Pina Colada Rum Cake {Recipe}

I have been sitting on this recipe for a couple of months now (I actually got it from my local liquor store), just waiting for a chance to make a cake--so I finally made it for my birthday last week!

It was amazing.

I'm a chocolate and icing kind of girl, but I didn't miss either of them at all.

***Non-alcholic version instructions (for kids and preggos) are at the bottom of the recipe***

Pina Colada Rum Cake

1 box pineapple cake mix
1 package (4-serving size) coconut pudding mix--I used vanilla on one of the cakes and it was just as yummy!
4 eggs
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup pineapple rum
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup sweetened coconut flakes

Glaze:
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup water
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup coconut rum

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a bundt pan, or use Baker's Joy spray. Sprinkle chopped pecans and coconut flakes over the bottom of the pan.

In a large bowl, combine cake mix and pudding mix. Mix in the eggs, water, oil and pineapple rum. Blend well. Pour batter over nuts and coconut flakes in the pan. Bake in preheated oven for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Cool in pan while you prepare glaze.

To make the glaze, bring butter, water and sugar to a boil over medium heat. Stir constantly for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and add in the coconut rum.

Remove cake from pan. Pour half of the glaze into the empty bundt pan and then place the cake back into the pan to absorb the glaze. Poke holes into the bottom of the cake while it is in the pan and pour the rest of the glaze over the bottom. Let the glaze absorb for at least 20 minutes. Remove from pan into serving dish.

***Kid-friendly version****
To make it kid-friendly, simple boil the coconut rum in the glaze instead of adding it in at the end.

Enjoy!



I'll be linking up here!

St. Patty's Smoothie

I love St. Patrick's Day. Really, I do. But having it come right after 2 trips out of town and during a little bit of blogging burnout didn't do it any favors at my house this year.

Here's me and hubby living it up in Las Vegas. That was seriously the view from our hotel. We've gone four times now and usually all we see from our window is the back of some alley or a parking garage. This time we had the strip! In lights!

Anyway, we just got home yesterday, but I found I actually had the ingredients in my fridge to make a little smoothie! Warm weather and too much fast food while traveling have made this girl want to drop a few pounds lately, so I made this one extra healthy.

3/4 c. pineapple juice

1/2 c. ice

1/3 c. orange juice

1/4 c. cut up carrots

1/2 banana

3-4 drops of green food coloring

Blend it all up until nice and frothy! (makes 1 serving)

Of course, if you have a little spinach, you can make it green the natural way.

I served mine up in a Butterbeer mug since it felt more Irish :)

My kids won't go near anything but chai tea lattes lately (seriously), so they wouldn't even try it, but they sure did look cute in their greenery!

Even though I'm out of sorts, I'll still be making my corned beef and cabbage tonight. How about you?

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Counting by Cookies

I gave Finn a Smookie today and when he was done, he said, "I NEED another cookie. I NEED TWO!" He got points for being able to count, but, alas, still not enough to get another cookie (at least until dinnertime).

What is a Smookie, you ask? Good question. Smear melted milk chocolate on a peanut butter cookie. Smear melted marshmellow creme on another peanut butter cookie. Press together. Voila! Smookie! Pretty rad.

Lots of Fun coming!

Finn is very adamant about not wanting to wear a costume for Halloween! We have a ton of them already, in particular, I was wanting him to wear a cute full-body lion suit. But, he is having none of it! So, when we went to the Haunt the Zoo trick-or-treat trail on Monday, he was a...(drumroll please!)...lumberjack? Farmer? Canadian? I put him in overalls, flannel shirt and one of those goofy hats for warmth. I think he was the only kid there with no costume. I don't blame him though. I don't really like to dress up either. I only go as far as to put on a "Trick-or-Treat" shirt and then I call it a day.

Kinley is super easy! You just throw anything you want on her. I bought her a super warm ladybug costume. She was very content to just sit all bundled up for the whole trail!

Anyway, I am so excited that the election is less than a week away! I've recently been thinking about education more since I realized both my kids will start school during this adminstration! I think Obama will be so great for this! I know McCain has a ton of kids and I'm sure he cares about education too, but Obama's girls are school age NOW. It's obviously going to be weighing on his mind more. I just think that if you have children, McCain is too big of a gamble right now. I want change for my children and not the down-ward spiral that has been going on for the last 8 years. Just wanted to put that out there!

We are still planning on doing more Halloween activities. We have a party tomorrow and hopefully we will be doing another trick-or-treat trail this week too! Finn really loved doing the one at the zoo. We're not going to go trick-or-treating though. I think he's old enough, but his lack of a costume would be a problem (although I did buy him a "Trick-or-Treat" shirt to match mine). Also, I seriously think he would want to enter every house we went to and make friends! He is such a friendly little guy!

I forgot to mention that Tonya and I threw a baby shower for our friend Melissa last weekend. I think it went really well and she got a TON of great stuff for her little boy, to be named Phoenix. YAY Melissa!

Also, I have been meaning to post a beer bread recipe on here. Tonya (who just started her own blog on Blogspot) gave this to me and it is so simple and yummy! All you do is mix 3 c. self-rising flour, 1 c. (or less) sugar or Splenda (I've tried both and it tastes the same) and a can of beer (or any type of soda you want. Bake for about an hour at 350 degrees. It's really yummy to rub some butter on the top halfway through. I've been making a loaf every few days for the last month or so b/c it is so good!

Something New

I've been experimenting with new dinner recipes lately. They are usually things I find in a cookbook or magazine and then modify based on what I actually have. I've gotten to where I don't measure ingredients so much (who really wants to dirty up the teaspoons anyway?), so sometimes the meals taste a little different. Here's one I tried last night (I adapted it from a recipe I found in Real Simple):

Tortellini with Squash and Peppers

olive oil
squash and/or zucchini, chopped
red and green bell peppers, chopped
salt and pepper
4 cloves of garlic, crushed or chopped
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes (more or less depending on how spicy you like it)
2 cups chicken broth
1/2 lb. frozen or fresh cheese tortellini (this will feed about 3 people)
1 tsp. parsley (I used dried, so use more if you are using fresh)
1/2 cup mozzarella
frozen meatballs or meat of your choice

>Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chopped up squash, zucchini and bell peppers, meatballs, salt and pepper (to taste). Cook, stirring occasionally, until the veggies begin to soften, 6-8 mins.

>Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and continue cooking, stirring, for another minute.

>Add the broth and tortellini. Cover and simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the tortellini are cooked through and most of the broth is absorbed, 12-15 mins.

>Fold in the parsley and half of the cheese. Spoon into bowls and top with remaining cheese.

Today, I am going to make more beerocks. They are so yummy! It's takes a little time to make them (mostly waiting for the dough to rise), but once you're done you have homemade lunches for a couple of weeks!
I have to mention--Finn was a holy terror last night because he skipped his nap, but he's making up for it today. I've been trying to let him play more by himself and do things for himself since I won't be as available soon. He spent a lot of the morning in his room reading to himself. So cute! He just goes through his books and "reads" them outloud. It's amazing how quick he memorizes them! I found him reading one today that we just got at the library yesterday.