Slow Saturday Breakfast: Eggs in Purgatory

November 24, 2014November 24, 2014 ~ atastytrip ~ Leave a comment

Happy Monday! It’s nice to be back after a week long hiatus. Work is always especially busy for me the week before a holiday. On top of that we had plans almost every night this past week. A night with the girls, dinner with friends, putt putt for my nephew’s 8th birthday… slow down life! Luckily I get the luxury of the whole week off starting today! Renly and I are hopping in the car and heading to Tennessee in a few hours to spend Thanksgiving with my family. Robert has to work until Wednesday so he’ll be flying down then. I haven’t been home since my sister’s graduation in May so we are long overdue for a visit. I’m not sure what I’m more excited about…sleeping in all week, seeing my friends and family, or eating all my favorite foods I can only get at home (confession: probably the latter).

So after a busy week and a chilly evening spent putt putting on Friday per my sweet nephew’s request, Saturday called for a hot breakfast. I also needed to have all of the ingredients on hand since I needed to clean out the fridge before we left town. Eggs in purgatory fit the bill, so much so that I cut my Saturday morning workout short so I could hurry home and scarf them down. I don’t usually go to the gym during the weekend so I only felt marginally guilty leaving. Although for the sake of complete disclosure I have been known to leave the gym early on a week day when hungry also. Who can work out on an empty stomach? Really. But back to the eggs…

Eggs in purgatory is simple to make, slightly spicy and packed with veggies. Eggs are poached in a quick tomato sauce which transforms into the perfect “dip” for crusty bread. Mmm. It fits the bill for breakfast (hello, eggs) but can easily be made for lunch or dinner. Robert doesn’t love tomatoes so I usually reserve this recipe for times he isn’t home. He ran errands Saturday morning while I enjoyed this dish. And by enjoyed I mean I ate the entire thing….all of it….by myself. I did take a picture which I showed him when he returned and unfortunately for him he told me he thought it looked pretty good and that he’d like to try it. Sorry sweetie, next time.

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Planning (& Protein Pancakes)

November 9, 2014November 9, 2014 ~ atastytrip ~ Leave a comment

Hi! It’s been a busy week around here. I had last Tuesday off from work which I initially hated but ended up LOVING. A long weekend is great but a mid-week day off increases my productivity exponentially! Errands are a lot more fun when they aren’t taking up your weekend. On my day off I slept in (marginally), took Renly for a run (exercise!), made myself pancakes (healthy pancakes but that still counts), went to vote (America!), shopped for a few early Christmas gifts (HoHoHo), prepped dinner early (so nice) AND baked and individually bagged 168 cookies (you read that right, 168). Like I said, busy!

Why would I bake and bag 168 cookies you may ask? Why for wedding welcome bags of course! Two of my sweet friends tied the knot yesterday! Having just been a bride this past June I KNOW how much it takes to pull off a wedding (unless you have an unlimited budget to hire someone to do it all for you…I DON’T know what that is like but I can imagine it’s pretty great and stress-free). I made the mistake of trying to do way too much myself before the big day. So my advice to future brides is the same as I gave my friends…delegate, delegate, delegate. When people ask if they can help, take them up on it! You shouldn’t be baking 168 cookies the week of your wedding, let your friends do it! I was more than happy to help with this task and I’m so glad they let me so that they could move on to more important things, like soaking in all those fun last moments of engagement before it get’s really real! Eeeek, just thinking about that excitement makes me nostalgic for my own wedding. And before you roll your eyes at me, I’m STILL a newlywed so I’m allowed to be sappy and romantic when I reminisce ( I hope I always am ). Their wedding was absolutely perfect, beautiful and FUN, congratulations Addison and Andy! And since it was in Hilton Head Robert and I got to host some of our college friends who were attending, always a blast!

Another thing I did during this busy week falls under the category of Laurin’s Top 5 Favorite Things Ever To Do In Life: Plan. Confession: I am not one of the rare breed known as a “spontaneous person”. I like a schedule, I like to know what the day/week/month holds and I REALLY love lists. For years I have tried to fight my Type A-ness and work on “flying by the seat of my pants” but I.just.can’t.do.it. I was born a planner and I will always be a planner. Time to admit it and embrace it, as my best friend Anna says, “Type A’s make the world go round!”. I may not be the friend you call at the last-minute for a trip to the beach, but I am that friend that if given notice will happily show up to the beach with a fully stocked beach bag, drinks and homemade snacks

So what was I planning? Well my favorite thing to plan…a trip! I have been itching to go somewhere and Robert has some time off between Christmas and New Years so we are going to California! Neither of us have ever been and California has long been on our list of places we would like to travel to in the US. Other front-runners on that list are Chicago and Texas. Chicago seemed way too cold to do in December and my parents love San Antonio so Texas might be a trip we save to do with them, so California it is!

