Lightened-Up Giant Cookie Cake

April 19, 2022 Amanda Plott

Back when I started all this 'Skinny Fork' madness, my kiddo was just a little 3-year-old tot. Now she's at the end of 6th grade. One thing that hasn't changed through the years, has been that I always, every year for her birthday, make some sort of rainbow funfetti style magic treat.

Yep! It's true. I've made birthday cake cinnamon rolls, fairy bites, and cake batter cookies. Just to name a few. This year though? She's all about chocolate chip cookies and cookie cakes. So, when I saw this chocolate chip cookie pizza, I knew I had to healthify that bad boy up as much as I could for the big weekend ahead of us!…

Banana Nut Waffles

April 7, 2022 Amanda Plott

These Banana Nut Waffles are here to stay. It’s as if banana nut bread and waffles got together and made one ultimate breakfast or brunch bite of awesomeness. And they’re made from scratch (that’s right, no boxed batter here!) It’s good stuff too. That means you get to put what you want and like in there. For instance, I went with chopped pecans AND chopped walnuts.

I like to make a batch of these ahead of time and then keep them on hand through the week to be enjoyed as a quick heat and eat breakfast option. And yes, they do reheat really well via a toaster or toaster oven to get back some of that original crispness!…

Skinny Cherry Pie Bars

April 4, 2022 Amanda Plott

I'm sorry... and, you're welcome.

These cherry pie bars are easy as pie (insert chuckle here) and just flat out amazing! With less than 140 calories in a nicely sized square... how can you deny yourself such bliss?

I really can't wait to try out another flavor or maybe even use some fresh fruit for the filling.

Lemon Bar Cookie Cups

April 1, 2022 Amanda Plott

It’s Spring and that means its time for lemon bars and all things bright and light! These sweet little Lemon Bar Cookie Cups are the perfect individual lemon treat. They start out with a homemade cookie cup from scratch that’s somewhere between a sugar cookie and a short bread cookie. Then the sweet cups are filled with a homemade lemon curd that is super easy to make - and nearly fool proof too!

Now, I’ve made thumbprint lemon cookies before, but these cups take it a step further and give you a lot more cookie and lemon goodness, but the thumbprint version have their place too. Honestly these Lemon Bar Cookie Cups remind me of lemon pies too…

Instant Pot Lazy Lasagna

March 29, 2022 Amanda Plott

I don’t know about you, but we have just two months left until Summer break and I am digging deep to try and muster the energy to get us there. As we’re getting ready for Summer, I’m doing everything I can to make life a bit more easy and low maintenance. This Instant Pot Lazy Lasagna fits the bill for exactly what it says it is: lasagna on the lazy.

So if you’re feeling a hankering for lasagna, but don’t want to fuss with the layers and pots and pans that go along with it, this Instant Pot version is where it’s at! Plus, as usual, I made it just a little bit more healthified along the way too!…

Cowboy Casserole

March 23, 2022 Amanda Plott

What can I say? I love casseroles. I love them any time of day. Recently I had a chicken pot pie, but this time I decided to go with something vegetarian! Yeah, I know. I looks like there’s meat in there, but really there isn’t! I used some vegetarian ground ‘meat’ in this Cowboy Casserole that takes no time at all to come together. There’s veggies, cheese, soup, ground ‘meat’ and then tater tots on top to round it out and keep it light but still hearty and filling.

When I saw the original idea for this Cowboy Casserole, I just knew that I wanted to lighten it up and put a little bit more of a healthified take on it. The first thing I did was to swap out the meat. I also halved the recipe and used a reduced fat version of not only the mushroom soup, but also for the shredded cheese too! As usual, I swap out sour cream with greek yogurt anytime that I can get away with it…