Random Thoughts about National Moms Nite Out, Boxing, a Boston Run, Stepping Up My Sprints and Track Tuesday

Weather wise, it has been a very strange spring weather. We’ve experienced the usual hot and humid Florida spring days, but over the past few days, the weather cooled down for some strange reason. We’ll back to our regular warm weather scheduled program soon enough.

Last week, the humidity was off the charts, which like I said, is to be expected this time of year, but I think what makes it worse is when there’s no heat with it. It throws me off. I expect heat with humidity. My body can’t acclimate to the ups and downs. Due to my asthma, I experienced labored breathing which made running very difficult given the himidtiy. I ran 4 miles but I couldn’t breathe so the run was pathetic.

4 miles
Time 44:32
Ave Pace 11:08
Max Pace 8:41

Wednesday evening, my friends and I tried a boxing class. It was real boxing with gloves, wraps, bags and all.

The instructor, Tony a Hall of Famer, was like a drill sergeant. In between hitting the bag, Tony made us do a gazillion squats and plank for what felt like hours. I loved boxing to his selection of old school music, but he was not impressed with my bouncing while bobbing and weaving. “That girl is poiiissson…*jab…jab*…. “Never trust a girl with a big butt and smile”…*undercut, jab, jab*… “Bel Biv DeVoe…”*jab, jab*… “Now you know.”

As I bobbed, boxed and bounced, Tony walked over to me with a scowl. “Did you just come from happy hour because you all over the place?”

“I’m always happy.”

At least, I was happy hitting until Tony told me to pivot my back foot, but that caused some serious pain in my feet. So, I pivoted when he was looking so he wouldn’t holler at me.

The boxing minus the pivoting was fun until he made us do floor work with a medicine ball. Ab work with a medicine really hurt my lower back and made me cry, which only caused Tony to holler at me more. “Suck it up, butter cup and sit up!”

“I can’t!”

“There ain’t no can’t in my class!”

“Well, now there is because this hurts and I ain’t doing it! I physically cannot do it!”

He’s right, though. There is no can’t in fitness. But there shouldn’t be crying either. Tony and I kissed and made up after the class.

The next day, I had planned to run 6 miles with some friends, but my feet were killing me. I could barely walk from all the pivoting. So I decided to go for a 10 mile bike ride with Jenny instead, because although I couldn’t walk, I could certainly pedal. Of course, as slow as I go, pedaling doesn’t seem like the right action verb to call how I ride a bike.

After finishing 15 miles prior, Jenny met me for an easy 10 miles on the trail, which wouldn’t be easy for me. She even rode “heavy” on the gears to slow down to my speed. Nice. I went so slow I practically rode backwards and I barely even burned any calories. I really need to work on my speed in the next few months leading up to Iron Girl.

10 miles
Time 50:03
Ave Speed 12.0
Max Speed 14.9

Speaking of Iron Girl, Jenny and calorie burn, Jenny is hosting an awesome Facebook fitness challenge called the 500 calorie {exercise} burn challenge. Basically, you have to exercise and burn 500 calories and share photos to prove it. Of course, I barely hit the mark with that biking adventure, but there’s always next time.

Friday, I chaperoned a field trip to Sweetfield’s Farm Sunflower Maze and attended my moms group pampering event later that afternoon. My aching feet craved a pedicure. There was always Saturday to strive for a 500 calorie {exercise} burn.

I ran again on Saturday and once again, the humidity choked me, but at least I burned some calroeis for Jenny.

6.2 miles
Time 1:04:33
Ave Pace 10:25
Max Pace 8:03
630 calories

Monday, I appeared on the Mom Squad on Channel 10 News. Between hubby’s traveling last month and sick kids, I had to cancel my appearances. Yesterday, we shared opinions on the appropriate age to leave a child home alone.

