YUMMM

I bet you can guess where these are from! Just a quick post to share one of our favorites - Magnolia's Bakery. But only the original downtown one. They are only delicious if you have to wait in line for them! ;)

WE'RE BACKKKKK and so sorry!

Well, Brittany's birthday came along - 21 woooot, then it was spring break and this and that, then finals and now here we are in mid MAY. But I have a post and it's a tasty one.

Say hello to mini, dark chocolate fudge, raspberry jelly filled cupcakes WITH cream cheese frosting. SO Delicious. I had about 20...
We baked these for another event at The Gates with Mike Clemente Events. It was the opening weekend of Alice In Wonderland and they were quite a hit!

Basically.. you bake a normal cupcake, your flavor of choice. We went with chocolate because - hello it's delicious.
Then after they are cooled (this is crucial) you infuse the jelly. This sounds a lot harder than it is. You just go to your local Target, Kmart, etc and but a cake decorating kit. It should come with a 'filling tool' which is just a long nozzle (?) that you attach to an icing bag with the jelly, we think seedless is best. We used Polaner seedless raspberry but of course you could make your own!

OK, I promise it's not as hard as I'm making it sound... the pictures will help!

We always seem to find interesting ways to use cooking utensils.
But look at that delicious batter.
We had quite the revelation during this process - we SUCK at decorating.
Britt is so serious while doing the jelly infusion.
Fluffy, delicious cream cheese frosting.
Yup, we used allll the jelly.
Frosting away.
My masterpieces!

I mean.. if you don't think that looks good... YUM

E-mail us with suggestions on food and dessert recipes - couturecooks@gmail.com

LIME CHICKEN IS THE BOMB

I promise this is the easiest and most delicious meal ever. So basically here is what you do you put the cilantro, lime juice, salt and pepper in a ziplock, then you rub down the chicken (thinly sliced) with some oil put the chicken in the bag and let sit for 2 or how ever many hours you want. You just have to make sure you aren't starving when you start this because it really tastes best when sitting for at least 2 hours (we didn't eat until 10 pm). Once its done marinating grill it up and enjoy. We made corn and had a salad on the side and it was perrrrrfect!
Here is the real recipe/directions haha via one of our favorite websites eat better america:
1/2 cup lime juice
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 12 oz)
1 teaspoon olive oil

1. In resealable food-storage plastic bag, mix lime juice, cilantro, salt and black pepper. Rub chicken with oil; place in same bag, turning to coat chicken in lime mixture. Refrigerate 2 hours.
2. Heat coals or gas grill for direct heat. Cover and grill chicken 4 to 6 inches from medium-high heat about 10 minutes per side or until a meat thermometer inserted in thickest portion reads 170°F and juices run clear.

mmmm fettucini alfreado

So this isn't exactly healthy but I was craving a delicious meal and i couldn't stop myself. This is my mom's homemade recipe but i am sure there are tons of recipes online to use. I was so excited that it actually tasted good, no great! Here are some pics - I added fresh peas and paired it with a white wine and a some fresh italian bread. DE-LISH.

taste of Argentina

random BUT had to share with you the delicious treat my boyfriend brought back from Argentina called Alfajaor which is chocolatey, caramely goodness - take a look :)

flipping out for Flip!

Although our moto is save money and eat healthy, everyone has to splurge every once in awhile right?
Well the other day Britt and I were doing a little bit of shopping in Bloomingdales and I guess the shopping worked up an appetite because we decided the farthest we could go to eat was to Flip which is in the bottom level of the department store. So anywho, it was amazing. I mean, AMAZING. The burgers, the fries, the shakes, the onion rings, and they even serve Crumbs cupcakes (our favorite) although we didn't have room for them after all of the rest of the food. So i guess in conclusion we are saying if you want a good burger go to Flip!
Here are some pictures to make your mouth water.

easy, delicious, dinner - Parma rosa chicken pasta

Need a new spin to a grilled chicken recipe? britt cooked up some whole wheat pasta and made a parma rosa sauce and viola! A delicious dinner.




We used a mix for the sauce so the whole thing only took about 20 minutes!

Midnight Snack!!

