Rustica Salad

October 30, 2018 Amanda Plott

Well, I guess I spoke too soon about the weather cooling off. It’s been cooler, yes… but we’ve still gotten well up into the 80’s for a couple of days this week. It’s been nice for the most part, crips mornings, warm days, and cool evenings to follow. And while I’m completely set on Fall and Winter meals now, I still needed to toss in a light salad into the mix this week.

I’m calling this the ‘rustica salad’ because that’s the name of the salad that I got the idea for this one from. Of course, I had to put my own spin on it with a homemade dressing and plenty of toppings. The homemade Skinny Balsamic Vinaigrette is one of my favorites. I make a double or triple batch of it up at a time and keep it on hand in the fridge quite often…

Skinny Pumpkin Spice Bars + Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

October 28, 2018 Amanda Plott

Baking can be hard. Baking can be complicated. Baking can be exhausting. It’s no secret that baking isn’t my favorite thing to do. It intimidates and scares me a lot. Which is why I’m forcing myself to do a whole lot more of it. I guess you could say that I’m overcoming my fear one cake at a time.

These Skinny Pumpkin Spice Bars are incredibly easy to make despite the slightly lengthy ingredient list, it comes together very very quickly. From start to finish (not including the cooling time) this cakes only takes about 30 minutes to mix and bake, frosting and all!…

Pumpkin Alfredo Lasagna

October 26, 2018 Amanda Plott

This post has been compensated by Premio. As always, all opinions are mine alone.

I’ve got three little words. …Pumpkin. Alfredo. Lasagna. Okay, maybe they’re BIG words. The point is though, they go great together. I’ve had this thought in my head for a while now, so when I got my hands on Premio Sweet Italian Chicken Sausage I knew exactly what I was going to do with it!

This pumpkin Alfredo lasagna is not your average lasagna. It’s layer upon layer of noodle, pumpkin puree, cheese, spices, Alfredo, spinach more cheese, and YES Premio Sweet Italian Chicken Sausage…

Farmers' Market Cornbread

October 20, 2018 Amanda Plott

While it’s chilly here in Texas, you better believe that I’m taking FULL advantage of it. Which is why tonight I’m making a special sort of soup tonight and this awesome Farmers’ Market Cornbread to go along with it!

I based this cornbread off of my Baked Hush Puppies, which made use of a very clever and quick hack for making cornbread things. It’s basically mixing a self-rising cornmeal, creamed corn, and just few other things together to make a one bowl easy-peasy cornbread…

Dark Chocolate 'Crazy Cake'

October 18, 2018 Amanda Plott

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

Oh. My. Gosh. This Dark Chocolate 'Crazy Cake' is delicious, y’all! The first time I heard about ‘wacky cake’, I was more than a little skeptical. How can you make a good cake with no butter, eggs, or milk?! Well, as it turns out, there’s a couple of secrets to this cake that make it perfectly fluffy and delicious! In fact, it’s one of my favorite cakes. One of these simple swaps is using Mazola® Corn Oil in place of another oil or butter. I’ve been cooking and baking a lot more lately with corn oil. A clinical study showed Mazola Corn Oil reduces cholesterol 2x more than extra virgin olive oil. To learn more about this claim, see MAZOLA.com.

I wasn’t done there though. I also swapped out some of the sugar for a natural sweetener, and the cocoa powder for a dark chocolate cocoa powder. The end result was this tasty and easy cake that’s made all in ONE dish. Yep. No bowls to clean. No beaters to clean…

Fall Breakfast Quinoa Bowl

October 17, 2018 Amanda Plott

It’s been unusually cold here in Austin, Texas lately. Generally speaking, we don’t get the first ‘cooler’ bits of weather until Halloween. But, this year we’ve already been in the 40’s - which is completely fine with me. I love Fall weather and I am always more than thrilled to get anything below 80 in October. It means that I get to use my oven and stove again without regret!

With it being cooler, overcast, and raining off and on, I thought it was high time for a nice warm hearty breakfast. And that’s exactly what this Fall power bowl is all about! I loaded this breakfast bowl up with plenty of good stuff. Quinoa, fruit, nuts, seeds, and just a touch of cinnamon to add further to the warmth of the flavors…