Sweet Potato Bird Nests

Its very trendy right now to find different ways to use muffin tins. People are making edible bowls, baking "hard boiled" eggs, organizing beads, and turning them into light fixtures- you know, normal uses.

I like to use my muffin tin for eggs too, but instead of "hard boil" baking them, I like to tuck them into nests of softly shredded sweet potato, cover them with seasonings and cheese, and send them to snuggle in the oven until breakfast time. OH YEAH, BABY!

Sweet Potato Bird Nests

3-4 medium sweet potatoes, scrubbed well

1 dozen eggs

1 cup cheese

seasoned salt

cooking spray

Preheat the oven to 400. Spray muffin tins well with cooking spray.
Shred the sweet potatoes (I left the skin on).
Add 3ish tbsp of sweet potato into each muffin cup. Gently form a nest shape and be careful to not smash the shreds onto the sides of the cup. Sprinkle with seasoned salt.
Spray each nest with cooking spray and bake for 20- 25 minutes. (No burnt nests please!)

Pull the nests out and let cool for 5-10 minutes. (You know I only waited 3-5 minutes- I'm just too impatient at breakfast time... actually always.)

Crack 1 egg into each nest. Sprinkle with seasoned salt. Top with some cheese.
Bake 15 more minutes. Enjoy with hot sauce and friends!! Wheee!

To get the original version, go to The Pioneer Woman! She is seriously awesome and hosts my favorite cooking show!!

xoxo Sam

Breakfast Banana Split

Sounds naughty but its not!

Its basically a deconstructed parfait, so no worries, eat the whole thing, my friends!

Breakfast Banana Split

1 banana
1/2-3/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 tbsp chunky natural peanut butter
1 tsp honey
(or swap out the the peanut butter+ honey for 1 heaping tsp of chocolate hazelnut spread+ 1 tsp chunky natural peanut butter)
Toppings: museli, fresh fruit, chia seed 'sprinkles', dried fruit, maple syrup, or your favorites!

Mix the Greek yogurt, peanut butter, and honey. Place the banana in a bowl (cut it lengthwise if you wish). Add the flavored Greek yogurt in a lump (as if it was an ice-cream scoop). Top with your favorite toppings and enjoy!

This is peanut butter/ honey yogurt with dried cherries, dried blueberries, maple syrup, oranges, and chia seed 'sprinkles'!

This split has chocolate hazelnut spread/ peanut butter yogurt with muesli, strawberries, and chia seed 'sprinkles'!

Make it however you wish and enjoy such an easy, breakfasty banana split!! YUM!

xoxo Sam

Pecan Hummus

Lately everyone is making hummus out of everything...

Beet hummus, carrot hummus, chicken hummus? Maybe not the last one, but seriously someone will make it, trust me.

I decided to lead the way by adding something new- nuts! There's no better nut than pecans- one of my favorites!

Pecan Hummus

1/2 can of white beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup pecans
1 tbsp lemon infused olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
Season to taste: garlic powder, garlic salt, black pepper

In your favorite food processor, blend all ingredients until the hummus is smooth and thick. Eat with crackers, tortillas chips, or your favorite veggies! YUM!

xoxo Sam

Pumpkin Custard Crumble

Every pantry item has a story.

There is always that one random can or bottle of something in your pantry that you know exists but never gets used. You should find that lonely food container and put it to use my friends!

Mine was a can of pumpkin puree that my roommate had neglected to use and passed over to me.

It sat on my shelf for a long time, but I knew that one day I would have a craving for something slightly sweet and pumpkiny and that can would be on hand!

Pumpkin Custard Crumble

1 can pumpkin puree
3 tbsp dark brown sugar
3 eggs
1/2 rolled oats
1/2 cup pecans
2 tbsp candied ginger
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 pinch salt

Topping: Crumble
2 tbsp melted butter
2 tbsp dark brown sugar
1/2 cup minced pecans (I used the food processor)
1/2 cup granola (I used pumpkin seed flax granola)

Preheat oven to 350. Coat a 9" pie plate with cooking spray.
Plop the pumpkin puree in a bowl. In a blender, blend the brown sugar, eggs, oats, pecans, candied ginger, vanilla, allspice, cinnamon, ginger, and salt until smooth. Add to the pumpkin and mix well. Pour into the pie plate.
For the topping, mix the melted butter, brown sugar, pecans, and granola. Sprinkle over the top of the pumpkin mixture and bake for 45 minutes. The crumble is done when the middle of the custard is set up. Serve warm or cold with a bit of whipped cream! Delish!

