JuBella.com – Get Your Creative Dose

Good morning ladies and gents! I’m so excited that Spring has sprung! The flowers are blooming, the bees are buzzing, the wind is warm, the air is sweet, and the cherry blossoms are showing off their beauty! Of course a sweet spring morning deserves a sweet breakfast to go along with it right!

With that said, I wanted to share a super easy breakfast idea for French toast, as seen below. I simply placed pats of cream cheese(cold, not softened) in between two pieces of bread. I sprinkled a little sugar on top of the cream cheese , placed some sliced strawberries on top, and drizzled a bit of syrup in between the two pieces of bread. This will help keep the two pieces of bread together. I then proceeded to batter them up with my custard mixture (egg, milk, vanilla). I prefer to use a pastry brush to brush my custard on, as I used regular honey wheat bread, which is quite thin in comparison to french bread or challah. This way you can keep your hands clean and avoid the risk of oversaturating or having your filling coming apart in your custard mixture. You can sprinkle a little cinnamon on the bread before brushing your batter on. Garnish with berries and powdered sugar!

This breakfast is sweet, creamy, and super comforting; and goes great with a glass of orange juice! Enjoy!
Psst: if you really want to make it decadent, try adding some thinly sliced bananas to this or substituting the berries for baked cinnamon apples! You can also cut sown on the fat by using greek yogurt…toast your bread first and then dallop yogurt in between the bread along with your fruit!

I heart bread pudding and to be quite honest I think that there is a fine line between the bread puddings we eat for dessert and the french toast we treat ourselves to for breakfast. So, one Sunday I decided to meet the two in between by making what I call “Bread & Breakfast Pudding Cups. It’s pretty much like bread pudding only not as sweet, so it works great for breakfast along with some warm maple syrup or just all by itself! I used raisins and pecans in this batch, but the options are endless when it comes to what you can throw in the batch. I’m sure some orange extract and dried cranberries would be divine drizzled with syrup or some fresh blueberries stirred into the mix..just use your imagination when it comes to the flavors!

Bread & Breakfast Pudding Cups
Serves 5

Ingredients
7 Slices Honey Wheat bread, cubed
½ tsp. Cinnamon
¼ tsp. Nutmeg
2/3 C. Pecan Pieces
1 Tbsp. Raisins (optional)
1/3 C. Brown Sugar

1/3 C. Buttermilk
1/3 C. Milk
½ tsp. Pure Vanilla Extract
½ tsp. Banana Extract

1 Egg

Directions: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl toss together your: bread cubes, dry spices and sugar, raisins, and pecans. Add milk, vanilla and banana flavoring and stir together. Now gently stir in your egg until well combined. Spray 5 spots of your muffin pan with non stick cooking spray. Spreading equally among 5 of your muffin cups, lightly pack your bread mixture into each one.
Bake in a 350 degree oven for 15-17minutes. Serve with fresh orange juice!

Bohemian Tips: Spruce up a simple glass of orange juice by stirring in a little bit of banana extract!

It has taken me forever and a day to come up with a really good pancake recipe that suits my taste. You know the perfect pancake..light, fluffy, sweet, and tender. This version uses lemon extract and blueberries and tastes divine with a really good warm maple or blueberry syrup.

Lemon Blueberry Pancakes
1 1/2 C. All Purpose Flour
1/2 C. Sugar
1 tsp. Baking Powder
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1/4 tsp. Salt
1 Egg, beaten
1/2 tsp. Lemon Extract
1/2 C. Plain Nonfat Yogurt or 1/2 C. Buttermilk
1/2 C. Unsweetened Almond Milk or regular whole milk
2/3 C. Water
2 Tbsp. Canola Oil
1 C. Fresh Blueberries, slightly smashed

Directions:

1. Combine all of your dry ingredients except your blueberries. stir in egg, then yogurt, extract, and milk, and then your oil and water. Stir lightly. You do not want to over mix your batter to avoid tough pancakes. Gently fold in your blueberries. Let your batter sit for about 5 minutes.

