Halloumi Bake

May 1, 2018 Amanda Plott

I used to be a rather picky eater. In fact, I was such a picky eater growing up that my mom and dad had to tell me that beef came from a 'beef tree' so that I would eat it. As I've gotten older, my tastes have changed. My mind has expanded. And my pallet continues to get more and more educated. That isn't to say that my mouth is snobby, just that I'm far more open to new things.

Take goat cheese for instance. I'm an avid cheese lover, and I've never met a cheese I didn't like, but I have often found myself questioning and unsure of goat cheese for some reason. Maybe I secretly deep down don't like goats? Whatever the reason, I try try try my best to stick it through, and when I do... I love goat cheese! So what's halloumi anyway? Well, it's goat cheese. And today I piled it high on this sausage and zucchini tomato sauce to make one bangin' low-carb dinner!…

Healthifed Tater Tot Casserole

November 21, 2017 Amanda Plott

Tater tot casserole. It's one of the great American classics. Almost all of us have eaten it before, mostly during our childhood years when it was one of those quick weeknight meals that the parents would put together at the end of a busy work week.

Well, that wasn't my first experience with it but I know for many of you it was. For me, it was something that I had made for my own family. At least... I'm pretty sure my mom never made it for us. She was much more about the Hamburger Helper and cans of La Choy back when I was in grade school...

Crustless Zucchini & Corn Summer Quiche

May 25, 2017 Amanda Plott

Today was the last Saturday for school here and I can tell that summer us on our heels with all the beautiful corn and summer squash coming in. I got some of the biggest zucchini in my local produce box this last week and pondered for a good long while over what I wanted to do with it. With my dad bringing me in some fresh local eggs, my mind instantly went to a quiche. Not just any quiche though. A summer quiche!

Quiche was always a staple in our house when I was growing up. Usually towards the end of the week my dad would put together a quiche using up all the leftover veggies, meats, and cheeses in the house. So, that's basically what happened here but in a completely perfect seasonal way. I love that it's quick and easy to toss together while being a light and festive too!...

Skinny Banana Pudding Poke Cake

March 20, 2017 Amanda Plott

What can I say? I needed some more dessert in my life, y'all! It's been a really hard week. I went into Spring break with my little one thinking that it was going to be smooth sailing. That I was going to get to sleep in, relax, and catch up on life. Hah! Boy, was I ever wrong.

My elderly cat (who is 13 years old now) had to get a few teeth (almost all of them) extracted. Nearly as an emergency too. He's a big boy - 18 lbs. at his heaviest as a mainecoon. Unfortunately one of their only bad qualities is their teeth. Despite my best efforts these past few years to get them cleaned regularly, it just wasn't enough and 5 of his teeth had to be pulled. Given his age and other health concerns it's been a week full of medication and even a trip to the emergency vet yesterday. Mid-recipe too!

Yep. Right after pulling this cake out of the oven I was hot-tailing it to the emergency vet. Bleh. While my poor old man is on the mend, I still am in desperate need for some dessert. Dessert, my mommy, and maybe some wine. I can't adult today...

Cheesy Chicken & Vegetable Casserole

October 4, 2016 Amanda Plott

All ideas, recipes, & opinions are entirely my own. Tommy's Superfoods Samples were provided to me for this recipe and review.

I'm not sure why, but I've sort of been in pasta mode lately. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I have so much stocked up in my pantry by now that I feel I need to dwindle down the boxes. When I got a beautiful fresh summer squash and two ears of local corn in this past week, I knew that I wanted to do something fun with pasta for an end-of-summer sort of casserole. With everything taking on a rather yellow color, I wanted to throw in some chopped spinach as well to give another hue. It's all about eating the rainbow.

I had actually done a test run of this recipe a couple weeks ago, and was pretty pleased with the results. Of course, I did make a few tweaks here and there to fine-tune. The whole idea of this dish was to be something quick and easy for a weeknight dinner while also giving a creamy-dreamy sort of 'mac-n-cheese' inspired bite, though maybe on a more adult level...

Healthified Chili Cheese Dog Bake

June 2, 2016 Amanda Plott

For me, this week has been full of a lot of the 'American' greats; pizza, taco night, BLT sandwiches, and now this awesome Chili Cheese Dog Bake. After all, nothing says classic American like a chili cheese dog, except maybe an apple pie!

This is definitely one of those easy-peasy weeknight meals that you can throw together and have ready in 30 minutes or less; leaving you with a tasty, economical, filling and rather guilt-free dinner. Yeah, it sort of hits all the marks there. You're welcome!...