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12 Hacks To Make Boxed Cake Mix Taste Homemade

Amy Hansen
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12 Hacks To Make Boxed Cake Mix Taste Homemade

If it taste delicious – why not? These cake hacks make dessert simple and sweet!

Cake mixes have been around since the turn of the century. There’s a time and a place for cake mixes. And usually the time and place is right here, right now. Unless you’re a professional baker, boxed cake mix has no shame in anyone’s game. Here 12 hacks to make boxed cake mix taste homemade and delicious!

1. Use Hot Water

For chocolate cake, instead of adding room temperature water, add hot water, which will allow the cocoa to “bloom,” thus, creating a more chocolatey flavor. That’s according to Food Network‘s Sunny Anderson.

2. Replace Water With Coffee

Also for chocolate cake, try replacing the water with hot coffee. Coffee and chocolate are a match made in heaven.

3. And Add Two Extra Egg Yolks To The Chocolate Mix

Adding the additional yolks to your batter will make the cake creamier.

4. For White Cake, Use Egg Whites

For white cake mixes, use egg whites instead of whole eggs, which will make the mix fluffier. Just make sure to add one tablespoon of butter per egg yolk removed from the recipe.

5. Make Your Frosting

Frost your cake with homemade buttercream instead of the canned stuff. It’s super easy to make.

 

6. Use Butter Instead Of Oil

Replace vegetable oil with melted butter and double the amount. It will give the cake a richer, sweeter flavor.

Related: 11 Coffee Hacks That Will Make Your Mornings So Much Better

7. Layer Pan With Parchment

Even if it’s nonstick to ensure it’ll come out in one piece.

8. Add Soda 

Replace water with a dark cola, like Coke. The soda will boost the flavor.

9. Add Mayo

Yep. Adding two tablespoons of mayo along with the eggs and water will give your cake a bakery feel.

10. Replace Butter With Greek Yogurt 

For a healthier cake.

11. Add Your Own Flavorings

Like vanilla extract and vanilla powder, especially for vanilla cake mixes, or cinnamon. Extra points for using vanilla powder, because nothing says “homemade” like specs of real vanilla!

RELATED: Now What? 9 Sweet Hacks For All That Leftover Easter Candy

12. Make It Vegan

For an ethical cake, replace water with coconut milk (or nut milk of choice), use vegan butter (Earth Balance) instead of regular butter, and egg replacer powder instead of eggs. You’ll be surprised how “not vegan” it tastes. Oddly enough, Duncan Hines frosting is very vegan friendly. Most flavors are dairy and egg free.

How 3 Whiskey Distilleries Are Helping The Environment While Getting You Drunk

Margarett Waterbury
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How 3 Whiskey Distilleries Are Helping The Environment While Getting You Drunk

Conservation has always been part of the whiskey industry, even when it was driven by economic realities rather than environmental concerns. Just look at those thrifty Scots, who’ve been practicing all three R’s with their barrels for generations: Recycling the bourbon industry’s castoffs (who only use them once before getting rid of them – the American way!); reducing the space their barrels occupy by making larger hogsheads; and reusing barrels three or four times before they meet their final reuse as fuel for smoking fish.

Today, of course, distillers from all around the world are taking their impact on the environment seriously, and that’s something we should celebrate. Here are a few interesting (and commendable) conservation efforts from distillers around the world.

Deanston Distillery

Deanston Distillery in Stirling, Scotland, is the only distillery we know of that’s totally independent from the electric grid. Instead of using municipal power, Deanston’s facility runs on electricity generated by an onsite hydroelectric system powered by the adjacent River Tieth. There’s a satisfying resonance here, since the Deanston property was a textile mill before it was a distillery, and during the 1830s it had the largest waterwheel in Europe.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BMmCKCPguMJ/

Bainbridge Organic Distillers

Located on Bainbridge Island near Seattle, Bainbridge Organic Distillers uses 100% organic Washington-grown grain to produce its line of whiskeys, vodkas, and gins. Why organic? Bainbridge explains on its website: “by using organically and sustainably grown ingredients we are preventing the release of synthetic fertilizers and dangerous chemicals into the environment. These compounds eventually wind up in our rivers and ground water, where they endanger people, wildlife and our way of life.”

They also think organically grown grain just tastes better – and it’s possible they have a point. Their whiskey is excellent, and they just took home Craft Whiskey of the Year from Whiskey Advocate for their outstanding Yama Mizunara Cask Single Grain.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BS629fqF4y9

Diageo

Big corporations don’t always have a reputation for doing the right thing, but drinks giant Diageo deserves some credit for its environmental conservation programs, which are pretty remarkable. They’ve set themselves some ambitious goals around waste product and wastewater management, including reducing their greenhouse gas emissions by 50% and achieving zero waste to landfill by 2020.