2. Using a 1/4 measuring cup, pour your batter into a non stick pan or onto your griddle. spread the batter around. I like to cover my pan with the top to let my pancake sort of stem as it cooks. Once you begin to see the edges firm up and small bubbles appear on top, your pancake is ready to be flipped. Serve with your favorite syrup!

Good Morning Everybody! So, I totally could not resist posting this video, as he makes me more than excited to cook up some pancakes…he is quite enthused indeed! Nevertheless, this is a recipe for Spanish pancakes made with chocolate and olive oil(two of my favorite ingredients)!

I hope your weekend went well? Mine was pretty good. It was quite rainy and gloomy for the entire weekend, but I didn’t mind as I love to open up the window to enjoy the cool breeze and the sound of raindrops hitting the window and ground. Ok, enough of my ramble…Enjoy!

image by norjam8

Good Morning Everybody! Hoping all is beautiful in your part of the world? It has been a while since I have done a true “Good Morning Monday” post, so, this morning for breakfast we are having Tartelettes Lavender Oatmeal Squares! I am a huge fan of Tartelette as her recipes as well as her photos are so decadent and inspiring & I really love how she presented/packaged these little oat squares! Click Here For The Recipe!

Also, I wanted to let you all know that I have started two new blogs to further help categorize the many facets of my life! One focuses on the many faces of fashion which is called Style Gypsy, and the other is a motherhood blog called Inspiring Mama. So, for all of you who love fashion and/or motherhood then do feel free to stop by and visit! I have found some fantastic eye candy to post this week, so stay tuned and I hope you all have a wonderful day!

Good morning everybody! Oh, I am feeling so much better in the past few days! I have not been bothered with morning sickness, but the fatigue and lack of energy is something to deal with, especially when you have a running list of things you have to/would like to do! Nevertheless, it’s a beautiful Monday morning and I hope your week is off to a creative one! I wanted to share this recipe that I found via Cream Puffs In Venice. It’s called Lemony Bread Pudding French Toast(does that nor make your mouth water as you read it?). I must try this, even if it is just as a dessert or a guilty pleasure snack! Just click on the link above for the full interview, and while you are there you will definitely want to bookmark the following that really caught my appetite:

Jam Crostada

Strawberry Lemonade

Three Cheese & Mushroom Pizza

Stuffed Eggplant

Chocolate Toffee Biscotti

Okay everybody, i hope you enjoy these tasty finds and I have some inspiring posts for this week! Have a wonderful Monday to you all!

Hi there everybody! How was your weekend? Our weekend went pretty well. I was hoping for rain, yet not a drop was in sight. There is nothing better on a fall Sunday than napping with the rain, snacking on yummy food, and an entertaining stack of old and new movies!

So, I ran across this scrumptious recipe for cranberry pancakes! Oh my, they look so enticing, and this recipe is pretty healthy, especially healthier than the boxed mixes you may pick up at the market. Serve alongside some fresh oranges or orange juice or even some hot orange spice tea, and you have yourself a comforting treat for a fall morning!

Cranberry Pancakes
Ingredients:
1/2 cup fresh cranberries
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons whole-wheat flour
1 tablespoon yellow cornmeal
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg or 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 tablespoons nonfat milk
2 tablespoons pasteurized egg substitute, such as Egg Beaters
1 1/2 teaspoons walnut or canola oil

Directions:
1. Bring 2 inches of water to a boil in a small saucepan. Add cranberries; boil for 2 minutes. Drain and cool for 5 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, whisk all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, salt and nutmeg (if using) in a large bowl.

3. Whisk milk, egg substitute, oil and vanilla (if using) in a small bowl until combined.

4. Coarsely chop the cranberries; stir into the milk mixture. Stir the milk mixture into the dry ingredients just until combined.

5. Coat a griddle or large nonstick skillet with cooking spray; heat over medium heat. Using 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake, cook 2 pancakes at a time until bubbles dot the surface, 2 to 3 minutes. Flip and continue cooking until browned, 1 to 2 minutes more. Repeat with the remaining batter.

recipe & image from eatingwell.com

Good Morning Everybody! Wondering where I have been? Well, you will have to wait for Friday to find that out! Nevertheless, I had a great weekend. I have been doing very well at keeping my to-do lists handy and near by, and I must say that keeping them daily makes my life a lot easier. How do you all plan your days? Do you jot down everything that you have to do in a planner or list or do you just float with the wind?

