Healthified Cheddar Ranch Turkey Burger

May 31, 2023 Amanda Plott

I'm all for turkey burgers. When it comes to a lighter, leaner, and better-for-you burger, I haven't found anything that quite compares to what turkey can do for you. And these turkey burgers are no exception! They are moist, full of sneaky vegetables, and packed with flavors that you just can't get enough of.

I've always found that when I try to 'healthify' a beef burger, it comes out dry and rather dense. Turkey doesn't do that. In fact, when you add the egg, vegetable and sauce into the turkey meat, something rather magical happens. It becomes one of the best burgers that you'll ever put in your mouth.

To make this burger, I used my go-to formulation of meat to veggie to wet ingredients. It's a base that never fails me and always leaves me with a burger that no one can complain about…

Lemon Poppy Seed Waffles

March 30, 2023 Amanda Plott

Yes, I’m still very much so in love with my waffle maker. I love sweet waffles. I love savory waffles. I love waffles. With Spring kicking in the door lately, I’ve turned my attention to the bright and vibrant flavors of lemon and berries. These Lemon Poppy Seed Waffles are a perfect transition into Spring. Light and citrusy and made from scratch.

I lightened these waffles up firstly by swapping regular milk for unsweetened almond milk, because you aren’t going to be able to tell the difference here. I also used a whole wheat white flour in place of regular just to get the added bonus points for the whole wheat in there.

Spinach & Strawberry Salad

March 27, 2023 Amanda Plott

Yes, I'm a huge salad fan. I love all the veggies and different ways to dress up your leafy greens with one dressing or another. Plus, there's just something refreshing about indulging in a crisp cool salad when it's upwards of 80... 90... 100 degrees. Which we’ve already gone over 80 here!

So I guess what I'm saying is... be prepared for the montage of salad recipes that are sure to come this way through the next few months. Strawberry and spinach salad is actually one of my old favorites. I think it was one of the first salads that I ever had feta cheese on. It could even be when I fell in love with feta cheese…

Skinny Cranberry Bliss Bars

December 16, 2022 Amanda Plott

Here’s another recipe from years back that needed an update in the looks department… but, not so much to the recipe itself! Here’s the original post below.

The madness is just about over here with the mass of holidays! Phew, thank goodness! I was happy to step back and have a few days to spend with my family, but now it's time to get back to work. Okay, so... here we go.

I've been wanting to make a skinny variation of the Cranberry Bliss Bar that they have Starbucks for a long long long time now. I have, in fact, had this recipe in my handy-dandy little note book for quite a while now (about two years actually) but for whatever reason it keeps getting pushed back each year.

Well, a few weeks before Christmas one of my aunts sent me a special request for a Skinny Cranberry Bliss Bar recipe. She mentioned that the one at Starbucks is something like 360 calories for one bar. Yikes! And just like me, it's one of her favorite holiday treats! So, of course I was more than happy to oblige…

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…

Pumpkin Spice Blondies + Maple Bourbon Cream Sauce

November 25, 2022 Amanda Plott

I know it’s after Thanksgiving and ‘pumpkin spice’ season, but look… I just HAD to share this dessert. These Pumpkin Spice Blondies are AMAZE and the cream sauce is something I think I could bathe in. To be completely honest, you should make this dessert at all times of the year. Fall or other wise. It’s great leading into Thanksgiving, but also great to lead the way out too.

So what’s a blondie anyway? It’s basically a vanilla based brownie. This one is loaded up wit pumpkin and spice and everything nice. Including pecans and bourbon. Yep! I’ve managed to sneak some bourbon into the cream sauce and I’m not sorry about it. Not even for a second…