Kid-Friendly Chocolate Cut-Out Cookies

December 31, 2019 Amanda Plott

And just like that, this is the last post of not only the this year, but of this decade!

I decided that with this being the last one of the decade, I thought I would take it a step further and make this recipe even more special by including my little mini-me in on it. I mean… she has two and a half weeks off from school and I need to entertain her somehow, so I put her to work making cookies and writing about it.

So, we sat down and planned out what exactly we’d make. She happened to a book on ‘kids cookies’ a few months back and so that’s where we started. Within the book there’s a recipe for some chocolate cut-out cookies, and that was our inspiration for today! These Kid-Friendly Chocolate Cut-Out Cookies are easy to make and require just a few ingredients, plus they end up tasting just like the cookie part of those famous sandwich cookies we all know and love. We definitely made a few easy substitutions to make these cookies just a little more healthy…

Air-Fryer Blooming Onion

December 24, 2019 Amanda Plott

I know there’s a lot of you out there that are going to be getting a fancy new air-fryer for Christmas this year. If not from someone else, maybe you’re buying one for yourself. They are all the rage right now anyway, right? I’ve been putting off getting one, but I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve been curious about the thing; how it works and if it works well.

I have long since made it my duty to not have a fryer in my home. When I was growing up we had one and my mom would rarely use it, and generally only for making french fries. Though there were a few shameless fried-food nights where my parents would fry up literally everything. Clearly, that isn’t how my own kitchen functions. Either way, my brother is in town and he brought his air-fryer for me to try out. And guess what? I don’t hate it…

Cranberry Orange Bread

December 21, 2019 Amanda Plott

While it’s cold enough outside for a few more months, I’m planning on doing a lot more baking and using up precious oven time while I can. The heat of the summer (and sometimes spring) often keeps from being able to comfortably bake anything. At all. Ever. To keep on theme with the Holidays, I thought I would whip up a festive bread for breakfast this morning.

This Cranberry Orange Bread is loaded with flavor, the freshness of the orange and the tartness of the cranberry pair well with the sweetness of the bread. Plus, it’s pretty easy to toss together in the morning and bakes for a good amount of hands off time…

Chicken Parmesan Dip

December 10, 2019 Amanda Plott

I love Italian food. I mean… who doesn’t? One of my favorite Italian dishes is chicken parmesan. But, with things being so chaotic around the house right now, I thought it would be best if I could find a way to enjoy chicken parmesan as quickly and easily as possible. Chicken Parmesan Dip it is!

This Chicken Parmesan Dip has all the pieces and parts of a chicken parmesan, but is put together in the form of a perfectly dipable dish! Cooked chicken, marinara, ricotta, mozzarella… and of course, parmesan! After all, you can’t have chicken parmesan without the parmesan…

Beet & Pomegranate Salad

December 5, 2019 Amanda Plott

Sometimes in cold weather… you still need a salad to properly get those veggies into your life. You know? This Beet & Pomegranate Salad is a great way to load up on veggies and not on guilt. …Yes, salads can be guilty. And in a sneaky way too! So many people seem to think that all salads must be healthy just because they’ve got veggies involved, but I’m here to say… that just isn’t true!

If you look at almost any menu at any restaurant, the salads is probably not even close to being the lowest in calories. This one though is made with all the GOOD stuff and none of the bad stuff. It’s quick, easy to make, and that even includes a homemade vinaigrette dressing…

Roasted Red Bell Pepper & Tomato Soup

November 22, 2019 Amanda Plott

During the colder end of Fall and on into Winter months, I like to stick to comfort food classics. And there isn’t much that’s more of a comfort food or a classic than a nice warm bowl of homemade tomato soup. I’ve made a lot of tomato soup in my past, and for this Roasted Red Bell Pepper & Tomato Soup I used one of my favorite recipes and changed it up just a bit.

With at least one person in my house trying to avoid onions, I decided today to swap the onion in my original recipe for some red bell pepper. The end result was this delicious, hearty, Roasted Red Bell Pepper & Tomato Soup…