Protein Pack

August 10, 2016 Amanda Plott

Yes, even though I work from home - I still tend to pack my lunches and snacks! Especially during the school year. Why? Because more often than not, when I don't have lunch ready to go... I've found that it's easy for me to forego lunch all together or settle for something that isn't always a good option. With snacks, it's the same way.

If my lunch is all made up and prepared for me, there isn't much of an excuse not to enjoy it. Once my little one starts school back up this next week, I'll be back in action at the gym... and let me just say that I'm really looking forward to it. I know that protein is something I'm going to need once I fall back into my routine of exercising and this protein pack is loaded with it!...

Healthified Crock Pot Teriyaki Chicken Bowls

April 29, 2016 Amanda Plott

There are a handful of recipes that I have been developing off and on through the years for one reason or another. Some of them don't turn out the first run or two, others I burn myself out in, and some take a specific amount of tweaking to get it just right. This happens to be one of those recipes.

When I was younger, I ate a lot more fast food just as almost any young American. My mom was not nearly as excited about food and cooking as I am, and that is completely fine. Everyone has their own passion. So, my dad ended up doing the most of the cooking on the nights that he could, but sometimes he would come home way too exhausted to manage; this was around the time when I was in high school...

Steamed Vegetable Dumplings

April 16, 2016 Amanda Plott

I've been debating buying a bamboo steamer for a good long while now since I've been in full on wonton mode, and there isn't any better (or healthy) way to make potstickers or dumplings other than by steaming them. Needless to say, I finally broke down and got the steamer. I love it too because I can use it to steam other things too, not just dumplings.

I need something for steaming tamales too! So this was a good excuse to cover all my steaming bases.

The first thing I wanted to make with my bamboo steamer was some perfectly easy vegetable dumplings. These dumplings seriously couldn't be more easy to put together, and I'd like to think that after sealing up my fair share of wontons lately that I've become a lot more proficient with it...

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...

Crock Pot Broccoli Cheese Soup

September 1, 2015 Amanda Plott

This post was brought to you by Collective Bias, Inc. and it's advertiser. I received compensation to write this post … but, all opinions expressed are my own. #NaturallyCheesy #CollectiveBias

Things are pretty crazy around here right now as I'm sure it is everywhere else. Somewhere between schedules, fitness, and seasonal changes, I seem to have gotten lost and have little to no spare time. With cooler weather starting to roll in, the light changing, and the days getting shorter, I'm all the more ready for fall and the peace and comfort that comes with it. Bring it on.

What puts you more in the mood for fall than a nice warm bowl of soup? Not just any soup though, but cheesy wonderful soup! This broccoli cheese soup is comfort food at it's finest. It's so easy to toss together, tastes amazing, and is full of vegetables. That's right, full of vegetables...

Skinny Butternut Squash & Carrot Soup

May 28, 2015 Amanda Plott

Oh, man - I've survived the great storm and flood of 2015 here in Austin! Not everyone was as fortunate as us. We had a 6+ hour power outage, multiple trees blown over, and several fences that were ripped apart by 70 mph straight-line winds here in my immediate neighborhood. At one point many places were evacuated to ground level central rooms, and I was ready to jump into the closet under my stairs with my grandmother and daughter at a seconds notice when we were under a tornado warning. Scary stuff!

Our wonderful lake is thriving off all the recent rain, which is one great thing that has come out of all this crazy weather here lately; going up from 37% full to 63% full!

Of course, as I was watching the weather on the news during the most recent storm, I was taking my mind off things as best I could by cooking. What goes better with a stormy day than a nice warm bowl of soup?...