3 Layer German Chocolate Cake and Non Resolutions

I believe in living life the way that you want to live it every day, and if you do that, you don’t really need to have New Year’s resolutions.

Tom Ford

Resolutions.

What does that even mean?

HBear asked me that the other day while we were writing her list. I told her to go look it up in her dictionary 🙂 Gawd dictionaries are the BEST present EVER!!! All those times kids ask you stuff like what does definition mean?

To define something.

“what does define mean?”

To explain something.

“Like you are explaining what definition is?”

No

OMG!!

Answer: Go look it up in your dictionary and we can discuss it 🙂

WIN WIN

Anyways…

res·o·lu·tion

ˌrezəˈlo͞oSH(ə)n/

noun

1. a firm decision to do or not to do something.

Hmmmmm.

Let’s take a look at last year’s resolutions.

Yeah ok so I still have an extra 15lbs and I still forget to shut down my computer at night.

Apparently not only is my belly still not firm but either are my intentions! LOL

I don’t think it’s fair that Mommies don’t get holidays. Stay with me here, it all goes together in my head LOL

In fact… I don’t even get holiday pay!

So, I’m going to stand up for myself here! I’m going to transfer my non-existent “holiday time” to my resolution list.

This is how it’s gonna work… I can feel free, without guilt, to “roll over” my last years resolutions.

Whatever I didn’t do last year is hereby carried over to 2015!

Yeah I just did that.

2015 is going to be the year of realism.

It is going to be the year of ME!

Damn! I already broke the whole realistic thing lol.

Ok, realistically 2015 is going to be the year of… trying.

Better. Much better.

You see I was thinking, I always tell HBear to try. Try your best and it’s okay if you fail as long as you try. That’s what I’m going to start doing for myself. I’m gonna go easier on myself and I’m gonna say, let’s try!

And yes I know that it’s not January 1.

So, now we are halfway through the month and I can be realistic about what I want to try to do this year.

I feel like it’s just too much pressure to put on one day. I mean really, how can I make a firm decision about anything when I have no idea what tomorrow will bring let alone 10 months from now?

Frankly, I don’t resolve to do anything but try 🙂 but I would like to make a few goals and here they are.

1. I got an email the other day with this video.

I really want to know what this Google+ thing is all about. In fact I really want to know what this whole blog thing is all about. I know that sounds a bit odd coming from a Blogger but I really don’t know what the hell I’m doing. I would like to work on that lol learn a bit more about making my blog a bit more feasible. I mean, I know that when I go looking for a recipe on my blog, it takes me like an hour! That’s not cool. That can’t be easy for my readers. I have even had a few people email me asking why I don’t advertise or make money on my blog?

Seriously? You can do that?

Yeah I need to get on that shit.

2. Want to know something? I used to be a ferocious reader. I mean I devoured at least a book a day. And then I got pregnant. I still read but since that day I have only picked up 2 books that didn’t have baby or parenting in the title. This year I want to read… a book. Not a magazine, blog, or self help article. A book for the sake of reading a book.

I found a few book lists and I am going to start there. Maybe Matilda, Huffington Post, Goodreads have put out some wonderful lists of the best of the past year. I have also written a few down in the past year. Wild by Cheryl Strayed, Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty, 50 Shades of Grey (I haven’t even read THAT yet!!!!), The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown, Burned by Karen Marie Moning and my MIL has been talking about Ken Follett forever so anything written by him 🙂

I am not putting a number on it but this year I want to remember what it feels like to be completely immersed in a story and when you are done reading about it you hug it tight just to keep the characters imprinted in your heart forever.

3. A rollover from last year is to keep up with my Yoga. I LOVE yoga. It makes me feel Ah-Mazing! I have found this channel on YouTube, Yoga with Adrienne that I love! She is funny and her speaking voice is really easy to follow PLUS she reminds you when to breathe which is the hardest part of yoga IMO. She is doing a 30 day challenge right now. Check it out, it is perfect for beginners or people who have dabbled in Yoga for years. She also has a wonderful bedtime yoga that I ADORE.

4. I want to save money. I want to save my OWN money. It is Ninja’s 40th birthday this year! I would love to buy him a gift using my own money. This is tough being a SAHM. I don’t have any of my own money 🙁 I sell things here and there, perhaps my blog can earn me a little extra, I do surveys lol and I scan receipts. I read in Chatelaine about this great way to save $1378 a year. We already do this for the girls kind of. Each week we put $6 in the piggy bank for HBear (she is 6) and $2 in the piggy bank for SBean (she is 2).

