Veggies in the Raw Bistro Box

October 27, 2015 Amanda Plott

It's been a good while since I worked on my skills at adult lunch boxes or 'bistro boxes' as I've seen them called. I've made a few in the past, and I've always enjoyed them for more than one reason.

I love that these bistro boxes are small, filling, packable, and so easy to whip up a few of them to have on hand through out the week. I've found that if I have to make my lunch every day that I will tend to either skip it all together (which is a bad idea) or trade out my more health conscious lunch for something that's quicker and more grab-and-go (even worse!)

When I have my little prepped bistro boxes though, I don't have any excuse to not sit down and enjoy my wholesome and stackable style meal...

California Chicken & Vegetable Bowl (With Green Goddess Dressing)

June 22, 2015 Amanda Plott

This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group®, Birds Eye®, and Tyson® but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #FastFreshFilling http://my-disclosur.es/OBsstV

The heat of Texas summer is upon me! The last couple of weeks I've been doing everything possible to use my oven as little as I can manage. It's amazing the difference that just a few minutes of the oven being on can make when it's above 90 degrees outside. So, I'm starting to get really creative with creating tasty and easy meals during the busy and rather hot days of summer without having to give up nutrition in the process.

I was wanting something fresh and light that also involved avocado, and then I remembered this Green Goddess dressing that I made a few months back that I was absolutely in love with. So, I decided I wanted to make use of it again in this California style Chicken & Vegetable bowl. Perfect!

The only change that I made to the dressing this time was around was using some fresh basil in placed of the thyme or tarragon that I had used before. Fresh basil just screams summer to me...

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!...

Healthified Irish Nachos

March 11, 2014 Amanda Plott

Irish nachos get their name from the fact that they are basically like any other traditional 'nacho' except that they are made by using potato rather than tortilla chips, and are often served in any pub along side a beer!

Of course, they are not generally the most healthy option that you can find. With St. Patrick's Day right around the corner, I thought I would give this classic a healthy twist in honor of my Irish heritage...

Skinny Shepherd's Pie

February 13, 2014 Amanda Plott

I'm irish and... rather proud of it. Even so, the first time I ever had Shepherd's Pie was when I cooked it for myself. It was a rather easy recipe to prepare and of course goes along famously with St. Patrick's Day.

Now, I've never been to Ireland, so I can't really say whether this is a traditional style variation or not. Though from what I can tell, every recipe seems to be different - just with the basic idea that meat and vegetables make up the bottom layer while potatoes of some sort are spread over the top...

Tortellini En Brodo (Broth)

December 18, 2013 Amanda Plott

I'm honestly... exhausted today as I write this. My little girl was up the most of the night with a cough. I tried everything I knew to do and nothing seemed to soothe or calm it. Finally, sometime in the wee hours of the morning I grabbed her up and brought her in bed to cuddle up with me.

After a good hour of wiggling and squirming she finally settled in and we managed to get 2-3 hours of sleep before the sun peeked in. Amazing how the cough went away once she was snuggled into me. Sometimes you just need your mommy...