Cauliflower & Hominy Smash

September 10, 2014 Amanda Plott

This cauliflower hominy smash is a perfect lower carb substitution for potatoes. In fact, I would say that I enjoy this smash just as much as mashed potatoes, if not more. The texture of the two vegetables, along with the milk and a touch of butter leave this side dish tasting very close to a cheesy smashed potato with hardly any of the guilt!

Not that potatoes are a bad thing at all. They have their place in my heart too.

You get a nice heaping half cup of this smash for only about 72 calories and 13 grams carbs, and trust me... you won't miss their potato counter part at all. What's even better is that they are gluten free and clean!...

Skinny Honey Mustard Salad Dressing

September 5, 2014 Amanda Plott

I've been doing my best to eat less and less gluten lately. Not for any particular dietary reason other than general health and well being. So, when I planned on making my own honey mustard dressing this week, I was more than surprised to come to realize that almost all dijon or stone ground mustards have gluten in them.

It's mustard! Isn't it just ground up mustard seeds? You would think so! But, apparently not.

The only brown mustard I found that was gluten free was 'French's Spicy Brown', though I'm sure there has to be others out there as well. I just didn't happen to venture down the gluten free isle. Spicy brown would work perfectly for what I wanted it for.

Something it be aware of if you're wanting to actually make this dressing 'gluten free'...

Refrigerator Dill Pickles

September 3, 2014 Amanda Plott

We love pickles in this house.

My little girl alone goes through about a jar every week or two this summer. She's especially fond of pickled carrots as I've found out recently. And have you seen the price for pickles? Holy moly! If you're wanting a good pickle, you're going to be paying $3-4 bucks a jar. Eep!

The past few weeks I've been playing around with a grocery service that delivers organic and local produce straight from nearby farms to your home. I've been getting the 'local box' which comes with a variety of that weeks 'special' produce, fruits and herbs. It's been fun and very interesting. I get to work with a lot of new-to-me ingredients that you normally wouldn't find at the grocery store either; such as sweet potato greens, hon tsai tai, and cucamelons.

Well, I was supposed to get cucamelons, but unfortunately they were swapped for something else after I had planned on pickling them. Bummer. Oh well! I did still get some fresh organic dill in my delivery so I decided I'd just pickle some cucumbers and carrots instead!...

Lily's Lunch Box (Week 5) - Tex-Mex

August 25, 2014 Amanda Plott

There's two things I can always count on getting my little one to eat. Beans and rice! In fact, she takes her beans and rice plain. No salt. No 'spice'... just a sprinkle of cheese and she's done. She has been that way with beans and rice for her entire life.

Though it's not my way of eating them, I'm more than happy to oblige her with this small request. Thankfully, corn and mandarine oranges are two more things that are on the top of her 'will always eat' list. What does that give you? A fun tex-mex lunch idea!...

Pesto Chickpea & Avocado Salad

August 8, 2014 Amanda Plott

I really cannot say enough about this salad. I would have never guessed that these 6-ish ingredients would have come together in such an awesome and delicious way. This mighty green salad was tossed together in less than 5 minutes and was unbelievably satisfying. Seriously. I've eaten it about four times already this week.

The lemon juice works to brighten up the pesto and together they actually end up as a rather substantial amount of flavorful 'dressing'. Yes, that's right - you don't need to add any dressing to this salad. The ingredients work together to make their own lemony pesto dressing that is de{light}ful and actually one of my newest favorite things...

Greek Pita 'Pizza'

August 1, 2014 Amanda Plott

This is one of those stupid-easy and crazy-good sort of recipes. The kind of thing that you throw together on some lazy end-of-the-week night and then think... "Oh, man! I'm brilliant! This is amazing!"

I was seriously not looking forward to cooking today. I've been in a tremendous amount of pain with my neck and shoulders since I cracked my eyes open this morning. ...It's the type of pain that is nearly blinding. It creeps up into my eye sockets and even makes my ears hurt! I've been in so much pain, that it's been a challenge to even consider food without getting blatantly nauseous.

So, needless to say... once I got some of the pain (and nausea) behind me, this was the perfect dinner for me tonight...