So I have started. By saving money on my weekly grocery budget I have been able to put a bit away. I started backwards so I put away $52 and then $51 and then $50! 3 weeks $153!!!! A great start I think 🙂

5. Dress nicer ie. do not wear my yoga pants/sweats… every day. You know when you get in that rut of only dressing comfortable? Yeah, that’s not great. I always think you should dress for the life you want. Sure I am organized and I cook and I clean and get the kids to their activities and craft in between… but I look like a slob doing it! It’s like when you make an amazing dinner for guests. People will talk after saying “Wow that was delicious!” but if you just made a fantastic dinner AND the kitchen is clean and dishes are basically done before you eat… well people will be talking about the experience rather then just the food. You are the package. I am the package. I need to get out of my rut and dress nicely once in a while, if for no other reason than to remember that I am young, attractive and a person not just a HBear and SBean’s Mom 🙂

6. Stop gossiping. I have found that now that I don’t work I have nothing to talk about except my children and I fall into the meaningless chit chat of gossip. I want to talk about things. What things? I don’t know lol but I am going to make a more conscience effort to stop talking about other people and start talking about things. My sister said that she tends to ask people about themselves and forgets to talk about herself lol she actually makes talking points for herself. I think this is a fabulous idea! I think it would be beneficial to do this when I go places I know lead to me gossiping rather than discussing… I don’t know… world issues or something LOL

7. Although my house is clean and my life is ridiculously well organized I have a dirty little secret. My virtual life is a MESS! I so badly need to clean up my Pinterest… my 2 terabyte hard drives that are FULL of music and pictures from the past 6 years and OMG my emails!!! I subscribe to lots of blogs. I can get between 200-500 emails a day. Most are a quick delete but the good ones I leave to read “later”.

So now I have 22 pages full in my inbox of stuff I need to read, pin or get back to.

I must clean it up. A GF of mine said that an organized and clean space allows your brain to focus on other things. If your life is a mess, your thoughts and abilities probably are too. I agree with this and feel that I need to clean up this aspect of my life before it gets out of control and the computer starts looking like a debt collector 🙂

8. Do at least 3 things on my bucket list this year. So far my bucket list has 45 things listed on it. I have checked off 5. At this pace I will never get them done and I know in the future I will just be adding more lol. I need to get on this.

9. I mentioned this in my New Year’s Post but I really want to do more family game nights. I know SBean isn’t old enough to really get involved so maybe we can do a family movie/Planet Earth night every once in a while. The point is, we do a lot of fun family things during the day and night is just a routine. Dinner, baths, books, guitar, 60 Minute Kids Club, write in our calendars and bed. It would be nice to shake it up every once in a while with a fun family activity.

10. Date night. I have heard rumblings from other women about this thing they call…. date night????? Hmmmmm it sounds like it could be fun. Seriously. We don’t go out. Ever.

OK we do the occasional birthday dinner, anniversary night but for the most part we don’t go out. We live with my Dad so we NEVER ask him to watch the girls. He is with them all the time so I HATE asking him to do that. But they are getting older. There is no reason why we shouldn’t take advantage of their time in bed 🙂 LOL We could easily take a walk on the beach after the kids are down. We could go for a drink and it wouldn’t hassle Dad at all. The kids are down and he could do his work in the office, or watch the game on TV. It is an option and we can’t make excuses any more. We need to go out every once in a while. Just the 2 of us. We can do it! LOL

So there I have it! My 2015 Goals.

Let the TRYING begin 🙂

I am so glad I didn’t make a goal about chocolate. I hope you didn’t either because this cake is honest to goodness the most ridiculously awesome, rich and fulfilling cake you will ever need. This is THE cake. It can be made for birthdays, desserts, Christmas, or just freaking because! I made this for dessert on Christmas Eve. That’s right I am finally getting to posting my Christmas recipes… and I am starting with the best FIRST 🙂

It looks hard but you must remember I SUCK at baking. I usually make cake from a box remember?!?!?! So if I can do it… you can too!!

Do it!

You will not regret (your scale may) but you will NOT, I promise LOL

Three Layer German Chocolate Cake

Adapted from Yammie’sNoshery

For the cake:

3/4 cup butter

1 1/4 cups dark cocoa powder

1 cup brewed coffee

2 cups milk

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

1 1/2 cups white sugar

3 eggs, lightly beaten

1 tablespoon vanilla

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

3 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350.

Place a greased circle of parchment on the bottom of 3 8-inch pans.

Combine the butter and cocoa and cook in the microwave until melted.

Slowly add the coffee and milk, whisking to combine. Add the sugars, eggs, and vanilla and whisk until smooth.

Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

Add to the rest and mix just until combined.

Divide evenly between 3 prepared pans. Bake for 45 minutes or until toothpick comes out mostly clean.

Cool before removing from pans (you might want to loosen from the edges with a sharp knife). Cool completely before frosting.

For the German chocolate frosting:

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup evaporated milk

3 egg yolks

1/2 cup butter

3 teaspoons vanilla

3 cups Sweetened Flaked Coconut

1 1/2 cups lightly toasted pecans

Combine the sugar, milk, yolks, and butter.

Cook on the stove, whisking constantly until bubbling and thickened.

Add the vanilla, coconut, and pecans. Cool before frosting cake.

For the milk chocolate frosting:

2 cups chopped chocolate chips

2 sticks butter, softened

5 tablespoons cocoa powder

1 teaspoon vanilla

5 cups powdered sugar

3-6 tablespoons milk

Melt the chocolate in the microwave in short increments of time (10 seconds at a time) and make sure you stir often. Beat together the melted chocolate and butter. Add the cocoa powder and vanilla. Alternately add the powdered sugar and milk until desired consistency is reached.

To assemble cake:

Fill middle layers and top with German chocolate frosting. Frost the edges with milk chocolate frosting.