Robin Hood and Agave Walnuts

Mondays can be a drag. Sometimes it takes everything in me to roll out of bed first thing Monday morning after a relaxing but too short weekend. However, this morning I got up half an hour earlier to do an early morning workout and didn't even mind knowing that I had an eight hour workday ahead of me because I knew that Robin Hood and agave walnuts awaited me when I got home. My parents had still never seen Robin Hood so I Netflixed it and made a plan to have a movie night tonight. I also decided that I wanted to try making for myself the amazing toasted agave walnuts my mom made over the weekend. They are so simple and so yummy you'll forget they're not the traditional candied nuts that are doused in sugar. I add them to salads and yogurt for that extra crunchy sweet punch.

Here's how you do it:

Start by thoroughly greasing a casserole dish and setting the oven to 325 F.

Pour a decent amount of walnuts into a medium bowl.

Pour a generous amount of agave over the mound of walnuts. Generous but not too generous. You don't want the nuts drowning in the agave.

Mix the agave with the walnuts thoroughly.

Spread the walnut mixture evenly into the greased dish.

Set dish in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes. Open the oven and stir the mixture and keep them in for another 15 minutes. And voila! The nuts are done toasting. Keep them in the dish to cool for about half an hour or so and try not to munch on the entire pan before putting them away : )

The backstory behind the nuts is that while I was planning on making them tonight anyway, my mom thought she'd make another batch for me because she knew how much I loved them. However, before I could even see them our mischievous dog got into our pantry, fished the nuts and only nuts out, and ate almost the entire batch before my mom got to him! I guess I was meant to make them myself after all.

And as for Robin Hood? The perfect way to start the week is watching Russell Crow once again done the armor that looks like he belongs in. I saw the movie in theaters and have been wanting to see it again ever since. I think I liked it even more the second time! The love story is wonderful. And my parents loved it too.

Sometimes you just need a little extra something to get you through your Monday : )