Teacher's Gifts: More 3, 2, 1...Cake!

 

Here's another version of the "Emergency 3,2,1...Cake!" we gave to our beloved school teachers.  At around $3.50 each, we were able to give one to every teacher, including the gym, art, and music teachers.  The version pictured earlier on this blog were made for our church youth group's teachers.   

I added a tablespoon I picked up in a set at Dollar Tree which added, well, an extra dollar, but I felt it was important to make it easy for the teachers to get their chocolate fix.  I left the rest of the set on the ring it came with and decided it would be fun to donate the (incomplete) sets to the church daycare for use in their sand boxes & colored rice bins.

The cake mix* is simple:  

• 1 Box Angel Food Cake Mix
• 1 Box Triple Chocolate Fudge Cake Mix
• 1 Box (large) Chocolate Pudding Mix

This is enough mix to fill about 3 1/2 pint-size mason jars.  You can add a cup of crushed Oreo's for fun, but I wanted to keep this version on the healthy side.  I took the time to figure out the nutritional info and was amazed at what a guilt-free treat this was!

 

After discovering it was fat-free, with just 108 calories and 2.5g total carbohydrates per serving, I decided it would be a great Christmas gift.  It will make the transition from holiday gluttony to healthy New Year's resolutions a little less painful!

*Recipe adapted from The Hidden Pantry's 1-2-3 Cake.

Make Sour Cream Last Longer

  

I love, love, love having sour cream on hand.  It's so versatile!  I like buying the larger tubs, but hated having to throw out half of it when it went bad before it's expiration date.  Once I opened it, it seemed like it started growing black spots immediately. Turns out, there's a trick to keeping it fresh longer.  Only use a clean spoon dedicated to scooping and then smooth out the surface with the back of the spoon before putting it back into the fridge.  The dips and divots in the surface collect moisture in the fridge and that's what causes it to start growing mold.   Try it!

Teacher's Gifts: 3,2,1 Cake Jars

I'm not a teacher, but I can imagine they may have days when a little cake break would help soothe the frazzled edges.  And since I doubt they have an Easy Bake Oven handy, I thought a jar full of 3,2,1...Cake! mix might be just what the therapist ordered.  It bakes up all fluffy in a single minute in the microwave with just a couple of tablespoons of water.  Perfect for those cake emergency days!

Here's the recipe for the cake mix:  3,2,1...Cake!

I can think of a dozen fun ways to package this, but I just used pint-sized Mason jars.  I painted the rims pink, and used some printed jar lid flats that I grabbed on clearance for just twenty-five cents for a 12-pack.  I added a little tulle left over from the candy party, some pretty scrapbook paper I had on-hand, and slapped on a label I printed on clear Avery label stock.

Note:  When painting the lid rims, I found it easiest to set them on top of a can so I could pick them up and turn them around.  Makes it easy to get good coverage on the first try.  I also found some pre-painted rims (white) coupled with the cutesy gingham print flats at my local Walmart.  They were only $1.50 for 6. 

The cost of each of these cuties was only about $1.50 each!