I was inspired by my love for Nutty Cakes and this recipe ended up being gluten free too!

xoxo Sam

Tiny 'Tatas

No, this post is not about tiny boobies! Don't get all excited!.....

Frittata is the easiest eggy breakfast that you can make to feed a crowd.

(Trust me, I've fed a ton of super hungry touring band boys with frittata.)

The other really cool thing about frittata is that you can put any bit of leftovers inside and it looks like you actually tried to make something special!

Since I am usually only cooking for myself, making a giant frittata was literally 'a bit too much.' So why not make them tiny?

Tiny 'Tatas

5 eggs
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/2 cup water
1 tsp Montreal steak seasoning
3 cups veggies on hand: I used left over roasted root veggies and chopped fresh spinach
3 deli sized slices of cheese, ripped in half (I used gouda)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a muffin tin with oil.
Beat the eggs, Greek yogurt, water, and Montreal steak seasoning until it is smooth. Add the veggies and mix well. Spoon evenly into muffin tin wells.
Fold each half slice of cheese in half again and stick on top of each tiny 'tata.
Bake for 25-30 minutes until the middles aren't jiggly.
Broil for 2 minutes to make the cheese bubble and brown slightly. Serve warm or cold or reheat in the microwave for 30 seconds!

Yay for easy breakfasts, and using leftovers!!

xoxo Sam

Top Secret French Onion Dip

The big game is this weekend!! Are you ready to have fun and hang with your besties?

Its time to plan your football snack munching now!! Here is some help...

I'm sharing my top secret recipe for french onion dip, because its just that good. Trust me!

Top Secret French Onion Dip

2 cups plain Greek yogurt

1 tbsp mayo

oil

2 onions, diced (I usually use a purple and a white onion)

1 garlic clove, minced

1/4 cup soy sauce

2 tbsp vegetable broth

1 tsp sugar

pinch salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp Italian herbs

In your favorite skillet, cook oil and onions on low heat. The point is to slowly caramelize the onions, so it will take like 20 minutes. Stir so that they don't burn. Add sugar, salt, pepper, and Italian herb seasoning. Continue to cook the onions for a few more minutes, then deglaze the pan with the soy sauce. Cook a few more minutes until the onions have started to absorb all the soy sauce. Deglaze the pan again with the vegetable broth. Set aside to cool for a few minutes.

Mix Greek yogurt and mayo. Add the warm onion mixture. Refrigerate the dip for a few hours so the flavors can marry, if you can. I usually dive in with some cucumber slices and chips right away.

YUM!!

Here's how I packed it up for lunch- one of my favorites to take to work! Yay!

xoxo Sam

Nutty Cakes

So... a lot of people are scared of wheat and flour right now.

Wheat is awesome and I'll never stop eating it unless at some point I develop Celiac Disease.

I really think you should eat it unless you can't, but I decided to give in and try a gluten free recipe for all the nuts out there that are scared of the lowly grain, wheat.

Nutty Cakes

2 eggs
2 tbsp rolled oats (use the more expensive, specifically labeled gluten free ones if you must)
2 tbsp walnuts
1 ripe banana
1 tsp vanilla

Topping: Berry Syrup
2 tbsp frozen blueberries
2 tbsp frozen raspberries
1 tbsp maple syrup
2 tbsp water

Start warming your favorite skillet and spray with oil. In a blender, blend eggs, oats, walnuts, banana, and vanilla until very smooth. Using a spoon, scoop batter into the warm pan. I made sand dollar size pancakes; make them larger if you wish.
While the pancakes are cooking, make the Berry Syrup. In a small sauce pan, warm the blueberries, raspberries, maple syrup, and water. Cook for about 5 minutes until the berries are hot and syrupy.
I topped mine with a few extra walnuts and maybe a tad of whipped cream. Enjoy!

xoxo Sam