layered sweet potato casserole

I've always been upfront about my love of casseroles--from fond memories of those my mom cooked when I was growing up to Paula Deen's artery-clogging recipes. The thing about casseroles is they're rarely known for being healthy. Now I know what's healthy to me (full-fat dairy and butter, bacon, eggs, etc.) may not be healthy to the masses, but the good news is I do find ways to squeeze in a lot of veggies!

So I've been on this sweet potato kick lately--actually, it's been months. I'm not a huge fan of baked sweet potatoes. Maybe if they were loaded, sure. But I have been eating a lot of other versions of sweet potatoes:

• One of my all-time favorite ways to eat the orange spuds is for breakfast: sweet potato hashbrowns topped with sauteed onions, kale, garlic and scrambled eggs with bacon or sausage on the side. It's the perfect combination of salty and sweet.
• Spaghetti with sweet potato noodles. Sounds weird, I know. Basically, it's just sweet potato hashbrowns topped with browned ground beef and marinara. Once again--it's the salty-sweet relationship that makes it great.
• Sweet potato sliders. These may sound fancy, but honestly, I just got tired of spending tons of time cutting long thin sweet potato fries, so I wised up and started cutting medallions--much easier (aka I'm not about to chop off a finger) and quicker. I baste them in olive oil and sprinkle with salt, cumin, garlic powder, parmesan and cayenne before baking.

So, I had some time to kill on Sunday while le bebe was napping, and I decided to whip up a sweet potato casserole that I am hoping will last more than 24 hours in my house.

Layered Sweet Potato Casserole

Ingredients:

• 2 medium sweet potatoes
• 5 strips of bacon
• 2 medium onions
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 2 stalks of kale
• 2 handfuls of spinach
• 2 medium tomatoes
• 12 eggs
• 2 tbsp heavy cream
• 1 cup shredded cheddar
• salt
• pepper

1. Peel and shred sweet potatoes--hashbrown style. I use a food processer for this.

2. Cook and crumble bacon, saving grease.

3. Pour half the grease into another frying pan, and sautee sweet potato hasbrowns on medium high heat for roughly 5 minutes. Add a dash of salt and pepper while you sautee.

4. Meanwhile, dice onions, mince garlic and saute in bacon grease pan for roughly 8 minutes.

5. Add in spinach and kale, and saute 4 more minutes.

6. Grease bottom of 9x13 pan and preheat oven to 350 degrees.

7. Once sweet potato is done, evenly distribute as bottom layer in dish.

8. Add onion layer next, spreading evenly.

9. Slice tomatoes thinly, then add as next layer in casserole.

10. Top tomatoes with crumbled bacon.

11. In small mixing bowl, beat eggs, cream and a dash of salt and pepper.

12. Pour mixture on top of casserole.

13. Sprinkle with cheese and cover with tin foil. Bake for 30 minutes, remove tin foil and bake for another 20 minutes.

For those of you who love seeing pictures of food and babies, follow me on Instagram (hhobson24)!

pay to play and sweet potato soufflé

Today marks the first day of the Pay to Play challenge at CrossFit Addiction. Basically, you pay $20 per goal you set, and if you achieve that goal by the end of the month, you get your money back. If not, it goes toward new equipment. (The challenge is optional for members.)

James offered some sample goals to get us thinking:

• Not eat out for 30 days (only homecooked meals)
• Go gluten free for 30 days
• Get 1 deadhang pullup
• Get 1 muscle-up
• Give up alcohol for 30 days
• Workout 4x a week for 4 weeks
• Give up coffee for 30 days
• No artificial sweeteners or sugar for 30 days
• Be in bed no later than 10 p.m. with the lights out for 30 days
• Stretch 3 days per week for 20 min. each day

So it definitely got me thinking. Friday night, James asked what I was choosing as my goal, and I told him I was still deciding. Approximately 12 hours later, I had my goal nailed down, thanks to a somewhat embarrassing CrossFit performance.

Saturday morning, roughly a dozen CFA members traveled to CrossFit North Fulton for a morning workout. The WOD (workout of the day) was 15 power cleans, 5 rounds of 10 pullups and 30 double unders, ending with 30 deadlifts.

Power cleans, pullups, deadlifts: no problem. Any guess as to what tripped me up? (yes, literally) It seems that double unders are the bain of my existence. I practiced them an hour before the workout, stringing together eight or 10 in a row, but a lot changes once you're mid-workout and breathing heavy.

To perform a double under, you have to swing the jump rope under your feet twice while only jumping once. Make sense? This movement requires coordination, impeccable timing and stamina...and I'm lacking in two of the three. Least to say, out of the 150 double unders I performed in the workout, I strung together seven at a time only once. My trend was two or three during the first few rounds, which digressed to one or two in the latter rounds.

Wondering what happens when you miss a double under? For me, I end up getting a good switching--and it didn't help that I had on my five fingers so the tops of my feet got the brunt of the whippings.

Even at my best, James says I look spastic (such a supportive husband!). When I jump, I pull my feet back toward my bum, but I should pike out my feet in front of me. So after that painful workout (painful to watch and painful to perform), I knew exactly what to choose for my Pay to Play goal.

This is my public declaration that my goal is to complete 30 double unders when rested and consistently string together 10 in a row during a workout...all using the pike method. Thankfully, it's winter and my feet and legs are covered the majority of the time, because I know they'll take a beating this month.

Sweet Potato Soufflé

Ingredients

• 5 sweet potatoes
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 1/4 cup agave nectar
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 tbsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 2 eggs

Topping

• 1 cup chopped walnuts/pecans
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 1/4 cup coconut crystals
• 1/4 cup coconut flour
• 2 tbsp coconut milk

1. Fill dutch oven with 4 to 5 inches of water and bring to boil on stovetop.

2. Meanwhile, peel and dice sweet potatoes and add to pot.

3. Boil for 20 minutes, until potatoes begin to break down.

4. In small bowl, combine nuts, melted butter and coconut crystals.

5. Add in coconut flour and coconut milk, and set aside.

6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

7. Drain sweet potatoes, and transfer to large mixing bowl.

8. Add all of the main ingredients except eggs, and blend until smooth. This will help the mixture to cool down a bit.

9. Add in eggs and beat again.

10. Add mixture to greased pan and evenly distribute nut mixture on top.

11. Bake at 350 degrees for roughly 30 minutes. I'd suggest covering the top with tin foil to avoid burning the topping.