French Toast Bake

Cinnamon Sugar Churros Keeping with the Mexican theme going on here, I’ve decided to share with you one of my proudest recent accomplishments: CHURROS! I conquered my fear of frying in hot oil, and feel quite silly for not trying this sooner. Sure it was slightly terrifying at times, but with Ryan’s help and just a little screaming, we made it out with no injuries and with some really freakin’ delicious churros. Ryan doesn’t crave sweet things quite like I do, but he practically begged me the entire summer to make churros. I know a lot of people that are scared to use hot oil, like I was, but please, please, give this a try! Cinnamon Sugar ChurrosAdapted from Cooking Mexican 1 cup water 2 tbsp brown sugar 1/2 tsp salt 1/3 cup unsalted butter 1 cup all purpose flour 2 eggs 1/2 tsp vanilla extract 1/4 cup granulated sugar 1 tsp cinnamon - In a small dish, mix 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon. Recipes yields about 20 churros

Cream Roll Recipe - a German Jelly Roll! This cream roll recipe ("Biskuitrolle mit frische Frucht") is made just like a jelly roll recipe only it's filled with whipped cream and fresh fruit. Oh, so German. Oh, so delicious. I soon found out, though, that if I just get everything ready before I start, the whole process actually goes quickly. The one on the left was made by my dear friend, Melania. Ingredients: 3 large eggs, separated1/2 cup granulated sugar3/4 cup all purpose flour3 tbsp corn starch1 tsp baking powder1 cup whipping cream1/4 cup icing sugar, sifted (see hints below)1 1/2 cups prepared fruit Instructions: Line a rimmed baking sheet (15" X 10") with parchment paper.Preheat oven to 400° F.In a small bowl, mix together flour, corn starch, and baking powder, and set aside.In a separate bowl, whip egg whites with 3 tbsp water until stiff. Hints: If possible, use a whipped cream stabilizer such Dr. For the fruit, you can use almost any variety. It's also a fun recipe to do with kids. Quick Fix Recipes

A day in my pouch Yesterday in post weight loss surgery eating... Breakfast: Well I woke up to a busted water heater. We thankfully caught it before too much damage was done, water was confined to the garage but uggggh grrrr #&$%ity, #&$% #&$% #&$%! I spent a good part of the morning making phone calls and then waiting for call backs so I had time to make a batch of my Pancake Bites. I couldn't make up my mind what kind I wanted the original sausage, the bacon, or the fruity version. Shelly's Pancake Bites 1/2 cup Multigrain Pancake Mix, dry1/3 cup Soy Milk (any milk would do)1/4 cup Torani Sugar Free Caramel SyrupAssorted Toppings: Cooked Sausage, Crumbled Cooked Bacon, Fruit (I used frozen blueberries but banana slices or apples are yum too) Mix pancake mix, milk, syrup together till thoroughly combined. Top each muffin with sausage, bacon or fruit. Bake at 350 for 12-14 minutes or until golden. Lunch: One of my easy go-to favs: Shrimp and Cocktail Sauce. Shelly's Chinese New Year Meatloaf

Butterbeer Cupcakes As promised last week, here is another post dedicated to my jaunt to sunny Florida. But instead of featuring their famous fruit, this time I’m focusing one of their famous attractions — The Wizarding World of Harry Potter! Last spring we spent our entire trip at Disney World (as evidenced by my Mickey Cupcakes), but since then Universal has opened Harry Potter land, and so Ryan, my brother Scott, and I had a reason to go back in 2011. We really enjoyed their rendition of Diagon Alley and Hogwart’s — the buildings were kind of tilted in towards the walkway so you really felt like you were there. Universal won’t release their official recipe for butterbeer, but HP fanatics have suggested it is made with a combination of cream soda, butter, and butterscotch. If you know a Harry Potter enthusiast, these are the perfect treats for them. Butterbeer Cupcakes Recipe adapted from Amy Bites For the cupcakes: For the butterscotch ganache: 1 11-oz package butterscotch chips 3/4 cup heavy cream

dragon roll sushi recipe Recipe: dragon roll sushi The Daring Cooks are making sushi this month! We have done quite a bit of sushi making (and more eating) here at urb so I was quite excited for the selection. Even with the familiarity, I was hard pressed for time to get this done. Because of that, it is with great sadness and yet relief that I am withdrawing from the Daring Cooks. daring cooks – one last cha cha cha! I really have to thank the ladies of the DARING KITCHEN: beloved Lis of La Mia Cucina and sweet Ivonne of Cream Puffs in Venice. Here’s the official line: The November 2009 Daring Cooks challenge was brought to you by Audax of Audax Artifex and Rose of The Bite Me Kitchen. And once again, I colored outside of the lines which is probably why I should be leaving the DCs… I didn’t use their sushi recipe, I used the one I always use because we had a very small window of time to get this done. i thought the egg and ice water looked neat before mixing whisking the wet and dry ingredients together tempura!

Who likes saving money? Ok, so I'm all about saving money. I mean who isn't right? Anyhow, in the interest of saving money here is my first money saving post! Here's what you need: Take a big thing of oatmeal (make sure to use the quick oats, mine was 42 oz I went and checked, haha) $3.78 at my local Wal-mart in Texas a box of snack-sized Ziplocks (or whichever brand you prefer) a 1/4 c or 1/2 c measuring cup (I did mine 1/2 c but my kids are 8 & 11 and then there is my hubs, the pre-made packets are only about 1/4 c so if you have itty bittys you can just do the 1/4 c)a few spare minutes (probably took less than 10 minutes) And here's how I put mine together, feel free to add in what you and your family like: I put 1/2 c oats in the baggie (could do 1/4 c if you have itty bittys, that's how much are in the name brand guys pre-made packets)Approximately 2 TBSP of brown sugar in the baggieZip it up! For the water or milk part you add 3/4 c - 1 c of water or milk (for the 1/2 c oatmeal size), however you prefer.