Speaking of moms, this Thursday, May 9 is National Moms Nite Out and the Tampa Bay Bloggers are hosting a local event at Prime Bar at the Shops at Wiregrass. All the moms that attend can expect lots of fun, food and prizes! I can’t wait! If you want to join us, RSVP via the Facebook event.

Tomorrow is Tampa Bay for Boston Run. It’s in the evening and it’s been a while since I ran in the evening without my children. Thank goodness it’s just a run and the last run along the St. Pete Pier before they tear it down. No matter how fast or slow I run, I will be Boston Strong and there to cheer my friend, Marcia. If you want to join me or run virtually with me, register here. At least $20 per athlete will be donated to One Fund Boston.

After tomorrow’s memorial run, I’ll add another 2.62 miles towards my Joggermom Marathon total, but I’ll have to figure out some way to add another 300 calories in for Jenny’s challenge. My friends, Heather and Jen, are running 5 miles in the early morning. Should I run with them or conserve energy?

Today, I met my friends, Heather and Larisa, for sprints. With Heather’s guidance and encouragement, I have stepped up my sprints to 4 x 800m with 0.25 resting/walking laps in between. Heather normally jogs those resting laps, but she went easy on Larisa and I today. The jump to half mile sprints was tough but I felt great. We celebrated with a mile lap victory lap for our cool down.

Total Distance 5.15 miles (with 0.25 walking breaks between each lap)

1.01 mile warm up, Time 10:19

Lap 1 – Ave Pace 7:59, Best Pace 5:48

Lap 2 – Ave Pace 8:04, Best Pace 5:28

Lap 3 – Ave Pace 8:28, Best Pace 6:49

Lap 4 – Ave Pace 8:11, Best Pace 6:34

Cool Down – 1.14 mile Ave Pace 10:13, Best Pace7:46

And even with stepping up my sprints, I still am 9 calories short for the 500 calories {exercise} burn challenge. Bleh. But at least I only 12 miles left to complete the Joggermom Marathon!

Can you hit 500 calories in a workout? Did you step up your speedwork this week?

*Also submitted at*

Pinning and Planning – May 5

Early this morning, I will be paddle boarding along the Crystal River. My Cinco de Mayo fiesta will begin once I return home to the ice cold Margaritas waiting for me there.

Zim Zari (our favorite local Tex-Mex restaurant) typically offers kids eat free all day on Sunday, but for this Sunday’s Cinco de Mayo fiesta, kids eat free before 3:00 p.m. I considered going to Zim Zari for dinner but once I sat down to plan our dinner menu for the week, I realized we would be eating a few times this week. ¡Así, Zim Zari es no va! Though we may stay home for our Cinco de Mayo fiesta, I may Skinnytaste’s Mexican Unfried Ice Cream add tonight’s to the menu to sweeten the deal.

Friday, we leave for the TradeWinds on St. Pete Beach for Mother’s Day. I’ve never been there and I can’t wait to soak in some sun, absorb some Vitamin D for my mother’s Day gift and run along the beach. With all the eating out we’re doing this week, I’m going to definitely need to find time for fitness.

Speaking of finding time for fitness, don’t miss out on this awesome fitness giveaway happening here! Win it just in time for Mother’s Day and give the gift of fitness!

And now for our dinner menu for the week:

S – Copycat Chipotle Burrito Bowls with Cilantro Rice

M – Roasted Veggies and Shaved Asiago on Flatbread

T – Roasted Mojo Chicken with Tomato Zucchini Orzo

W – Loaded Baked Potatoes (My family will eat this. I will be at the Boston Memorial Run.)

Th – School’s McDonald’s Night (I will be at National Moms Night Out.)

F – Picnic on the beach

What’s on your dinner menu this week? What are your Cinco de Mayo plans? What are your Mother’s Day plans?

Random Thoughts about a Crazy World, Crazy Love, the Mom Squad, the Miles and Track Tuesday

Thirteen years ago, I was teaching at an elementary school is a migrant community. After the Columbine shooting, my school district put lockdown drills into place. We practiced those drills along with fire drills and tornado drills.

