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A Life From Scratch.

A Life You Adore Around A Table You Love.

A balsamic tease.

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If you follow me on Facebook (thank you!) you’ve seen this recipe pictured before. It’s rare I feature a pic before sharing the recipe but it just looked so delicious I got ahead of myself. I know I owe you this recipe and I apologize for being a total tease about it.

Without further ado, meet your new go to week night dish. Minimal ingredients, minimal dishes, maximum taste. We love recipes like that, don’t we?

Of course we do.

 

 

 

 

 

Balsamic Glazed Chicken
Serves 2
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Ingredients
  1. olive oil
  2. 4 chicken cutlets
  3. salt & pepper
  4. 3 TBS balsamic vinegar
  5. 2 tsp Dijon mustard
  6. 2 garlic cloves, minced
  7. 2 cups button mushrooms, halved
  8. 1/3 cup chicken stock
  9. tsp freshly minced thyme
  10. big handful brussel sports, halved
Instructions
  1. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil. Toss brussel sprouts with olive oil, salt, and pepper and roast for 35-40 minutes. (This can be done whenever you have a free moment in the day - you don't have to wait until dinner time).
  2. In a medium bowl mix together 2 TBS of the balsamic, mustard, and garlic. Season the chicken with salt & pepper and put in the marinade until it's fully covered.
  3. In a skillet, heat a TBS olive oil over medium heat. Add the chicken and sauté until cooked through, roughly 3 minutes per side. Transfer chicken to a platter and keep warm by tenting with foil.
  4. Heat a little bit more olive oil in the same saute pan and in go your mushrooms. Saute for a minute. Add in stock to deglaze the pan, thyme, and an additional TBS balsamic vinegar. Add in the roasted brussel sprouts. Cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms are deep brown and sprouts are heated through. Back in goes the chicken to warm up a bit.
  5. Serve chicken topped with the vegetables.
A Life From Scratch. http://a-life-from-scratch.com/

 

Eat up!
C

Sunny thoughts.

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So, I went from 80’s and sunny to 40’s and sunny. Not as shocking as my typical return from the sunshine state but let’s call a spade a spade – it’s not great.

Seeing as though I couldn’t bring the warm weather back with me like I promised I would try, I thought I’d reflect on the sunny parts of my trip as well as the sunny parts about my return. There is always good, right? Yes, there is.

Sunny times in FL:

1. Sun, palm trees, ocean, pool – it’s just easy on the eyes there.

2. B actually napped. Not on top of me. This was a huge breakthrough people!

3. Morning runs. I’m not sure what I enjoyed more – the actual workout part of it or the alone time to jam out to my tunes. Actually I do know, it was so the alone time.

4. Nights off in the kitchen. Don’t get me wrong, obviously I love to cook. Yet a break from the planning and grocery shopping and lugging in the bags and unpacking and making a mess and cleaning up that mess? Well, that was nice.

5. Summer attire. This one is rough as I am already back in one of my depressing winter uniforms. There is nothing better than being able to just throw on a sundress and sandals. The ease of it all…sigh. I am tired of wrestling skinny jeans and boots.

Sunny times back at home:

1. My kitchen! It’s already stocked back up. I have anxiety if I am home and there isn’t food in the house so naturally that was one of this first things I accomplished.

2. The snow is about 90% melted. Not perfect, but it’s progress.

3. Catching up on ‘The Americans’ – oh my goodness people are you watching this show? For ‘Homeland’ fans, this is a wonderful replacement while we wait for that to start back up. It’s about a ‘normal’ next door couple who are actually Russian spies. So cool, right? I totally fantasize that I could be as awesome as Keri Russell is in the show. She’s pretty badass.

4. I enjoyed a glass of a new killer pink wine (newsletter subscribers – you’ll get that answer soon!) I searched for it in FL, but the local Publix just didn’t have the wine collection that would include it. This isn’t your grandma’s rose.

5. L has been up since 3AM and yet is still running around happy as a clam with his neighborhood buddies. It’s a great home that way.

6. Spring SHOPPING and home updates – hello! I have my eye on this for L, this for B, and something from here for the home. Locals, have you been? It’s like I’ve died and gone to rustic/reclaimed/shabby chic heaven. Love. Also, can’t seem to get this dress out of my mind.