The George Dickel Distillery in Tennessee already manages 100% of its wastewater onsite, while their Valleyfield Distillery in Quebec no longer sends any waste to the landfill.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BPd8tLfAEJH/

This article originally appeared on The Whiskey Wash.

What Celebs Eat And Drink On Vacation, According To Instagram

Amy Hansen
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What Celebs Eat And Drink On Vacation, According To Instagram

Putting things into one’s mouth whilst on vacation is one of the oldest threads of universal boding. And when celebs snap photos of their behind-the-scenes food and beverage choices, you can almost hear the collective gasp of approachability: “You mean to tell me he eats like total crap too? SWOON!!” Here are a handful of celebrities who allowed the world a glimpse of their off-the-clock moments in the form of carbs.

Mario Batali: Lager

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BTJxH_4gdNq/

Justin Theroux: Animal Style

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BEc8yY8w4rY/

David and Cruz Beckham: Uni Shots

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BS466VXhqKY

Chris Pratt: Scones

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BSmb-qODjRZ

Tom Brady: His Own Line Of Delivery Meals

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BSyoYE6h68b/

John Mayer: Doughnuts

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BSrbNi3leW1

Joe Jonas: Pizza

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BSh6bwzARYJ

Drake: Wine

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BR2bjUrjZ1J/

Gwyneth Paltrow: “Farmgaritas”

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BSfNk4BAt7j

Oprah: Bagels

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BOfJQWfl5AN

Drew Barrymore: Thai Food

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BIynL3-hd2m/

Seth Meyers: Paella

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BH8YDZMBf92

Colorado Comes Closer To Allowing Marijuana As A Treatment For PTSD

Sam Jones
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Colorado Comes Closer To Allowing Marijuana As A Treatment For PTSD


This week, the Senate approved a bill that would allow marijuana to treat people suffering from PTSD in Colorado. The state would join 25 others in this step forward for applications for cannabis in healthcare.

According to Colorado news station KOAA:

Former Fort Carson soldier Steve DeFino was critically injured while serving overseas nine years ago. He went through dozens of medications to help with his post-traumatic stress, until he switched to cannabis once he got out and started growing it from home.


“I’m able to live a healthy life, sick free, almost pain free and a quality of life to where I’m not thinking about killing myself all the time, it’s really nice to be able to have good medicine in your hands,” he said. And he says adding PTSD to the eight qualified conditions for medical marijuana use has the potential to help save more veterans across Colorado. “There’s a lot of guys that have run out of options, can’t afford recreational prices, and being able to allow medical as a qualifying condition is very huge for some people,” he said.

As The Fresh Toast previously reported, as much as 20 percent of veterans coming home from Iraq or Afghanistan suffer from PTSD. Research has shown that cannabis could change the way the brain works in regards to fear and nightmares associated with PTSD, but the debate continues around its use.

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This Bill Could Make Marijuana Legal For The Financial Industry

Mike Adams
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This Bill Could Make Marijuana Legal For The Financial Industry

Although states have been allowed to legalize marijuana for various uses, the federal government’s prohibitionary stance on the substance has made it next to impossible for businesses associated with the industry to get their hands-on banking services like other productive members of commerce. However, the situation could change if the latest pot-related bill can find its way through Congress.

On Thursday, Representative Ed Perlmutter announced that he would soon introduce piece of legislation to the U.S. House of Representatives entitled the “Secure and Fair Enforcement Banking Act (SAFE Banking Act), which he says was designed to allow financial institutions to do business with the marijuana industry without catching any heat from federal law enforcement.

The bill is part of a series of actions taken by the recently formed Congressional Cannabis Caucus.

“This legislation is an important step to ensuring marijuana businesses across the nation — who continue to operate in a very uncertain and insecure environment without access to banks or financial institutions — can be treaty fairly and as legitimate contributors to state and local economies,” Representative Don Young, a co-sponsor of the bill, said in a statement. “While I do not personally advocate for the use of marijuana, I do support these types of issues as a matter of states’ rights and the ability to determine the nature of criminal activity within their own jurisdictions.”


Over half the nation is now operating a cannabis industry, at some level, yet the majority of these companies are being forced to do business on a cash only basis. Some of the latest reports show there are billions of dollars being generated through the sale of legal weed, which makes the industry a hard target for robberies and other felonious activities that have been known to harm, and sometimes kill, the people who help run these establishments.