Sometime after that, the lockdown drill became a reality when a person ran through our school’s soccer field wielding a gun and shots were fired. We (the teachers) had to turn off our lights and hide with our students in our classrooms. We had to be brave for our students. We had to protect them and these students came from horrible homes and probably saw this type of thing regularly. School was their safe place, but not that day.

As an educator, I can’t even imagine how the teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary School felt that fateful Friday last week. I can’t even imagine what went through their minds as they tried to be brave and protect their students who thought school was their safe place. As parent, I just want to hold my babies and never let go.

God bless the teachers, the survivors and the families as they deal with their loss. Hopefully, schools can be safe places again and maybe the powers that be will make common sense gun control as common place as lockdowns.

Also thirteen years ago, I married my best friend. It’s been a crazy, mad wild ride but I wouldn’t change one day of it, especially since my husband still has a few surprises up his sleeve. He bought me this mirror from IKEA that I’d been eyeing for the longest time and wrote a message on it that says, “Denise, Happy Anniversary. You are beautiful and I love you. xxxx ♥ ♥”

His present is…er…um….on backorder. Yep, that’s it!

Speaking of surprises, my husband pulled a doozy on me yesterday. He high jacked my email and contacted Joe of 10 News to ask if he would to announce our anniversary on the air during our Moms Squad segment. Watch it here and check out my totally surprised expression at the end.

On the subject of the Mom Squad, Joe has asked Marisa, Jenny and me to be his regular team every week, so we are officially The Mom Squad, which of course means we need our own coffee mugs since we’re part talk show television. Plus, if I was holding a coffee mug, it would keep me from speaking with my hands. Here’s last week segment.

I’m really struggling mentally with my marathon training. I’m just so tired lately and as a result, my training is suffering. Then, the Holiday Half didn’t go so well, but at least I beat my time from 3 years ago which shouldn’t been hard to do since I was pregnant then. (More about the Holiday Half tomorrow!)

I had a really tough time recovering after the half marathon. On Sunday I woke up with this horrible Charlie horse in my thigh I know it’s a direct result from not fueling properly after the race. Other than a few beers, I didn’t drink any of my usual recovery drinks such as chocolate milk or coconut and I didn’t eat for hours after the race. Stupid move, I know and I definitely paid for it in the middle of the night.

Since my Mondays are Mom Squad days, I’ve also had to readjust my whole marathon training schedule. But given the whole Charlie horse episode, I also decided against speedwork last week and just went for an easy 3 mile run.

3.1 miles
Time 31:25
Ave Pace 10:08
Max Pace 8:08

And that was the last time I ran last week, except for my 20 miler on Saturday. Again, not my proudest marathon training moment, but it happens. Last week was a really tough week for me emotionally and my training suffered. I honestly considered postponing my 20 miler until the following week, but my running partners talked me into it. Sometimes peer pressure does have its benefits.

So, I ran I went into my 20 miler with only 3 miles recorded that week and I was dreading it. I feared the worst and I warned my running partners that I would be all piss and vinegar and cussing up a storm.

After 5 miles, I had this weird pain in the top of my foot, like my shoelaces were too tight. I tried to loosen them but things still hurt. Overall it wasn’t my best, but we finished just under 4 hours and I could walk afterwards. 20 miles in the books! And even with all those weird foot pains, I found the energy to do a 5-10-15-20 dance with my running partners.

20 miles
Time 3:56: 35
Ave Pace 11:50
Max Pace 8:07

Today, I decided against speedwork but elected to do a 4 mile tempo run. I even threw some sprints in at the end.

4.25 miles
Time 40:46
Ave Pace 9:36
Max Pace 6:47 (0.25 sprint – 7:33)

According to variety of plans I’m following to make up my hybrid plan, this week is a step-back week to 12. I like the sound of that distance.

