Healthy & Homemade Instant Oatmeal Packets

January 14, 2015 Amanda Plott

I've got to admit that I'm a little bit of an oatmeal fiend. Which is a little strange considering that my mom is anything but. However, I will say that she has almost always enjoyed any oatmeal that I've made for her. It's just that it isn't something that she would generally make for herself. So, when I was growing up, it was all about Malt-O-Meal and instant oatmeal packets on the weekends.

Yes, we all know those instant oatmeal packets that you can buy pre-made at the store. I think that most of us grew up on them. As with anything though, things have changed a lot over the years, including what's in those instant oatmeal packets.

Then again, I'm pretty sure that I can recall eating some of those packets that 'magically' changed colors or had mini dinosaur eggs in them that dinosaurs 'hatched' out of or something... I'm sure that those were super healthy. Hah!...

Healthy & Gourmet Brazos Pizza

January 12, 2015 Amanda Plott

So there's this famous pizza place here in Austin that I've been known to frequent lately because of their quirky and awesomely amazing off-the-wall flavor combinations. One of my favorite pizzas there is called the Brazos, which is actually the name of a town and a river here in Texas.

The Brazos pizza is a fantastically contrived crossbreed of Italian and Spanish. It's got the Italian meats and cheeses along with the peppers and heat of what we all know and love here as Tex-Mex.

My only problem with this local pizza place is the cost. Oh. My. Goodness. You want how much for a pizza? Yikes! That's the price of luxury and gourmet though. The good news is that you can have gourmet at home for a faction of that, and have complete and utter control over what's going into your pizza-pie...

The 'Get Forking Skinny Meal Plan' 2015 (Week 2)

January 9, 2015 Amanda Plott

Alright everyone - here it is... Week two of the 'Get Forking Skinny Meal Plan'!

I'm pretty sure that I have everything listed accurately on the shopping list, but if you feel that you find an error just let me know! Again, it's a learning process.

Just a friendly reminder, I've created the shopping list with the notion that you have basic spices and pantry/kitchen staples on hand. So, you'll want to double check the recipes and the shopping list to be sure that you have everything you need...

Skinny Vanilla Cake Pops

January 7, 2015 Amanda Plott

Who doesn't love these sweet little treats on a stick?

Seriously.

I'm pretty sure that almost everyone had their first taste of a cake pop at Starbucks. Yeah, you know the ones I'm talking about too. The pinkalicious birthday cake flavor of pure heaven on a stick... and hell on your thighs.

I've attempted to make any versions of these over the years, and I will say that they are quite easy to make, but also very time consuming. It's definitely a labor of love though; mindless work that takes just about forever to do with a phenomenal end result.

And what better to devote your labor of love to other than your adorable child, right? My little girl is absolutely stuck on cake pops, so I figured it was long since time to get another of her favorites out there...

'Instant' Skinny Chai Tea Latte Mix

January 5, 2015 Amanda Plott

This post was brought to you by Collective Bias, Inc. and it's advertiser. I received compensation to write this post … but, all opinions expressed are my own. #SweetWarmUp #CollectiveBias

My world just became a sweeter place! Okay, so maybe there's a little spice in there too. What better is there to take a nice well-deserved break with during a dreary and cold morning other than a nice warm cup of a homemade chai tea latte in hand?

And no, I don't just mean a cup of chai flavored tea either, but an actual chai tea latte that's teaming with milk and a joyful mix of spices.

My life has had a lot of sweet moments in it that have happened to revolve around tea in one way or another. What can I say, a lot of good things can come about with a nice warm cup of soothing tea...

Spinach & Pea Tortellini

January 2, 2015 Amanda Plott

This post was brought to you by Collective Bias, Inc. and it's advertiser. I received compensation to write this post … but, all opinions expressed are my own. #BackToBalance #CollectiveBias

The first time that I ever remember eating tortellini was probably back when I was in junior high (yikes - maybe even further back than that!) My dad must have been in charge of dinner that night because I remember he was the one standing at the stove cooking up those perfect little tender shells stuffed with fresh cheeses. And yeah, he even used BUITONI® pasta back then too.

Now, of course he is and has always been a much different home cook than myself. He had made something that was a little heavier; some sort of Alfredo sauce to go over the tortellini and green peas, which was then topped off with some bits of bacon. Talk about decadent, but at least he had some green in there!

It was one of the most amazing things that I had ever tasted.

I'm not sure where he got the original recipe idea from, but I know that for one reason or another that meal still stands out in my mind today...