Dill Pickle Chex Mix

January 14, 2023 Amanda Plott

It’s been a while, but I had seen this idea a while back now for a pickle flavored chex mix which I’ve got to be honest, really intrigued me. I like pickles, and I like chex mix… but would I like them together? As it turns out, I do! As is usual with chex mix, this one starts out with - you guessed it - chex cereal. I went with corn, but you can really pick wheat, rice, etc. Whichever base you want to start with.

Then we’re adding in other tasty bits like cashews, pretzels, and even some bagel crackers. You can use bagel chips/crisps, but I couldn’t find any of those to save my life, so I went with some small round bagel inspired crackers that I found instead. That’s sort of the fun part about chex mix anyway, isn’t it? Getting to swap things around!…

Air Fried Stuffed Mushrooms

January 4, 2023 Amanda Plott

These Air Fried Stuffed Mushrooms are really just another way to cook stuffed mushrooms. I’m just being honest here. It doesn’t change their taste at all, but it DOES change their texture. Usually when I bake my stuffed mushrooms they end up a little bit soggy on the bottom from cooking in their own water as it releasing in the cooking process. These, however, don’t end up that way!

It helped too to top these off with some grated parmesan which gave a little bit of a crunch factor to the tops of these stuffed mushrooms. They’re completely loaded with cheesy goodness too. Cream cheese, cheddar, and of course the parmesan. There’s even some bacon in there for extra yum…

Air Fried Taco Stuffed Shells

December 29, 2022 Amanda Plott

Look, I don’t know. Food is fun and sometimes you just need to play with it. We’re going with Taco Thursday this week instead of Tuesday. So here we have these Air Fried Taco Stuffed Shells which are pretty much exactly what they sound like. Taco meat and cheese stuffed into some pasta shells and then fried for a quick and easy finger-food small bite of taco goodness.

The first thing I did here was to use a lean ground beef, but you can also go with ground turkey or even a vegetarian ground faux meat. I added onion and bell pepper to the meat along with taco seasoning to stretch the meat out and get a bit more bang for my buck here…

Cranberry Orange Pecan Salad

December 10, 2022 Amanda Plott

Winter means don’t always have to be warm and hearty. Sometimes (like when it’s 80 degrees out in December) you just need something cool and light to enjoy. That’s where I’m at right now. This Cranberry Orange Pecan Salad takes the flavors of winter and puts them into salad form so that you get the best of both worlds.

For being a super flavorful, this salad is made with just a few ingredients and you can even make it ahead of time ‘salad jar’ style if you leave the dressing separate until you’re ready to enjoy. The dressing is good stuff too. I tried to get plenty of orange goodness in there to play well with the sweet of the dried cranberries and the sharp of the feta cheese…

Butternut Squash Salad + Maple Vinaigrette

September 13, 2022 Amanda Plott

Yes, another salad! This Butternut Squash Salad is a little different though since it’s got a lot of fun Fall flavors packed into it and it’s super easy to make. The homemade maple vinaigrette has to be one of my all time favorites, and it’s easy to see why. This salad starts off with a base of greens. I went with a mixture of baby spinach and a spring blend, but arugula would be a good option too!

After that it’s loaded up with oven roasted butternut squash, cranberries, feta cheese, and YES even bacon! The homemade maple vinaigrette might sound strange, but trust me, you’re going to love it. I used a bourbon aged maple syrup, but you can use any kind you want so long as it’s actual factual maple syrup, and not just flavored like maple syrup. Trust me, there IS a difference…

Jalapeno Popper Air Fryer Wontons

September 4, 2022 Amanda Plott

Sometimes you just need a new sort of side dish or snack, or even to take an old favorite and mesh it together with another to come up with something new and different. That’s where these Jalapeno Popper Air Fryer Wontons came in. I decided to keep it simple one night this week with a spiced up homemade tomato soup, and wanted something fun and exciting to pair with it.

My first thought was jalapeño poppers, but I wanted something that I could dip into the soup too if I wanted, sort of how you do with tomato soup and grilled cheese or crackers! So, I settled on these Jalapeno Popper Air Fryer Wontons which are basically jalapeño poppers inside a wonton wrapper to make them perfect for dipping and dunking!…