Skinny Matcha-Monster Smoothie (Sponsored)

January 14, 2016 Amanda Plott

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #BestBlendsForever #CollectiveBias

My mom is not only one of my friends, she's really my very best friend and she has been for as long as I can remember. Of course, just like any other set of besties, that doesn't come without our occasional squabble. She's my complete opposite in almost every way, even down to our hair color.

I stuck out like a sore thumb as a child. A perfectly blonde and blue-eyed fair-skinned child among a gaggle of dark brown hair and beautiful olive complexions. And although it sounds like it, I wasn't adopted. That's just how things turned out as my mom remarried when I was four years old.

All of my life I've known my mom to be one of the softest and sweetest souls out there. She's the sort of person that would give any of her friends and family anything and everything just to see them smile and be happy. She's kind, generous, easy-going and all about fun. On the other end of things, I'm independent, stubborn, and sometimes rather brash. I'm a perfectionist to the core and entirely a homebody. See? She's my complete opposite, hah!...

Skinny Dark Chocolate & Cherry Scones (Sponsored)

January 11, 2016 Amanda Plott

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #MeAndMyTea #CollectiveBias

So, I'm kind of in love with scones. They're easy to make, delicious, and extremely versatile. Today I wanted to make some scones that would help me bring in the New Year and help me reach my goals while also getting me into the spirit of Valentine's Day (because you know that's just around the corner too!) What better way to achieve both other than with dark chocolate and some cherries? Yum, yum.

I used one of my older scone recipes to start out as the base for this one. And it worked out beautifully with the few changes and new additions that I made to it.

What can I say? It's fun to sometimes go back to revisit older recipes while also adjusting them to my ever changing taste and desire...

Skinny Matcha Granola

January 8, 2016 Amanda Plott

There's two things that I haven't tried before, making my own granola and matcha. Okay, well... I have tried matcha since my favorite tea room here dusts it over their fabulous brownies, but outside of that - no. I've had my fair share of green tea, but matcha is different. Since I haven't tried it before, but have heard good things... I decided to do a little research.

At the end of my research, I ended up buying myself a package of the green stuff.

Matcha is made by using specially shade-grown green tea that's then ground down into a find green powder. It's supposed to be effective in improving mental focus with it's higher amounts of theanine. The theanine and caffeine together help to give a boot of energy without causing the crash that comes with the caffeine in coffee. The antioxidants are what I'm after though!...

Skinny Beet Pesto

January 6, 2016 Amanda Plott

You're wanting me to... beet it, beet it!

Lettuce turnip the beet and dance.

I'm dropping fresh beets, yo.

Okay, okay. I'm done with the beet puns and word-play for now. But, seriously - this beet pesto is amazing, easy to make, and super versatile too! Plus, I mean... look at that color. With Valentine's Day creeping up on us already, this would be a perfect thing to make and use around the day of love.

This beet pesto is full of flavor too; it's a little sweet, a little earthy, and super delicious. I recently this year became a beet fan, so I've been trying to come up with fun ways to use them. Especially with February coming up, beets are the perfect natural red and/or pink food coloring...

Greek Stuffed Avocado Bistro Box

January 4, 2016 Amanda Plott

So initially I wasn't going to post an actual recipe for this, it was going to just be some fluff for Instagram since I'm always posting pictures of my little lunches and the like. But, it was so good that I just had to share it in it's full majesty!

While it only takes a handful of ingredients to make up this quick little lunch, it's packed with great flavor and healthy fats that will help you get through your day with ease. Plus, let's face it, I'm a sucker for almost anything greek inspired. Feta has been a favorite cheese of mine forever now, so that kalamata olives, and avocado and I'm sold...

Healthified Hoppin' John (Crock Pot)

January 2, 2016 Amanda Plott

Here in the south, black-eyed peas are a staple when bringing in the New Year. Funny enough, my mother was actually telling me the story this morning of how black-eyed peas became known in the south as a symbol of 'good luck'. Apparently though, there's a lot of stories out there that tie black-eyed peas and luck to one another.

No matter the actual and factual truth, having black-eyed peas on New Year's day has been a tradition in my family for as long as I can remember. Seriously, my mom wouldn't let us go to bed on New Year's day until we had at least one spoonful of what were then plain old canned black-eyed peas.

Thankfully, as soon as cooking came into my life our take on black-eyed peas changed. It sort of became my mission around New Year's to create better-for-you and delicious ways to enjoy black-eyed peas...