Crock Pot Irish Beef Stew & Cheddar Herb Dumplings

March 11, 2015 Amanda Plott

I'm an Irish girl, what can I say? If I can find an excuse to cook with bourbon and beer, I'll find it! The idea for this dish actually came from my love of St. Patrick's Day and also my love of these Healthified Crock Pot Chicken & Dumplings, which I made a bit over a year ago and many many times since then.

I basically took the same structure of the Chicken & Dumpling recipe and made it into a hearty Irish inspired Beef & Dumpling recipe instead. This stew is packed full of bold flavor and lots and lots of chunky beef and vegetables. I promise, you won't feel like you're eating anything healthified, but you are. It's definitely a meal in a bowl.

Who knew that Beef & Dumplings would just as awesome as Chicken & Dumplings?

I wasn't sure this would work out, but in the end I'm extremely happy that I tempted the fates with this one...

Skinny Lean & Green Cauliflower Colcannon

March 6, 2015 Amanda Plott

A while back I had made this yummy Cauliflower & Hominy Smash as a lower carb and lighter alternative to mashed potatoes, and trust me... it is so sooo good. So, when I was trying to come up with a way to make a traditional Irish colcannon healthier, I knew exactly what I wanted to do and how I wanted to do it.

Don't know what Colcannon is? Colcannon is basically an Irish dish that's made out of smashed potatoes with green cabbage and/or kale with cream, butter, salt and pepper. For this recipe, I basically used the same idea of the Cauliflower & Hominy Smash, but added in some kale and green cabbage to sort of combine the two ideas into one...

Green Eggs & Ham

March 4, 2015 Amanda Plott

In honor of Dr. Seuss's 111th birthday being earlier this week, and with St. Patrick's Day right around the corner, I decided to make a play on Green Eggs & Ham!

“Try them, try them, and you may! Try them and you may, I say.”
― Dr. Seuss, Green Eggs and Ham

St. Patrick's Day is actually one of my favorite holidays, and it also happens to be my dad's birthday. Happy Pre-Birthday, Daddy! My dad always thought it was fun to make Green Eggs & Ham for breakfast around his birthday. So, the idea for my take on Green Eggs & Ham was definitely inspired by him, even though I'm pretty sure that you makes his a whole lot differently...

Vegan Cauliflower Rice Taco Bowls

February 26, 2015 Amanda Plott

A while back I came across the idea of cauliflower rice. At first I was a bit skeptical, but after the first time I tried it, I knew it would be an instant hit. I've made it several times now and somehow it just never manages to make it here, for one reason or another.

I knew that I wanted to make the cauliflower rice to go in some sort of taco bowl, but wasn't exactly sure where I wanted to go with it beyond that. Then I remember that I had made this green goddess dressing a while back, and absolutely fell in love with it. I kept trying to think of other ways in which to use it and finally came to the conclusion that the most of the ingredients in it would make for a perfect cilantro lime avocado dressing.

Aha! Perfect to go with my cauliflower rice bowl!

Once I had some of the basics nailed down, I let my local produce for the week speak for me and I ended up with a veggie-full bowl of wonderfulness...

Morning Detox Honey Lemon Peppermint Water

February 20, 2015 Amanda Plott

I've heard a lot over the past year about the health benefits of drinking honey lemon water in the morning. So, a few months back I decided to begin testing this theory. But, instead of using plain-jane lemons and honey, I wanted to make an upgrade.

For a long while now, I've been taking a more therapeutic and wholesome approach to my chronic neck/shoulder pain, massive headaches, and debilitating ocular migraines. I've been dabbling with DoTerra Essential Oils quite a bit to help with common household illness, pain, mood, and even with my cooking! I figured that my essential oils would be a great addition or substitution to my new-found morning drink...

Healthified Home-Corned Beef

February 16, 2015 Amanda Plott

I've always been a bit intrigued with St. Patrick's day. Perhaps it's because I've got some Irish roots. It could also have something to do with some over zealous teachers when I was in elementary school making a big hub-ub about the holiday. I remember that we had a little Leprechaun visit our room, and all though none of us children saw him he managed to leave glitter and rainbows in his wake. As far as I remember he did some rather naughty things too. Turned desks upside down and even turned our milk green. Those mischievous and sneaky little Leprechauns!

When I started making corned beef a few years back, I began doing so with the pre-brined corned beef briskets that you can buy at the store. But, this year I wanted to try and do something a little different. I began to do some research into the matter and found that - YES, you can corn your own beef and that it is really easy to do!...