Crock Pot Pasta e Fagioli

October 26, 2016 Amanda Plott

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Barilla® and Johnsonville®. The opinions and texts are all mine.

It's no secret that one of my most favorite soups at almost any Italian restaurant is Pasta e Fagioli. That's generally because it's got some of everything in it without being too heavy, and that's exactly where I am with fall right now. It's nice and cool and crisp in the mornings, but still rather hot here during the day. So, I find myself craving more hearty dishes on a lighter side.

This soup isn't only lighter on the scale (being that it's made from home), it's also lighter on the wallet since it's made from simple ingredients, most of which you probably already have in your fridge and pantry! Let's face it, almost any soup is a great economical option for an all inclusive meal in a bowl, and when you involve a slow cooker you're almost always insured an easy-fix meal as well...

Healthified Crock Pot French Dip

October 15, 2016 Amanda Plott

I remember the first time I ever had a french dip sandwich. It was at this cute little diner in New Port, Oregon... I think it was called 'Big Guy's Diner', I must have been about 10 years old at the time. I thought it was so strange to have a sandwich served with broth. Why in the world would anyone want to dip their sandwich and have wet bread? My grandma talked me into trying it anyway. I did. And I've been hooked ever since...

Crock Pot Mojo Pork + Y-USA Food Desert Challenge

July 25, 2016 Amanda Plott

This post was sponsored by Y-USA as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central.

It's time to get serious for a minute, folks! When I was in high school my family came in on some pretty rough times and there were some scary moments when my mom even admitted to me that she 'didn't know what she was going to put on the table'. Life was hard and things were a struggle, but we made it through together as a family and were much stronger when we came out the other side because of it.

I learned a great deal from my experiences during those high school years. I'm definitely more mindful and knowledgeable about certain things in life; money and food being two of them. Let's just say that my brother and I can rock the socks off cooking ramen noodles.

Money comes and goes and there is nothing that is guaranteed. So when I was approached to take the Good Desert Challenge, it was something that I just knew I had to do.

Over the summer break, families welcome fun-in-the-sun and BBQ, but for those families who rely on school meal programs to ensure their kids eat three square meals a day, it can prove challenging...

Healthified Crock Pot Beef & Broccoli

May 20, 2016 Amanda Plott

So, as you can see I'm busy blowing the dust off of some of my older and more popular dishes. I've been making minor changes and updating pictures along the way as I've needed to. Of course, Beef and broccoli is one of those things that is always a crowd pleaser. It's certainly one of my favorite asian dishes!

That being said, it's likely that a serving of it at your favorite local restaurant will cost you a good 600+ calories, a lot of sugar, and even more sodium. Yikes! No thanks...

It's take-out fake-out time...

Healthified Crock Pot Teriyaki Chicken Bowls

April 29, 2016 Amanda Plott

There are a handful of recipes that I have been developing off and on through the years for one reason or another. Some of them don't turn out the first run or two, others I burn myself out in, and some take a specific amount of tweaking to get it just right. This happens to be one of those recipes.

When I was younger, I ate a lot more fast food just as almost any young American. My mom was not nearly as excited about food and cooking as I am, and that is completely fine. Everyone has their own passion. So, my dad ended up doing the most of the cooking on the nights that he could, but sometimes he would come home way too exhausted to manage; this was around the time when I was in high school...

Pesto, Spinach & Sun Dried Tomato Stuffed Sweet Potato (Crock Pot)

April 28, 2016 Amanda Plott

I've been a huge fan of cooking my potatoes in my crock pot for a good while now. It's a trick that I picked up a few years back and tend to use it when I'm feeling particularly lazy; being slammed by another good storm this week, I was just that. When it rains, it pours.

So, I decided to use this crock pot trick once again with making these amazing stuffed sweet potatoes. What I like most about cooking my potatoes this way is that they are entirely hands off, they don't really get 'over done' or 'under done', and I don't have to heat up my house with the oven being on...