Crockpot Carrot Soup with Basil Herb Oil

June 7, 2017 Amanda Plott

I'm barely a week into summer break over here and I already seem to have lost track of what day it is. Is it still the weekend? Almost the weekend again? Where am I? What am I doing? One of the only things that's managing to keep me somewhat grounded, is cooking. For the past few weeks, I've been getting loads and loads of carrots in my local box of produce. I've been trying to use them up as quickly as I could, but... the bag of them only continued to expand.

I've got to be honest, raw carrots are definitely not one of my favorite vegetables. So, thinking of a way to use up over 2 pounds of carrots was a rather daunting task for me. Especially considering that I wanted to be sure to use them all up before any went bad. Waste not, want not...

Skinny Unicorn Popsicles

May 3, 2017 Amanda Plott

With all of the unicorn hullabaloo, I decided to whip up another fun protein packed and wholesome take on a unicorn inspired dish. It's true. These Skinny Unicorn Popsicles are not only cute and inspired by the mythical magical creature of legend, they are also better-for-you in so many ways!

I'm no stranger to the magic of unicorns. I made a rather magical Skinny Unicorn Ice Cream Cake a while back and it's easy to see why it became a fast favorite. However, this time around I wanted to take it a step further and use all natural food coloring. Yep! Not only are these popsicles dairy-free, they are also free of artificial colors...

Edamame & Avocado Power Sandwich

April 14, 2017 Amanda Plott

This post is sponsored by Soyfoods Association of North America in conjunction with Blog Meets Brand and I have been compensated for my participation. All opinions are my own.

Did y'all know that April is National Soy Foods Month? There's probably not a girl out there that love soy anymore than I do either. I could turn around and be a vegetarian tomorrow if I really wanted to. And trust me, I have threatened myself with doing that very thing. For over a year now, I've strived to create at LEAST one vegetarian family dinner a week. Though generally it turns into more like two or three dinners a week.

Eating meatless meals a few times a week can not only be better for you, it can also save you a lot of money at the grocery store. I'm talking... I can easily shave $50 off my weekly grocery bill for a small family of three...

Vegan French Toast

November 19, 2016 Amanda Plott

By now, it's no secret that I'm always making sneaky swaps in the kitchen for more wholesome options at the dining table. It's not very often (if ever) that I get any sort of complaint, much less notice being taken. Like I said... they're sneaky swaps. The way I see it, if I can get it past my picky eating family, everyone else is golden.

Honestly though, this Vegan French Toast has to be one of my all time favorite sneaky swaps. Why's that? Because it's so amazingly good. Even if you're not a huge fan of banana (and I know there's some of you out there) I implore you to try this recipe! The banana flavor is very light and subtle among everything else that french toast has going on. It's simple, tasty, and a guilt-free way to enjoy one of the classics...

White Bean Avocado Dip

September 28, 2016 Amanda Plott

Thank you to Graze for kindly sponsoring this post. All opinions are 100% honest & completely my own.

I'm a little bit of an avocado fiend. Okay, so... a lot of an avocado fiend. I could easily go through a whole avocado every day and completely all on my own. So when I was trying to decide what I wanted to do with these Super Beet Chips, I figured it just had to be something with avocado and it needed to be a dip.

This White Bean Avocado Dip is super easy to make, full of flavor, and is the perfect dipper companion. It's somewhere between a guacamole (with it's Mexican inspired flavors of lime and cilantro) and a hummus (with garbanzo beans being my bean of choice.) The best of both worlds, if you ask me...

Granola Cups

July 7, 2016 Amanda Plott

I've been looking to make breakfast a little more interesting and fun round here lately while I've got my little one home for the summer. Ugh! I can't believe she's about to be a big first grader. Anyway, these cute little granola cups were the perfect way to do that! They're cute, and little, and so easy to make!

What I love about these cups is that they are so versatile. You can use them as mini pie crusts, fill them with yogurt and/or fruit (like I did) for breakfast, or even as the base of a tart or other sort of dessert. I'm thinking mini cheesecakes!

By the way, did I mention that they are also vegan, gluten-free, and sugar-free? Yep, yep, and yep! These little cuties definitely hit all the right notes. If all that isn't convincing enough, there's also chia seeds in them too; adding super crunch and even more texture...