the importance of motherhood. How instead of it being something to sneer at and look down upon, it's something to glorify and take pride in. The speakers left me so emotional, and I wasn't the only one. I then received a plant from the Young Men in our branch and a cupcake from the Relief Society (seriously, does it get better then a cupcake??). I helped our primary aged kids to make bracelets and cards for their mom's. All of this is nice, but it isn't what really made me feel differently. It was seeing my two year old walk up to me with a butterfly craft he made in Nursery. Seeing this little child present my first ever mother's day present to me, made me realize this day isn't for the moms. Its for the ones that us moms care about. Sure, I got roses, chocolates, bullets (does my husband know the way to a woman's heart or what!), and the most amazing card. But more importantly it was an opportunity for my son to learn to respect and love women. It was an opportunity for my husband to thank me for the work I do, and an opportunity to call his mother and tell her he loves her. It was an opportunity for me to reflect on my own mother and what really made her the best mom ever. It gave me a chance to reflect my own parenting and decide what changes should be made.

 

So to all the moms who say they maybe dont deserve a mothers day because they've only been a mom for a few months, or maybe you think it's a "hallmark holiday?" To you I say, so what? I was there once, but again, so what? So maybe people are going out and spending a ton of money on their mothers. Is that a bad thing? Certainly there are worse things to spend it on. And that doesn't mean you have to. Call your mom or mother figure. Tell her you love her. Say thanks. That's all it is about. :)

Who has time for hobbies

Hey everyone!

Thanks for following along! Sorry I've been so absent for this past month. My husband and I moved and still don't have internet hooked up or anything. :/ Between packing, moving and now unpacking I've barely had time to even breathe let alone write. Seriously guys, it's been bad, I haven't had a home cooked meal in about a month. Gaaah goodbye weight loss plans! Ha! I am hoping to get back into the swing of things after this weekend though. Maybe life will FINALLY calm down. ;)

Anyone else have this issue? I hate moving. Please tell me I'm not the only one. :(

Matching Game ~ Primary Style

My mom came up with this idea, so I will take zero credit for it. But I have to say, it's adorable. She did this a lot on week 5 or when someone couldn't come at the last minute and they didn't have a back up planned. It takes a little prep work, but it's a good result.

You need to break your primary into groups. Four or five will probably work best. You have two different sets of cards, they need to look different, either in color or size or something. One set of cards is going to have an adjective on it. It could say "goofy," for example (Other ones could be funny, wise, good, etc.). The other set has a noun on it. These might say, "Bishop (insert your Bishop or Branch Presidents name here)" or "Resurrection" or "Baptism."(she used names of people in the primary or bishopric, aspects of the gospel, or things they discussed in primary) Each group gets several cards with a noun on them to choose from. You choose one card on it from the adjective pile. So for example, lets say you chose the "goofy" card. Each group chooses which noun card they have that would best be described by that word. After each group chooses which card they want to use, whoever chose the adjective card gets to choose a winner. Whichever group gets rid of all their noun cards first, wins. If you want the game to go faster, you can have the person who chose the adjective card choose two winners, the best one that fits with the word and the funniest one.

For the cards, you could put the words on monkeys, elephants, or something else. I personally like the idea of using CTR shields. You can do large ones for the adjective cards and smaller ones for the noun cards. On the back you would have your word. If you wrote someones name you could put a picture of them for the kids that can't read. It may make it more fun for them. 

Here is a link to a couple cute CTR shield print outs.

5 Easter Sunday Sharing Time Ideas

This Sunday is Easter!! I can't believe it is already here, I have literally done nothing to prepare yet. This week also happens to be week 5 of March, so we get to be super creative. I've been thinking about some fun things to do this week involving Easter. I've listed a few ideas below.  You can even combine a couple ideas and do one half an Easter egg hunt and the other half a craft or whatever you feel like. Feel free to comment if you have a fun idea you would like to pass along.

1. Easter Egg Hunt-  This was actually a tradition in our branch up until the last year or two. The presidency would fill the eggs with candy and hide them outside in the bushes and grass and would let the kids find them. You can even color code the eggs for age group. For example tell the older kids they are only allowed to grab the pastel colored eggs, or the green and blue eggs, etc. This way the little kids get to find eggs to and it's all equal. If you don't want to fill them with candy, you can fill them with little prizes like erasers, stickers, rings, etc.

2. Movie with snacks- Bring a big blanket and provide popcorn and juice while they watch a movie. You could do something like Veggie Tales or maybe a movie about Easter. Turn the lights off to make it extra fun.

3. Make a Paper Plate Tombstone Craft- I found the idea here. These are seriously so cute, and they look so EASY. We don't get to do this sort of thing in Sharing Time very often, it is nice to branch out a bit and do something different. It's worth a click over. :) I found another craft here that is similar, but you don't use a paper plate. One less thing to buy :)

4. Play Matching Game - Primary Style - My mom made this game for her primary years ago, and her kids loved it. I have a full explanation of the game here.

5. Easter Trivia - I found this game from Martha Stewart that looks so adorable. You blow up balloons and stick a piece of paper with a question on it inside the balloon. Each child gets to pop a balloon and has to answer the question. All you have to do is make the questions about Easter and make sure you have enough balloons!


Have a Happy Easter everyone! I have a lot to get done before Sunday, I hope everyone else planned better then I did!