The Frugal Teen Birthday Party *Part 2*

The movie watching went on until 5 am, thankfully they were quiet and I was able to sleep through it. The only thing worse than tired, cranky teens is a tired, cranky mommy!

Breakfast finally occured at almost 11 am. We had pancakes, home fries, strawberry banana smoothie and, of course, some left over cookie cake. A few weeks back I had put the maple syrup in a ketchup bottle to avoid huge amounts being used. I dicovered this works with small kids and teenagers too!

Repacking the car and cleaning up filled up the rest of our time, although the girls did sneak in a quick game of spud. As for the car ride home, everyone fell asleep while I sang my heart out to oldies (it was good that they were all asleep!)

While the gas use wasn't particularly frugal, the party was. The tab came in at just under $50, including food. As for the gas bill, I used the trip to do a little more closing up of the house for the winter so I don''t mind too much.

Now to make ice cream cake I used 2 quarts of Soy Delicious ice cream (we used chocolate velvet and chocolate peanut butter) and 1 bag of Midel chocolate snaps. Soften the ice cream in the fridge, it needs to be spreadable but not liquid. Grind up the chocolate snaps in a food processor. Decide what to "make" the cake in. I've used a bundt pan, a plain plastic container and I'm thinking about stealing my mom's unused jello mold for my next try.

Whatever you choose, either oil it or line it with plastic wrap to help you remove the cake for serving. Spread one quart of the ice cream along the bottom of your container. Place in freezer and let harden a bit. This prevents the cookie crumbs from getting soggy. Pour in cookie crumbs and place in freezer a few minutes, again this prevents the cookie crumbs from getting soggy. Top with other quart of ice cream, cover and freeze. It helps to let it sit on the counter a few minutes before serving. For those of you who haven't made the leap to vegan, it works with regular ice cream as well. In fact, I got the idea from a very non vegan neighbor.