Strawberry Kiwi Truffle

How I made this yummy dish:

Into this yummy dish!

I saw this recipe in the H-E-B Texas Life Magazine. I am all for trying new recipes and desserts, and this one has two of our favorite things in it, strawberry cake and strawberries! This is also a figure friendly version because there is NO oil in it!

ingredients:*
1 box (18 1/4 oz.) Strawberry Cake Mix
3 large eggs
1/3 cup Strawberry Jam
1 can (12 oz.) Red Soda, regular or diet
1 container (16 oz.) Frozen Whipped Topping, thawed
8 kiwi fruit, peeled and thin sliced
1 package (16 oz.) Frozen Strawberries, thawed (or you can use fresh strawberries sliced to whatever size you prefer)

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 9" x 13" baking pan with nonstick cooking spray or grease with softened margarine and dust with 2 tablespoons fl our, then shake out excess.

2. Combine cake mix, eggs, jam, and soda. Mix for 2 minutes on medium speed with electric mixer. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake on center oven rack for 35 minutes or until done. Cool completely in pan on cake rack *and then cut into 1-inch cubes.* since I don't have any nice truffle dishes, I let the cake cool completely and left it in the pan.*

3. For assembly: Cover bottom of large trifle or punch bowl with half of cake pieces. Spread 1 1/2 cups whipped topping over cake pieces and sprinkle with half of kiwi slices and half of strawberries. Repeat layers and top with remaining whipped topping and fruit. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 15 minutes or more.

Alternate: Since I left this in the baking pan, I put about half the container of whipped topping on the cooled cake, then spread the kiwi and strawberries on top. I left the rest of the whipped topping for individuals to place on top of the cake if they wanted extra!

Add-ons: 1/2 cup sliced Almonds or Pecan Pieces

*I took off all the brands of the ingredients and went with more budget friendly ingredients!!!*

I hope you guys enjoy this just as much as we did!

Strawberry Festival

This past weekend, we went to the Annual Strawberry Festival in Poteet, TX. It was only suppose to be 81 degrees in San Antonio,but we didn't check the weather for Poteet! It was a 96 degrees in Poteet! Should've check the weather and gone later in the day! We didn't start the day off well because as soon as we get there, Lilah needs to go potty... since this is a festival, port-a-potties is all we have! But, I do have one of those fold up potty seats, which she still refused to sit on! I don't blame her! I know think I need to invest in my own port-a-potty  that will fit in our trunk and she can use wherever, when ever!

The next great thing to our day was when we found out the back tire on the stroller went flat somehow. Either sitting in the garage for a day in hot weather or closing it in the trunk door. Either way, we needed to fill it cause we were not about to carry Lilah all day, or walk at a snails pace either! We find a gas station, with an air pump. (Oh, I should tell you that this town has about 2 gas stations within a mile radius, because that is how big the town is. And the festival is the highlight and income of the year for the town.) Well, we find the pump, put in our 25cents and then the guy tells us that it doesn't even work! Grrr!!!! 

Next solution? Fix-a-flat! We luckily found that at the Dollar General, but it had to be a bad day for us because the can we got, the end piece broke as soon as Trent tried to pull it off the tire valve! Joy! Fix-a-flat got all over his hands and spilled on the cement! Oh well, the tire was working long enough to get us through the day!
After all that, we finally make it inside the festival grounds! It only took about 30 minutes from the time we got there,but we made it. We start to walk around, notice the food and then we both look up and see a Toyota Truck stand! We are avid toyota fans, besides the great gas milage they offer, they are uber comfy and we love the size and style of them. This year, they had a course set up to 'test' drive their Toyota Tundra's through a mock off road course. We both jumped at this opportunity!
I was able to go first this time! The drivers take you through the first part of the course because they have to drive through 3 ditches about 2 feet down. Then we get to switch places! Oh yeah!

Yep, still me going through the course, taking the truck all the way to the top half of the inside of that hill thing. Wow, I had so much fun driving that thing! It was HUGE for me, but so roomy and comfy! We are planning on buying a new vehicle within the next year or so, and want to get a Toyota Tacoma. They didn't have any out to test drive, so we went ahead and drove the Tundra to get a better feel for the trucks.

Now it was Trent's turn to go into the deep thick sand. A lot of the cars got stuck in it, and had to use the 4 wheel drive to get out of it... but not Trent and I! We both really enjoyed driving!

Here's Lilah in her cool sunglasses and new hat. I know the outfit doesn't match that well, but trying to find a cute hat to go over that head is almost impossible! And one that allows for ventilation cause boy does she heat up quick! Oh, and that is the Poteet Strawberry Cow... to hot to sit on!

And the only game that Lilah could play while we were there. $5 to pick up 3 ducks and get 3 bubble bottles. Oh well, she had fun and wouldn't leave the dirty murky ducky pool alone! Eventually we pulled her away with the lure of bubbles! She loves bubbles so much!

On another note, Trent got word that he is going to be able to cross train into his new career field. I don't remember if I have posted on this already or not, but will update now. He does have word that he will be able to cross-Train into TACP. Which stands for Tactical Air Control Party. With this new job, he will unfortunately be home less, because the deployments do last longer. But, on the good side, he will be sooooo much happier in this new career field. He has been training on his own for a long while now, and is ready to do this new job. Let's hope for the best and a great graduation once he does go to training!