Life – Season Simply

It’s been a while since I posted here. I’m not very good at accomplishing things that I don’t feel like doing, and I just haven’t felt like blogging for a few months. It’s been a combination of adjusting to a new job and schedule, traveling quite a bit, and needing a break from staring at my computer 24/7. But now I’m back — and hopefully will be regularly.

A lot has happened since posted my last entry (those sad, overflowing “celebration” Funfetti cupcakes)! As I mentioned, I’ve been at a new job for about four months now, and it is going well. And I also got engaged to this guy over Memorial Day weekend:

Jonah and Kate at Fast Eddies — Despite the misleading appearance of this picture, no, we did not get engaged at this bar — this is from the next day!

We are getting married next October (2015) in Kansas City, and we are very excited! So, there may end up being a few wedding planning posts on here, too. They won’t all be food related, but there should be a few of those, too — I’m planning to host a morning-after brunch for out-of-town guests and close friends… and I’m cooking everything myself (well, with my mom). If I can’t get my sh*t together enough to share recipes beforehand, there will certainly be photos & recipes after the fact.

Now back to these bacon-and-egg cups. I put together this recipe the week before my first day of work back in March as a way to streamline the whole “breakfast” thing while I was getting used to my new schedule. They’re simple, packed with protein, and completely delicious. I tried these two ways — three cups used whole eggs, and for the other three, I beat the eggs before adding to the cups. I opted for spinach and cheese filling and Canadian bacon bottoms, but you can customize these with whatever you’re in the mood for or have on hand. If you want to use regular bacon bottoms, go for it — just make sure to line the sides and bottom with slices to avoid egg filling leakage. If you’re not in to spinach, tomatoes, broccoli, kale, peppers, onions, or really any other veggie (or more meat, for that matter!) will work just fine.

These are perfect to bake ahead of time, store in the fridge, and heat up for 15-30 seconds in the morning when you’re ready to eat. They should keep for about a week in a tupperware container in the fridge. Scroll down for the ingredient list and recipe instructions. Enjoy!

Spinach and Canadian Bacon Egg Cups

Makes 6

What You’ll Need:

6 rounds Canadian bacon
6 eggs
2 handfuls fresh baby spinach, chopped
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Salt and pepper
Cooking spray, oil, or butter.

What to Do:

Preheat the oven to 350. Grease six muffin cups with cooking spray, oil, or butter (your choice).

Line each cup with one piece of Canadian bacon. (I like using Canadian bacon because it fits perfectly in the cups!)

If you are using whole eggs: On top of the Canadian Bacon, place 1/6th of the cheese and 1/6th of the chopped spinach on top of the bacon. Crack an egg into each cup, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

If you want to use beaten egg filling: In a small bowl, combine the eggs with a bit of salt and pepper. Beat until well combined. Stir in spinach and cheese. Pour the mixture evenly into the six cups.

Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until the egg whites (or beaten egg) appear to be completely set.

If eating immediately, let cool for 2-3 minutes, and enjoy! If saving for later, let the cups cool completely before storing in an air-tight container.

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How good do THESE look?!

Until today, I had not had Funfetti cake in more than four years. That’s depressing for a few reasons: 1. Before I was diagnosed with celiac, I was in love with Funfetti cake. Any birthday, any reason to make cake, it was always Funfetti. 2. Why have I not found a reason to make gluten-free funfetti at any point in the last four years?! 3. What is more happy-making than rainbow-speckled cake? Nothing. The answer is nothing.

So when I accepted a new job last week (yayy!!) and was thinking of ways to celebrate, funfetti was obviously top of mind. I had a plan: I would use these adorable blue and white striped cupcake papers I found at Home Goods (aka heaven) and would make homemade frosting and it would be glorious and beautiful and perfect!

But we all know nothing works out as well in real life as it does in our heads. Case in point:

I think you need a closer look:

Somehow — I have no idea why — my glorious gluten-free funfetti cupcakes erupted from the middle like a cake volcano. The good news? They still tasted great, and the texture wasn’t bad either. In my book, a delicious item that looks awful is WAY better than one that looks great but tastes like crap.

And if you want a look inside these babies:

Here’s the bad news: Because they didn’t work out perfectly, I’m not sharing the recipe today. You deserve the best, not Cupcakes that explode from the inside out! However, the next time I have something to celebrate, I will dutifully attempt the gluten-free funfetti cupcake again, and once I master it, I will share the recipe. Instead, I give you photos. Why? Because even though these don’t look great un-frosted, a good swirl of buttercream speckled with sprinkles covers all that up. And also because I wasn’t going to let one baking catastrophe ruin a chance at improving my camera skills.

If you want to give these a shot yourself, here is the recipe I was roughly working with: Homemade Gluten Free Funfetti Cupcakes from Gluten Free on a Shoestring. If you give these a try, just follow her recipe instead of trying to mess with it like I did!

If you just want a bunch of mediocre gluten-free cupcake porn to look at. Here:

P.S. That is most definitely not homemade buttercream. After the cake part exploded, I decided to cut my losses and go for the canned stuff. Don’t judge me — they are still delicious!