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Slow Saturday Breakfast: Apple Cinnamon Pecan Baked Oatmeal

November 3, 2014November 4, 2014 ~ atastytrip ~ Leave a comment

Happy Monday! I had hoped to get this up yesterday but I got busy trying a yummy new appetizer recipe to take over to a friend’s house (I’ll share soon!). Then I got busy eating said recipe, stuffing my face with my friends delicious turkey chili, and doing plenty of wine drinking and laughing with the girls while the boys watched football. Somewhere in the midst of all that Robert and I found the time to take Renly to the park where he lifted his leg to potty for the first time ever! Robert literally whooped with joy which in turn got Renly very excited which in turn convinced Robert that Renly knew what he had just done. I’m pretty sure he was just feeding off of Robert’s excitement but it was pretty cute to watch the two of them jumping up and down and having their own personal potty party right there on the path. Talk about a Sunday Funday.

Hope everyone had a fun Halloween! How cute is Renly in his Halloween tie? It had candy corn all over it…precious. We had a blast at my sister in law’s and my cornbread was a hit! Neither Robert or I ate any Halloween candy Friday night (I know, who are we?) but sure enough my sweet tooth kicked in about the time we got home so we treated ourselves to ice cream and a scary movie on our couch. Pretty wild Friday night, huh? Don’t threaten us with a good time!

We woke up Saturday morning to a temperature that had dropped about 40 degrees over night! What! I knew that it was coming, but I think I still shed a tear or two when pulling out my gloves and hat to walk Renly, especially when I remembered that just the day before I walked him in a workout tank! Goodbye Summer, I’ll miss you until we meet again!

Chilly temperatures and midnight ice cream binges definitely called for a recovery breakfast on Saturday. I wanted something warm and hearty while still healthy. Breakfast also needed to have some staying power because Robert’s sister had quite the ~~terrifying~~ fun adventure planned for Saturday afternoon: Ziplining!

It was VERY cold, and extremely windy…not the most ideal conditions for being on a swaying platform 75 feet in the air. gulp. Despite the cold and the wind, we all ~~survived~~ had a great time, and the views were pretty incredible. The tallest platform is actually the highest point on all of Hilton Head Island! If you are ever in the area and into extreme entertainment, I would highly recommend it. If you aren’t into extreme entertainment but are into delicious breakfast, I would highly recommend my Apple Cinnamon Pecan Baked Oatmeal. See what I did there?

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Slow Saturday Breakfast: Broccoli, Ham and Cheddar Frittata

October 27, 2014October 27, 2014 ~ atastytrip ~ Leave a comment

Ahh the weekend. Is there anything better? Sleeping in, spending time with friends and family and my personal favorite … not wearing pants. Kidding about that last one, although I do think it’s liberating to wear your PJ’s (or lack there of) for as long as you can on Saturday. My real favorite thing about the weekends is breakfast. I love all things breakfast through and through but weekend breakfasts are special. When you aren’t rushing out the door to the gym or work your breakfast options multiply exponentially. Robert and I are both typically out the door by 6:00 a.m. so quick and easy is the name of the game Monday-Friday. During the weekend I like to take full advantage and make a bigger, slower breakfast that we can actually sit down and eat together while talking over a cup of coffee, heaven. Pancakes of all varieties reigned supreme all summer but lately I have been really into frittatas.

Frittatas are really nothing more than an egg casserole but they look and feel so much fancier. Almost every time I make one Robert says “Wow, you could make this for guests!”. So friends, if you would like to come over for breakfast, my husband has declared my frittatas company-worthy! So come on over, pants optional

Frittatas are easier than omelets and are also endlessly customizable. I’ve found that the ones I make by using up whatever ingredients I have on hand always taste equally as good as the ones I plan with specific tastes in mind. This weekend’s frittata was of the “clean out the fridge” variety. I had ham, green onions, broccoli and a partial block of cheddar all left over from the weeks various meals. The most labor intensive part of the entire process was shredding the cheese which is exactly the difficulty level I like in a recipe…little to none.

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Twice Baked Pumpkin Maple Pecan Granola

October 21, 2014October 23, 2014 ~ atastytrip ~ Leave a comment

Does that title make you feel instantly warm and cozy or what? I am perpetually cold and just typing it warmed my bones a little. I know the internet is inundated with pumpkin spice everything this time of year but ‘tis the season! This granola is not only seasonal, but also easy and delicious which seem appropriate for my first recipe post.

I feel like granola sometimes gets a bad rap for being highly caloric, and many store bought brands that are full of sugar and artificial crap certainly are. Luckily, it is ridiculously easy to make your own, much healthier version, and as long as you keep the appropriate ratio of dry to wet ingredients (about 3.5 cups of dry ingredients to ½ cup liquid) then it is endlessly customizable based on your taste! I don’t usually calculate calories for my recipes, but out of curiosity, I did with this one and ¼ cup (which is the typical serving size of granola) clocks in at under 100 calories and about 3 grams of sugar, all of which is natural, not bad!

You start with a base of old fashioned oats. Make sure they are old fashioned and not quick cook which will throw your texture off. The oats are then combined with pumpkin seeds (or pepitas) and chopped pecans.