I know there are probably billions of recipes for red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, but these are definitely worth a try. I doctored up a box mix a bit and I also like my cream cheese frosting more cream cheesy, less sugary, so this frosting was perfect!
So good!
The perfect last-minute Valentine's Day dessert!
Also, after years of baking, I have finally perfected how much batter to put in the cupcake tin. Finally! :) I used to use a small measuring cup and eyeball it, which seemed to leave my cupcakes either way too full or not full enough. So, if anyone else finds it tricky to figure out how to fill the cupcake tin up about 2/3 of the way, here's my tip: Use a cookie dough scooper. About two scoops makes the perfect sized cupcakes. I just wish I had thought of that sooner!
A few topping ideas: Sprinkles are always cute, but I also love the simplicity of a single piece of fruit, like a raspberry, blueberry or strawberry or a chocolate chip. Would also be cute topped with a conversation heart for Valentine's Day.
For those of you waiting for this yummy recipe, here you go and you're welcome! ;)
Red Velvet Cupcakes
Ingredients:
1 box of red velvet cake mix (I used Betty Crocker) *don't follow the ingredient list on the box
3 eggs, room temperature
1 1/4 cups whole milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup melted butter
1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
Directions:
Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Beat all ingredients on low for a few seconds, then medium speed for about 2 minutes, scraping down the bowl edge if needed.
Line cupcake tins with cupcake cups and pour batter so each cup is about 2/3 full.
Bake 18 minutes.
Let cupcakes completely cool before frosting them.
Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients:
16 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
Directions:
Cream the cheese first, then add the rest of the ingredients. Blend until smooth.
*Frosting adapted from Cupcakepedia's classic cream cheese frosting recipe.
I hope you like these cupcakes as much as I did! Enjoy! :)
Lindsey & I wanted to share some of our favorite children's books from our childhood. We have some really fun memories of our mom reading some of these books to us in a silly voice and bringing these books to life for us. They are now some of our favorite memories!
Some of these books have already become our kiddos' favorites, like The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and The Big Hungry Bear, The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See, and we hope the rest become favorites of theirs once they're a little older!
Here are a few of our favorites:
The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear
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Possum Magic
// The Napping House
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If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
// The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?
// Walt Disney's Story Land: 55 Favorite Stories
// Possum Come A-Knockin'
// Imogene's Antlers
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If You Give a Moose a Muffin
I think Lindsey & I both agree that one of our all-time favorite stories growing up was "De Tar Baby" from the Walt Disney's Story Land book. It's not exactly the most politically correct story and I learned they changed the version years back. I learned this after I bought Lindsey a copy, went to read the story and it was nothing like I had remembered! If you've been on Splash Mountain at Disneyland, then you might be a little familiar with the story of Brer Fox, Brer Bear and Tar-Baby. We got such a kick out of hearing my mom read this book over & over again, it is one of our favorite memories!
I also have vivid memories of my mom reading Possum Come a-Knockin', a silly story of a possum ding-dong ditching a family. Another possum book, Possum Magic, also made it to our list, so clearly we had a little obsession with possums! :)
Most of these books now have torn pages and scribbles — signs of well-loved books! ;)
What are some of your favorite books when you were a kid? Both of us are always adding to our kiddo book collection, so we'd love to hear them!!
Next week we'll share some of current favorite children's books too!
Becoming a mom for the second time has it's challenges, my main challenge is named Jena! Here are some things that I could not live without.
Baby Feeding Log: This baby feeding log app was a must have for Jayden's first month of life. If you are becoming a mom for the first time, you will learn that keeping track of your feeding and diapering is a must. Within hours of delivering Jayden I downloaded the app to keep track. You can track which side your baby last nursed on, how long your baby nursed for, when you last changed your baby and whether it was wet, dry, or both, and if you are bottle feeding you can keep track of that as well. Besides being free, one thing that I liked about this app was that you could manually enter information if you forgot to press the "start feeding" button. This app also allows you to track sleeping habits, which I never used because babies will sleep when they are tired and it's not always in a pattern. Plus no one every asks you when your baby last slept.
