Skinny Matcha-Monster Smoothie (Sponsored)

January 14, 2016 Amanda Plott

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #BestBlendsForever #CollectiveBias

My mom is not only one of my friends, she's really my very best friend and she has been for as long as I can remember. Of course, just like any other set of besties, that doesn't come without our occasional squabble. She's my complete opposite in almost every way, even down to our hair color.

I stuck out like a sore thumb as a child. A perfectly blonde and blue-eyed fair-skinned child among a gaggle of dark brown hair and beautiful olive complexions. And although it sounds like it, I wasn't adopted. That's just how things turned out as my mom remarried when I was four years old.

All of my life I've known my mom to be one of the softest and sweetest souls out there. She's the sort of person that would give any of her friends and family anything and everything just to see them smile and be happy. She's kind, generous, easy-going and all about fun. On the other end of things, I'm independent, stubborn, and sometimes rather brash. I'm a perfectionist to the core and entirely a homebody. See? She's my complete opposite, hah!...

Skinny Dark Chocolate & Cherry Scones (Sponsored)

January 11, 2016 Amanda Plott

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #MeAndMyTea #CollectiveBias

So, I'm kind of in love with scones. They're easy to make, delicious, and extremely versatile. Today I wanted to make some scones that would help me bring in the New Year and help me reach my goals while also getting me into the spirit of Valentine's Day (because you know that's just around the corner too!) What better way to achieve both other than with dark chocolate and some cherries? Yum, yum.

I used one of my older scone recipes to start out as the base for this one. And it worked out beautifully with the few changes and new additions that I made to it.

What can I say? It's fun to sometimes go back to revisit older recipes while also adjusting them to my ever changing taste and desire...

Skinny Matcha Granola

January 8, 2016 Amanda Plott

There's two things that I haven't tried before, making my own granola and matcha. Okay, well... I have tried matcha since my favorite tea room here dusts it over their fabulous brownies, but outside of that - no. I've had my fair share of green tea, but matcha is different. Since I haven't tried it before, but have heard good things... I decided to do a little research.

At the end of my research, I ended up buying myself a package of the green stuff.

Matcha is made by using specially shade-grown green tea that's then ground down into a find green powder. It's supposed to be effective in improving mental focus with it's higher amounts of theanine. The theanine and caffeine together help to give a boot of energy without causing the crash that comes with the caffeine in coffee. The antioxidants are what I'm after though!...

Mixed Berry Chia Jam (Sponsored)

December 17, 2015 Amanda Plott

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #MinionsMovieNight #CollectiveBias

My mom and I are all about themes, and anyone that knows the two of us will tell you that through and through. Whether it's birthday parties, get togethers, or sometimes even just movie nights at home. It's a trait that I'm instilling in my daughter too as she gets older.

One of my little one's favorite movies of this summer, Minions © 2015 Universal Studios. All rights reserved., just came out on December 8th to own. I just knew that we were going to have to whip up a fun family friendly movie night in honor of it. So, Illumination Entertainment's Minions movie is the inspiration for this Mixed Berry Chia Jam.

For me, the first thing that comes to mind for me when I think of those cuddly little yellow characters is that famous jam scene. The one all about Mr. Gru's Old Fashioned Jelly in Despicable Me when we're first introduced to the minions...

Healthy Fall 'Green Egg' Scramble

October 6, 2015 Amanda Plott

So, I've been eating this for a few days a week for breakfast for a while now. I wanted something that was filling, would power me on through my day, but not be overly heavy. This has been the perfect breakfast bowl for me. It's full of fall flavors with the brussels, pumpkin seeds and the cranberries, but still so very healthy.

When my mom was here this past week, she saw my bag of strange looking shredded brussels and kale and quickly pulled it out of the fridge to ask 'What is this?!' I explained to her what it was and she gave me a pretty strange look. Then I mentioned it was something I put in with my eggs and the morning and she actually gave a somewhat interested nod of approval...

Skinny Cold Brew Coffee Protein Shake (Sponsored)

September 21, 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. #BestLifeProject #CollectiveBias

For the past month or two now I've taken on the challenge of starting to exercise. Healthy eating has been a part of my life for a good long while now, but I've never really been one to actually 'exercise'. I think the last time that I actually didn't anything with fitness was well before I had my little girl. That was over 5 years ago!

I've been 'hitting the gym' 3-4 days a week, doing everything from the treadmill, to tabata, cardio, pilates, barre, yoga and back again. I thought that starting in with a fitness routine would be hard, but I guess I was just mentally ready for it since I became addicted pretty much instantly. I haven't given myself a chance to quit or find an excuse not to go.

In fact, I've found myself considering it as 'part of my job duties'. It's a must do to complete my weekly tasks sort of thing. I feel so much better. Even after the first initial week of exercise I felt lighter, healthy, and more grounded...