Almond & Flax Chicken Nuggets

November 3, 2014 Amanda Plott

My little girl is finally starting to think about liking chicken nuggets. I know... what kid doesn't like chicken nuggets to begin with? Well, mine! The girl could be a vegetarian yesterday. I've had to be pretty creative in these four years with getting protein in her. It's been quite an interesting... struggle ever since she was a teeny tiny little thing.

About a week ago I was sent this amazing product called 'Nuts over Fish' to try for free. Which, originally I thought was a little ironic since, well... I don't eat fish. It's completely a mental block that I've had since I was a little girl. No seafood as much as I'd like to love it - I just can't bring myself to eat it...

Eggs in Pepper Rings

October 22, 2014 Amanda Plott

I know, I know... I've been doing a lot with pesto lately. My basil plant is slowly but surely taking over the back yard again this year. What better to do with it than to make some yummy Skinny Spinach & Basil Pesto?

I've done the whole Lighter Egg-in-a-Basket thing, but I've been trying to be a little more gluten conscious lately. So, I thought to myself... why not take the same idea, but use a vegetable instead of the bread? Perfect! Bell peppers work great for this. They are firm and hold up well with the cooking process, since they don't sweat or soften too awfully much in such a short amount of time.

Skinny Pesto & Mozzarella Stuffed Chicken

October 17, 2014 Amanda Plott

How could anyone resist a stuffed chicken breast? Well, certainly not me! Especially when it's stuffed with my favorite pesto and fresh melty mozzarella.

Yes. I'm allowed to say 'melty' here because it's oh-so-fitting.

A few weeks ago I had this amazingly delicious caprese style salad with smoked chicken breast and some sort of lemon pesto involved. I sort of based this stuffed chicken off that idea by adding some lemon zest into the breading mix.

The addition of the lemon definitely adds a new dimension of flavor to the chicken here, so you'll want to be sure not to leave that out!...

Skinny Loaded Potato Breakfast Skillet

October 10, 2014 Amanda Plott

This is one of those super easy breakfasts that live in infamy. I'm not entirely sure what spurred the thought of having a loaded style potato for breakfast but... it all worked out fabulously well. There's really not much in a loaded potato that you wouldn't normally have for breakfast anyway. So why not toss an egg on top and call it done?

Done.

Cheesy bacon potatoes and an egg for right at 300 calories and a full belly? Yes, indeed! It's one of those things that looks and feels so naughty, but actually couldn't be much more guilt-free! This is a clean and lean breakfast that is sure to give you enough energy to make it through your morning...

Pumpkin & Black Bean Soup

September 24, 2014 Amanda Plott

I'm putting pumpkin in everything while I can since it's 'seasonable' for the next couple of months. I love fall for many reasons, but pumpkin has to be pretty close to the top of the list! In my opinion, there just isn't too much that you can't put pumpkin in; drinks, desserts, entrees... You name it, and I've probably already thought of a way to put pumpkin in it, if I haven't already put pumpkin in it before - that is!

This pumpkin soup is pretty great. I'd compare the consistency of it to a creamy tomato soup. In fact, it's color and texture are pretty much the same too but a lot more soft and calm with it's flavors since tomato soup has the zing of acidity....

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!...