7. And finally, I get to cook tonight! It has been awhile since I had red meat and I was craving the iron. Say what you want about getting it from other sources, for me, it just doesn’t cut it. (Spinach…really people?) I need red meat a few times a month. Everything in moderation here.

So – what to make. Grilling sounded nice as it was a throw back to FL. Flank steak was swirling around in my mind but needed something…how about an herbed butter? Throw some grilled asparagus along the side and you have yourself a pretty tasty dinner. Fit for a spy, I’d say. Wink wink.

Grilled Flank Steak & Herbed Butter
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Ingredients
  1. 1 flank steak, a little over a pound for 2
  2. salt & pepper
  3. 2 TBS unsalted butter, room temperature
  4. 2 TBS minced cilantro
  5. 1 TBS freshly squeezed lime juice
  6. 1/4 tsp salt
Instructions
  1. Bring the flank steak to room temperature. Season generously with salt & pepper. Grill over medium heat for 3-4 minutes a side. Rest for at least 5 minutes, or as long as your stomach can wait.
  2. Mix together butter ingredients. Dot on top of the flank steak while it's resting.
  3. Serve immediately.
A Life From Scratch. http://a-life-from-scratch.com/

Eat up!
C

Grammie, Burgers, & Idol

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See that expression on B? That is how he looks when Grammie (my mom) enters our home. What a greeting, right?

It was Wednesday night and an impromptu Idol party had been planned. Grammie was coming by to visit the boys, watch Idol, and dine on healthy grilled turkey burgers – fun! I love last minute get togethers and it’s just more fun to call them a party.

Are you keeping up with Idol? Do you have a favorite? Mine is Keith Urban. Oh wait, contestant wise…huh, that would be Kree. He has such a nice voice….she, I mean SHE. Kree has such a nice voice. Whew!

Moving along…the boys were happy to see their Grammie, I was happy to cook dinner without my 20 lbs bowling ball in my arms, and M was happy to fire up the grill. A win all around.

Oh – how did they taste? Awesome. It’s pretty much just amazing when you can eat a nice big burger guilt free. Bring on that swimsuit!

Grilled Turkey Burgers
Serves 4
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Ingredients
  1. 1 lbs ground turkey
  2. 1 small red onion, minced
  3. handful of parsley, minced
  4. 1 large roasted red pepper, minced
  5. 1 tsp garlic powder
  6. 1 tsp kosher salt
  7. 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
  8. olive oil
Instructions
  1. Mix all of the above together and form 4 large, thin, patties. Brush lightly with olive oil and grill for roughly 6 minutes per side.
  2. Your choice of toppings! We went with a slice of muenster, thick tomato, & lettuce all a toasted bun.
A Life From Scratch. http://a-life-from-scratch.com/

 

Eat up!
C

P.S. Hey – if you don’t follow me on Facebook, here’s a reminder! It’s your last chance to get on the list for this month’s mailing of the ‘Eat Up’ magnets. They are adorable, so be sure to sign up for the newsletter to get yours just in time for spring!

L’s picks & our winner (!)

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First of all, congrats to Donna Beechick! She is our winner of the very cool pizza stone – yippee. Thanks to all who participated, I really appreciate your support. And thank you to Christina for providing the prize!

Moving along, welcome to the very first L’s picks! We will try our best to feature this weekly to give those with picky eaters a little bit of hope that there are recipes their kids may consume that are adult table worthy.

Believe me, I get it. The majority of the time I am serving L some sort of semblance of fruit, cheese, hummus, crackers…etc. It’s always grilled cheese, or a hot dog, or pb&j. His life is eating off the kids menu. Surely this can’t be my kid! Oh but it is.

He has picky down to a science. It’s not only about taste – but about the exact shape and/or shade of color of a particular item as well.

Sigh.

So this will hopefully push me AND him to expand our horizons a bit. I’m not going to promise you that what works for L will work for your kid, but, I will give you the guarantee that the recipes featured in L’s picks he will consume and they are also suitable for adults. That’s saying a lot, for us.

And now, I turn it over to L. His first blog post! Maybe he is my son…

Me and my friend Ryder had fun. We played with Drew and Brittany. There was a big snowstorm. We went inside. We had cookies. There was treasure inside them. Pirates eat them on their ship. We had lots of fun. The end.