Ever find yourself craving a sweet at 330 am? Ha, well we did hence the oatmeal raisin cookies.. We used the recipe on the back of the Quakeroats box and they were delicious!!

The batter smelled soooo good!!

Finished product - oatmeal raisin perfection!

Guest Chefs!

SO. Ever had a meal cooked for you by two cuties? Well I did and let me tell you. it. was. amazing. Even the simplest pasta dish can taste like it came from a 5 star restaurant when your not the one in the kitchen.. especially when it looks this good --


Looks great right??

Guest Couture Chefs hard at work...

Pooped from their cooking!!

They wouldn't share their top secret homemade sauce recipe but you can harass them yourselves on their twitter - PEliason6190 and gunsmokee ;] - they would love to hear from you!

xoxo
Couture Cooks

Sweet Treat

What to do on a snow day? Eat of course! Having finished a bag of Milano double chocolate cookies we decided to make cupcakes. Clearly we gave up on any chance of eating nutritious today so we went with dark chocolate fudge cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and topped with a strawberry!

Feast your eyes on this!

Quick Post!

Need a delicious breakfast idea? Brittany and our great friend Bianca were feeling adventurous one day and decided to add a twist to the normal pancake recipe. They added frozen raspberries, bananas and chocolate chips. I don't know about you but I can't think of a better way to start the day. :]

To keep it healthy we used the heart healthy Bisquick and Smart Balance instead of butter. Of course we couldn't resist real Vermont maple syrup. You could also try Buckwheat or Cornmeal pancake mix to make your breakfast even healthier! Here is a great recipe I found on wholefoods.com -- Try it and let us know how you liked it!

Ingredients

1 1/3 cups unbleached flour
2/3 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 cup rolled oats, finely ground in a food processor or blender
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tablespoons peanut or safflower oil
1 1/2 cups buttermilk, more if needed
2 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen)

Method

In a large mixing bowl, combine both flours, cornmeal, ground oats, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs and oil together. Stir in buttermilk. Stir together liquid and dry ingredients until just combined. Do not over mix. Add more buttermilk to thin batter as necessary. Fold blueberries into batter*. Pour 1/4 cup of batter onto a lightly greased, pre-heated griddle (325—350°F on electric skillet). Turn pancakes when bubbles form. Cook until golden brown.

ciao!

Tomato-Basil Chicken

So. it's 16, almost 17 days later and still nothing... life of a fashion student I suppose. With school, jobs and internships its kinda crazy over here but finally, I present you with our first post of a real recipe, really made, in our apartment. For real! Okay so unfortunately I (Noelle) am not actually featured in this post, as I wasss? Well - i don't remember what I was doing but you can thank Britt and Andraya for this lovely meal.

Tomato-Basil Chicken
Ingredients:
8 oz uncooked whole wheat fettuccine (we used spaghetti instead)
2 teaspoons olive or vegetable oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped (1/2 cup)
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
3 medium tomatoes, chopped (2 1/2 cups)
2 cups cubed cooked chicken or turkey breast
3 tablespoons chopped fresh or 1 teaspoon dried basil leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon red pepper sauce (we skipped this, it was still delicious!!)

Steps:
1. Cook and drain fettuccine as directed on package. Cover to keep warm.
2. Meanwhile, in 10-inch nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Cook onion and garlic in oil, stirring occasionally, until onion is crisp-tender. Stir in remaining ingredients except fettuccine; reduce heat to medium.
3. Cover; cook about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until mixture is hot and tomatoes are soft. Serve over fettuccine.

This took under 30 minutes, was delicious, and is only 360 calories per serving which is 1 1/2 cups :)

YUM.
Getting their cook on.. and a lil' drink on too!

Don't mess with her in the kitchen!



The wine of choice for the evening :]

Enjoy!

slackin'

well well well. I know it's been awhile, and by awhile i mean a lifetime but i have many new posts on the way thanks to chef brittany and chef andraya. I on the other hand have been slacking in the baking department but I am thinking up something good for valentines day :) ohhh to be in love. so we are hoping for a snowstorm on wednesday and although we have some serious mimosa drinking, and lingerie shopping to do I will try and get out atleast 2 posts of some great and EASY and! HEALTHY meals. tata!