What’s you running plans for the week? Got some sprints to share? What other work-outs are you doing?

I am excited to announce a new Track Tuesday co-host! Meghan of runMeganrun will be joining me on the track for weekly speedwork. The “rules” are still the same, so link up and play along with us.

To join our Track Tuesday linky party, do your speed work (at least 4 quarter mile sprints) on Tuesday or any day you that works best for you, blog about your times and remember to add our cool Track Tuesday button to your post. Then, link up your post at either runMeganrun or Run DMT to share Track Tuesday Speed Work Sessions. To show support for our other virtual running partners on the Track Tuesday Team, be sure to visit the other blogs listed in the linky party. Give them a virtual high-five and leave some comment love too.

*Also linking up at*

Denise Mestanza-Taylor+

Turkey Cookie Craft

Photobucket Thanksgiving has come and gone and though most of my readers are focused on another a holiday in the midst of Black Friday frenzy, I wanted to share an edible turkey craft that I made with my seven year old’s class while Thanksgiving is still fresh on the brain digesting. You will want to bookmark, pin and file away this edible turkey craft idea for next Thanksgiving.

After Halloween, I bought several bags of candy corn on clearance with the specific purpose to make some kind of edible craft with my kids. Funny enough, as one of the homeroom moms, I was in charge of a craft for our Thanksgiving feast.

With a quick Google search, I tried to remember how to make an edible turkey with Oreo cookies, however, the Oreo turkeys I found weren’t exactly what I wanted. So, I decided to combine a few of the ideas I found and I came up with this.

Of course, the kids gobbled up the fun.

Turkey Cookie Craft
Ingredients
Golden Double Stuff Oreos
Nutter Butter Bites
Harvest Mix Candy Corn
Pretzel sticks
1 tub of white icing
1 tube black decorating icing gel
1 tube red decorating icing gel

Directions
Gently add the turkey’s tail feathers by wedging in the four brown-colored candy corn into the Oreo middle between the two cookies. (You could also gently remove the top cookie.)

For the turkey’s legs, snap one pretzel stick in half and gently add the sticks into the opposite end of the candy corn. (If you pulled off top of the Oreo, add a small amount icing and reapply the cookie.)

Add a small amount of icing to backside of a Nutter Butter Bite and “glue” the cookie to Oreo. Add a small amount of icing to a yellow candy corn and “glue” it to the mini Nutter Butter.

Using the black decorating icing gel, add two eyes. Then, add a wattle using the red decorating icing gel.

Thanks for joining our weekly Friday Food Fight! Can’t wait to see what everyone is flinging this week!

*Also submitted at*

Denise Mestanza-Taylor+

Friday Food Fight: Celebrating Two Years

Photobucket It’s been two years since I started flinging foods and recipes at my readers. By doing so, I gained a few pounds new foodie followers who eagerly wanted to share their recipes with my readers and me.

So today, to celebrate the two year anniversary of Friday Food Fight and to show my gratitude for your support, we’re going to do something a little different. I’ll still have a blog hop for you to link up and share your recipes, however, today when you link up, you’ll be entered to win a copy my favorite cookbook, Joy of Cooking. In the Taylor home, the Joy of Cooking is our kitchen bible, our go-to cookbook. In fact, Iron Chef Allan and I use the Joy so much that we’ve broken the binding on our third copy.

So, link up and share your recipes (as many recipes as you like) and you’ll be entered to win the Joy of Cooking. The linky collection closes Thursday 11/8 at midnight and one lucky winner will be announced during our regularly scheduled Friday Food Fight next week (11/9).

And while I have your attention, I would also like to announce a new foodie feature for the month for the month of November. I’ve teamed up with Camille of Growing Up Gabel for a Thanksgiving linky party. Every day leading up to Thanksgiving, we would love for you to link up and share some of you favorite Thanksgiving foods.

