Sugar Bakery Cupcakes!

As many of you know, I live in Connecticut.  Last week it was my birthday and my parents chose to get me a dozen of delicious, decadent cupcakes from Sugar.  In case you don't know, Sugar actually won The Cupcake Wars on The Food Network!  That means their cupcakes are some of the best in CT!

When I initially saw the packaging I thought it was a bouquet of flowers.  Then I noticed the bow had rock candy attached to it and I read the sticker.  It was a bouquet of cupcakes from Sugar!

I opened the box and was in a cupcake lovers heaven.  I had 12 assorted beautiful cupcakes in front of me.  All I wanted to do was dive right in!  

However, it was breakfast time.  Luckily there was a banana cupcake waiting for me!

Banana Cupcake

I decided that I want to rate each cupcake.  The banana one was delicious.  It had a banana chip on top as garnish.  The frosting was a delicious cream cheese dream.  The cake was moist and tasted like a sweeter version of a banana muffin.  It was great for breakfast and started my day off right!

3.5/5.0

Throughout the week I'll be posting the rest of my cupcake ratings!  Let me know what your favorite type of cupcake is and where you get them!

Food Friday: Guilt Free Strawberry Cheesecake Bites

Ingredients: 
2 tablespoons of Weight Watchers Whipped Light Cream Cheese
1 sheet of Graham Crackers
6 Strawberries  1.) Remove core of strawberry2.) Stuff with Cream cheese, feel free to add vanilla, cinnamon etc. to your cream cheese3.)  Mash up graham cracker pieces and add on top 
Super yummy and easy! 

 

Food Friday: Trader Joes Haul

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Today's Food Friday is a recent food haul from when I went to Trader Joe's.  In 2012 I am trying to lose 20 lbs by the time I turn 21 (Video and blog post about it will be up soon!)  Doing so, I need to stock up on healthy food so I went to Trader Joe's. I love their selection of food and many of the items are less expensive than buying big name brands at other grocery stores.  They always have interesting things and I usually end up always buying something I'm happy with!  What's your favorite Trader Joe's food item?

Food Friday: Easy Oven Baked Party Shrimp

For New Years, we made these yummy Oven Baked Party Shrimp.  They're not the healthiest, but they sure are super yummy!

Start with large shrimp and remove tail (we used about 20)
Chop up 1 clove of garlic

Melt 1 1/2 sticks of butter, add garlic once the butter is melted and simmer

Pour melted butter over shrimp

Then dip shrimp into breadcrumbs

Bake for 10 minutes at 400 degrees

Enjoy! :)

Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies

My best friend Jenna and I were baking cookies for a holiday party at work.  We were debating what to make and decided on Peanut Butter Blossoms!  We love these cookies, so yummy and pretty easy to make!

What you need:

~48 Hersheys Kisses

1/2 cup shortening

3/4 cup Peanut Butter

1/3 granulated sugar

1/3 light brown sugar

1 egg

2 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

extra granulated sugar for rolling dough

1.) Preheat oven to 375 degrees

2.) Beat Shortening, peanut butter in large bowl.  Add granulated sugar, brown sugar and beat until fluffy

3.) Add eggs, milk, vanilla and beat well

4.) Stir together flour, baking soda, and salt, beat into mixture

5.) Roll dough into 1 inch balls and roll in sugar and place on ungreased baking sheet

4.) Bake 8-10 mins. and after taking out of oven, press a hershey kiss into each cookie

Enjoy!

Lunch Time

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So I'm sitting here at Panera eating my lunch, and I was thinking about what I can do.  So I figured, why not write a blog post about some of my favorite places to go for lunch!

Being a college student, I try to save my money, however when it comes to lunch, twice a week I let myself go out and get lunch.  Today I chose Panera.  It isn't the cheapest place to eat lunch, but I'm always left with a smile on my face and they never fail to satisfy my growling stomach haha.

Plus it's easier for me to grab lunch their then go back home and waste my gas to make myself a sandwich. I could eat at my school's student center in the food court, but honestly, I'm not a fan of their food.  It's also around $7 for a salad, and I'd rather go to somewhere like Panera where I know I'll get something I love for my money rather than an iffy meal.  Sometimes I'll bring my own lunch, but today's post is about places to go out to eat.

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Panera

You can't go wrong with Panera.  I love the You Pick 2 deals.  That's where you can choose either half a sandwich, salad, or soup.  I love it.  I get half of my favorite sandwich (tomato and mozzarella panini) and one of my many favorite salads (greek, caesar, or cobb)  Plus they have an awesome rewards program.  You can earn free thing such as a free pastry, drink, coffee, or a few dollars off of your meal.

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Subway

Eat fresh!  I love Subway, I can get a BLT loaded with my favorite veggies and only pay $5!  

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Local Delis

I love to visit my local delis.  They always have something yummy cooking and awesome sandwiches.  It's a little pricier at times but I love supporting local businesses.

What's one of your favorite places to eat for lunch?  Let me know if you would like a few on the go lunch recipes that I can share with you all! :)

College Cooking: Shrimp and Vegetable Ravioli!

Hey everyone!
This is a delicious pasta I make all the time at school. It's really yummy, healthy and easy to make!

Recipe:

1 package of whole wheat ravioli

3 cups of frozen mixed vegetables - I used Great Value Asparagus Stir Fry Vegetables from Walmart ~$2.50 (for a bag)

2 cups of frozen shrimp - From Walmart - $5 (for a bag)

3 tablespoons of olive oil

Parmesan cheese

This is super simple and yummy. If you guys try it out let me know :)

Welcome!

Hey everyone!

Welcome to my new revamped version of the College Glamoration Blog.  Let me know what you would like to see on here!  I'm thinking about obviously doing posts that apply to my videos, as well as a few different types of posts where you all can share your feed back!  I also am creating a personal blog so you all can join me on what's going on in my personal life! :)

Much Love,

Taylor