Camp Out Trail Mix

April 13, 2019 Amanda Plott

This past week, my girl turned 9 years old! As part of her ‘birthday week’ of celebration she got to miss out on a couple days of school so that we could go with a few of her friends to a local kids resort. The theme of the resort is a lodge style camp setting. And since I’m always looking to take snacks to keep on hand during our trips, I decided to mix us up a batch of camping themed trial mix!

This trail mix is full of fun little bits that I tried to keep somewhat ‘healthified’. One of the first things I think about with camping is tents and firewood. So I used some bugle chips and pretzel sticks! After that I aded some fish and bears. I mean, hopefully you won’t see a bear while out camping, but bears are out in the woods so…

Lightened-Up Cookie Monster Brookie Cake

April 6, 2019 Amanda Plott

As it turns out… I have a cookie monster living in my house and she’s turning 9 years old tomorrow. Though maybe she’s more of a cake monster since she’s somehow managing to get three birthday cakes this year due to a series of fortunate events. Yes, FORTUNATE events.

Every ear for my daughter’s birthday, I make her something special that I can take up to her school at lunch and let her share with her friends. This time around she requested a cookie cake. Which… is what I made last year. And we can’t do the same thing over again. So! I decided to take that cookie cake a step further and make it into a BROOKIE cake. What’s a brookie, you ask? A brownie and a cookie combined together!…

Old-Fashioned Southern Lunch Box

April 2, 2019 Amanda Plott

I’ve still been giving a lot of thought to lunches lately. Mostly because it’s a meal that’s pretty easy for me to skip out on. Which is never a good thing. Plus, my mom has needed some fun lunch ideas, so it just seemed to work out perfectly. Originally, I had thoughts of doing an ‘all American’ style lunch box but pimento cheese was being craved so… here we are.

I’m calling this an old-fashioned southern lunch box because when I was little, I remember my grandmother making me pimento cheese sandwiches on wonder bread. Served with a pickle and maybe some plain-jane potato chips. So this is a nod to that!…

Overnight Blueberry French Toast Bake

March 31, 2019 Amanda Plott

Sundays are for brunching, and this Sunday is no different. With knowing tomorrow is Monday, and that today was going to be a lazy day for the most part, I decided to go ahead and make breakfast yesterday. Well, what does that mean? It means Overnight Blueberry French Toast Bake, that’s what it means!

This Overnight Blueberry French Toast Bake is made ahead of time and sits overnight in the fridge where the big cubes of hearty bread cans oat up eggs, cream cheese, blueberries and the like. Then in the morning, it’s ready to be baked and enjoyed!…

Lightened Up Carrot Cake

March 27, 2019 Amanda Plott

I’ve made a good lot of carrot cakes in my time. Anywhere from traditional to gluten-free, and a few others along the way. There’s a few things I’ve learned in my carrot cake making journey. One is that you always ALWAYS need a good simple cream cheese frosting with it. And two is that it needs to be chunky.

I like my carrot cake loaded up with plenty of the good stuff. Carrots, raisins, pineapple, coconut, and yes… even nuts!

I based this ultimate carrot cake off of the one that I made for my daughter’s 2nd birthday. It’s an ingredient heavy cake, just like most carrots cakes are, but I promise you that the cake itself is rather easy to make. No overly complicated instructions…

Healthified Chicken Noodle Casserole

March 25, 2019 Amanda Plott

We’ve got just over two months of school left this year and I have to say… I’m chomping at the bit to get through with it. I’m in survival mode at this point to get through it and into the footloose and fancy-free days of Summer. However, I’m going to enjoy the tepid Spring weather and getting to use my stove while I still can.

With all of that in mind, now is the perfect time for easy-peasy weeknight dinners. And what’s more easy than a casserole? Or chicken noodle anything? This chicken noodle casserole is an ode to those classic casseroles that most of us grew up with and yet don’t see around anymore. I honestly… have no idea why either. Casseroles are the best…