3,2,1 Cake Gifts

I've written about 3,2,1 cake before HERE, but I thought I would share how I put it together for an easy gift idea.  I gave 3,2,1 cake mixes to my kids' teachers, the bus driver and the room moms in my class.  I put the mix in large mason jars.  I tied a ribbon with a tablespoon to the jar and included the following poem for my room moms (unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures...)

I made it in a cute card but unfortunately can't access it from my home because it was a publisher file (I'm on a mac now).  I hope to remember to save it as a PDF so I can put it on here later to save you some work should you want to use it.

Below, is the poem I made for the teachers and bus drivers (and then I had the "What you do:" part too).  I also gave them some candy and gift cards.

I wanted to give my mother-in-law some 3-2-1 cake too since I had been talking about it and I think it's perfect for someone who wants a taste of cake (without baking the whole cake).

For her, I bought a plain white mug and drew on it with Sharpie markers.  I then baked the mug at 350 for 30 minutes so that it would never come off.  I also liked how I packaged her cake so thought I would share it.

I got a little jar pictured above from Meijer (Target stores have them as well).  Then I used clear contact paper to cut labels.  The reason I did this was because if she wanted to change the flavor ever, she could just peel off the label easily (without that yucky stickiness that comes from stickers!).  I used Sharpies on these labels too so the writing wouldn't come off.  There were four sides on this jar that just seemed to need something to me, so I made the following labels.  

Have fun!  And if you haven't tried, 3,2,1 cake... I still think you should!  :-)

French Bread Pizzas

I don't cook.

Okay, I can cook some great Sloppy Joe's, Spaghetti Salad and perhaps a few other things but in general, my husband cooks and I clean.  It's a good thing.

Every now and then though I have to cook and my kids like pizza so I make these.  They are super quick, super easy and when I add one more ingredient (not pictured), I make them super healthy.

All you do is cut the bread, cover it with sauce, cheese and all the fixin's (duh)!

Place them on a pan (no spray needed) and that's it!

How easy is that?

I put garlic, onions, mushrooms and peppers on mine, but these were for my kids and they don't like all that good stuff yet.  Preheat your oven to 500 degrees and cook them for 7-10 minutes and they're done.  My kids LOVE these! They have a bit of crunch to the outside and yummy softness in the inside!

And now to tell you about the hidden ingredient that I have used in the past... SPINACH!

My kids (though good eaters usually) are not big on the veggies if it's not edamame, cold carrots or green beans. Spinach is loaded with goodness and so I puree it and put it down UNDER the red pizza sauce and 9 times out of 10, they don't even notice.  It's true! You can't taste it, so you should do it on your own pizzas too...

Here is another variation.  I got some yummy bread from Costco and made these tasty guys.

And bonus, they're cheaper and better than grabbing a hot and ready!

Try it!

3,2,1 CAKE!

 This summer my mom made the kids a "Magic Mary" cake.  Her friend Mary told her about it and it was perfect because it is lower cal (my mom has lost a ton of weight through WW).  The cake is really called "3,2,1 Cake" though "Magic" would be an appropriate name!
3,2,1 Cakes are perfect for someone who wants a little cake in a minute (literally).
All you really need to buy are two things:
1 box cake (of your choosing) and 1 box of Angel Food cake.
Take the mixes and then mix them together in a bowl.

Now for the magic...
In a mug add
3 T of mix
2 T of water (stir well with fork)
and 1 minute in the microwave and
VOILA!  CAKE!!

 You can add whatever you'd like for a topping.  I prefer frozen Cool Whip because it's yummy (and the "Lite" variety isn't too bad for you).  My kids love the chocolate variety but I prefer carrot cake so we have both mixes stashed in the pantry.  My kids like their cake on a plate but I eat mine right out of the mug!
If you'd like, you can add raisins or candy or other things to "spice" up your cake.  This is definitely something you're going to want to steal and try! I sure am glad I did!

A Rainbow of Fruit

Here's another idea I stole from Pinterest! No tweaking necessary on this project but so easy and yummy, I had to share! My daughter made these and it was a great lesson in ROY-G-BIV.