So, Saturday the little one and I decided to make some homemade granola bars. If you check the ingredients and nutrients in the granola/cereal aisle, you will find all sorts of unknown items or the really healthy ones(especially the protein bars and energy bars taste really bad, although I love the Luna Bars & Clif Bars)! So we used the recipe below to make our own and I must say that it was super easy and very yummy! I actually used a pretty small pan and may have used a bit less marshmallows. You can add so many wonderful things to this recipe like: whole chocolate chips, dried cranberries, raisins, dried blueberries, a yogurt based icing, dried strawberries/apples, and the list goes on and on! I added chocolate chips to this recipe but you can leave them out for a lighter granola bar! These bars are a great alternative to oatmeal cookies or chocolate chip cookies or even candy bars! My family loved them! You could also add all sorts of energy boosters like ginko & protein to make some yummy energy bars.

Home Made Granola Bars

Granola Mixture
4 C. Old-Fashioned Rolled Oats
1 C. Chopped Pecans or Almonds
1 Tbsp. Sesame Seeds
1/2 tsp.Ground Cinnamon
1/4 tsp. Freshly Ground Nutmeg
1 Tbsp. Brown Sugar
1/2 C. Honey
4-8 Tbsp. Unsalted Butter, Melted
1 C. Chocolate Chips

Directions: Heat oven to 300 degrees. Line a baking sheets with parchment; set aside. In a large bowl, toss together oats, sunflower seeds, pecans/almonds, sesame seeds, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside.

In a small bowl, stir together honey and butter; pour over oat mixture. Stir well. Spread onto sheets. Bake until golden, about 25 minutes. Let cool and break up granola.

Making The Bars
4 Tbsp. Unsalted Butter
10 oz. Marshmallows
Granola Mixture Above

Directions: LIGHTLY Butter a 9-inch-square baking pan; set aside. In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Add marshmallows; stir until melted. Remove from heat & let cool a bit. Stir in granola mixture until well combined. Transfer your mixture to your pan. Dampen your hands, and press mixture into pan evenly. Let Cool in fridge. Invert pan, releasing bars. Cut into bars or squares. Wrap your bars with wide strips of decorative gift wrap. I used some strips from an old magazine to wrap mine(hey it’s all I had). Keep in a cool area or in your fridge & enjoy!

So, off to a new week of creative doses! I have lots of great finds in store and I promise to have a few peeks into our apartment soon, there is still a lot of loose ends to pull together. Ok, happy creating everybody!

Good Morning Everybody! I sure hope that you all had a delightful weekend! I am geared up for a week of creative endeavors…how about you? So this “Monday Morning” breakfast is quite simple yet comforting. I especially love a warm bowl of fresh rolled oats during the fall & winter time, especially when it is garnished with sweet brown sugar, a sprinkle of cinnamon & salt, a dash of vanilla, and warm and tender baked apples resting on top…Mmmm. Our little one loves it this way and he actually likes it along with some plump raisins. Anyhow, this would work great with some freshly sliced peaches or apricots as well, or do a fruit medley of fresh fruits like plums, apricots, and peaches together…oh my…Yum! So, off to another week we go…I hope it’s a good one for us all! Happy Monday!

Good Morning Everybody! Wow, I am barely getting this “Good Morning Monday” post up (well, at least for those of us on the East Coast that is). I have been MIA for a while, as we traveled to Atlanta to visit my parents for a few days. I couldn’t believe that we had not seen them since Christmas of last year, especially since we are only about 3 hours away! Anyhow, it was a great time, good food, and great desserts! Nevertheless, I am pretty much rested up for a week of posting!

