Homemade Healthified Pizza 'Lunchable'

August 7, 2015 Amanda Plott

My little one is starting kindergarten here in the next couple of weeks (Ahhh!), and naturally I'm trying to get ready for that. Thankfully for us both, I think it will be a pretty easy transition since she'll be remaining in her current school with her current teacher and familiar faces of her friends that she's been around for a couple of years already.

Unfortunately, I have one of the world's most picky eaters on my hands somehow. She came home from her summer camp pre-kindergarten the other day though and asked about a familiar 'lunchable' that one of the other kids had that day for lunch.

I immediately got excited by that notion and put my head to work to come up with a healthier alternative for her own lunch box...

Skinny Summer Jalapeño Corn Chowder (Crock Pot)

July 27, 2015 Amanda Plott

I know it's summer, and who could possibly want hot soup when it's 100 degrees outside... but, sometimes you just have to roll ahead with seasonal produce while you can. It's all about corn right now in central Texas, so I wanted to make something a little different that would stand out and make that corn shine.

This corn chowder actually reminds me quite a lot of a loaded baked potato soup, just with a lot less potato and a lot more sweet corn flavor. I got some red potatoes, jalapeño, and chives in my local produce box this week, plus I had some bacon stashed away in my fridge. All of those things instantly made me think to make my twist on on this corn soup...

Skinny Mexican Style Caprese Salad

July 21, 2015 Amanda Plott

I've been in love with caprese salads for a long time now. I think that my love of them actually started some years ago when I worked as a waitress in a newly opening restaurant when I was visiting home for the summer one year from college. It was a horrific experience, but only because I am not good at the whole waitressing thing. That job takes a very skilled and specific type of person to do properly. And I am not skilled or specific to customer servicing!

It did give me an entirely new perspective though on restaurants and I have always had another level or respect for those that wait tables.

Anyway, the restaurant had a caprese salad and I felt like eating vegetarian that day; plus, I mean... I got half off meals and they had great food there so I was pretty set on trying almost everything on the menu. It was love at first bite...

Healthified B.B.Q. Pulled Pork Grilled Cheese

July 8, 2015 Amanda Plott

Here in Texas, we are all about our BBQ. I think that we will just about put BBQ meat in anything, sandwich, taco, casserole, you name it - we put BBQ in it. A few weeks ago I was at a local movie theater here in Austin which was running a special in July for a pulled pork grille cheese. They were all out of one, so I didn't get to order it, but they did have a pre-show commercial that came on the screen showing what all went into the sandwich.

I was entranced. Inspired. De{light}ed.

As soon as I got home I started to come up with my own ways to make the sandwich healthier and lighter...

Skinny Vegetarian Jalapeño Poppers (Sponsored)

July 6, 2015 Amanda Plott

This post was brought to you by Collective Bias, Inc. and it's advertiser. I received compensation to write this post … but, all opinions expressed are my own. #GrillWithATwist #CollectiveBias

My dad is the grill master of the family and has been for many years now. One thing that has become a staple item anytime my family gets together to grill (no matter the occasion) is jalapeño poppers!

My family has always done poppers a little differently. Originally, we tried to stuff the jalapeños with a cream cheese and cheddar mixture and then wrapped them with bacon, but... the bacon never cooked through evenly. So, one day we got smart, chopped cooked bacon up and mixed it in with the cream cheese mixture to stuff in the jalapeños that way. We've never breaded our poppers in anyway. My dad always felt that the breading was unneeded, and I must say that I agree. It's just wasted calories.

These jalapeño poppers are our standard way of making poppers, but with one grilling twist this time around, making them perfectly vegetarian! Because after all, meatless can still be delicious....

Healthified Jarlsberger

June 30, 2015 Amanda Plott

What's a Jarlsberger? It's basically an all American burger that's covered with a delicious melted slice of Jarlsberg® cheese! I've take this traditional burger and made it more my own by adding in some sneaky vegetables and some seasoning to the lean meat; making it all the more guilt free for your grill and you this summer.

Trust me, you won't even know the vegetables are there, and neither will anyone else for that matter! Adding veggies to my burger meat has been something that I've been doing for all of my cooking-life. It's one of my secret weapons for making a good moist burger, even when using poultry or a lean meat!

As an added bonus to a good juicy burger, you get the keen knowledge that you just got some wholesome vegetables into your friends and family...