Skinny Cherry Pie Monkey Bread

February 20, 2017 Amanda Plott

It's Monday, my daughter is out of school today, and we were up half of the night listening to the tornado warnings, rain, and heavy winds billowing around my house. To say that I needed some cheering up this morning would be nothing short of an understatement. So, after my morning cup of coffee and some Sudafed to unclog my head I was gearing up with this cheery cherry surprise!

Pie is one of my many achilles heels. And if it's cherry pie? I'm even more of a sucker! There's little to me that's more comforting to me (food wise) other than a nice slice of homemade cherry pie. However, since we were in the early morning hours, I thought I might not want to dive straight into an actual pie. Instead I opted for something a little more breakfast/brunch style...

Blueberry Bagel French Toast

February 8, 2017 Amanda Plott

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #BagelMyWay #CollectiveBias

Who's busy on the weekday mornings? I am! I am! Morning time is no joke, y'all! I'm the only morning person in the house, so rallying my 6 year old in the morning is exhausting all on it's own. She has literally hid from me to avoid the inevitable morning routine to get her up, out of the house, and off to school.

One way I can manage to soften the blow of the early morning hours is to come up with fun and easy breakfasts that I can lure my daughter (and myself) downstairs with. Cereal? Pancakes? French Toast! This isn't your average french toast thought. How about french toast made out of bagels? Everything is better on a bagel or made with a bagel, even french toast!...

Healthified Cheeseburger Pizza (Sponsored)

February 7, 2017 Amanda Plott

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #KetchupWithFrenchs #CollectiveBias

We're almost to the middle of the week, and if you're anything like me the craziness is only just starting to settle in! I know that it can sometimes be a struggle to make the right decisions for a more wholesome dinner option when in the chaos of the week. That's why I like to plan ahead with my weekly menu planner and shopping list. Another thing I do is keep my pantry and fridge stocked with staples that I know, love, and trust.

With the big game still on my mind from this past weekend, my mind has been stuck in fun mode. That's always a good thing when feeding the family! Especially the little ones. One thing that my daughter loves the most (eating it anywhere from 1-3 times a week) has to be pizza. And one of my favorite things? Burgers! So, I decided to merge the two together today into one perfectly awesome and tasty fusion dinner...

Skinny Juicy Lucy Meatballs

February 1, 2017 Amanda Plott

Remember when I made those fantastically cheesy Healthified Juicy Lucy Burgers? Yeah, well they now come in meatball form! And just in time for gameday too. For these meatballs, I took my favorite cocktail meatballs and those Juicy Lucy Burgers and fused them together to make one epic appetizer. They're easy to make, full of flavor, and what could be better than a gooey cheesy stuffed meatball?

Not a lot.

So just to be clear, these are not your average Italian style meatball. Oh, no. These are an americanized modge-podge if ever there was one. I do have a more traditional stuffed meatball if that's more of what you're looking for (also made in the crock pot along with a sauce.)...

Healthy Macaroni & Cheese

January 25, 2017 Amanda Plott

So, I've been working on this top secret recipe right here for a while now. And I say that it's top secret because if my little girl knew what was in it, she would instantly turn her nose up at it. I've made a handful of mac-and-cheese recipes in the past. Some were good. Others were terrible. None of them were what I could consider a viable option to really sneak past my six year old and pass off as plain jane macaroni and cheese.

Like I said, it's been a work in progress. That is... until today. (Well, actually it was last week that I had the initial success and knew that the recipe was ready to share.) Today I got my little mac-and-cheese aficionado to eat her macaroni and a good heaping serving of vegetables hidden along inside it. Don't worry though, this mac-and-cheese is so creamy rich and perfectly saucy that you will never guess there's veggies tucked away in it.

Sneaky, sneaky, mac-and-cheesy!...

Vegetarian Crunchy Tacos

January 23, 2017 Amanda Plott

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #DailyVegolutions #CollectiveBias

It's meatless Monday and we're rolling it over into taco Tuesday! No matter when or where you have these Vegetarian Crunchy Tacos, you're sure to love them. For the past couple of months we've had 'Taco Tuesday' for dinner in my house, and I'll be honest in saying that I've tried out several different variations of tacos among all of those Tuesdays. However, none can quite compare to the traditional and classic crunchy taco.

Until now, that is.

These meatless tacos are every bit as good (if not better) than the original. They are stuffed full of all of the flavor and toppings that you know and love in a traditional crunchy taco with one thing missing. Meat! Don't worry thought, it's been swapped out for something amazing...