Dairy-Free 'Brain' Cheese Ball

October 6, 2020 Amanda Plott

Halloween is coming! And I couldn’t be more excited. For a long time now, Halloween has been my most favorite holiday, but I’m having to make a few changes to my usual routine lately since we’ve got a sensitive stomach in the house. I bought a plastic brain mold at the end of last year with the intentions of using it for a few things. A brain cheese ball was at the top of the list!

With dairy-free being the name of the game, I set out to find a way to make a cheese ball dairy-free. And you know what? It’s way easier than you might think. There are a lot of options out there for dairy-free alternatives. All the way from milk, to cheese, and even cream cheese…

Mini Baked Potatoes

September 14, 2020 Amanda Plott

Everyone loves a loaded baked potatoes, but what if you could make them even better by making them a finger food, portable, and perfect for any side dish or game day appetizer spread? These adorable Mini Baked Potatoes are just that. Plus, being cute and little as a perfect one or two bite snack is great.

Roasted in olive oil and salt before being FULLY loaded with all the staples of a good baked potatoes. They take under an hour to make and most of that is hands-off time while the oven does all the work. As usual, I swapped sour cream for greek yogurt and standard back for a low-sodium center cut version…

Irish Pub Skewers

March 1, 2020 Amanda Plott

It’s the first day of March and St. Patrick’s Day is coming up quickly! These Irish Pub Skewers are super simple and easy to make. In this house, we love finger foods, and these small bites with an Irish nod to them are perfect for entertaining around St. Patrick’s Day.

These little bites start out with a piece of corned beef and are put together with some Irish cheddar, a pickle, and some Brussel sprouts to end it. They are great for dipping and dunking into a mustard or even thousand island style of dressing…

Savory Cheddar & Rosemary Thumbprints

February 6, 2020 Amanda Plott

I’ve been toying with the idea of savory twists on classic sweets for a while now. And these Savory Cheddar & Rosemary Thumbprints just seemed to fit the bill this time around. I managed to get my hand on some local made roasted tomato jam and well… just couldn’t help myself.

To make these savory thumbprints, I used a mix of whole wheat white flour and semolina flour. I’ve never used semolina flour before, but it reminds me a whole hell of a lot of cornmeal. Maybe a little finer of a grain than cornmeal is all…

Air-Fryer Blooming Onion

December 24, 2019 Amanda Plott

I know there’s a lot of you out there that are going to be getting a fancy new air-fryer for Christmas this year. If not from someone else, maybe you’re buying one for yourself. They are all the rage right now anyway, right? I’ve been putting off getting one, but I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve been curious about the thing; how it works and if it works well.

I have long since made it my duty to not have a fryer in my home. When I was growing up we had one and my mom would rarely use it, and generally only for making french fries. Though there were a few shameless fried-food nights where my parents would fry up literally everything. Clearly, that isn’t how my own kitchen functions. Either way, my brother is in town and he brought his air-fryer for me to try out. And guess what? I don’t hate it…

Chicken Parmesan Dip

December 10, 2019 Amanda Plott

I love Italian food. I mean… who doesn’t? One of my favorite Italian dishes is chicken parmesan. But, with things being so chaotic around the house right now, I thought it would be best if I could find a way to enjoy chicken parmesan as quickly and easily as possible. Chicken Parmesan Dip it is!

This Chicken Parmesan Dip has all the pieces and parts of a chicken parmesan, but is put together in the form of a perfectly dipable dish! Cooked chicken, marinara, ricotta, mozzarella… and of course, parmesan! After all, you can’t have chicken parmesan without the parmesan…