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A Life From Scratch.

A Life You Adore Around A Table You Love.

Secret diet.

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Dark Chocolate Zucchini Oat Cookies

So, the other day I posted on Facebook to see if you guys wanted to hear about chicken cobb burgers or dark chocolate zucchini oat cookies. The winner? Drum roll please…

::::Pretty sure the photo gave it away::::

… the cookies! Just barely though, don’t worry. To die for chicken cobb burgers will go up early next week, promise.

Now about those cookies. I feel sort of bad posting how these came about on M’s actual birthday, but that’s how it all lined up so here we go.

I put M on a secret diet for awhile now. It wasn’t completely necessary and certainly not about anything vane. I just felt all the winter weight and rough travel schedule and airport dinners and wine and dine dinners had taken a small toll. It was time to whip my man into shape. How to accomplish that?

Let’s just cut out my baking and see what happens.

I thought it would be harder on me, honestly. I have a severe attachment to my kitchen aid mixer. Yet when my hobby of baking becomes M’s hobby of eating, it seemed like the only logical thing to end. I thought I’d hear a lot more complaining too but I ended it pretty early with a conversation like this:

“Why aren’t you baking anymore? We never have any dessert!”

“Well, if you want L at camps and playing baseball in McHenry and B playing at the pool and going on bike rides and meat marinading and a clean house and bills paid and packing for trip,s something has to give in the summer.”

That shut him up. #meanwife

The results? Guys have it so easy. Cut out one thing and BAM 10 pounds are gone. Looking good M…!

So these cookies are my attempt at getting back in the baking groove with a healthier twist. I loved them. B loved them. L gave it an ‘ok’ and M? Well, he took a pass. Which might have just been the whole point.

Dark Chocolate Zucchini Oat Cookies
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Ingredients
  1. 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  2. 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  3. 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  4. 1/2 tsp salt
  5. 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
  6. 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  7. 1 large egg
  8. 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
  9. 1 1/2 cups shredded zucchini (1 medium)
  10. 1 cup quick oats
  11. 1 cup chopped nuts
  12. 1 2/3 cups (10-oz. pkg.) dark chocolate chips
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Lightly grease baking sheets.
  2. Combine flour, cinnamon, salt and baking soda in small bowl. Beat butter, sugar in large mixer bowl until well combined. Add egg and vanilla extract, beat well. Add zucchini; gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in oats, nuts and morsels. Drop by rounded teaspoon 2 inches apart onto prepared baking sheets.
  3. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until light golden brown around edges. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire rack to cool completely. Store in tightly covered container at room temperature.
Adapted from Adapted from Very Best Baking
Adapted from Adapted from Very Best Baking
A Life From Scratch. http://a-life-from-scratch.com/

Salad à la LG.

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And no… that’s not salad a la Logan Glantz.

One last Lake Geneva inspired post, I promise. Trust me, it’s well worth it.

On Saturday night we headed on over to beautiful Pier 290 for dinner with my parents and sister, Allie. It’s a lovely spot right on the water with white sandy beaches for the kids to play in while the adults sip on cocktails. Everyone is happy.

My dad made the smartest order of the night, at least to me. A large and leafy salad dressed up in a tangy dressing and topped with soft goat cheese all wrapped up in fresh summer herbs. Killer. And oh so chic. I was so inspired, I recreated the dish Sunday night for dinner with our super cute friends. It was a major hit all around.

What are you waiting for? Impress some friends – or yourself – today!

Herb Wrapped Goat Cheese Salad

Let’s keep this one summer casual. Grab some fresh herbs – I used chives, basil, and parsley. Finely chop about 2 TBS or so of each and make a little pile. Grab some goat cheese and gently roll into the herbs pressing down so they stick on nicely.

Time to grab some lettuce. I loved the look of the big leafy greens from boston bibb and red lettuce. Wash up and get in a bowl. Toss gently with this dressing and top with the herbed goat cheese.

*Before serving, I sliced up the goat cheese log so that everyone got a nice large chunk.

C
P.S. Thanks to Jeff, Jenny, and Colston for a great night in Lake Geneva. Your home is so beautiful and I’m so glad the kids finally all got to play!

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Therapy.

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Chopped Tortellini Salad

Some people run for therapy. Some people paint. Some people see a therapist. Some people do all three. Me? I chop pretty things up into tiny pieces. And then arrange them imperfectly perfect on top of freshly cooked tortellini. Well, hello there gorgeous.

I’m not quite sure what it is about it that soothes me, but I know I’m happier because of it. Maybe it’s that I get to play with a knife. Maybe it’s the pretty colors. Maybe it’s that I get to serve a pretty chopped tortellini salad to people I love.

Whatever it is, it works. And so does this chopped tortellini salad recipe. Full of fresh vegetables, pasta, and drama as just before serving you get to mix it all together in a whirl of motion. Bam – perfect Memorial Day side, done.

Chopped Tortellini Salad
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Ingredients
  1. 2 packages of fresh tortellini, cooked according to directions and cooled
  2. 1 yellow pepper, chopped
  3. 1 red pepper, chopped
  4. 2 carrots, peeled & chopped
  5. 2 scallions, chopped on an angle
  6. Can of olives, chopped
  7. handful of feta
  8. small head of broccoli, chopped
  9. package of good seasons Italian dressing, mixed according to directions
Instructions
  1. Place tortellini in a large bowl and arranged chopped items on top. Toss with dressing right before serving.
A Life From Scratch. http://a-life-from-scratch.com/

All you need.