Rep. Perlmutter believes it is irresponsible for the federal government to continue allowing the cannabis trade to flourish in legal states without providing them with the freedom to bank like other legitimate businesses.

“Allowing tightly regulated marijuana businesses the ability to access the banking system will help reduce the threat of crime, robbery and assault in our communities and keep the cash out of cartels,” he said in a statement. “With the majority of states now allowing for some form of recreational or medical marijuana, we have reached a tipping point on this issue and it’s time for Congress to act.”

Unfortunately, the odds are stacked against this legislation. It has been introduced a couple of times before, but it has never managed to gain any traction. The situation on Capitol Hill has not changed much since them, if anything it is worse, with the recent installation of a Trump administration, making it unlikely that Congress will even debate the issue.

Nevertheless, the SAFE Banking Act will be officially introduced in the next couple of weeks.

Gossip: Caitlyn Jenner Says Khloe Hasn’t Spoken to Her for Two Years; Chinese Workers Earn $62 A Week Making Ivanka Trump’s Clothing Line

Naughty Gossip
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Gossip: Caitlyn Jenner Says Khloe Hasn’t Spoken to Her for Two Years; Chinese Workers Earn $62 A Week Making Ivanka Trump’s Clothing Line

Caitlyn Jenner revealed in an interview with Andy Cohen that she’s been frozen out by her former stepdaughter Khloé Kardashian and hasn’t spoken to her in a couple of years. Hear what she said in the video above!

“She doesn’t want to talk to me,” the former Olympic athlete, 67, told Cohen on Radio Andy on SiriusXM on Wednesday, April 26. “She hasn’t talked to me in, like, two years.”

“That’s sad,” Jenner continued. “I was very very close to Khloé, I mean I had 23 years of raising her. I met Khloe when she was 5 years old.”

When the Bravo host asked if that hurt, the former I Am Cait star replied, “Of course it hurts. Cause she was on Howard Stern and called me a liar. And that kind of pissed me off too cause I never lied to her, you know, if I didn’t tell her everything. First of all, she never asked.”

Jenner explained that the Revenge Body star’s big sister Kim Kardashian did ask about her former stepdad’s transition from Bruce Jenner to Caitlyn. “Kim asked and I brought her in and told her before I did anything. I don’t know if I got too heavily into actually transitioning but I told her all my story.”

Chinese Workers Earn $62 A Week Making Ivanka Trump’s Clothing Line
www.naughtygossip.com/ouch/chinese-workers-earn-62-a-week-making-ivanka-trumps-clothing-line
The Washington Post reports:

Workers at a factory in China used by the company that makes clothing for Ivanka Trump’s fashion line and other brands worked nearly 60 hours a week to earn wages of little more than $62 a week, according to a factory audit released Monday. The factory’s 80 workers knit clothes for the contractor, G-III Apparel Group, which has held the exclusive license to make the Ivanka Trump brand’s $158 dresses, $79 blouses and other clothes since 2012. The company also makes clothes for Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger and other brands.

Now an official adviser to her father’s White House, Trump stepped down from her management role but retains an ownership interest in her name-brand company. Its assets were moved into a trust that is now overseen by her husband’s siblings. Trump is the sole beneficiary of the trust, which is valued at more than $50 million.

Workers at the G-III factory in China were required to work 57 hours a week “on a regular basis” to hit production targets, inspectors found. Though Chinese law sets the limit for overtime at 36 hours per month, workers in all of the factory’s departments exceeded that limit, working up to 82 hours of overtime a month between September 2015 and August 2016. The factory’s workers made between 1,879 and 2,088 yuan a month, or roughly $255 to $283, which would be below minimum wage in some parts of China. The average manufacturing employee in urban China made twice as much money as the factory’s workers, or roughly 4,280 yuan a month, according to national data from 2014.

Love the fresh dirt we bring over daily from Naughty Gossip? Let us know in the comments!

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Disney World Is Officially Banning Marijuana In Florida Theme Park

Brendan Bures
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Disney World Is Officially Banning Marijuana In Florida Theme Park

It’s still a small world after all in the eyes of Disney. Though Florida passed medicinal cannabis laws last year, Walt Disney World in Central Florida recently added “marijuana” to its list of prohibited items.

While “illegal substances” have always been included in Disney’s list of prohibited items, this recent addition seems a direct response to Florida’s passing medicinal marijuana. Back in November, 71 percent of Floridians voted yes on an amendment to legalize medicinal cannabis, aiding patients a range of ailments.

