Recipes | Like a Saturday - DIY, Crafts, Recipes, Shenanigans

April 18, 2013
by likeasaturday 11 Comments

Strawberry Cake and Cream Cheese Frosting

How about one more shower post!

I made a strawberry cake and almond flavored cupcakes, both with cream cheese frosting. I am convinced that anything can taste better with cream cheese frosting.

I was surprised to see that the cake had completely vanished before the shower was even over. I don’t know if I have ever seen that happen before. Apparently, it was a big hit!

I baked the cakes before hand and froze them until the night before the shower. This was so helpful! It knocked an item off of my day-of to-do list, but I still had a fresh cake.

To make the cake, you will need :

1 box of store-bought strawberry cake mix

3/4 cup of water

1/3 cup of oil

3 eggs

1/2 cup of sour cream

I’m pretty sure the sour cream is what makes it. I also chopped up some fresh strawberries and combined those into the mixture to make it a little extra special. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix all of your ingredients together, and then divide between however many cake pans you will be using. I used 3 layers for this cake.

To create the textured look on the cake, I modified a Pinterest trick that I had seen. I piped a row of dots down the side of the cake and then wiped them to the right with a cake spatula. I repeated this around the entire cake until I was finished. I left the top of the cake smooth and sprinkled white sugar sprinkles onto it.

Now onto the cream cheese frosting. Have I mentioned that cream cheese frosting is the BEST? Seriously. I wish I could throw caution to the wind and eat a tub of this stuff in one sitting. It’s really quite easy to make and goes onto cake very well.

For one batch you will need :

1 – 8 oz block of cream cheese

6 tbs of butter

2 cups of powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp almond extract

You just mix all of that together with a hand or stand mixer and you are good to go! I needed about two batches each for the cake and 24 cupcakes {so, 4 batches total}.

Happy baking!

March 13, 2013
by likeasaturday 3 Comments

Irish Potato Soup and Soda Bread Bowl

Growing up, we always had Corned Beef and Cabbage for dinner on St. Patrick’s day. I actually really enjoyed the corned beef, but I’m not much of a cabbage girl. That’s the non-Irish part of me coming to the surface.

I felt like we needed to have some sort of Irish-y food for dinner, but with less cabbage. I decided on some good ol’ Irish Potato Soup served in Soda Bread Bowls. You can’t get much more Irish than taters and soda bread! For the bread, I followed this recipe. This bread is super easy to make, and delish! I baked the dough in a glass pyrex bowl to easily make a bowl shape.

To make the bowl, cut out the center of the bread {make sure not to carve to deep and cut through the bottom of your bowl}. I may have dipped my bread innards in some honey butter while I was cooking the soup. SO.GOOD. Hello, carb central!

To make the soup, you’ll need:

2 Tbs. butter

1 small onion – chopped

2 stalks of celery – chopped

1 large clove of garlic – minced

3 pounds of russet potatoes – peeled and cubed

8 cups of chicken broth

2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese

1 cup of green onion – chopped

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. black pepper.

In a large pot, melt the butter. Add the onion, celery and garlic and cook until tender. Add the broth and potatoes. Boil and then simmer until the soup has thickened and only small chunks of potato remain. Add cheese, green onion, salt and pepper and stir until cheese is melted. Serve in your bread bowls and sprinkle a little bit of cheese and green onion on top.

Enjoy!

February 19, 2013
by likeasaturday 4 Comments

Healthy Coconut Smoothie {Dairy Free}

I have a yummy smoothie recipe to share with you today! This is one of my favorites! It’s super easy to throw together in the morning or for a quick afternoon snack — and it’s packed full of healthy ingredients!

You will need:

1 c Coconut Milk {coconut is good for weight loss, promotes a healthy immune system, helps prevent heart disease, and gives you healthy skin and hair}

1 Tbs Coconut oil

1 Tbs Maca Powder {cholesterol reducer, helps with fatigue, and also helps with PMS symptoms}

1 Tbs Ground flax seed {high in fiber and omega-3′s}

1 tsp Vanilla extract

1/4 tsp Almond extract

1/4 tsp Cinnamon {regulates blood sugar, arthritis relief, brain booster}

Honey {To taste. I like to use local honey to help with my allergies.)

