Caprese Pasta Salad

June 27, 2021 Amanda Plott

As it’s getting hotter and hotter outside I’m craving the cold stuff. The lighter stuff. The stuff I don’t have to turn my oven on to enjoy. This Caprese Pasta Salad is just that. Get it started in the morning when it’s cool out and then finish it off in the afternoon or evening as lunch, dinner, or a side for one of the two. The pasta dish itself is based off one of my all time favorites - caprese!

What’s a caprese? Tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, basil, and balsamic vinegar in one form or another. I basically turned that into a light, easy to make salad that includes fresh baby spinach and some pasta to make it just a little more hearty…

Baked Caprese Chicken

March 8, 2021 Amanda Plott

Cheers to easy dinners! This Baked Caprese Chicken is a real winner. With just a handful of ingredients and about 5 minutes of actual hands on time (maybe even less) this chicken is super easy, tasty, and quick to make! The recipe is easily doubled or tripled for a larger family, but I’ve left it scaled back for two servings.

So what’s caprese anyway? It’s generally a salad that includes tomatoes, cheese and either pesto or some sort of balsamic reduction. Since its Italian based, this chicken would be good paired with a simple side salad like I did, or with veggies and some pasta or zucchini noodles even. No matter how you serve it up, this tasty chicken is a great part of dinner…

Healthy & Easy Kid-Friendly Spaghetti Sauce

November 30, 2020 Amanda Plott

I'm calling this kid friendly spaghetti sauce because, I generally like to put actual onions and garlic into my spaghetti sauce. However, my little one would turn her nose up at that in a heartbeat, and seeing as how she specifically requests spaghetti every week, I figured that I ought to oblige her with something that would suite her desires!

Besides, who doesn't enjoy eating like a kid again? In my mind, that's one of the perks of being a parent; reliving all the things that you loved when you were growing up!

Though my mom was more of a Hamburger Helper sort of spaghetti maker.

She swears by Hamburger Helper 'Spaghetti' to this very day. Ugh…

Tex-Mex Pico De Gallo Grilled Chicken (Sponsored )

May 13, 2020 Amanda Plott

This post has been compensated by Inmar Intelligence and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #SauceIntoSummer #SauceLikeYouMeanIt #TexasPete

For a lot of us, Summer has come (or will come) early this year. Especially if you have kiddos! While Summer is officially a couple of months off still, I thought I’d get things heading in that direction. I mean… it’s already in the high 80’s here on most days. It’s been perfect weather for grilling!

With it being warm out, I wanted to make use of the grill, but also have something nice, cool, and refreshing on the plate. That’s where this Tex-Mex Pico De Gallo Grilled Chicken comes into play. I got my hands on some Texas Pete® Original Hot Sauce and knew it would make the perfect marinated for chicken…

Chickpea Tikka Masala

April 2, 2020 Amanda Plott

Let’s face it, we’re all suddenly a lot more influenced by a ‘beans and rice’ diet. Pantry cooking can be tricky, but it can also save time, money, and still be pretty damn healthy for you. This Chickpea Tikka Masala is a one pot dish that cooks up in just about 30 minutes. It’s gluten free, vegan, and vegetarian. Plus, like I said, one pan to cook it all means less mess to clean up in the end.

Chickpeas are a favorite among my family as it is. Seriously… there’s a few of us that would eat the things straight of the can if someone would let us. So, I try to use them as much as I can. And they work out really well in vegetarian dishes…

Sweet Earth Review + Simple Italian Salad

August 23, 2019 Amanda Plott

This shop has been compensated by Blog Meets Brand and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone.

It’s FriYAY and what does that mean in our house? Pizza day! How does that old jingle go?

Pizza in the morning, pizza in the evening, pizza at supper time!

That’s basically the law of the land around here. Even though my little one has pizza for lunch on Friday at school, she comes home and still wants to have pizza for dinner. Who am I to say no? It’s been a long week full of the first few days of school and we’re all pretty much exhausted at this point.

Of course, when we do pizza night at home, I like to stick to the better-for-you options while also loading us all up on our fair share of veggies. That’s where this Simple Italian Salad and Sweet Earth come into play...