Grilled Feta Skewers

April 19, 2016 Amanda Plott

The rain here in Texas has been crazy these last few days, and we still have more to come. Houston, you're in my thoughts! Despite the turn of weather (April showers bring May flowers...), I'm still getting my grill on this week. One way or another.

To add a little color and brightness to my life during this rather gloomy day, I decided to grill up these veggie-full skewers that couldn't be any more easy to make, or any more delicious. Let's face it, I'm a sucker for cheese is just about any form or fashion...

Steamed Vegetable Dumplings

April 16, 2016 Amanda Plott

I've been debating buying a bamboo steamer for a good long while now since I've been in full on wonton mode, and there isn't any better (or healthy) way to make potstickers or dumplings other than by steaming them. Needless to say, I finally broke down and got the steamer. I love it too because I can use it to steam other things too, not just dumplings.

I need something for steaming tamales too! So this was a good excuse to cover all my steaming bases.

The first thing I wanted to make with my bamboo steamer was some perfectly easy vegetable dumplings. These dumplings seriously couldn't be more easy to put together, and I'd like to think that after sealing up my fair share of wontons lately that I've become a lot more proficient with it...

Skinny Baked Avocado 'Fries'

April 11, 2016 Amanda Plott

I think that I nearly bought my weight in avocados today at the store. And you know what? I'm okay with that! I'm rather avocado obsessed and I'm always on the hunt for new and interesting ways to incorporate them into my meals.

This week for lunch I thought I would try my hand out at making some better-for-you baked avocado 'fries'. Avocado slices that are coated in spiced up breading and baked to perfecting for a quick, warm, and delicious lunch...

Spicy Avocado Pesto

March 21, 2016 Amanda Plott

I'm not sure what it is, but the older I get the more avocado obsessed I seem to be. I think at this point that I have avocado in my life almost every day. With a fridge full of greens that were on the way out and some special vegetarian tacos on the plan for dinner tonight, I decided I wanted to try something a little daring and different with making an avocado based pesto.

I mean, what goes better with tacos other than avocado? Nothing.

This pesto is basically a cross better a traditional pesto and a guacamole. You've got avocado and cilantro in there along with greens, garlic and some cheese. The use of the avocado means that this pesto is, you guessed it, oil free! Plus, the additions of all that green goodness bulks up the avocado so you get a whole lot of flavor for few calories...

Cauliflower 'Fried Rice'

March 3, 2016 Amanda Plott

This week I've decided I'm going to start eating a more plant based diet. It's something that my subconscious has been slowly seeming to lead up to for the past months, and honestly I hadn't really noticed until I sat down to write out my weekly meal plan for myself last week.

I think what really got my wheels spinning on 'plant based' meals was a quote that I heard a long time ago.

"Eat food. Not a lot. And mostly plants." - Michael Pollan

It's sort of been my mantra ever since I first came across it, though sometimes I stick to it more than others. I'm not saying I'm going vegan or vegetarian by any means, just that this is what I'm trying to do more actively at home and on a more regular basis. And one of the first things to come to mind with my veggie-forward thinking was this Cauliflower 'Fried Rice'...

Grapefruit & Avocado Salad with White Wine Vinaigrette

February 25, 2016 Amanda Plott

So, last week I had posted a picture of this fabulous little lunch/snack that I had for myself, and seeing as it managed to grab quite a bit of attention I thought I would do something else similar this week. Though I still might share the original soon too!

Grapefruit is very much so in season here in Texas right now, and as such, I wanted to make full use of it since it's one of my most favorite circus fruits. I find that it's a perfect addition to any breakfast or lunch because of it's brightness. It just adds a little bit of a pep to my step and cheers me on through my day...