Ice Cubes

If you can’t find the maca powder, or don’t want to use it, it’s okay to omit. It has a nice nutty flavor and gives you a little energy boost, so I’d definitely recommend it. I bought a bag in the health food section of the grocery store that will last me forever. You could also try ordering on Amazon.

If you’re flax seed is already ground, toss all ingredients except for the ice into your blender. If you have something like a Magic Bullet, this is a great recipe for those smaller blenders. Blend all ingredients together, and then add the ice {if you try to put the ice in initially, it will cause the coconut oil to clump}.

And that’s it! It’s a delicious treat, especially in the spring or winter months.

Enjoy !

{i party here!}

February 13, 2013
by likeasaturday 5 Comments

Chocolate Dipped Pretzel Rods

I have another easy, sweet Valentine treat to share with y’all today! This one is especially great if you’re trying to think up any last minute heart day gifts. We like to keep Valentine’s Day pretty simple in the Like a Saturday household. We get takeout and make it a night in {no crowds and no cooking — a win win situation!} and I make chocolate covered strawberries and pretzels.

The easiest {least messy} way to make chocolate covered pretzels is to use the pretzel rods, instead of the usual twisty pretzels. I purchased a bag of Snyder’s pretzel rods, almond bark, and some Valentine themed sprinkles. You could also use crushed candies.

I jerry rigged my own double boiler again; but this time, I melted the chocolate in a mason jar. Since the pretzels are so long, this was really helpful to be able to just dip the pretzel instead of trying to roll it in a shallow bowl or having to spoon the chocolate. Just tap the pretzel on the side to shake off any excess chocolate {excess chocolate? is that a thing?}.

I had wax paper laying out and ready to go to set the pretzels. While the chocolate is still wet, sprinkle the candies or sprinkles. I also drizzled contacting chocolates on the pretzels using my plastic bag method I talked about in my Oreo Truffles post.

This is a really easy, tasty gourmet treat! How do you plan to commemorate the day of love?

{i party here!}

February 7, 2013
by likeasaturday 7 Comments

Valentine Oreo Truffles

Do I have a tasty treat for you today! These Oreo truffles are so easy to make for your sweetie this Valentine’s Day {or for yourself! I know I could probably down a whole batch in one sitting!}.

The only items you need to concoct this deliciousness are : 1) a package of Oreos 2) a package of cream cheese 3) baking chocolate and 4) and food coloring or sprinkles of your choice to decorate with.

Twist your Oreos apart and stick them into a food processor {cream and all}.

Once you’re left with Oreo powder, mix in the softened cream cheese. I bought store brand Oreos, and the package was double the size of a normal Oreo pack, so I double the cream cheese.

Combine the mixture very well until it is the consistency of play dough. Start rolling to mixture into balls, or whatever shape you like. You could even use small cookie cutters to create hearts or other shapes. Place each truffle on wax paper or a silicone baking mat on top of a cookie sheet. Pop those puppies into the fridge for a couple of hours.

Here comes the fun/messy part. Melt your chocolate in a double boiler, or a makeshift double boiler like I did here. I put a little bit of water into a sauce pan, and balanced a glass bowl on top. Voila! InstaBoiler!

Dip each truffle into the melted chocolate and tap off the excess. Be careful not to burn yourself! Set the newly chocolated {it’s a word – promise} back onto the cookie sheet to dry. Once the initial chocolate shell has set, you can start decorating. I used white chocolate tinted with food coloring to add a little extra oomph. Put a little scotch tape on the bottom corner of a zip lock baggie, fill with melted chocolate, and snip a tiny piece off of the corner. You can use the back to pipe on your decorations.

While some of the decorative chocolate was still wet, I sprinkled on red sugar sprinkles for extra Valentiney love.

These are great to bring to parties! You can color the chocolate to coordinate with the theme, or do red and green for Christmas. The possibilities are endless for these little guys. Good look not eating the whole batch before party time, though! These are seriously delicious.