Garden Vegetable Soup

June 15, 2018 Amanda Plott

Last week it was 'ocean' week here in my house, and this week we're going with the theme of plants! In doing so, I decided to throw a LOT more veggies and vegetarian dishes into the mix this week. We always have a couple of vegetarian dishes every week, for health reasons, cutting the cost of food, and also because it just makes me feel better all around.

I could easily be a vegetarian. In fact, my daughter was basically a vegetarian of her own accord up until she was about 5 years old. Meat just wasn't something she was a fan of. And I can't say that I was far off from that myself with I was a little girl too.

Ready for a true side story about myself? My parents used to have to tell me that meat came from a meat tree when I was little to get me to eat it!…

Low-Carb Farmer's Market Queso

June 13, 2018 Amanda Plott

Dear queso... Let me count the ways that I love thee...

Queso has been my Achilles' heel for years now. Melted cheesy goodness. I mean... who can pass it up? Well, not this girl! I'm always looking for ways to make my queso feel a little less guilty though. And maybe not just feel less guilty, but to actually be less guilty.

While this queso, and any proper queso, isn't exactly light. I can say that this queso is low-carb and absolutely loaded with veggies. Which, you know, makes anyone feel a bit better about what they're eating. Right? Right!…

Seashell Pasta Salad

June 5, 2018 Amanda Plott

We're a few days into our week long theme of the ocean over here and we're really having a fun time of it! Since we're not big on seafood in this house, coming up with clever non-fishy ocean themed recipes has proved to be... well... a little challenging. It's also been so very worth it too though!

The inspiration behind this pasta salad actually came from one of my daughter's cook books. I had to do a lot of tweaking to the original though to suit our tastes. So much so, that by the time I was done with it... it's basically a whole new recipe…

Skinny Spinach Dip (AKA Seaweed Dip)

June 3, 2018 Amanda Plott

This summer I decided that my daughter and I were going to up our summer game by having a different 'themed' week for all 10 weeks. We've got arts, crafts, and even some recipes planned to make in accordance with each theme. Our first week is going to be 'ocean' themed! We'll be going to a water park, the aquarium, and learning a lot bout the ocean.

Of course, it doesn't stop there. I really wanted to involve the kitchen in our weeks of fun too. Being as we aren't really seafood lovers here in this house, it's been more than a little tricky to find 'ocean inspired' recipes to create that are kid friendly and not seafood. This Skinny Spinach dip was my first idea!…

Low-Carb Spinach & Mushroom Egg Bites (Keto-Friendly!)

May 26, 2018 Amanda Plott

I've been playing around with egg bites for a while now, and I've come up with a few fun flavors to change it up from week to week. Yes, homemade egg bites are generally in my personal regular rotation for one of my usual breakfast options. They are ridiculously easy to make, taste great, and are perfect for meal prepping. Did I mention they're also low-carb, gluten-free, and keto-friendly? Yep! All that too.

This time around, I decided to go with a spinach and mushroom style egg bite. To be honest, I wasn't too sure how well they would turn out since both spinach and mushrooms tend to have a pretty high amount of water in them. But, it ended up working out super well!…

Gluten-Free & Vegan Blueberry Peach Cobbler

May 22, 2018 Amanda Plott

It's about this time of year where my fridge is well stocked with fresh fruits and berries. Which is something I am not sad about. And there is little that tickles my pickle more than a homemade cobbler. So, when I got my hot little hands on local fresh blueberries and peaches, I knew it was high time to make a gluten-free and vegan version of a cobbler.

Being as cobbler is typically a fruit based dessert that's baked with a sweet 'crust' layer on top, how does one go about making it gluten-free or vegan? Well, to be honest, it's actually pretty easy! In fact, this has to be one of the most easy cobblers that I've ever made. And that's the truth of it…