King Cake

Yesterday was Kings day. The start of King Cake season in New Orleans. So I decided to bake a king cake since I can't buy one out here in California. My favorite from New Orleans Has always been Randazzo's king cakes, so I wanted to make one close to theirs. I used this recipe my mom gave me. It came out great I might add less lemon and maybe some vanilla to the icing next time. Other than that just watch the cake as baking temperatures greatly differ from oven to oven as mine only took 15 mins.

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I use this site and love the e-mail updates and just the ease of using the site.

Linda

Cake Batter Pudding Cookies!

So the other night I was on Pinterest and saw this link from Chef in Training. And had all the ingredients in the pantry so I decided to bake!

They came out soft and delicious. I do recommend letting them cool completely and harden fully before you eat one. I know I know the warm ones are soooo tempting but these cookies are better cooled than warm and doughy.  I think I may try experimenting with other kinds of cake mix and puddings! Any Suggestions?

Cake Batter Pudding Cookies 

1 1/2 sticks (or 3/4 cup) butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 (3.4 oz) package instant vanilla pudding mix
3/4 cup yellow cake mix
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
2-1/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
sprinkles



Preheat oven to 350 F.
Stir together flour, salt and baking soda and set aside.
In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars together.
Add in pudding package and cake mix and beat until well blended.
Add eggs and vanilla and mix until smooth.
Add flour mixture slowly until well incorporated.
Mix in sprinkles sprinkles.
Roll into 1" balls and place on greased baking sheet.
Bake at 350 F for 10-12 minutes.

Let Cool then Eat!

Linda

THE LIBRARY

From Today's Trip

I love to read! And so do my two stepchildren. But books can be expensive and so can buying them for an e-reader. So we use the library. For the kids we use it as part of an awards system. If you stay “Sunny” in school all week or get no “tallies” this week we will go to the library on Friday after school. They each have their own library card in their own name and Love picking out their own books. And M and I love it because it is a FREE activity.

The Santa Clarita Public Library also has a really cool program where you can check out e-books from Amazon for free through the library for 21 days at a time. You just log onto their site and request the book you want and when its available they send you an e-mail and you download it onto and Kindle enabled device or PDF reader. I know a lot of other cities and states have this feature just check with your local library to find out.

Also a little known fact about the library is that you can check out DVDS for free. So instead of using the Redbox or the Blockbuster box we reserve our movies online prior to going and when they are in we pick them up.  And instant at home movie night, just add the homemade popcorn and maybe an Icee made with the ice cream maker.

Using the library is not just for reading anymore. It has quickly become one of my favorite frugal activities.

Linda

SWAGBUCKS

Swagbucks is my favorite way to earn money online. It’s a free site that you can use as a search engine to earn swag bucks. And those swag bucks are converted into prizes, my favorite being the Amazon gift cards. I use Swagbucks just like I would Google and the searches add up. You can also take surveys, watch SwagbucksTV, Play Games, do some “tasks” which are basically search jobs on the internet, print coupons (which I like to do because I am going to print them anyway so I might as well get something out of it), and set up referrals.

Swagbucks is easily one of my favorite ways to earn a little extra Amazon money for the holidays or those birthdays when spending can get out of hand.

You can sign up here Swagbucks.com

Linda

(full disclosure policy: all links in this post are referral links)

The First Post

This is my introduction into blogging! Hi I am Linda and you can read a bit about me in the about me section! I hope you will stick around to get to know me.  I am learning as I go in all aspects of life. I will try anything within reason and will do it with conviction.  I am from New Orleans and love the culture and traditions I grew up with and try to incorporate them into my life here in Southern California.

In this blog I will cover deals that I find interesting and hopefully teach you how I have learned to shop using coupons and store deals. I love, love, love the drug store games and hope y’all will keep me accountable as much as I hope to show you how to play them.

I also love DIY projects and crafting and baking from scratch. Cooking on the other hand is a work in progress. I will share my projects and recipes with y’all. I will share my successes and failures along with the journey taken to get there.

This is my promise to you. I promise to be honest in every way. I promise to learn with you, and I promise to answer your questions as soon as I humanly can (please do remember I am taking care of a 5 and 7 year old along with 2 dogs and a fiancé and apartment lol)

Linda