Welcome author Amanda Flower + book #giveaway

 

Please welcome our wonderful and prolific guest Amanda Flower.

Amanda , a USA Today bestselling and Agatha Award-winning author of over thirty cozy mystery novels, started her writing career in elementary school when she read a story she wrote to her sixth grade class and had the class in stitches with her description of being stuck on the top of a Ferris wheel. She knew at that moment she’d found her calling of making people laugh with her words. In addition to being an author, Amanda is a former librarian with fifteen years’ experience in Northeast Ohio. Her latest Amish mysteries are  Matchmaking Can Be Murder, the first in the Amish Matchmaker Mysteries and the next two Amish Candy Shop Mysteries are Botched Butterscotch (4/28/20) and Marshmallow Malice (5/26/20). Visit her online on her website, Facebook, and Instagram.

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Spring Smoothie to Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth

By Amanda Flower

I have a sweet tooth. I love ice cream, cupcakes, candy, and pies. If there is refined sugar in it, I’m interested. To make matters worse, I write about candy and treats for the Amish Candy Shop Mysteries, including Marshmallow Malice, the latest book in the series. So as you can imagine I think about sweets… a lot.

However, I’m getting married in a few short months, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t trying to lose weight for the wedding. Every woman, and dare I say every man too, wants to look their best on their wedding day. To satisfy my sweet tooth but eat healthier, I bought a blender and have been going smoothie crazy. I have one at least three times a week, and it’s definitely helped me to feel and look healthier! I’ve tried many recipes and made up my own, but my favorite is my Berry Smoothie that I’m sharing here. It could not be easier to make!

Enjoy! To a healthier and happier 2020!

Ingredients
one cup frozen mixed berries
1/2 cup Greek plain yogurt
1 cup unsweetened almond milk
one banana
one tablespoon of chia seeds
handful of ice cubes

Directions
Put everything together in a blender and blend!

GIVEAWAY

Today, Amanda is offering a giveaway of TOXIC TOFFEE to one commenter.  

What do you do to eat healthy or watch calories?  Leave your email in case your name is selected.

Welcome guest author Amanda Flower + book #giveaway

Please welcome today's guest, Amanda Flower.   She's offering a giveaway below.

Amanda Flower, a USA Today bestselling and  Agatha Award-winning mystery author, started her writing career in elementary school when she read a story she wrote to her sixth grade class and had the class in stitches with her description of being stuck on the top of a Ferris wheel. She knew at that moment she’d found her calling of making people laugh with her words.  In addition to being an author, Amanda is former librarian in Northeast Ohio. 

Bailey’s Easy Easter Birds’ Nests

By Amanda Flower

Easter comes later this year at the end of April, which is a great thing because there is a promise of real spring weather. Where I live in Ohio, March Easters are known to come with snow; even some April Easters have been snowy. However with Easter on April 22^nd, there is a much better chance for spring flowers and blue skies even in Ohio. And I’m very ready for spring. Because of that, I am thinking of spring and Easter recipes. One of my favorites and the easiest by far from one of my books can be found in the back of Criminally Cocoa, an e-novella in the Amish Candy Shop Mysteries. If you read the series, the e-novella takes place between book three, Premeditated Peppermint and book four, Toxic Toffee, which comes out in July. The novella just released and it’s about a case of sabotage that Bailey King and her Amish cousin Charlotte Weaver have to solve in New York City, where Bailey lived before moving to Ohio’s Amish Country. While there, Bailey shares this Amish recipe in the midst of solving the crime. It’s a great one to do with kids too. Enjoy!

Ingredients

·      Container of pretzel sticks

·      1/4 cup caramel sauce

·      One bag candy-coated milk chocolate eggs

·      Parchment paper

Directions

1.              Warm caramel in a saucepan over medium heat until it’s melted and easy to stir

2.              Put pretzel into a large bowl. Pour caramel over the pretzel sticks; stir to coat the pretzels with the caramel.

3.              Scoop pretzel mixture from bowl with a large spoon onto parchment paper and form into small bowls. To make this easier, you can hollow the center out to create the nest with the back of the spoon.

4.              Arrange three chocolate eggs in each nest.

5.              Let cool and enjoy!

GIVEAWAY

Today, Amanda is offering a giveaway of ASSAULTED CARAMEL,  the 1st in the series, a delicious read. Leave a comment and your email address so she can contact you if you win, and tell her if you're looking forward to spring. 

Visit Amanda Online
Facebook  | Instagram | www.amandaflower.com

Welcome guest author Amanda Flower + book #giveaway

Amanda Flower is a national bestselling and Agatha Award- winning mystery author. She also writes mysteries as USA Today bestselling author Isabella Alan. In addition to being an author, Amanda is a librarian in Northeast Ohio. Her newest release is Lethal Licorice, an Amish Candy Shop Mystery. Follow Amanda on Social Media at: Facebook Twitter Instagram

Beet Pasta Salad

By Amanda Flower

I work full time as a librarian, and I write full time too. I don’t have a lot of opportunity to cook, and one the tasks I dislike the most is packing my lunch for days I’m at the library. After a while, PB and J really gets old. So I have made up recipes that I can make in bulk that will last me the whole week. And even though I write the Amish Candy Shop Mysteries, which are full of sweets, I try to eat as healthy as possible and try to stick to more fruits and veggies in my lunches than candy. Most of the time, I’m successful at that.

One of the recipes that I make a lot is Beet Pasta Salad. It’s fast and easy, and I can pack it perfectly proportioned containers of it for all five days of the work week. I came up with this recipe because I love pasta salad and I love beets. One day, I just decided to put them together. Since I’m a vegetarian, I always have fresh veggies in the house, so I just add whatever vegetables that I have on hand the day I made the salad.

If you are like me and really get tired of sandwiches day after day, this might be the recipe for you.

Enjoy!

Beet Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

1 can of whole beets

1 16 oz box of penne pasta

Raw vegetables of your choice

Salt and pepper

Italian salad dressing or oil and vinegar

Directions:

1)    Boil pasta

2)    Rough chop vegetables

3)    Rough chop beets

4)    Mix pasta, vegetables, beets, and Italian salad dressing in a bowl

5)    Add salt and pepper to taste

6)    Refrigerate overnight

GIVEAWAY

Amanda is offering a copy of Assaulted Caramel today to one commenter. So do tell...what do you like for lunch? Leave your email (cryptic if necessary) so Amanda can get in contact with you should you win.

 Follow Amanda on Social Media at: Facebook Twitter Instagram