Caprese Omelette

July 27, 2017 Amanda Plott

It's grocery shopping day, which means that I have absolutely nothing in my house other than the leftovers and things that weren't used up through the week. With a hungry household, what's a girl to do? Improvise!

Somehow one of the dinners that I had planned wasn't even made. What can I say? It's summer and we're flying by the seat of our pants here on somedays. A good thing for fun, but a bad thing for planning. Whatever caprese salad I had intended on making just didn't fit into our shenanigans... so, caprese style breakfast it is...

Crockpot Carrot Soup with Basil Herb Oil

June 7, 2017 Amanda Plott

I'm barely a week into summer break over here and I already seem to have lost track of what day it is. Is it still the weekend? Almost the weekend again? Where am I? What am I doing? One of the only things that's managing to keep me somewhat grounded, is cooking. For the past few weeks, I've been getting loads and loads of carrots in my local box of produce. I've been trying to use them up as quickly as I could, but... the bag of them only continued to expand.

I've got to be honest, raw carrots are definitely not one of my favorite vegetables. So, thinking of a way to use up over 2 pounds of carrots was a rather daunting task for me. Especially considering that I wanted to be sure to use them all up before any went bad. Waste not, want not...

Skinny Spinach & Basil Pesto

September 8, 2014 Amanda Plott

My basil plant is suddenly going a little crazy. Of course it is at the very end of summer. One of my favorite things to do with my fresh basil is to make pesto! I think that I've loved pesto most of my life. The first time I ever had it was atop a pizza, and I was hooked from then on.

Pesto is an amazing blend of fresh greens, cheese, pine nuts and olive oil. It's usually a pretty fattening thing! I like to cut mine down by using a lot less oil and pine nuts. Plus, adding spinach gives an extra little boots to protein and vitamins. At least I don't feel as guilty with eating it with all of my justifications, right?

Right!...

Strawberry Caprese Salad

May 20, 2014 Amanda Plott

Sometimes, you just have to step outside the box for a moment to find something truly amazing.

I have always loved caprese salads, and I have also always loved the combination of strawberries and balsamic vinegar... So, why not put the two together? While the pairing might seem a little odd to some, I promise this is sure to surprise and de{light}!

There's just something about the mixture of sweet juicy strawberries and the twang of balsamic vinegar that goes so perfectly together. I guess you could say, it's sort of a play on the whole 'sweet and sour' thing...

Simple & Clean Summer Spaghetti

August 1, 2013 Amanda Plott

This is a super simple summer dish that's light, full of flavor, and comes together in all of 15 minutes! There is barely any cooking required. I promise!

Don't be scared. I realize that the tomatoes in this are not cooked. I think that's what keeps this dish so fresh and perfect for summer! Of course, the lemon and fresh basil don't hurt...

Skinny Pesto

July 3, 2013 Amanda Plott

Well... as skinny and simple as you can make it without losing any of that great distinct flavor.

I think I made my weight in pesto last summer when my basil plant outside was going growing like crazy. I love fresh basil, and what better to do with it than make some yummy fresh pesto with it?

Really. What better?