I have four kids. I am a single mama, divorced since 2007. 

Trying to come up with birthday ideas for my kids that are budget friendly that I can do on my own is tough. 



When my youngest turned thirteen this summer, I knew I had to make it special. At the time (and still to this day) I was obsessed with candy cakes....over the top cakes topped with anything you can find. I am no baker but I loved making her cake.




I opted for a simple taco bar. Easy enough, right? You cook your meats and everything else is pretty much prep. Yes, this was so easy.



This is a fabulous idea because, well, who doesn't love tacos? What kid hates candy? A win-win, right?

Right.



My kids and our guests loved it. Even though the cake fell on the back side, nothing was left. All food was eaten and we didn't know whether to pass out from food overload or be super hype from our sugar high.



This was one of my favorite parties to put together. Outside of the taco bar, we had an ice cream mini bar and the best part???? The best part was that it all cost me less than $100. I'm taking all the food, the Dollar Tree decorations and errthang....less than $100.



Tips for buying on a budget for a birthday party:

• Check out your local dollar store. 

• Dollar Stores have tons of candy for goody bags, candy bars, chips, drinks, and decorations. 

• Clearance!

• Tons of grocery stores and stores in general have clearance sections or baskets. Look at those clearance bins for candy or decorations for some awesome deals. I got all the toppings for the ice cream bar for 90 cents a bag.

• Plan a simple menu but display it in a high end fashion.

• Burgers, hotdogs, tacos, etc....display your food items on coordinating serving platters. It really makes a difference.

• Be Creative!

• Make decorations for inexpensive items.

I had hard taco shells, flour tortillas, and bags of doritoes that they could use to make their own Taco-in-a-Bag. Seriously, dudes, this was so good.

I am far from a baker. I keep cake mix and brownie mix in the pantry but I dread when my kids ask me to bake something for them. I don't know why, really. I just like to keep baking as simple as possible.

Every year I make my kids a birthday cake. Sometimes that means taking the cheater way and buying a cake already baked and just embellishing on it. Saves me time and I get to cut the chase and hop right to the best part, the decorating!



So for my daughter's birthday last Friday, I did just that. Picked up two 2 layer cakes from Walmart, added some sour candy and lollipops and guess what, it saved me a ton of time and it was a HUGE hit.

There is no recipe to this, it is simply a design idea. Loads of candy, wrapped around a confetti sprinkle side, tied with a sour Airhead Extreme strips.

It was so good and I think it looked pretty cool too!

It is getting close to that time and I have been searching the internet for ideas. As my kids get older, it gets harder to come up with ideas that they do not think is too 'baby-ish'. But heck, as long as they live with me, they will just have to settle for doses of 'cutesy'. I am the boss after all and what mama wants is what everyone gets.

Here is some past ideas for Easter. Use the Recipe Index to find these and more.

As I get ready to post some amazing recipes for January, enjoy this refreshing dessert!

Easy, quick and only takes a few minutes, check out this simple yet deliciously tart and sweet dessert over at Living Locurto. Just in time for spring!

After the cake has cooled, I trimmed off the top excess to make it even. I then spread a generous amount of jam to the layer. Place in the freezer until it is hardened. This is important because it will need to be frozen to ice it later. Otherwise,it will become a slippery mess!

On the other cake layer, spread your softened ice cream. Wrap tightly in clear wrap and place in the freezer until frozen.

                                               

Once both layers are frozen, place them together like the photo above. You can use a knife to trim off any icecream that is sticking out from the cake. Place back into the freezer.

Once it is again frozen solid, take out and begin frosting. You will need to move fast and do not worry if it is not perfectly frosted. You just need enough frosting on the sides so that the pocky sticks. After frosting, immediately begin placing the pocky sticks around it. This would be fun for the kids to help with but be careful, pocky is very delicate and they will break easily.

I tied ribbon around my cake because I thought it looked super pretty and it helps keep the pocky in place. Place back in the freezer.  I topped my cake off with chocolate covered strawberries and plain strawberries. You will need to leave in the freezer until it has hardened and take out when you are ready to serve.  It is sooooo good!

I am of course, always last minute.

I did not decide on a cake until last night and that meant my friends scrambled to the store to pick me up chocolate bunnies and cake mix. I ended up venturing into the front yard pulling up various flowers while looking like a maniac in my skull cap. I am sure the neighbor's kids were traumatized by my appearance. But those flowers coupled with the ones I picked up from the store were perfect for a simple Easter table.


Nothing fancy here, just a cool table that cost me all of $15. We had a great dinner my mom made and the kids enjoyed their egg hunt. Each prepared an Easter lesson for us for the REAL reason for the day.

Frost your cupcakes and then top with the crushed cookies. Then firmly place a 'carrot' into the center.

Thanksgiving is tomorrow and I just finished this cake for my son, Austin. He might think it sucks that his birthday is on Thanksgiving but I for one and super thankful for him, so it seems only fitting.

I made this cake for him. Chocolate overload surrounded by pocky and topped with his favorite---Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.  Recipe coming this weekend!

A couple of weeks ago, I was at a birthday dinner with friends at a local restaurant. When we were getting ready to go, we asked the waiter to take the obligatory birthday photo of us all. When he found out it was a birthday celebration, he offered us a free dessert: Tres Leches cake.

Of course, I have seen this cake online and had heard of it. I do not know why it took my this long to make one. Man, oh, man...it is so good. Decadent, milky..it is like tiramisu with out the coffee flavor. Seriously that good.

Our oven is on the fritz but that did not stop me from heading to the local dollar store, buying up some disposable square pans and using the toaster oven. I. had. to. make. this. cake.

For Cake
1 1/2 cups cake flour
1 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup whole milk
1 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup oil
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 large eggs

For Sauce
1 can of evaporated milk
1 can of sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream

Whipped Cream
2 cups of heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup sugar

Cherries (fruit of choice)
Cinnamon

In bowl mix all dry ingredients for the cake. Once mixed, add in eggs, milk, oil and vanilla. Mix until smooth and creamy.

Pour into cake pan. (I used a 6 inch sqaure pan)

Bake at 350 for about 35 minutes until golden at top or toothpick comes out clean and it does not sink in when pressed lightly.

Remove from oven and poke with fork through the cake.



For the sauce, mix all milks together.

Use a spoon to spoon the sauce of the cake. I soaked mine 4 times. I covered it, let it soak in, the covered it three more times.



Allow to cool.

Bake another  for layered cake.

For whipped cream, in a mixing bowl, pour in heavy cream and sugar. Mix on high until whipped cream forms. Stiff peaks should be present. Do not overmix, you will get butter!

Now assemble your cooled cakes, coating with whipped cream. Top with cherries or strawberries...or even blackberries. I was so close to using blackberries today.

When I was growing up, my mom always baked something for each week.  We had dinner together as a family once my dad came home, talked about our day and enjoyed whatever sweet treat my mom had made for us.



Now that I am a mom, I remember just how special it made me feel that my mom thought of us and took time to make us things. Of course, I am far from a baker, so I like shortcuts. Where have I been? How did I not know you can make cookies out of cake mix?

I feel so behind but I am so glad I found this out (thank you, pinterest and Cooking Classy).

These are so good and I am going to enjoy trying different cake mixes for different tastes.

You will need:
1 Box of Cake Mix
2 eggs
1/2 cup of vegetable oil

Makes 20 regular sized cookies.

In bowl, mix your ingredients. Mix well until a dough forms. I use a rubber spatula to mix.

I love pineapple upside down cake and I love cake.

Check out Living Locurto on how you can make this delicious traditional cake with a sweet and cold twist!