Talents

We love getting to know our readers and contributors better every month. This month we want to know what you are good at! What are your talents or skills? What do people complement you on? Is it your cooking? Your smile? Are you good at sports? Are you musical? Leave a quick comment so we can get to know you better!

Sour Cream Bundt Cake

Can you tell that I LOVE sour cream?!?!

This is another favorite. It's really like coffee cake. It's can be a dessert and it's also great for brunch.

1 box butter recipe cake mix
1/2 cup sugar
4 eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 heaping cup sour cream
1 cup chopped nuts (I use pecans or walnuts)
4 Tbsp. brown sugar
4 tsp. cinnamon

Combine cake mix, sugar, eggs, oil & sour cream in mixer. Fold in nuts.

In a separate bowl, combine brown sugar & cinnamon.

Grease bundt pan with butter then line with flour. Put 1/3 of the brown sugar mixture in the bottom of the pan. Add 1/2 the cake batter. Layer another 1/3 of the sugar mixture. Add the remaining cake batter. Top with remaining sugar mixture.

Bake at 350 for 60-65 minutes.

White Almond Sour Cream Cake

I don't know if I ever mentioned it, but as a hobby, my SIL & I decorate cakes.

Our favorite cake isa White Almond Sour Cream (WASC) cake that we usually pair it with a Mexican Vanilla buttercream. This cake stays really moist, but at the same time it's sturdy enough to carve and shape.

2 boxes white cake mix

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups granulated sugar

1 1/2 teas. salt

8 egg whites

2 2/3 cups water

4 Tbls. vegetable oil

2 cups (16oz carton) sour cream

2 teaspoon clear vanilla flavor

2 teaspoons almond extract

View full recipe

Mix all dry ingredients by hand using a whisk in a very large mixing bowl.

Add the rest of the ingredients and beat on low speed for 2 minutes.

Bake at 325 degrees

(This is a wedding cake we made for our Aunt's wedding at the Botanical Gardens. It was an outdoor wedding with a dutch oven dinner so we displayed the cakes in dutch ovens.)

Spinach 'n Sour Cream

I love sour cream. I find reasons to use it. The first recipe that came to my mind when I saw the weekly ingredient was Spinach 'n Sour Cream. A lot of people are grossed out by creamed spinach, but this has a great onion flavor behind it and it's definitely worth a try.

2 (10 oz.) pkgs. frozen, chopped spinach

¾ cup white sauce (see below)

1 heaping cup sour cream

¾ TBSP. onion powder

1 tsp. chicken bouillon

½ tsp. salt

grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

WHITE SAUCE

1 TBSP. butter

2 TBSP. flour

2/4 cup milk

Melt butter; add flour and milk. Stir until thick.

View full recipe

Spinach in Sour Cream

Cook spinach according to directions and drain well. Blend together white sauce, sour cream, onion powder, bouillon, and salt. Combine with spinach and combine in casserole dish. Cover with cheese. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes.

The Road Trip Fairy

My family of 5 just made the longest road trip of our lives as we moved from one hot place to an even hotter one. Our kids are 5yrs old, 3yrs old, and 5 weeks old. I was mostly worried about how the 5 week old would manage his car seat for the week but I knew if I could keep the older two content I could focus more on the baby. Aside from frequent stops, nightly swimming and licorice...a new fairy was born. The Road Trip Fairy definitely got us through our trip. Each morning the Road Trip Fairy magically left a fun new toy on their seat (big thanks to Grandma for supplying most of these toys for us!) My kids were always very excited to get back into the car to see what they would find...there were never any tears spilt because they were sick of the car. The Road Trip Fairy has become a new part of our family and will come with us on any future trip without a doubt. Feel free to adopt her...it will save your vacation!!

Cloth Diapers

I've been looking into cloth and I think they're pretty awesome! Whenever I mention it to anybody, I get a lot of grossed out looks and "why on earth would you do that?" questions. But I don't care what other people think and I'm going to do what's best for my family.

I found a Utah based company called Uncommon Bottom. They have a great website and they offer to come do Diaper Parties so you can get a hands-on lesson about cloth diapers. Laina from Uncommon Bottom came to my diaper party last night. She is awesome and I am fully converted to cloth diapers. The price was the big factor for me. It costs about $400 to get the 18 diapers that you'll need for you baby and that will last you from birth to potty training. And you'll be able to use them for your next baby, maybe even a third. On the other hand, you'll spend about $17oo on disposable diapers for one baby from birth to 3 years old. Times that by two kids!

I know it's not for everyone but I also think that there are a lot if misconceptions about cloth diapers nowadays. Cloth diapers have come so far. It's no longer rubber pants and diaper pins and swishing diapers in the toilet. They're really more like disposable diapers now.

Anyway, I'm just curious if anyone else has used cloth diapers for their little ones.

Whooga Ugg boots

Hello Mommies!
Every once in a while we get a website that is interested in advertising on Mommy Diaries! This time we were contacted by Whooga which is a fashion store with guides on comfortable fashion and Ugg boots! From fashion history, style guides, to a lot of info on Ugg boots, and Ugg boots that you can purchase online (which will later be expanding to include other comfortable winter fashions).
She also blogs about fashion in general and how fashion and comfort don't have to clash with each other.
She has also offered our readers a discount code for a $30 credit towards any purchase on her site! The code is: 515MD. Use the code at checkout. It will only be valid for 2 weeks!
So go check out the site by clicking below and get some good fashion tips and some cute boots!!

UGG BOOTS