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skirt steak tacos & grilled salsaWith Memorial Day just around the corner, this week is going to be all about summer entertaining. What to serve, what to wear, what to drink, and what music to play. I’ll be sharing my go to tips, and I’d love to hear yours.

Enter this treasured duo. I dug up this oldie but goodie recipe from a very fat and very unorganized binder. I knew it was in there – buried beneath typed out recipes from mom, handwritten ones from my mother in laws, cut outs and print outs of magazines and blogs. Yep, there it was. And it kept coming back out into rotation each and every summer because, well, it worked.

Why? Well, this little skirt steak tacos & grilled salsa combo just happens to be summer entertaining at its finest. The beauty of the salsa is that it can be made days before and just hang out in the fridge until you are ready to go. The skirt steak requires no effort aside from a little oil, salt, and pepper. On the grill it goes. Set out some cute bowls for the fixings, wrap some warmed tortillas in foil, and you’ve got yourself a party.

To drink? Well, we will be sipping on these.

Ole!

Skirt Steak Tacos with Homemade Grilled Salsa
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Ingredients for tacos
  1. 8 (6-inch) flour tortillas
  2. 1 1/2 pounds skirt steak
  3. 2 tablespoons canola oil
  4. Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  5. 1/2 head romaine lettuce, thinly shredded
  6. 1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
  7. 1 ripe avocado, peeled, pitted, halved and diced
Ingredients for Grilled Tomato Salsa
  1. 2 tablespoons canola oil, plus more for brushing tomatoes
  2. 2 serrano chiles
  3. 1 small red onion, coarsely chopped
  4. 4 cloves garlic, peeled
  5. 6 plum tomatoes, halved and seeded
  6. Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  7. 2 limes, juiced
  8. 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
Directions for Tacos
  1. Heat grill to high. Wrap tortillas in aluminum foil and on the top rack of the grill while the steak is grilling.
  2. Brush steak with oil and season with salt and pepper on both sides. Grill on one side until golden brown and slightly charred, about 3 to 4 minutes. Turn the steak over and cook to medium-rare doneness, about 3 to 4 minutes longer. Let rest 5 minutes then slice against the grain into 1/4-inch thick slices.
  3. Fill each tortilla with some lettuce, 3 to 4 pieces of meat, onion, grilled tomato salsa, and avocado.
Directions for Grilled Tomato Salsa
  1. Heat grill to high. Heat oil in a small saute pan and saute the chiles, onion, and garlic until soft.
  2. Brush tomatoes with oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill on both sides until slightly charred and soft.
  3. Transfer tomatoes and serrano mixture to a food processor; add the lime juice and salt and pepper and process until smooth. Add the cilantro and pulse a few times (there should be flecks of cilantro in the salsa.) Transfer to a bowl.
A Life From Scratch. http://a-life-from-scratch.com/

 

Breaking the breakfast rut.

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breakfast biscuits

To say we get in a rut for breakfast would be the understatement of the year. For two (or more) years, L, M, and I pretty much eat the exact same thing every day and it goes something like this:

L: Toasted bagel with cream cheese, raspberries.

M: Bowl of cinnamon life (yes, he’s about to be 36), if it’s the weekend. If it’s the weekday he grabs a banana on the way out.

C: Toasted whole wheat english muffin with peanut butter, sliced banana, and honey.

Bam. Every single day for years.

Occasionally for a treat I’ll whip up something special like my mom’s blueberry muffins or homemade buttermilk pancakes but generally, my efforts really do swing more towards dinner time. 

Then I saw this glorious recipe over at My Bizzy Kitchen and knew I had to shake up the breakfast rut. These were easy enough to whip up on a weekday, made the home smell wonderful (is there a better way to wake up?), and were the perfect balance of filling enough to get you to lunch but not too filling to weigh you down. Huge bonus that you can customize each one – so, the boys’ were stuffed with bacon and cheddar and I kept mine lighter with spinach and mushrooms. Perfection all around.

Breakfast Biscuits
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Ingredients
  1. 6 Pillsbury Grands, cut in half
  2. 3/4 cup egg beaters
  3. 3/4 cup liquid egg whites
  4. 2 ounces deli ham, chopped (we used a few slices of bacon, cooked)
  5. 2 ounces chopped cheese
  6. 1 teaspoon Tabasco
  7. pinch of salt
  8. 1/4 teaspoon cracked pepper
  9. 1 cup baby spinach, chopped
  10. Few mushrooms, sliced
Instructions
  1. Heat oven to 375. Cut the biscuits in half, pinch together and press into the bottom of the muffin tin, kind of pushing up the sides.
  2. Divide the ham (or bacon!) between the tins. Divide the spinach between the tins.
  3. Mix together the egg beaters, egg whites, Tabasco, salt and cracked pepper and pour evenly between the tins.
  4. Top with cheese and bake for 25 minutes.
Notes
  1. Makes 12 – each one comes in at 135 calories, 5.5 fat, 13 carbs, .5 fiber and 7.1 protein
Adapted from My Bizzy Kitchen
Adapted from My Bizzy Kitchen
A Life From Scratch. http://a-life-from-scratch.com/

 

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