Read all the details for our Thankful for Good Food blog hop here. That’s where you will also find my mashed cauliflower recipe that I keep promising to share with you.

In the meantime, I’ll leave you with a teaser photo of my mashed cauliflower and our regularly scheduled Friday Food Fight program.

Thanks for joining this anniversary edition Friday Food Fight! Can’t wait to see what everyone is flinging this week!

Denise Mestanza-Taylor+

Happy 11th Birthday, Allana Rose!

Tonight as a birthday treat, my first born child (our soul sister) will choose dinner and as to no surprise, it will be some neighborhood steakhouse. She’s the most green, environmentally conscious carnivorous child (a direct result from all the rare steak I consumed while she was in utero). But apart from her appalling meatilicious diet, she does have some outstanding qualities.

She has beauty that radiates from the inside-out.

She’s wicked smart with a sense of humor to match it.

She’s compassionate and the most thoughtful kid you’ll ever meet.

She’s creative, imaginative and inquisitive.

For her, ART is more than just a set of initials. She puts in the ART in artistic.

Happy 11^th birthday to our beautiful, brilliant Allana Rose!

Denise Mestanza-Taylor+

A Halloween Treat

Despite being shattered from a long week and camping with the Girl Scouts the night before, I conjured enough strength for our annual adult Halloween party and I’m so glad I did. As usual, the party was a real ~~scream~~ treat.

It seems we weren’t the only ones with crazy a schedule this year, because our party was a lighter than normal, but that didn’t stop it from being a truly bewitching time.

Like previous years, most of the costumes were creative and fun, although Marcia needed a little help with hers. During the party, Marcia confessed to not liking Halloween or dressing up even though her husband Patrick loves it. I told Marcia, “You have to find an angle to make Patrick’s costume work for you. You work around his costume. For example, you could be his hostage. You just have to think outside of the costume box.”

Speaking of thinking out of the box, no one knew what I was supposed to be until I explained it to them, which only made my costume more comical.

My iCarly inspired sushi costume was so cheap and simple to throw together starting with a white cami and skirt for the rice. The maroon throw pillow, which was meant to resemble raw tuna, was wrapped and pinned to dark green ribbon and finished with a pair of Chinese restaurant chop sticks. The ginger and wasabi were rolled scraps of material hot-glued to a dollar store headband. See, so simple and cheap! Allan’s psycho sushi chef costume ordered from amazon was the costly costume!

Plus, my sushi costume was almost as comfortable as last year’s Amy Winehouse ( minus the wig, of course). It’s funny how my costumes get more and more casual each Halloween. This sushi costume was so comfy that I’m totally weating it trick-or-treating with the kids. I wonder if anyone will know what I supposed be then?

Denise Mestanza-Taylor+

Halloween Problem (Monster)

Halloween will be a three part party this year. Part one starts this Saturday evening with our adult Halloween party. Part two and three take place next weekend with the kids’ Halloween party for my mom’s group followed by the Living Dead Challenge (5K and half-marathon race).

Allan and I stepped up to be this year’s ghost hosts with the most for the adult Halloween party. In preparation for the party, I’ve been searching and scrolling through Pinterest to find frugal, fun ideas for food and decorating. At this point, I need to channel the ghost of Julia Child because I would love to make a graveyard cake, witch fingers or some other spooky snack, but I don’t think I will have time.

But more importantly, I still need to throw my costume together. I ordered Allan’s sushi chef costume the other day, but I am still trying to find all the necessary pieces for my sushi costume. I didn’t have any luck at Goodwill the other day, but I plan to stop in again this week.

And I’ll need to do all that between doctor visits, preparing a fall festival basket to be raffled off at my kids’ school, packing for a camping trip and running 12 miles on top of all the usual business such as homework, dinner, after school activities, etc.