And now a note from mom…

It helps to give something you want your child to eat a fun name. If I had handed these to L and said they were a ‘cookie’ I am 98% he would have turned away disgusted. In his mind, oreos are cookies. So, ‘pirate’ cookies were born. I told him they were full of ‘treasure’ and you had to eat into the middle to get to the chocolate.

In his mind he is eating treasure and I’m thinking – ha, you’re eating flax seed.

Win win.

Pirate Cookies
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Ingredients
  1. 2 cups applesauce
  2. 1/4 cup butter, melted
  3. 2 cups brown sugar
  4. 4 eggs, room temp
  5. 2 tsp vanilla
  6. 2 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
  7. 1 TBS baking powder
  8. 1 TBS salt
  9. 1/4 cup milled flax seed
  10. 2 cups dark chocolate, chopped
  11. 2 cups almonds, sliced
  12. 2 cups cranberries
  13. 1 cup walnuts, chopped
  14. 7 cups rolled oats
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Combine applesauce, butter, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla and mix well.
  3. Add in flour, baking powder, salt, and flax seed. Mix well.
  4. Stir in chocolate, almonds, cranberries, and walnuts. Mix well. Slowly add in oats and stir to combine.
  5. Drop by the large TBS onto a baking sheet and bake for 12 minutes or until the edges are slightly golden.
A Life From Scratch. http://a-life-from-scratch.com/

 

Eat up!
C

A white party – St Mark’s style!

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Ok, ok. I’ve admitted it before – one of my guilty pleasures is the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Every year Kyle hosts a ‘white’ party. It’s an extremely elegant affair where everything is crisp, beautiful, white, and let’s not forget – dramatic.

Well, this is the St. Mark’s housewives version of that. Welcome to our white powder (as in snow) sledding party! It was a crisp day, the girls and their moms brought the beauty, lovely white wine was enjoyed and get a basement full of 3 to 6 year olds together? There is always drama. One may argue more than between the housewives. No one stormed out threatening to sue though so hey, I consider that a success.

The men (minus Daddie – you were missed!) handled the kids on the hills while the moms stayed back and monitored the little play date between B and K. LOVE.

All the kids arrived back in one piece (yippee!), were fed immediately…


…and then rushed off to the basement so we could attempt to have some adult (+baby) time. Boom boom boom.

Sorry K, your date passed out early. I hope we didn’t bore you too much! You were much too precious to stick in the (scary) basement.

Dinner was homemade chili (M thinks it was beef, but it was so ground turkey) with all the fixings and Ina Garten’s corn muffins. Perfect meal for a (healthy) ‘chilly’ evening!

All in all it was a great way to break up the dreary feeling that is so February. With March less than a week away I’m dreaming of our next get together…on the patio.

Sledding Day Chili
Serves 6
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Ingredients
  1. few glugs of olive oil
  2. 3 stalks of celery, small dice
  3. 3 carrots, small dice
  4. 1 green pepper, small dice
  5. 1 large onion, small dice
  6. 2 cloves of garlic, minced
  7. 2 lbs ground turkey, I did a mix of white and dark
  8. 3 TBS chili powder
  9. 2 TBS cumin
  10. 2 tsp oregano
  11. 1 tsp cinnamon
  12. 1 bay leaf
  13. pinch of red pepper flakes
  14. salt & pepper, to taste
  15. 2 cans 28 ounce diced tomatoes
  16. 2 14 ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
Instructions
  1. Heat your olive oil in a large pot on the stove over medium heat.
  2. Saute celery, carrots, green pepper and onion until soft - roughly 8 minutes or so. Add in your garlic and mix around for another minute.
  3. Add in the meat and saute until browned, another 5 minutes or so.
  4. Add in all your spices and and saute until they get mixed in nicely and you can start to smell them, a few minutes. Add a generous amount of salt & pepper.
  5. Stir in the tomatoes and simmer for 15 minutes or so. Stir in your black beans.
  6. Simmer on the stove until your snow bunnies are hungry. Serve with all the fixings! We did shredded cheddar, crushed up crackers, cilantro, and sour cream.
A Life From Scratch. http://a-life-from-scratch.com/

Eat up!
C
P.S. ‘L, my dad says we are NOT allowed to kiss anymore.’ Good girl.

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