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| [via Amazon] |
The Boppy: If you are familiar with the Boppy, which most new moms are, you are probably imagining the most popular version, which is "u" shaped, but in fact there many different versions to chose from. We ended up with the Boppy Newborn Lounger from my aunt and uncle. At the time I thought we would hardly use it! That was a huge understatement! Jena lived in it until she started moving around. Now that we have a 2-year-old and a newborn I thought, once again, we would never use it! This time, though, I had real concerns that Jena would pull Jayden out of it. Once my concerns were laid to rest, it is now Jayden's turn to live in the Boppy. Although the cover is not removable, the entire thing is machine washable. Our Boppy has survived three kids (Jena, Raegan, and now Jayden) and still looks like new!
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| [via Amazon] |
Tervis Tumbler: Jeff's parents got him a Tervis Tumbler for Christmas a few years back and I loved it so much, that for my first Mother's Day he got me one. I love that it's plastic so I don't have to worry about it braking if Jena knocks it off the table, which happens quite a bit! You can also get a lid to minimize spilling, which I use with a straw. It's great that it's insulated so it stays cold for a long time. I use this cup almost exclusively for water and it works well while I'm nursing Jayden. When I am not using my cup, I feel like I am constantly filling up my glass.
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| [via Amazon] |
Nursing Cover: When I had Jena I had full intentions of getting a nursing cover but time flew by and before I knew it my nursing days were over. This time around my dad's girlfriend, Renee, got me one as a gift and I love it! Because I'm at school two days a week it works great to cover up while I'm pumping. There are several different names for these covers, but my two favorites are Hooter Hiders and Udder Covers. If I didn't get one as a gift I would have purchased one of these covers, strictly based on their names!
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| [via Target] |
Mossimo Tees: Like most of America, Target is my go to place to shop for well, just about everything. They have great deals on clothes, especially tee-shirts, long sleeve and short. These Mossimo Supply Co. Junior's Long Sleeve V Tees are wonderful. I love that you can dress them up with a jacket and some jewelry or wear them plain. I usually get a few at a time and they last forever. They are so versatile and just what you need after you have a baby. Because they are cheap you don't have to worry about replacing them if they get a baby stain on them! It's also nice that they come in so many different colors.
Before Raegan was born, Alex & I decided that we wanted the sex of the baby to be a total surprise. We had no idea, other than everyone's predictions, if we were going to be parents to a little guy or baby girl, until Oct. 30. We were completely shocked that Raegan was a girl — we were both convinced we were having a boy!
One of the hardest parts about not knowing, was figuring out how to design the nursery. We knew we had to keep it gender neutral, and easy enough to add a pop of pink or blue if we wanted to.
After looking around Pinterest for ideas, I decided on a modern safari "theme." I didn't want to go too heavy on the theme, because I hate hate hate super themey rooms (pretty sure I just made up the word "themey" :).
This became my favorite room in our old house & it was a little sad saying goodbye to this room when we moved into our new house.
I decided to take a trip down memory lane and share some photos from Raegan's nursery. I have been thinking a lot about how to design R's big girl room and have plans for it to look completely different. Stay tuned!
Here are some photos of R's nursery, thanks to the talented photographer Ashlee Gadd (If you're in the Sacramento area, definitely consider her for your photos!). She was so fun to work with. Also check out her blog, Where My Heart Resides, here.
Room Sources:
Crib: Target here (funny that I just realized this is called a Reagan crib!)
Curtains: Ikea here
Elephant curtain pullbacks: Urban Outfitters here
Shelves: Ikea here
Book racks: Ikea spice racks here
Dresser: Ikea here
Zebra art: Michaels
Animal cutout art: Handmade
Framed animal flash cards: Photo copies of Wee Gallery art cards, jungle collection
Rocking chair: Family heirloom
Toy chest: Family heirloom
Lamp & giraffe on shelf: Cost Plus World Market
Photos by: Ashlee Gadd Photography
If you'd like to know where anything else I forgot to include is from, just let me know!
