5 Ingredient Thai Butternut Squash Soup (Crock Pot)

March 25, 2016 Amanda Plott

So about a week ago I got my hands on the biggest butternut squash that I've ever seen in my life. The best part about it was that it was from a local Texas farm, which you know I'm all about. I had already used the squash in two previous meals this week and was racking my brain to come up with a third and final use so that I could get it all eaten up before the weekend. Because, you know, there is a lot of Easter happenings and I couldn't let this beauty go to waste.

This smooth and creamy thai butternut squash was the perfect was to use up my mammoth of a squash. And what's better is that it is super simple to make since there is little prep work with only 5 ingredients, and the crock pot will do all of the cooking for you...

Skinny Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette

March 8, 2016 Amanda Plott

I'm not sure about anywhere else, since Texas is the only place that I've lived in my adult life, but here... we go through an awful lot of cilantro. It's all that amazing Tex-Mex we have here, so you won't find me complaining. Cilantro and I definitely have a love-hate relationship though.

I've come to the realization that I don't tend to like it much in it's raw form. That is... it needs to be added to something; guacamole, fajita meat, etc. I do, however, love cilantro when it's done right by being used as an ingredient to brighten up a dish. And what better way to do that than with a nice fresh spring produce salad?...

Matcha Waffles (Gluten Free)

March 5, 2016 Amanda Plott

So, this is what I've been up to pretty much each morning this week. I've made these waffles three times now, adjusting the recipe and tweaking it to get it to where I wanted it to be. The first time I made them as a test run, they turned out beautifully. But, the second time I made them - they were a huge flop.

Yes, even I make mistakes in the kitchen!

That could have been mostly my fault though. Honestly, my heart wasn't in it that morning and my mind was elsewhere and focused on other things going on in my life. I'm pretty sure in looking back that I left something out at some point and ended up with a waffle iron full of raw inedible goop. Whoops!

This was my third attempt with these waffles after a few final changes and a more careful eye for my measuring and accounting for each ingredient...

Cauliflower 'Fried Rice'

March 3, 2016 Amanda Plott

This week I've decided I'm going to start eating a more plant based diet. It's something that my subconscious has been slowly seeming to lead up to for the past months, and honestly I hadn't really noticed until I sat down to write out my weekly meal plan for myself last week.

I think what really got my wheels spinning on 'plant based' meals was a quote that I heard a long time ago.

"Eat food. Not a lot. And mostly plants." - Michael Pollan

It's sort of been my mantra ever since I first came across it, though sometimes I stick to it more than others. I'm not saying I'm going vegan or vegetarian by any means, just that this is what I'm trying to do more actively at home and on a more regular basis. And one of the first things to come to mind with my veggie-forward thinking was this Cauliflower 'Fried Rice'...

Vegan Spaghetti Squash Enchilada Bowl

February 17, 2016 Amanda Plott

Lately I have been trying to be a lot more mindful, especially with my time. It seems as if the older I get, the less minutes and hours there are in my day. Life has been whipping my tail lately and it all seems like such a blur. So, to help slow things down I decided to make this super easy vegan squash bowl. It's what 'Make Me Mindful' means to me right now.

I've noticed a lot of times that I tend to make vegan cooking a lot more of a task than it needs to be. Sometimes when it comes to food, the simpler - the better. And that couldn't be more accurate with this wonderful all inclusive plant based bowl that doesn't even require one dish to be made messy in the process of cooking it!...

Skinny Matcha Granola

January 8, 2016 Amanda Plott

There's two things that I haven't tried before, making my own granola and matcha. Okay, well... I have tried matcha since my favorite tea room here dusts it over their fabulous brownies, but outside of that - no. I've had my fair share of green tea, but matcha is different. Since I haven't tried it before, but have heard good things... I decided to do a little research.

At the end of my research, I ended up buying myself a package of the green stuff.

Matcha is made by using specially shade-grown green tea that's then ground down into a find green powder. It's supposed to be effective in improving mental focus with it's higher amounts of theanine. The theanine and caffeine together help to give a boot of energy without causing the crash that comes with the caffeine in coffee. The antioxidants are what I'm after though!...