Avocado Egg Salad

December 1, 2015 Amanda Plott

What can I say? After the large meals and treats that often come with holidays, I always end up feeling as if my body needs a reprieve from it all. Especially when there's a few more still just around the corner!

This avocado egg salad is the perfect way to fill my plate and I with the good stuff while keeping it light, healthy, and super delicious. I've been a huge fan of avocado for a while now, but lately's it's almost been out of control. So much so that I'm now putting in my egg salad!

That might sound a little strange, but hear me out. Avocados are often a great swap for mayonnaise because of their creamy texture. Plus, those avocados have a lot more vitamins than you'll find in mayo anyway. So it's just a win, win...

Blue Cheese Guacamole

November 21, 2015 Amanda Plott

If you haven't noticed already, I've been on a little bit of an avocado kick lately. I just can't get enough of these creamy, green, super healthy fruits! I guess that you could even say that I'm a little obsessed with them, which is funny consider that up until about five years ago I thought my mom was crazy for eating 'that green stuff'.

Clearly, I've grown up a bit since then.

Another of my obsessions, and something that I've loved since the moment that I tried it is blue cheese. I swear... I have dreams about it. So, when tasked with coming up with a fun take on a holiday appetizer, I knew exactly what I wanted to do; merge the two together into one ultimate and amazing dish!...

Cheesy Ranch Chex™ Mix

November 19, 2015 Amanda Plott

Holidays are full of tradition, and one of the traditions that I lacked as a child but have picked up on my adult years is homemade Chex™ Mix! A couple of years back now my mom came over and made up GIANT batch of Chex Mix for us all to enjoy. She made as many flavor combinations as we could think up on.

It's become our tradition to have mix with us almost everywhere we go during the holiday season. My mom takes it to every party, event, and get together. It's always a huge hit, not matter what flavor combination it is, it's always a winner!

I'm not sure exactly what sparked up my mother's sudden desire to start the Chex Mix tradition, but I sure am glad that it happened. I love it when my mom loves food as much as I do...

Guacamole & Hummus Taquitos

November 17, 2015 Amanda Plott

Okay, okay, so these are big-as-yo-face taquitos. I get it. Taquitos are usually rolled up pretty tightly and with barely any filling, but I was hungry today y'all and in the mood for a nice hearty portion of vegetarian filling.

They're Texas size taquitos. But, if it makes anyone feel any better we could also call these baked burritos, I guess.

Either way, they're super filling and amazingly delicious. Plus, I find it pretty fun to play with fusion sometimes. I mean, who puts hummus on a taquito? Well, I do. Hummus is typically made from garbanzo beans, so this is basically a white bean taquito. Works for me!...

Veggies in the Raw Bistro Box

October 27, 2015 Amanda Plott

It's been a good while since I worked on my skills at adult lunch boxes or 'bistro boxes' as I've seen them called. I've made a few in the past, and I've always enjoyed them for more than one reason.

I love that these bistro boxes are small, filling, packable, and so easy to whip up a few of them to have on hand through out the week. I've found that if I have to make my lunch every day that I will tend to either skip it all together (which is a bad idea) or trade out my more health conscious lunch for something that's quicker and more grab-and-go (even worse!)

When I have my little prepped bistro boxes though, I don't have any excuse to not sit down and enjoy my wholesome and stackable style meal...

Skinny Chocolate Ginger Bat Cookies

October 16, 2015 Amanda Plott

I've made these particular cookies for a few years now. It all started when we first moved to Austin and my mom made us all take the trek down to the famous Congress Street bridge around Halloween to watch the millions of bats fly out from under it once it was dark. It's a pretty cool thing to watch, especially when leading up to my favorite holiday, Halloween!

When we go to see the bats, and we usually do every year, I always like to take some wine and a snack. We always take the guided bat boat tours which can last a good hour or two while we wait for it to get dark enough for the bats to surface.

I had seen ginger-bread skeletons before, so one year I got smart and thought it would be super cute to make these cookies over in a healthy way while also packing them up for a 'bat night' treat...