Dairy-Free Grapefruit & Banana Breakfast Bowl

March 22, 2016 Amanda Plott

Today I wanted to keep things rather simple for breakfast. Simple, but tasty and dairy-free! Like I've said, I'm trying to be a little more plant based lately. I decided that a breakfast bowl was the way to go, so I grabbed one of my leftover grapefruits from the fridge and knew exactly what I wanted to do.

I used the juices of the grapefruit along with some local honey to make a sort of faux fruit cocktail to go atop one into my breakfast bowl. A 'not quite ripe' banana will work best here.

If it's an overly ripe fruit you might just end up with a bowl of mashed banana instead and nobody wants that!

Of course, I had to have a little bit of a crunch factor on top with some local low fat granola to top it all off and pull everything together. One of the best parts though, is what was under all the fruity goodness...

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...

Grapefruit & Avocado Buddha Bowl

March 14, 2016 Amanda Plott

So after my crazy, emotional, and exhausting week(end), I needed to get back into the groove of things today. Plus, I could use all the energy that I can get right now; and of course nothing will power you through better than good food in the form of a buddha bowl.

What's a buddha bowl? Well, they can also be called 'glory bowls' or 'hippie bowls' and usually consist of greens of some sort, raw or cooked vegetables, a healthy grain like quinoa or rice, and toppings. They are usually meatless, but still rather hearty and filling.

Exactly what I need right now!...

Guacamole Wonton Bites

March 10, 2016 Amanda Plott

Guacamole makes everything better.

...Right?

If you haven't noticed, I've been a little avocado obsessed lately. And these guacamole wonton bites are no exception. While playing around with wonton wrappers the past couple of weeks, I thought it would be fun to stuff them with something other than the usual. So, I decided to do a little bit of fusion.

I have come to find that wonton skins are the perfect vehicle. They are light and crispy... sort of like a tortilla or a chip, but much more versatile. These handheld little bites of awesome are full of flavor, and it all starts out with a super simple homemade guacamole...

Skinny Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette

March 8, 2016 Amanda Plott

I'm not sure about anywhere else, since Texas is the only place that I've lived in my adult life, but here... we go through an awful lot of cilantro. It's all that amazing Tex-Mex we have here, so you won't find me complaining. Cilantro and I definitely have a love-hate relationship though.

I've come to the realization that I don't tend to like it much in it's raw form. That is... it needs to be added to something; guacamole, fajita meat, etc. I do, however, love cilantro when it's done right by being used as an ingredient to brighten up a dish. And what better way to do that than with a nice fresh spring produce salad?...

Matcha Waffles (Gluten Free)

March 5, 2016 Amanda Plott

So, this is what I've been up to pretty much each morning this week. I've made these waffles three times now, adjusting the recipe and tweaking it to get it to where I wanted it to be. The first time I made them as a test run, they turned out beautifully. But, the second time I made them - they were a huge flop.

Yes, even I make mistakes in the kitchen!

That could have been mostly my fault though. Honestly, my heart wasn't in it that morning and my mind was elsewhere and focused on other things going on in my life. I'm pretty sure in looking back that I left something out at some point and ended up with a waffle iron full of raw inedible goop. Whoops!

This was my third attempt with these waffles after a few final changes and a more careful eye for my measuring and accounting for each ingredient...