This seems like a largely missed opportunity on Disney’s part, though the family-friendly stance theme park setting forth this conservative move isn’t surprising. You might remember our friend Andrew Garfield who relayed his experience of eating pot brownies and attending Disneyland. He described the experience as such, “It was literally heaven.”

Establishing “literally heaven” feels like Disney’s whole theme park strategy, but who are we to contest? Donald Duck probably wouldn’t be a fun smoking partner anyways.

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5 Ways To Get Your Dairy Fix When Animal Milk Isn’t An Option

Sean DeTore
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5 Ways To Get Your Dairy Fix When Animal Milk Isn’t An Option

It’s been five years and I can still remember — quite vividly, mind you — when delicious, delicious dairy decided to turn against me.

It was approximately 1:20 p.m. on a Tuesday afternoon and I was at work. That particular day, for a snack, I had a small baggie full of Triscuit snack crackers (Original variety) and an equal amount of sliced, squared, block cheddar cheese. One by one I would place a square of cheddar cheese upon a Triscuit  and munch, munch, munch away. It was the best snack, until I began to feel a tightness down below. That particular Tuesday afternoon would be the beginning of the end for me and all kinds of delicious dairy products.

If you, like me, can’t handle lactose — or you’re vegan, — then read on my friends, for I have some top notch alternatives and easy at-home recipes to get you through these non-dairy times.

1. BRAND ALTERNATIVES

There’s no doubt about the fact that I do miss cheese and pizza and sour cream and ice cream and butter and cream cheese and boy oh boy could I go on. Even though I do, on occasion, dabble in dairy, I have found several brand alternatives for cheese and other yummy dairy items.

CHEESE

Daiya was my first foray into the non-dairy world. The great thing about Daiya is there are so many different options. Various pizzas, cheeze (which they spell with a “z”), cream cheeze, cheezecake and other items that might satisfy your ooey, gooey, melty cravings. One word of warning with this specific brand regarding the varieties of cheeze: The cheeze is way better melted or cooked in some way. Eating a cheeze slice “raw” is not good. On the other hand, enjoying a “raw” chunk of cheeze block is VERY good, especially on a Triscuit snack cracker.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BTFcuA9Ds_h

Go Veggie is another amazing alternative brand. Not only does Go Veggie have a variety of products in the same vein as Daiya, but they have another, unique option. You can choose between Lactose Free, Lactose & Soy Free and Vegan. Whoo! I’ve only had the pleasure of trying their cheese singles, but I can say, compared to Daiya, eating a cheese single “raw” is actually pretty tasty and the singles work great on sandwiches of both grilled and non-grilled variety.

ICE CREAM

Tofutti Cuties will forever be my go-to “ice cream” sandwich. When I bite into one of these delicious frozen desserts, I forget about real ice cream altogether and before I know, it I’ve devoured 3-4 of these little Cuties in one sitting.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BMCmUL-jbNY

BUTTER

Earth Balance is the buttery spread I use for absolutely everything that calls for butter. It’s got such a satisfying buttery taste and texture; even your most ardent dairy loving friends won’t be able to tell it’s not the real thing. Also, much like all of the above products, Earth Balance has many other food items for you to munch on.

MILK

So Delicious and Dream are two alternative brands that can help quench your desire for dairy free-beverages, yogurts and frozen desserts. I enjoy So Delicious frozen dessert pints for which they have many: Almond Milk, Cashew Milk, Coconut Milk and Soy Milk. As for Dream, it’s their Rice Dream Pies and Almond Dream Bites that really get my mouth watering. **Be careful as the two aforementioned Dream desserts are NOT safe for milk allergic individuals due to shared equipment but they ARE SAFE for lactose intolerant individuals.

2. MAKE YOUR OWN NACHO “CHEESE” WITH…POTATOES?

Did you know you can use something that is not cheese to make something that tastes and looks like cheese? Well, you can! Sweet potatoes make a great substitute for cheese and if you, like me, have been missing the deliciousness of nacho cheese sauce, then look no further. Another great recipe for nacho cheese sauce can be found on the vegan blog called Hot For Food which calls for regular potatoes and carrots to give the cheese dip a nice orange color.

