Cinnamon Roll Cake

Hello!

My sister's birthday just passed and for her cake I decided to do something a little different. I like to experiment with her birthday cake (last year I used safe raw cookie dough as the icing and it was delicious!) and this year I thought I would try to make one of her favorite things into cake.

To start off you want to make sure this cake is as gooey as possible! When you look a box of cinnamon rolls, there is also a yummy, buttery, cinnamon layer on the bottom. To imitate this, I filled the bottom of both 9" round cake pans with parchment paper and filled with a cinnamon based. The base is made up of 3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup butter 

1 tsp cinnamonthen 

I set the pans aside and start working on the cake batter. After making the basic oil based vanilla cake, I took out about a cup of the batter and set it aside. 

Batter is ingredients are 2 cups flour

1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1 cup sour cream
3 eggs
1/3 cup canola oil

1/4 cup milk

I split the remaining batter between the two pans. Taking the batter that was set aside, I added 3 tbsp brown sugar and

1 tbsp cinnamon. This makes the batter a nice brown colour.

Add the brown batter into the centre of the cream batter in the pans and swirl them together.

Stick them in the oven for 30-35 mins or until clean toothpick.

I iced it with a cream cheese icing and decorated with fondant makeup

I think the cake turned out great!

If you do try the recipe, try heating the piece before eating it... It takes the cinnamon roll cake to the next level! 

Let me know if you give this cake a try this recipe :)

Enjoy!

Steph xoxo 

Recipe List 

3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 tsp cinnamon
2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1 cup sour cream
3 eggs
1/3 cup canola oil
1/4 cup milk

3 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon
*all ingredients should be at room temperature for best results

Easy Butter Chicken

Hello!

I am in love with butter chicken but it isn't the best for me. When watching Cityline (a Toronto based talk show) I saw this easy recipe and thought I would try it out! 

Here's what you need:

1 ½ lbs skinless boneless chicken thighs, cut into pieces
3 tbsp butter
1 tbsp curry powder
½ tsp garlic powder
1 x 10 oz can condensed tomato soup, undiluted
10 oz milk (measured in the soup can)
Pepper

Basmati rice (we used 3 cups as there were 3 of us eating it)

Melt butter in pan

Add in garlic powder, curry power and chicken tights

Brown chicken  

Add in tomato soup and milk

Once mixture has come to a boil, let simmer for 8-10 mins or until desired thickness

Serve on a bed of rice with naan bread

Overall, I was very impressed by this recipe and felt is held up to all it's promises. It was quick, easy and the Cityline website has a video making it easy to follow. If I make it again I may have both chicken thigh and breast.

Let me know if you try this out or if you have any other recipes you want to see me try out.

Enjoy!

Steph xoxo

Baby, It's WAY to cold out!!

Up here in the Great White North we are really living to our stereotypes!! Snowy and -40 degrees!
With all these snow days, it's best to just stay in! Put your fleece jammies on, make some coffee (with a little coco in it) and curl up on the couch with a great new show on Netflix. I am loving the law shows lately! (maybe a career change! well maybe not!) Give yourself a little mani while your at it!

Too bad today is Saturday and not Monday, right!! 

Let me know how you are keeping warm today! Leave a comment below!

Salon vrs Drug Store Nails

Hello!

I have always had a problem with my nails. Whether it be biting them or having the willpower to grow them out and they break. Sometimes I dream I had prefect manicured nails, especially when I was working as a bank teller, so I started experimenting with different artificially options. I have tried getting acrylic nails done at the salon and going to the drug store/walmart for glue-on nails. They both have pros and cons

Salon nails 

Pros

- relaxing application     

- last up to 3 weeks and can get filled to last longer 

 Cons

-hard to get off

-weaken the nails

-expensive to keep up 

Drugstore nails

Pros

-less expensive 

-easy and quick to apply

-minor buffing to nail 

-easy to remove

-come with extra nails to apply if one falls off or breaks 

Cons

-break easily 

-look less natural 

Overall, when picking fake nails you have to look at the length of time you want them to last. If you are looking for a long term nail solution or getting them done for an event over a week away, I would go with salon nails. If you have an unexpected event or are on a tight budget, drugstore nails are a great solution. 

One brand I would recommend from my local drugstore (Shoppers Drug Mart) is Nailene Designer Collection.

 This set includes glue, buffer (nail file) and a manicure stick. 

Let me know if you have any other nail brands you have used from the drug store in the comments below. 

Enjoy!

Steph xoxo 

The glitz and glam! Golden Globes 2014

Did you catch the Golden Globes last night? I must admit I did not but I feel like I did when I look at my phone with my social media was all a "twitter"! So had to put it on during my morning routine.

I loved the simpleness of the Fashion and beauty. I felt like most of the looks where something you can do at home. The gowns where very simple and with a little something to catch your eye. Lots of reds, pink, green and whites.  Here are some of my favourites.

Other things I loved:
-  Tina and Amy never disappointed!
- Amy Adams crying as soon as she got on stage-  Matthew McConaughey's acceptance speech was "All right, all right, all right"
- the Mens fashion did stand out for me too! very dapper

Things i could have done without:
-Berenice Bejo dress, just not a fan! 

- the most awkward 2 minutes of my life watching Jacqueline Bisset just look around when she's supposed to be giving an acceptance speech

- the not so fun fact about Micheal J. Fox


Did you watch? What did you think?

Crock pot orange chicken

Hello!

One of the hardest things to do in my life is finding time to cook a healthy meal. Working a full time job, volunteering and making time for family and friends makes looking after my health difficult. One thing that has been helpful in the past is making meals, freezing them and pulling them out when I need them. 

This orange chicken recipe can be used two ways. 

1. You can cut up the ingredients and put them together in a zip lock bag. You can pop it in the freezer and stick it in the crock pot when your ready to eat it.

2. You can put it straight into the crock pot have a delicious meal within 4-6 hours (depending on your crockpot) 

What you will need is 

 

2-3                    Chicken Breasts

2                       Green peppers

1                       Zucchini 

2                       Medium size carrots

1 1/2 cups        Orange juice from      

                         concentrate 

4                       Cloves of garlic

Salt and pepper to taste

Start by cut up all your ingredients 

If you are planning to cook it right away, you will want to put all the ingredients into your crockpot. Next add in the orange juice 

Mix everything together and set the crock pot to medium-high for 4-6 hours. 

If you are preparing meal for later in the week, you can put the contents into a ziplock bag and pop it in the freezer. 

Once cooked you can put it on a bed of pasta, vermicelli noodles, rice or quinoa. I used a quinoa and wild rice mix I purchased at Costco and split the package into two servings. 

Please leave a comment if you try this out or put a picture up on Instragram and tag @StephiMarion

Enjoy!! 

Steph xoxo 

Happy 2014!!

Hello! 

I hope everyone had an amazing New Year's Eve with friends and family! 

As I do most years I have a few resolutions for 2014.

My goal as always is to get my health in check. This is one many people set and a lot fail but I have tried to start putting things in place to make it as successful as I can. I am not looking specifically at losing weight but making healthy changes in all angles. 

I want to move forward with my career, my fitness level and my eating habits. 

My sister and I completed our first 5k in October with friends. Although I did hold the group back, I was so happy for the support and we were able to finish it. In 2014, I will run the whole 5k and smash our original time!! 

Good luck with your resolutions and if you have set some please leave a comment below! 

Steph xoxo