Sweet Tooth Portabella Pizza Bites – P90x Recipes – P90x Nutrition Plan » My P90x Nutrition Plan Welcome Pinterest people! Check out my P.P.P.S. below just for you!! =) If you haven’t noticed by now, I’m a big fan of pizza. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. P90x Nutrition Plan Servings: 6 mushrooms provide 1 1/2 vegi servings, 1/2 protein serving, 1/2 fat serving, 2 dairy servings. P.S. P.P.S. For the Pinterest People: P.P.P.S. If you like these because they are cute, bite-sized, and healthy, try my Chocolate-Filled Strawberries. Zucchini Tots Getting your family to eat their veggies can often be difficult. Well these kid-friendly zucchini tots are the perfect solution! Make them in mini muffin tins for the perfect little side for breakfast or dinner! I found this recipe on the Two Bite Club which I slightly adapted and they turned out great. I know what you're thinking, another zucchini recipe? A few of my favorites are Zucchini Enchiladas (perfect for meatless Mondays), Chicken Rollatini Stuffed with Zucchini and Mozzarella, Zucchini Pizza Bites and last week's Sausage Stuffed Zucchini Boats. For breakfast try this Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread, even the pickiest of kids will enjoy them! Ingredients: 1 cup zucchini, grated 1 large egg1/4 medium onion, diced1/4 cup reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese, grated1/4 cup seasoned breadcrumbssalt and pepper to tastecooking spray Directions: Preheat oven to 400°. Grate the zucchini into a clean dish towel. Bake for 16-18 minutes, or until the tops are golden.

S'mores Cookies I LOVE pot-luck dinner parties — especially when the instructions from the hostess ask that each attendee bring their own bottle of wine. This was the case last weekend when I was in NYC with a group of my best friends from college. Three out of the five of us at the party have food blogs (T and M), so you can imagine how excited we all were to get together to cook and above all, eat! Obviously I grabbed the dessert course, and turned to this cookie recipe I had been drooling over from Lovin from the Oven. Since I was traveling from CT, I prepared the dry mix ahead of time to bring with me, and was able to whip up the dough while Tyla and Marissa were making dinner. By the time we had finished the delicious dinner course, my dough had rested in the fridge for just the right amount of time, and within 10 minutes we had warm, gooey crack/cookies. To say these cookies were delicious does not do them justice – they were AMAZING. S’mores CookiesAdapted from Lovin’ From the Oven

Guacamole Grilled Cheese Sandwich | Grilled Cheese Recipe Guacamole Grilled Cheese Sandwich Josh’s brother is visiting us from California and we are having a great time. Caleb sure loves having his uncle around and I love having another person to feed:) The other day the guys wanted a snack so I whipped up a bowl of guacamole and made homemade baked tortilla chips. The guys were still hungry so I offered to make grilled cheese sandwiches. There was still some guacamole left so I asked them if they wanted a Guacamole Grilled Cheese Sandwich. I used crusty white bread to make the sandwiches. Guacamole Grilled Cheese Sandwich Yield: 2 sandwichesPrep Time: 5 minutesCook Time: 5-7 minutes The guacamole takes this grilled cheese sandwich to a whole new level of goodness. If you like this Guacamole Grilled Cheese, you might also like:

Snacking in the Kitchen: Mother's Day 2010 Brunch Happy Mother’s Day! (Want more ideas of what to do with your cupcake pan? Check out my recipe for Sour Cherry Crustless Cheesecake Cupcakes with Sour Cherry Glaze) Back to Mother’s Day though! On the menu:Broccoli and Italian Sausage Egg MuffinsGrilled Lemon & Garlic AsparagusOrange Juice Broccoli and Italian Sausage Egg Muffins Ingredients1 pound Italian Sausage (sweet, mild, hot variety depending on your preference)1 cup broccoli florets8 large eggs1/4 cup milk (or half and half depending on how you’re feeling that day)1/2 tbsp vegetable oil1/2 tsp baking powdersalt & pepper to tasteFreshly grated Parmesan Cheese as needed Directions1. Here’s Mother’s Day Brunch 2011: Roasted Salmon with Dill and Lemon and Mushroom and Dill Risotto. Back to the blog Like this: Like Loading...

Monkey Bread Muffins This Northeastern blizzard might have ruined some of our holiday travel plans, but I’ve enjoyed the time stuck inside in our apartment, winding down from the holidays and getting my life organized again. Of course that also means facing the work I’ll have to do during my 2 weeks off from school, but we’re going to continue to ignore that for now. Nothing beats being snuggled up inside while it snows, watching movies, and munching on warm homemade muffins. If you’re in a similar situation, I highly suggest making these Monkey Bread Muffins. Granted I have a hard time calling these muffins, they’re really more like buttery baked donuts piled inside a muffin liner, but tis the season to be indulgent. Actually these are mini-brioche liners that I got from fancy flours, but you can really use them for whatever you’d like. This would also be a great project to do with kids — plus you could use a few extra hands rolling all the little balls of dough. Recipe yields 12 muffins