Skinny Banana Pudding Poke Cake

March 20, 2017 Amanda Plott

What can I say? I needed some more dessert in my life, y'all! It's been a really hard week. I went into Spring break with my little one thinking that it was going to be smooth sailing. That I was going to get to sleep in, relax, and catch up on life. Hah! Boy, was I ever wrong.

My elderly cat (who is 13 years old now) had to get a few teeth (almost all of them) extracted. Nearly as an emergency too. He's a big boy - 18 lbs. at his heaviest as a mainecoon. Unfortunately one of their only bad qualities is their teeth. Despite my best efforts these past few years to get them cleaned regularly, it just wasn't enough and 5 of his teeth had to be pulled. Given his age and other health concerns it's been a week full of medication and even a trip to the emergency vet yesterday. Mid-recipe too!

Yep. Right after pulling this cake out of the oven I was hot-tailing it to the emergency vet. Bleh. While my poor old man is on the mend, I still am in desperate need for some dessert. Dessert, my mommy, and maybe some wine. I can't adult today...

Mediterranean Toast

March 17, 2017 Amanda Plott

Toast Tuesday has become a real thing. And all though it's Friday and not Tuesday, I figured... what the heck. I'll still do Toast Tuesday anyway. That's just how good this toast is. The idea behind Toast Tuesday is to make the very best and most amazing piece of toast ever using interesting ingredients that aren't generally found on your 'average' toast.

Who says toast has to be boring? It totally doesn't need to be!

This is one fully loaded toast if ever there was one; making it perfect for a lunch time sort of snack or light lunch bite. I'm calling this 'mediterranean' since I've added on some kalamata olives, hummus, and just enough feta cheese to give that familiar salty greek inspired flavor...

Turkey & Cauliflower Shepherd's Pie

March 14, 2017 Amanda Plott

I've partnered with SmartMade™ to create this post! Enjoy!

About three years ago I made this amazing Skinny Shepherd's Pie, to give a tip of the hat to my Irish heritage around St. Patricks' Day. Since then, I've changed a lot and so have my cooking skills. The recipe is still fantastic, but there's always room for improvement and change too! This time around I decided to make a few more smart swaps.

One of my favorite things to do lately has been to swap cauliflower mash for mashed potatoes whenever possible. Don't get me wrong, I love potatoes but cauliflower has significantly less calories than potatoes. So naturally, a cauliflower mash will definitely give you more bang for your buck if you’re looking to cut down on your calorie intake...

Mexican Street Corn & Zucchini Nachos

March 12, 2017 Amanda Plott

Mexican street corn is almost a staple here in Texas. It's perfectly roasted and smoky corn goodness that's covered in spices and cheese. Heaven in the form of corn. Today though, I wanted to take that corn amazingness and move it a step forward into some nachos! These nachos aren't your average nachos either. They're a full blown meal in one. Hearty and loaded up with plenty of vegetables and bursting with flavor.

The zucchini is a perfect pairing to the corn. It's sweet and adds just enough texture to the nachos to not leave you missing meat. That's right. These are vegetarian too and bean-less. It's really a great 'warm weather' dish since it's light but also really filling without weighing you down...

Roasted Butternut Squash & Chickpea Salad with Pesto

March 9, 2017 Amanda Plott

It's this wonderful time of year where I'm starting to see more and more fresh 'spring' vegetables coming into the produce department; which always excites me. Especially when there's still plenty of winter squash to be had. I love to take seasonal produce and mix them together as the seasons start to turn from one to another. It always gives you something interesting and exciting.

This Roasted Butternut Squash & Chickpea Salad is the perfect blend of winter and spring coming together for a wonderful bite. The butternut squash is what's coming in here from winter, while the pesto and fresh baby spinach and pop of lemon are a sure sign of spring approaching...

Quick Pickled Radishes & Carrots

March 7, 2017 Amanda Plott

I'm a little bit of a pickle fiend, y'all. I always have a jar (or several) of pickled vegetables of almost any variety in my fridge at all times. This past week I got my hands on some local radishes and well, I'm honestly not the most familiar with radishes. I know they are a little 'peppery' unless cooked, so part of me really wanted to try them roasted.

But, the pickle loving part of my decided to go another route since I had some verde chicken street tacos on the dinner plan. Street tacos always need something on them with a little tang and pop to brighten them up. Some people use a lot of lime juice for this, and others use pickled jalapeños or radishes...