Dill Pickle Pasta Salad

May 4, 2023 Amanda Plott

So… just hear me out. Pickle flavored stuff has kind of become the trendy thing these days and let me just say, I don’t mind it at all. I love me a good pickle. Dill pickle that is. None of that sweet bread and butter nonsense. This Dill Pickle Pasta Salad is pretty amazing. It’s light, tangy, and super easy to make too.

I know it might sound a little weird at first, but I promise it’s one of the best pasta salads I’ve ever had. And I’m southern so I’ve had a lot of different kinds of pasta salad. I lightened this pasta salad up and made it a bit better-for-you but first subbing in a whole wheat pasta. I also kicked the sour cream out and used a plain fat-free greek yogurt instead. And obviously a light mayonnaise was the way to go…

Skinny Antipasto Pasta Salad

March 5, 2023 Amanda Plott

I've been making Antipasto Pasta Salad for almost my entire adult life. It's one of those things that is readily asked for in the Spring and Summer in my house and everyone can find something about it at that they love!

The original idea for this pasta salad came some years ago back when I was in high school. There was a great italian restaurant that we used to go to on occasion that served something similar as an appetizer and we were all hooked on it…

Honeycomb Lasagna

January 27, 2023 Amanda Plott

I’ve seen this Honeycomb Lasagna trending all over the place and I finally decided it was high time for me to make my own iteration of it. So, this version of the famous Honeycomb Lasagna is healthified. The very first thing I did was to make and use my own meat sauce. And this one right here has to be my favorite. Now, I know the sauce takes a lot of time but I promise that it’s worth it. BUT. You can really use whatever spaghetti sauce that you want, meat sauce or just standard spaghetti sauce.

I liked the meat sauce here because it gave the noodles something hefty to stand upright in. And making the sauce myself means that I got to reduce it down to be as thick and full of flavor as I wanted it…

Spinach & Ricotta Pasta Bake

November 9, 2022 Amanda Plott

Dinner is SERVED. This Spinach & Ricotta Pasta Bake is super simple to make, it’s meatless vegetarian, and it only has a few ingredients. It starts off with a whole wheat pasta. I used some odds and ends of small pasta that I had on hand; some elbow and some shells that I put together to make a full 10 ounces of noodle. Of course, it’s lightened up with reduced fat cheeses, both with the mozzarella and with the ricotta which goes along with a full 16 ounces of spinach!

I did decide to use a jarred pasta sauce to keep it extra simple. But if I had any leftover sauce stored in the freezer, I would have used that instead. So feel free to use your favorite tomato based spaghetti sauce or marinara here. And you’ll want to reach each part individually so that you really get the flavor through it all that you want…

Instant Noodle Jars

September 7, 2022 Amanda Plott

Lunch time meal prep at it’s finest! I’ve been on it with jar salads lately, and no one can stop me except for myself. I did decide this week to do something a little different than salad in my jars though. This time I went with soup! Look, we all like those cup of noodles or instant noodles. But, they’re filled with a LOT of nonsense and even more sodium. So - we’re changing that today with making our own version!

These Instant Noodle Jars are fresh, full of flavor, and couldn’t be more simple to make. They’re better for you than the dried pre-packaged ones, annnd you get to control everything that goes into them; which is probably the best part of it all…

Pistou Soup

August 14, 2022 Amanda Plott

I know what you’re thinking… Soup? In the Summer?! Yeah, yeah. Maybe it’s wishful thinking on my part, but sometimes you have to lure the cooler weather in by enticing it with appropriate foods. I don’t know, maybe it’s working. It’s at least coming off the triple digits for a few days here. That being said, this Pistou Soup is very light and definitely is more of a Spring or Summer soup because of that.

It starts off with a base of onion, leek, and celery and is then layered with some potato, green beans, peas and more! Like I said, this is soup that’s packed with vegetables while also being meatless. The soup is topped off with a pistou, which is basically a pesto that’s made with basil, garlic, and some cheese too…