As you can see, I have so much going on right now. The Halloween party is just the monster ~~problem~~ escape I need and a perfect excuse to ~~drink~~ have fun with my friends.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/v/tl2uU1oVRCA?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0]

For the next two Music Mondays, I will be sharing my favorite Halloween tunes. I would love to hear what Halloween songs move your spirit. Link up and play along…if you dare. Muhahahahahahaha!

Visit Xmas Dolly and Jade Louise Designs for more Music Monday.

Denise Mestanza-Taylor+

Random Thoughts about Fall, Candy Corn, New Kicks and Track Tuesday

Last week, I broke down and bought some candy corn, because honestly, nothing says fall like striped triangle shapes full of corn syrup and Yellow 6. But then, I ate so much of it that I got stomach pains. See, these are the unfortunate happenings of a somewhat health-minded person when she falls off the healthy eating wagon and shovels down copious amounts of candy corn. My body revolts with horrible pains. So, now I must get these candy children-of-the-corn spawn OUT OF MY HOUSE especially before the start of Unprocessed Challenge next week.

Like a loving kiss from Gaia, it felt like fall on Monday, so the kids and I decorated the house for Halloween. When the temperatures drop just a little, it actually feels like a new season and we have more to go on other than a date on the calendar telling us so.

The cooler weather makes me start to crave pumpkin. I’m sure there is a scientific study somewhere that proves cooler weather creates a pumpkin craving and works the salivary glands into overdrive. Starbucks and its pumpkin spice latte are not helping either.

Speaking of pumpkin and the Unprocessed Challenge…out of curiosity…Is canned pumpkin considered processed? If I make anything during the Unprocessed Challenge, would I have to make it from a real pumpkin? For the simple fact that I’m saying “real pumpkin” and “canned pumpkin” means I’ve probably answered my own question. But what if I use organic canned pumpkin? Is that acceptable?

According to the rules of the Unprocessed Challenge,

“Unprocessed food is any food that could be made by a person with reasonable skill in a home kitchen with readily available, whole-food ingredients. It doesn’t mean that you have to be able to make the food — but that the food could be made in a home kitchen by someone who knows what they’re doing. If it needs high-powered, industrial equipment, or could only be made in a laboratory, then it’s out.”

Man, canned pumpkin is out. There’s one way to curb a pumpkin craving.

Last Saturday, my running partners and I did 12 miles and I was so impressed with our time. I even took photos to celebrate our achievement.

12 miles

Time 2:03:54

Ave Pace 10:20

Max Pace 8:12

Although the end results were great, getting there had its challenges. My t-bands and knees started bothering me around mile 10. Then around mile 11, my left heel started to bother me. Actually, I felt a sharp pain which stopped me dead in my tracks. It felt like my plantar fasciitis acting up again which forced me to walk a little bit. Once again, I cursed myself for putting off buying new shoes because it was obvious my heels had enough of those old dogs. Nonetheless, I pushed through the 12 miles and I could still walk at the end.

On Sunday, I did my first ever recovery run. My blogger friend, Jill, mentioned recovery runs over at her blog, Fitness, Health & Happiness. Since I woke up Sunday with sore hamstrings and feeling just generally tight overall, I decided to give a recovery run a try. A nice slow, easy run really did help loosen everything up and I felt great.

3.1 miles

Time32:23

Ave Pace 10:27

Max Pace 7:58

I rested Monday to be ready for my weekly Track Tuesday tricks. I did my usual 4 x 0.25 sprints. I honestly thought the cooler weather would make a little faster, but my legs thought differently.

1 mile
9:47

Lap 1 – 0.25
Time 1:47
Ave Pace 7:06

Lap 2 – 0.25
Time 1:56
Ave Pace 7:37

Lap 3 – 0.25
Time 1:52
Ave Pace 7:27

Lap 4 – 0.25
Time 1:56
Ave Pace 7:37

1.1 mile
Time 11:02
Ave Pace 10:01

With only the last mile lap left to do, my left heel started acting up again. No doubt about it, I need new shoes. With all the issue I’ve had with my feet, plantar fasciitis, bunions and etc., I think I need to revaluate my shoe options.

