Chicken & Roasted Poblano Pumpkin Soup

September 26, 2018 Amanda Plott

Tis’ the season, pumpkin season! It’s officially Autumn now, which means… pumpkins galore. Hopefully, my little family will be taking out yearly venture out to the pumpkin patch farm here soon enough. That’s usually where we go to pick out our pumpkins and enjoy a local farm along with all it has to offer.

To celebrate, and bring Fall in I decided to make a soup. Soup is basically a hug in a bowl, so consider this Chicken & Roasted Poblano Pumpkin Soup a nice WARM hug in a bowl. The heat of the poblano peppers and the warmth of the pumpkin and cinnamon really work well together to make one perfectly Fall inspired meal…

Healthified Crock Pot Chicken & Dumplings

August 21, 2018 Amanda Plott

This is my healthier take on an old classic comfort food. I think the very first time that I had chicken and dumplings was at my grandmother's house with my dad when I was pretty young... elementary school still, I'm sure.

She cooked the soup up on the stove for a few hours and then tossed the raw dough into the pot. I thought she was crazy at the time, but after my first bite... I was in love.

Years later when I first started cooking, I dabbled with the infamous chicken and dumplings in the crock pot using canned condensed soups and biscuit dough. I'll be the first to admit that it was delicious, but a huuuge guilty pleasure! Full of preservatives and nothing good for you. Bleh!...

Minestrone (Instant Pot)

August 16, 2018 Amanda Plott

Yeah, so... I might be on vacation, but that doesn't stop this work engine from running. I really wanted to get at least one recipe out during the week of my being gone. So whilst in the midst of packing and sorting and getting ready, I was also busy in the kitchen. Okay. Not really busy. This Minestrone soup is delicious, simple, tradtional, and couldn't be any more quick or easy to make.

One of my favorite things about this soup, is that it's a great way to use up leftovers from the fridge or pantry. Any of the vegetables or noodles or beans can be swapped out for nearly any alternative that you might have on hand…

Chicken Faux Pho (Instant Pot)

July 31, 2018 Amanda Plott

For a good long while now I've heard nothing but good things about pho. And to be honest, I've never given it a try. My brother swears by it and about the time that my hair stylist said the same thing, I knew it was going to have to happen. So, when I was planning out my meals for the week, I decided that I was going to dive head first in and make a quick and easy version of pho.

...And let me just tell you... it's pho-king delicious.

This pho isn't what I would call traditional. It hasn't spent all day cooking down in it's broth, and the ingredients are pretty minimal. The most of what's going on here is spices and fresh veggies - which I am anything but mad at…

Low-Carb Chili (Keto-Friendly!)

June 19, 2018 Amanda Plott

There's a great debate somewhere out there in this world of ours on whether chili should have beans in it or not. Is it 'technically' chili with or without beans? {Shrug} Who knows? ...Now, being a native Texan... I've got my own opinions on the matter. And I can honestly say that any chili I've ever been served before has always had beans in it.

But, that doesn't mean that I'm not open to a bean-less version! In fact, these days... it's all about those low-carbs it seems. So when deciding to make my take on my mom's Chili Con Carne for our camp themed week this summer, I thought I'd try my hand at taking all those beans out and instead filling it full of more veggies and protein…

Garden Vegetable Soup

June 15, 2018 Amanda Plott

Last week it was 'ocean' week here in my house, and this week we're going with the theme of plants! In doing so, I decided to throw a LOT more veggies and vegetarian dishes into the mix this week. We always have a couple of vegetarian dishes every week, for health reasons, cutting the cost of food, and also because it just makes me feel better all around.

I could easily be a vegetarian. In fact, my daughter was basically a vegetarian of her own accord up until she was about 5 years old. Meat just wasn't something she was a fan of. And I can't say that I was far off from that myself with I was a little girl too.

Ready for a true side story about myself? My parents used to have to tell me that meat came from a meat tree when I was little to get me to eat it!…