https://www.instagram.com/p/7eWTepNOAn/?taken-by=ash_myheartbeets

3. HOMEMADE BAKED MAC AND “CHEESE”

Sure, there are TONS of recipes for Baked Mac and Cheese but, of course, I happen to think my own personal recipe is the best. Generally when I’ve made mac and cheese I’ve used Daiya shreds to delightfully gooey results. However, the last time I made this recipe I used 2 and one half packages of Go Veggie cheese singles with approximately the “one half” of cheese used for the topping. Adding bacon doesn’t hurt either (fakeon for our vegan friends)

As you can see, the recipe is well-loved! That’s how good it is. Here’s the transcription:

In saucepan, melt butter. Remove from heat, blend in flour, salt and mustard. Add milk. Heat, stirring constantly until sauce thickens a little and is smooth. Add 1-½ C. cheese, heat until melted, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, cook macaroni as directed, drain. Combine with sauce in a 2qt. casserole, top with remaining cheese, bread crumbs, paprika. Bake at 375 for approx 20-25 mins or until nicely browned and bubbly. Makes 4-6 servings.

4. USE CASHEWS TO MAKE ALFREDO SAUCE

I’m Italian and I love all kinds of pasta and pasta sauces. However, because of my affliction, I can’t have most pasta dishes! One of my favorite sauces has always been alfredo sauce. Probably the cheesiest of all the sauces. Well, it’s a good thing that cashews exist and somebody figured out a way to turn a cashew into a dairy substitute. The first time I had cashew alfredo sauce I was beside myself. The best. Mangia!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BN5WR5FDCIV/?taken-by=thevegan8

5. VEGAN CHEEZ-ITS

Did I mention I love snacks? One of my favorite munchies has always been Cheez Its. These small, salty squares are perfect for popping in your mouth any time of day. If you’re a snack lover as well, but keep yourself away from all of the dairy-filled, high fat, salty goodness that is contained within any given snack, there’s an easy way to make your own.

https://www.instagram.com/p/lskAlBn7Jl/?taken-by=minimalistbaker

Science Tells Us Why Being Stressed Out Make Us Sick

Sam Jones
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0
Science Tells Us Why Being Stressed Out Make Us Sick

Do you ever find yourself caught in a cycle of stress, getting sick, stressing out because you’re sick and it’s setting you back, getting sicker because you’re stressed out…

It has to do with your fight-or-flight response. When you’re stressed, your body produces more of the hormones adrenaline and cortisol. These are meant to be a short-term solution for whatever is facing you at the moment—a bear, an assailant, a near-miss accident—that help you respond quickly to danger.

When you’re constantly stressed out, however, your body keeps making more of these hormones, in addition to quickening your heart rate and blood pressure as a result. That’s extremely taxing on your immune system.

Gail Saltz, a psychiatrist and television commentator, wrote about what’s at work behind this very annoying vicious cycle on Health.com. She writes:

These physiological changes come in handy if you’re facing an acute emergency (say, you have to quickly climb out of a submerged car) but not when you’re constantly barraged with more ordinary annoyances (you can’t find your work ID! Your computer crashes! Traffic makes you late!). Putting your body into this overactive, fight-or-flight state for drawn-out periods can weaken your immune response, triggering various symptoms (gastrointestinal problems, headaches, insomnia) and contributing to everything from respiratory infections to heart disease. Now, there is no such thing as living stress-free, but you knew that already. What’s key is how you manage what life throws at you—you want to short-circuit worry before it overloads you.

Saltz suggests actively de-stressing if you find yourself in a sickness stress loop. Practice deep breathing, talking it out, or getting into some physical activity are all proven ways to beat the stress before it beats you.

[h/t Health]

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This Untidy Snapchat Sex Story Will Leave You Reeling

Maria Loreto
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This Untidy Snapchat Sex Story Will Leave You Reeling

Millennials like to overshare. This trait can be attributed to social media, which has enabled us to voice our thoughts and opinions no matter how stupid they are, without facing any consequences. Our phones protect us from the rolling eyes and sighs of disappointment that inevitably come when we upload a selfie with an inspiring quote that inspires exactly no one. 

This girl took over sharing to the next level, telling all her Snapchat followers about the time when midnight sex sent her and her boyfriend to the ER with a gash on her forehead and some broken teeth. Was it necessary for her to share all of this intimate and embarrassing information? No. Are you interested in knowing what happens? Read on:

It begins…

Some proof.

Some classic build up of tension (Storytelling 101).

Related Link: Your Smelly Lunch Is Now A Criminal Offense In Italy 

The End.

Do you trust this girl’s wacky rendition of events? Do you think all of this actually happened? We have no idea. She might have added a detail or two for entertainment purposes, but still. What a ride and a great way to use memes.

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