Instant Pot Loaded Baked Potato Soup

December 15, 2020 Amanda Plott

No time to labor over the stove to make dinner? This Instant Pot Loaded Baked Potato Soup is quick and easy to make with almost all of the cook time being hands off in the instant pot. You start this soup off with cooking the bacon and then adding in the potatoes and broth to that. Yep, that’s right. The bacon is loaded into the soup from the very start!

After the soup cooks you add in a roux and cheese to really make it fully loaded. I keep this soup with some potato chunk to make it feel even more hearty and filling. I also leave on the most of the skins on the potatoes because that’s where so much of the nutrients are…

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…

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…

Skinny Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

October 29, 2020 Amanda Plott

Usually around this time of year my daughter is begging my mom to make pumpkin chocolate chip bread or muffins, but since my mom isn’t around yet this year (for the obvious reasons and the not so obvious ones) , I decided to whip up a loaf of the family favorite myself.

This Skinny Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread is lightened up in the best of ways without sacrificing flavor or texture. The bread is just as moist and decadent as it’s full on bad boy brethren - I promise! I only made a couple of swaps to this bread. One was subbing in some natural sweetener in place of sugar, and another was subbing out ALL of the brown sugar for a brown sugar/sweetener blend. That’s it. That’s all…

One Pot Irish Potato Leek Soup

February 21, 2020 Amanda Plott

It’s been pretty cold and yucky here for the past few days and a nice rich bowl of some potato soup just sounded like the absolute perfect thing for dinner. A few weeks back my brother tried his hand at making a potato leek soup for dinner, and while it was good, there were a few tweaks that I wanted to make. Having two cooks in one house is a blessing and a curse.

I wanted my variation for the potato leek soup to be thick. Thick, rich, and all made in ONE POT. So, that's what I set out to do. What makes this an Irish potato soup? I honestly have no idea, other than it’s supposedly a pretty common dish in Ireland. And it’s easy to see why…

Baked Gingerbread Oatmeal

December 7, 2019 Amanda Plott

Holiday morning breakfasts are always something that I like to plan and make ahead. With the Holidays themselves being stressful enough as it is, I like to be sure that when it comes to breakfast, I’m have little to nothing to worry about. Amish style baked oatmeal has always, and will always, be my go-to staple crowd pleasing made ahead breakfasts.

I took my standard Baked Amish Overnight Oatmeal and turned it into a festive Holiday breakfast that’s full of gingerbread spice and everything nice! This overnight oatmeal has all the warm gingerbread flavors and just a touch of sweetness...