Wednesday, February 29, 2012

It's MOVING TIME

It's time to get packing. We're moving out of G-Vegas on Friday. It came suddenly. It was supposed to be 3/15ish, but, after some thought, we have decided that this weekend is the most opportune time to pack up our stuff and head on down to the Burg. I have mixed feelings about this.

I hate that Layla won't have her own room. I also hate that I have to be without my love for a couple of weeks while he finishes school in G-Vegas. I also hate that I have to share space with my parents, because, well, how awkward is that?

But, I really like that I'm living with my parents too, because, well, lets face it, they're a huge help. They pay the bills, cook the food (but I'll be doing a lot of that too, duh), watch Buggie while we're working...I can work! I can go to class. I can be around my old friends. But I'll also miss my G-Vegas buddies. Not for too long though. I know they will visit me. :]

So now we're rushed to pack. Actually, most people would find this incredibly stressful, but it's actually pretty relaxed for us. In the past, we have moved alll of our belongings in our own car in less than 24 hours-usually more like 12 hours. This time, we're getting a TRUCK -- oh yeah, doin' it big, baby! -- and taking 3 days. How awesome is that?! ha.

I need to update this blog-a-roo more often. Fo shizz. Keep checking. I'll try to update every Wednesday, at least. Because JennaMarbles inspires me. Ohhh yes. INSPIRATION!! <3

Saturday, February 11, 2012

The BEST White Cake Cupcakes I Have EVER Tasted.

Oh yes, I'm back to making my famous Cupcakes. :] I've been wanting to for days, but poor little miss Layla has apparently not been feeling well, so she hasn't given me a chance to bake any. I also did a complete cleaning overhaul in my apartment on Thursday, so it's so much easier when you have a clean & well organized kitchen to work with.

Now, I had stocked up on cake mixes a month or so ago when Publix had them BOGO. (P.S. PUBLIX BOGOS ARE THE GREATEST THINGS EVERRR!) So, I've been sitting here with a few boxes of cake mix in my cabinet, with no intention of making a boxed cake. I am not a fan of processed foods, and boxed cake, to me, is just to blah & generic. Anyone can make it. It's not WOW enough for my liking. I'm ashamed to make boxed cake. I don't like my food tasting average. It's just not me.

I knew these cake mixes had to be used though. I'm not a food waster. I hate throwing out things that have expired. A certain someone in our family (I won't mention names here but some people know who I'm talking about because it drives me absolutely insane) likes to pass food along to us. Because she's an EXTREME couponer and buys more food than is humanly possible to consume. Now, I'm all for free food, and handouts, but here's the thing: she gives us EXPIRED food. It's absolutely disgusting. I'm not talking like "oh this expired a month ago", I'm talking YEARS ago. She gave us 3, count them THREE, boxes of food a few months back. I read the dates on them, and I threw out all but about 4 canned goods (which we all know last decades). They had all expired like 2 years ago. Yes, years. That is not an exaggeration by any means. But, I digress. This has nothing to do with my amazing cupcake journey.

Where was I? Oh yes, not wasting the cake mix. So, I had the genius plan to doctor up my mix a bit. Make it a little more unique. So, I took a recipe I found at Recipe Girl and adapted it to the items I had in my kitchen. Here's the end result:

1 (18.25 ounce) box white cake mix
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated white sugar
a small pinch of salt
1 cup water
1 cup milk
2 Tablespoons vegetable or canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 large egg whites

Whisk together all dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients. Mix well with hand or stand mixer. Pour into either a) well greased cupcake pans or b) cupcake pans with liners in them. Bake on 325 degrees F for 18 minutes. 

OH.MY.LANTA. These are by far the most amazing, perfect, soft, moist, spongy, white cupcakes EVER. No lie. You can eat them without frosting. They're that good. In fact, Daniel & I ate two of them without frosting, fresh from the oven. They are absolute perfection. I'm a culinary master. tehe. 


I just wanted to share that recipe with you guys. If you make it, be sure to let me know how yours turned out. I'll post my end product & frosting recipe tomorrow. <3 Goodnight, cupcake lovers.