So, this morning, I visited two different running stores to see what shoes they recommended. Both agree that I’ve moved into the ranks of a wider shoe.

Bill at The Running Center recommended Nike Zoom Structure and Asics GT 2170. He suggested that I test them out a treadmill and bring back the one I didn’t want. So, we’ll see how it goes tomorrow when I test out both shoes on my friend’s treadmill. I plan to run a mile in each shoe on the treadmill and decide which shoe to keep. Stay tuned for a full follow-up report.

With this fabulous return policy, Bill gave me this fabulous hot pink Running Center tech shirt, which will coordinate quite nicely with my Race for the Cure attire.

Along with the shirt, Bill also gave me some great advice for my plantar fasciitis. With the weather cooling down, he suggested I sit in my community pool after a long run. The cold water would simulate an ice bath. Good thinking! Bill also suggested that I run in more than one pair of shoe. He said it was good to change shoes.

After The Running Center, I stopped by Suncoast Running and Tracey fitted me in some other shoes. She observed me running on the treadmill. From the video playback, it was obvious that something is happening with my right foot, but “I really like the look of your left leg,” she said.

Don’t tell anyone. They’ll all want a left leg like mine.

Tracey fitted me in the Brooks Trance 11 and Saucony Omni. Although the new Brooks Trance has changed slightly, I still really like that shoe, however, I do need a wider fit. So, Tracey ordered some shoes for me and I will give those a try when they come in, which I’m so excited to do. With all these shoe trials, I feel like an investigative reporter!

Do you run in more than one pair of shoes? Do use your shoes for different runs, like speedwork, short distances or long distances?

By the way, today is my husband’s birthday and I’m a horrible wife. I forgot to buy him a card and I barely remembered to buy him beer and a cake. Instead, I bought myself some running shoes because after all, that’s where my priorities are.

To join our Track Tuesday linky party, do your speed work (at least 4 quarter mile sprints) on Tuesday or any day you that works best for you, blog about your times and remember to add our cool Track Tuesday button to your post. Then, link up your post at either Ricole Runs or Run DMT to share Track Tuesday Speed Work Sessions. To show support for our other virtual running partners on the Track Tuesday Team, be sure to visit the other blogs listed in the linky party. Give them a virtual high-five and leave some comment love too.

*Also linking up at*

Denise Mestanza-Taylor+

A Cake Toddlers Dig

Photobucket When I uncovered this construction cake on Pinterest, I knew Liam would love it for his birthday. What two year old wouldn’t love a cake with construction vehicles and edible dirt?

I placed my order with our resident Cake Boss, Iron chef Allan and he assembled the cake as outlined by Lauren of Fredellicious. He baked two cakes, one yellow and one chocolate, although our cakes were a Betty Crocker’s Butter Recipe Yellow Cake and Devil’s Food Cake recipe to save on time.

He then, froze and cut the cakes, following Lauren’s slanted stripes cake tutorial.

Then, iced the cakes with his own chocolate icing recipe. (See recipe below.)

And finally, he finished it off with some crushed Oreo cookies and a few construction vehicles.

I love the extra touches he added such as some Oreo dirt in the dump truck and tire trucks along the cake platter.

He even added a small lake.

And just as I suspected, Little Lion Man loved it.

Iron Chef Allan’s Chocolate Icing
Ingredients
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup Hershey’s Cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
2Tbsp coffee
2 tsp vanilla
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

Using a handheld mixer, add butter, salt, cocoa and sugar to a medium-sized bowl and mix until well combined. Stir in vanilla and coffee. If additional liquid is needed, add small amount of additional coffee until icing shows desired consistency.

Thanks for joining our weekly Friday Food Fight! Can’t wait to see what everyone is flinging this week!