Kitchen Tip Tuesday: No oil or eggs?

We are not a 'sweet' family. As far as indulges go, in our home we prefer salty and crunchy. But, every now and then, a sweet cake does sound good.

Too be honest, I am not sure how this tip originated. I just heard it from my mom who heard it from hers, I'm sure. Nonetheless, it works!

To the point...ever buy a dark cake mix and realize you don't have any eggs or not enough oil? No problem...grab a can of Diet Coke! Literally, a can of Diet Coke can completely replace the eggs and oil.

You can bet we have done this with any boxed cake I have made since learning this. The cake still turns out moist and delish, and you can not taste the difference.

Proof:
Pour the cake mix in a bowl and add the Diet Coke (12 oz.). The only difference between this and the regular method is this seems to be foamy.

Pour in the pan and bake as normal.

Allow to cool and ice the cake.

Enjoy!

For some inspiration on flavor combos where you can taste a hint of the soda..
Add Diet Sprite to lemon cake. (Don't use 7-Up)
Add Diet Root Beer to white or vanilla cake.
Add Diet Orange soda to white, orange or vanilla cake.

Use your imagination!

A few technicalities, a can of regular coke works just as well, but we always have Diet Coke in our home, so it just gets first dibs. And it does not have to be name brand soda.

Hope this helps you out one day.

For more tips to help out in the kitchen, hop on over to Tammy's blog!

Sunday shopping...

On Sunday, I got to shop. I have been in need of jeans for some time now, but since my legs are so long, I can not just go spend only $30 on a pair of jeans.

Thankfully, the Buckle has lay-away. That way, I can still get my shopping fix but not drop major bucks all at once.

The ones in the pictures are the ones I got.

I was looking for jeans that come in extra-long (35 inch inseam), be dark washed and I wanted some with a flap pocket. They met my expectations!

I could not go home empty handed so I got a cute necklace...I am trying to accessorize more so I try to pick up a little something often.

I am off to bake a cake for tomorrow's post. Class was canceled tonight...got to love that. I finally got my test score...I got an A! If you only knew how tough this class was...I seriously was expecting a C. I was on cloud nine all day!

Menu Plan Monday: The week of September 28

This week is an "eating from the pantry week". I love using leftovers to create new meals, so that is the plan. It's even better when your original meals were made in the crock pot!

Monday: Chicken from the grill, mashed potatoes and a veggie
Tuesday: Pot roast with carrots
Wednesday: Roasted chicken with veggies (making broth for tomorrow)
Thursday: Homemade chicken noodle soup...I want to try these noodles.
Friday: Pot roast subs with veggies
Saturday: Out to eat
Sunday: Leftover buffet

For hundreds of menu ideas, go to I'm an Organizing Junkie!

So, about my last post...

I saw something on my Twitter today that made me feel sort of bad...

"If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back."

(Of all people, Ashton Kutcher tweeted this.)

How true is that?

I do understand moms are in fact, humans. I feel like we do deserve to have a bad day, even though my bad days are unpleasant for everyone around me.

But in the grand scheme of things, I am thankful that I have these problems...as weird as that sounds. I have children. The man I call my husband is a great father to our children. I have a great, supportive family, and sisters that are best friends. My friends get me.

As long as I have those things, my life is good. It is just hard to realize that when you have those kind of moments.

My solution...print out that saying and put it on my fridge. Maybe it will help me get through my bad days and enjoy my good days even more.

Stick a fork in me - I'm done.

Thankfully, I have a great husband. He knows the minute he hears my voice over the phone how my evening has been. His dad needed help doing a few things tonight so even though it is past bedtime, he made sure it was okay with his parent's that he brought the girls.

"Do you care if I bring the girls to give Alaina a break?", he asked his mom.

Here I am, sitting on the couch, typing away, in silence. I need of a time out.

I truly feel like being a mom is the hardest job on the planet. Things just naturally fall onto your lap. No matter how great your husband is, how involved your kids dad is involved, it all point backs to the wife. The mom.

Today was one of those days. I feel like all I said was..

"Girls, be quiet...girls, BE QUIET!... {As I am yelling.} ...please listen...clean up your room....etc."

One of those days I feel like a failure as a mom.

It is exhausting. Tiring. Emotionally depleting at times.

But it is so worth it. The rewards are so much greater than the roughest day times ten.

And the best part about it all? Tomorrow is a new day...another chance.

Long story short...

I'm fine! Yesterday, I had a doctor's appointment in St. Louis for this lump on my jawline that has been there about six weeks. Last week, I was told it could be one of three things. I had an ultrasound yesterday and it showed that is was an inflamed muscle. The protocol? Just watch it and call them if anything changes. Woo-hoo!

As we were leaving the hospital, we got rear-ended. Perfect! That put us back an hour and a half. By the time we ate lunch and picked up the girls, I had about thirty minutes before heading off to class.

Did I mention I was going on four hours of sleep?

That makes for a long day.

And we still have not got scores back on our test. Seriously, what is taking so long?

Other than that, life is good. I have a few fun posts coming up by I need pictures. My camera is messed up...the battery light is always on and it just dies. I will figure something out though.

As the saying goes, it is always something.