This “Good Morning Monday” post really isn’t a recipe because it is pretty easy just to do on your own, One of my favorite things to have for breakfast on a Saturday morning is French Toast! YUM! I like to prepare mine with large loaves of Italian bread cut into pretty thick slices, and I simply place each slice in a batter of egg, almond milk(but you can use regular if that’s what you like), pure vanilla, a small pinch of salt, and a small pinch of pepper. Many times I leave off the cinnamon. Then I dip each side of the bread into the batter and toast each side to a golden brown in a non-stick skillet. Garnish with a fresh sprig of mint, blueberries, fresh strawberries, and just a sprinkle of powdered sugar, and there you have a sweet and comforting morning!

Okay off to start a week of creative inspiration! I hope everyone is having a wonderful day so far!

Good morning creative people! Oh…I think I need a vacation from our vacation! The long 4th of July weekend here was great and filled with lots of activities with the little one. Pony rides, tea cup rides, summer rain(which led to a couple of naps), rainbows, lemonade, fireworks, popscicles, dollar movies, and laughter. What more could we ask for. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend as well!

So, almost every weekend I fix homemade waffles…usually on Saturdays, so I thought I would share one of the most fabulous waffle recipes that I have prepared thus far. They come out fluffy, light, and soft, and not too sweet, and tastes divine with fresh blueberries(my favorite…pictured above), pecans, or baked apples. And while the recipe calls for buttermilk, you can hardly taste it as with many recipes you can (which I hate). You should definitely give it a try. All you need is an inexpensive waffle maker. The one that we have is a small Cuisine Art. Ok, so here is the recipe. If you are vegan the you might try it with almond milk, egg replacers, and vegan margarine…I have not tried this way yet, but I would assume that they may not come out as fluffy but the taste might be just as good!

Fluffy Buttermilk Waffles

Ingredients:
3 eggs, separated
2 C. Buttermilk
1 Stick of Butter or Margarine, melted
2 C. Flour (I use all purpose unbleached or bread flour)
1 1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/4 C. Sugar

Directions:
Separate your eggs and place the yolk into your mixing bowl and the egg whites in a smaller bowl. Beat the egg whites until it becomes a bit stiff/frothy(about 3 minutes or so). It should NOT peak but should be frothy. Beat egg yolks in mixer, add buttermilk, then add your melted butter and mix for about 2-3 minutes. In the following order with your mixer going, gently add: flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar. Mix well for about 3-5 minutes. Lastly, pour in your egg whites and mix for about 1 minute.

Use a 1/2 measuring cup and ladle your batter into your hot waffle iron on the setting you desire. We like our waffles light, so I keep it at setting 1. Serve with tea, fresh fruit, pecans, and maple syrup or honey…Enjoy!

Ok, off to a fun week of creative and inspirational posts! YAY. Happy Monday & have a wonderful week everybody!

image via JuBella.com

Good morning creative people!! So, I thought it would be fun to start a series of “Good Morning Monday” posts. I will post up a breakfast or brunch recipe or photo that is either from my own kitchen or one that I find on the web every Monday morning. Here is the first one from Simply Her Magazine. What do you all usually have for breakfast? Tea…coffee…cereal…toast & jam…? take a pic and send it on over. If you have a recipe or pretty photo that you would like to share then send it on over to me and I will consider featuring it in the “Good Morning Monday” posts!

There are some great interviews coming up this week and be sure to check in tomorrow to be inspired by the lovely Jennifer Ramos of Made by Girl! Happy Monday!

Breakfast Oatmeal Bars

Ingredients
(MAKES 16)
5 cups oatmeal, toasted
75g butter, melted
1½ cups dried apple and cranberry mix (sold pre-packaged at supermarkets)
2½ cups ground almond meal
1 cup almonds, chopped
3 tbsp honey

Directions
1. Pre-heat oven to 175 deg C. In a bowl, combine the toasted oatmeal and butter. Then add the dried apple and cranberry mix, almond meal, almonds and honey.

2. Lay a baking tray with parchment paper and spread the oatmeal mixture evenly over the base. Flatten with a spoon.

3. Bake in the oven for 20 min until golden brown. Remove from oven, and leave to cool before cutting into bars to serve