Mini Food-A-Thon

I decided to take advantage of my stress-free Sunday and spend some time in the kitchen making some of my favorite recipes. I started off with a deliciously sweet breakfast, had too many cookies for lunch, and then finished the day off with a simple but flavorful dinner.


Nutella and Banana Stuffed French Toast

Not only do I have two huge tubs of Nutella that I bought from Costco, but I woke up craving it. So I decided to whip up a quick breakfast for one that included French toast and hot chocolate. This recipe is from Recipezaar



Ingredients
2 slices of your favorite bread
1-2 tablespoons Nutella
Thinly sliced ripe banana (about half of a banana)
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
Butter
Confectioner's/Powdered sugar

Directions
Spread Nutella on both slices of bread. Place sliced banana on one slice of bread and then cover with the other slice.

Beat egg, milk, and vanilla together. (This is enough mixture for 2 servings)

Dip the sandwich in the egg mixture, flipping to cover both sides.

Heat butter in skillet over medium heat.

Place sandwich in skillet and cook about 3 minutes per side until golden and cooked though.

Dust the French toast with the confectioner's/powdered sugar and eat immediately.


Nutella Hot Chocolate

This recipe is so easy to make and it's a chocolate lovers dream because of how rich and creamy it is. This recipe is also from Recipezaar



Ingredients
3 tablespoons Nutella
1 1/3 cup milk

Directions
Put Nutella and 1/3 milk in a small saucepan over medium heat and whisk together until blended.

Add the remaining milk and continue whisking until hot and frothy.


Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe ever. Nestie Joelen&Louis posted it in her blog when I was in search of the perfect chocolate chip cookie. The cookies come out really soft and chewy and are super addictive. The recipe itself creates about 3 dozen cookies and can easily be doubled if needed.



Ingredients
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flowers
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 (3.4 ounce) package instant vanilla (or French vanilla) pudding mix
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions
Preheat over to 350 degrees F.

Sift together the flour and baking soda; set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar. Beat in the instant pudding mix until blended. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. Blend in the flour mixture. Finally, stir in the chocolate chips.

Drop cookies by rounded spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets

Bake for 10-12 minutes in preheated oven. Edges should be golden brown.


Marinated Steaks with Chipotle Cheddar Mashed Potatoes

The marinade has quickly become my go-to recipe when I want juicy, soft, and flavorful steaks. This recipe was recommended to me and comes from AllRecipes. It can be halved if you have less than a 1 1/2 pounds of steak and it's a perfect recipe for making fajitas too. Since Alex wanted mashed potatoes, I used whatever ingredients we had in the house and came up with something that's creamy, spicy, and mouth-watering good.



Marinade Recipe

Ingredients
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/4 red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 1/2 pounds flank steak (or your favorite steak)

Directions
In a medium bowl, mix the oil, soy sauce, vinegar, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, garlic, and ground black pepper. Place meat in a shallow glass dish. Pour marinade over the steak, turning meat to coat thoroughly. Cover and refrigerate for 6 hours.

You can cook this on a skillet or on a grill.

Chipotle Cheddar Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients
4 medium Russet potatoes
1 ounce cream cheese
1 1/2 cup Sargento chipotle cheddar cheese
1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons milk

Directions
Boil water in a medium sized saucepan.

Cut up potatoes into chunks (with skin or without) and boil them for 10-15 minutes or until soft.

Mash the potatoes to your liking and add the cream cheese, chipotle cheddar, and milk until well blended and the cheese has melted.

Serve immediately.

Enjoy!!