Caprese Pasta Salad

June 27, 2021 Amanda Plott

As it’s getting hotter and hotter outside I’m craving the cold stuff. The lighter stuff. The stuff I don’t have to turn my oven on to enjoy. This Caprese Pasta Salad is just that. Get it started in the morning when it’s cool out and then finish it off in the afternoon or evening as lunch, dinner, or a side for one of the two. The pasta dish itself is based off one of my all time favorites - caprese!

What’s a caprese? Tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, basil, and balsamic vinegar in one form or another. I basically turned that into a light, easy to make salad that includes fresh baby spinach and some pasta to make it just a little more hearty…

Skinny Baked Galaxy Donuts

June 24, 2021 Amanda Plott

Last night was a full moon. So it just seemed appropriate to make these Skinny Baked Galaxy Donuts today. These donuts are baked (obviously) and are a mix of my Baked Dark Chocolate Coffee Donuts and my Unicorn Donuts. In other words, they’re a chocolate cake based donut with a colorful vanilla frosting and of course galaxy inspired sprinkles on top!

The best part is that you can use whatever space-like sprinkles you want and colors for frosting to match. My frostings were pretty dark and most of it just disappeared into the ether of the donuts only to serve as glue for the sprinkles to the donuts themselves. But, that’s fine. Lots of sprinkles it is!…

Queso Chicken Bake

June 21, 2021 Amanda Plott

Looking for a quick dinner idea? Look no further! This Queso Chicken Bake is here just for you! And when I say queso, I do mean queso! Just look at his cheesy an delicious this chicken is! I should note too, it doesn’t get more simple to easy than this toss and bake recipe either. with just 5 ingredients, you can have dinner tossed together and ready to go in no time at all!

Being as this dish is so simple and has so few ingredients, there isn’t much to change here other than to swap some of the things out for ‘no salt added’ or ‘low sodium’ options. This way you can season it yourself to your own liking. Which I almost guarantee is less salt overall…

Tex-Mex Chicken Cakes (Air-Fryer)

June 18, 2021 Amanda Plott

I don’t make it a big secret that I am no fan of seafood. I am not now and have never been. It’s not got anything to do with an allergy or taste or texture. It is simply that I don’t want seafood in my mouth. It’s one of my many strange little quirks. That generally means that for most of my life, I’ve made seafood free alternatives, and these Tex-Mex Chicken Cakes are one of those!

Crab cakes or fish cakes have always intrigued me, but again… being as I’m not a fan of seafood I thought I’d try my hand at making a chicken version. These Tex-Mex Chicken Cakes are super simple to make and you get a lot of bang for your buck with a whopping 14 cakes made with one go of it…

Skinny No Bake Cookies

June 15, 2021 Amanda Plott

Remember those delicious no bake cookies from your childhood? I sure do! They were something that my mom and I would make on occasion, especially for sleep overs since they’re an easy and tasty recipe that kids can help make. …And getting to eat and enjoy the end result is always enticing!

Did I mention that it’s getting hot here in Texas and that these cookies requite NO BAKING? That’s right. Just a few minutes of the stove being on, but not the oven. Another good thing about these cookies and the heat of summer is that you can store them in the fridge to have nice cold chewy cookies ready to snack on…

Skinny Greek 7 Layer Dip

June 12, 2021 Amanda Plott

I’ve been wanting to make a Greek version of a 7 layer dip for a while now and I finally got the chance today! The AC is being replaced and lets just say that with no AC and the heat index being well into the triple digits we needed something cool and light to munch on. That’s where this Greek 7 Layer Dip comes in.

Layer one is a seasoned cream cheese spread, layer two is hummus because hummus is yummus! For layer three you have zucchini (or cucumber), layer four is fresh diced tomato, with layer five comes some of my most favorite olives - kalamata. Towards the end is layer six with crumbled feta cheese, and finally layer seven is your sprinkling of green onions…