Red, White, and Blue Trifle Cake

Happy birthday, America!

I hope you all have a great day today and enjoy celebrating the birth of our great nation! I'm so very proud to be an American and am greatly looking forward to today's festivities!

It's been a while since I shared a recipe here on the blog, so I'm going to do so today. This one is a red, white, and blue trifle cake that works great for any holiday celebrating the American spirit (Memorial Day, 4th of July, Veterans Day, etc).

Red, White, and Blue Trifle Cake
Adapted from: Skinny Taste

Ingredients:

• 2 pints of Strawberries, sliced
• 2 pints of blueberries
• 10 oz of angel food cake cut into 1 inch cubes
• 6 tbsp of fat-free sweetened condensed milk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla flavoring
• 1 1/2 cups of cold water
• 1 4oz package of white chocolate instant pudding mix
• 12 oz of frozen whipped topping  
• Trifle bowl (not a necessity but it's pretty for showcasing your beautiful dessert!)

Directions: 

Rinse and drain strawberries and blueberries. Slice strawberries and trim off tops.

Prepare and bake angel food cake as instructed on packaging. (If using a store bought angel food cake, skip this step.)

Whisk the wet ingredients together in a bowl - condensed milk, vanilla, and water. Once mixed, add white chocolate pudding mix and whisk until combined. Let stand 2 minutes, then fold in whipped topping.

Cut angel food cake into 1 inch cubes.

Begin arranging ingredients in trifle bowl as follows: start with half of the angel food cake followed by blueberries and strawberries on top. Gently spread half of the cream mixture over the layer of fruit. Layer the remainder of the angel food cake next followed by another layer of strawberries and blueberries. Top off with remainder of the cream mixture and sprinkle blueberries and strawberries on top.

Chill for 2 hours in fridge.

Serve and enjoy!

Ingredients

Cream mixture

Ready for layering!

Beginnings of the layering process

 All done!

So tasty!! I seriously can't wait to make this dessert again! If you try it, I hope you enjoy!! :)

Have a safe, happy, and blessed 4th!

4th of July Weekend 2017

Happy almost 4th of July! I hope everyone had a great weekend and had a chance to celebrate in some form or fashion!

We had a busy but fun weekend and I got to spend a ton of time with my little man!

My Saturday morning plans included a long run around my house. My running group wasn't meeting up and my running buddy was going out of town, so it was just Brayden and I. He actually woke up early that morning (unusual for him), but it worked for me! We were out the door and running by 7:30 a.m. 

I'd hoped to start our run no later than 8 a.m. so we could beat as much heat/sun as possible. The humidity was already in the mid 90's and the temps were in the high 80's. Oy. Hello July 1st!

I decided to listen to the latest episode of the Fit Mouse Podcast while running and the title struck me as funny - I was seriously on the STRUGGLE bus on Saturday morning, so this episode was fitting!

It's not easy to run in the middle of summer - add a 27 pound toddler to the mix and yep, my legs felt like cement by mile 2!

My super cute watch and adorable running partner made it worth my while, though!

Brayden LOVES going outside and on runs with me and he did amazing during our entire 5 mile run! I never heard a peep from him!

My goal for this run was to stay under 10 minute miles. Even though I had to walk a little during the last mile, I still reached my goal (barely)! Seriously though, by the end of it all...I.Was.Wiped.Out!

After cleaning myself up then making breakfast for both myself and Brayden, it was almost his nap time once again. He fell asleep around 11 a.m. and so did I! My head hit the pillow and I do not remember a thing until I heard him stirring about two and a half hours later. BEST NAP EVER!

After nap time, we were I was bored, so we headed to town to do a little shopping! We stopped at both Bath & Body Works and Maurice's, then went to a local juicery for a smoothie!

This time, I tried the Tropikale - it was a delicious blend of kale, pineapple, coconut water, and honey. I really liked it!

While I drank my smoothie, Brayden enjoyed a little vanilla FroYo! :)

 

On Sunday morning, we dressed in our red, white, and blue and headed to church for our Sunday morning's patriotic service!

How crazy is this comparison? The 2016 photo was from this same church service last year! It almost doesn't even look like the same kid! CRAZY!

I LOVE how they line the street with flags for this service! :)

I had two favorite parts to this service - the first was where they honored each branch of the military by singing the Armed Forces Medley (Veterans in attendance stood with their respective flags) and the second was when they honored the Vietnam vets at the end of the service (each vet in attendance stood at the front and received a memorial pin...it was very touching)!

On Sunday night, our little coffee shop group went bowling for family night!

Brayden even tried his hand at a little bowling! Fun times!

Oddly enough, I won (which NEVER happens)! My name is #2 on the list above! :)

My puppies also got groomed last week with fresh summer cuts!

I'm back at work today and will have the day off of work on Tuesday. I'm debating on running a 4 mile race on Tuesday morning (solo) - I've run it several years in the past but am not sure about this year. Honestly, I'll probably end up running the race because otherwise, I would still have to get up and run some time on Tuesday morning anyway! Might as well make it worth my while! :)

I hope you all have a great and happy and safe 4th of July! Happy Birthday, America!

What are your 4th of July plans? What did you do this weekend? Any racing?