Healthified 'Lofthouse' Soft Sugar Cookies

December 13, 2020 Amanda Plott

I've basically taken that original tried-and-true recipe and trimmed it down as best I could without losing the amazingness of that cookie.

The first thing I did was swapped out some of the regular flour for some whole wheat white flour. If you're going to be bad, you may as well get some good in there too! At least you can say you had some whole wheat, right?

I also substituted in some sweetener for about 1/3 of the sugar originally called for. Why? Well, if you can get away with less sugar, then why not? For the cookie dough, I used a light butter rather than full fat. Again, if you can get away with it... do it!

I made a few other minor changes as well, and still ended up with a perfectly light and decedent cookie that has over 50 calories less per serving than it's store bought counter part. Plus, I know exactly what in these cookies since well... I'm one that put it all there!

I'm telling you, they taste almost exactly like the original…

Instant Pot Cheesecake Bites

December 10, 2020 Amanda Plott

Most recently I found a fun way to make tamales in the instant pot, and being as I’ve also made a cheesecake in the instant pot too, I thought… is it possible to make mini cheesecakes? As it turns out, it is! These Instant Pot Cheesecake Bites are fun and easy to make. Plus, they’re lightened up just enough to be guilt free while still tasting great.

As it turns out, the instant pot is a great way to make cheesecakes, and these mini ones are made directly in my handy-dandy egg bite mold! I lightened them up by using sweetener instead of most of the sugar, and also used a reduced fat cream cheese…

Biscuits & Gravy Monkey Bread

December 7, 2020 Amanda Plott

This is monkey bread like no other. Unlike most monkey bread, this one is a savory option that combines the deliciousness of biscuits and gravy with the convenience of monkey bread! It takes no time at all to toss together, is super easy to make, and is great for feeding the family breakfast or brunch on the weekend.

Just as is traditional with monkey bread, this one starts out with biscuit dough, layers in cooked sausage and some shredded cheese, then more biscuit dough. It’s all topped off with a homemade easy to do sausage gravy; baking up to perfection in less than an hour!…

Gingerbread Cobbler

December 5, 2020 Amanda Plott

Sometimes you just have to shake dessert up. This holiday season would be the great time to start a new tradition. Instead of the usual pies and cookies, why not try out this Gingerbread Cobbler! This Gingerbread Cobbler is very similar to my Whole Wheat Pumpkin Cobbler, but more in line with Christmas or New Years than Thanksgiving!

Cobbler just seems like the perfect winter dessert. It’s warm, gooey, and filling too. My mom seems to think that this cobbler is like those old fashioned pudding cakes where you layer the batter on the bottom of the pan and pour hot liquid on top to bake. While baking, the cake bubbles up to the top and the gooey pudding cobbler goodness is on the bottom…

Healthy & Easy Kid-Friendly Spaghetti Sauce

November 30, 2020 Amanda Plott

I'm calling this kid friendly spaghetti sauce because, I generally like to put actual onions and garlic into my spaghetti sauce. However, my little one would turn her nose up at that in a heartbeat, and seeing as how she specifically requests spaghetti every week, I figured that I ought to oblige her with something that would suite her desires!

Besides, who doesn't enjoy eating like a kid again? In my mind, that's one of the perks of being a parent; reliving all the things that you loved when you were growing up!

Though my mom was more of a Hamburger Helper sort of spaghetti maker.

She swears by Hamburger Helper 'Spaghetti' to this very day. Ugh…

Easy 'Baked' Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes

November 19, 2020 Amanda Plott

Oh, what? You didn’t know that you could ‘bake’ your sweet potatoes in the Instant Pot? Well, you totally can! It’s quick. It’s easy. And it frees up valuable oven space around the holidays! These Easy 'Baked' Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes can be done, perfectly soft and ready to go, in just 12 minutes. Really? Really!

I was able to cook more than 4 lbs. of sweet potatoes in no time at all, days ahead of when I needed them! This means that I can make my Yummy Yam Casserole on my own schedule and in my own time. (Don’t worry, we’ll get to the Yam Casserole another day.)…