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A Life From Scratch.

A Life You Adore Around A Table You Love.

‘Cure A Flu’ Chicken Noodle Soup

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 A rather unpleasant text from M in Houston confirmed it. The flu had invaded our home. So, I began my normal routine of getting out the fluids and saltines, thermometer, comfy blankets and pillows on the couch and then braced myself for the day ahead. There is only one recipe I turn to on days like these. Chicken noodle soup. This isn’t your normal ‘boil a chicken in water’ chicken noodle soup. Some of the basic ideas are the same, but the volume is kicked up with garlic, lots of fresh herbs, and lemon. Ingredients I swear heal you faster and prevent those who are still healthy to not get sick…wishful thinking on my part? Anyways, make it. From scratch. I promise it’s not too involved and the process of making it, eating it, and knowing you have a nice warm pot on the stove for anytime you need it is comforting. And comfort is necessary when you or your loved ones are sick.

Cure a Flu Chicken Noodle Soup
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Ingredients
  1. 2 pieces boneless skinless chicken breasts
  2. 2 onions, 1 halved and 1 chopped
  3. 2 garlic cloves, crushed
  4. 1 fresh bay leaf
  5. 2 TBS good olive oil
  6. 4 medium carrots, thinly sliced
  7. 4 celery stalks, thinly sliced
  8. Salt and black pepper
  9. 1 quart good chicken stock
  10. 1/3 lbs whole wheat noodles
  11. 4 scallions, thinly sliced on an angle
  12. 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
  13. 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh dill
  14. Zest and Juice of 1 lemon
Instructions
  1. In a sauce pot, combine first 4 ingredients with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, then down to simmer for 15 - 20 minutes.
  2. Meanwhile, in a soup pot or dutch oven heat the olive oil over medium heat and add the vegetables. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until the vegetables are tender, around 8 minutes. Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil.
  3. Remove the poached chicken from the liquid and add about 2 cups of the cooking liquid, pouring through a strainer, to the soup pot. Dice the poached chicken, then stir in the noodles along with the chicken and simmer for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and add all the fresh herbs along with the lemon juice and zest. Season with salt and pepper, if needed.
Notes
  1. I do not like soggy noodles in my soup, so if you are going to let the soup simmer on low all day I would advise to keep the noodles separate and add to cook a bit before you dish up.
A Life From Scratch. https://a-life-from-scratch.com/

I all ready feel better.

Stay healthy,
Courtney

 

 

Brown Bag Apple Pie

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A single apple on a tree…the endless amount of options it could turn out to be. Sunny and crisp fall days turn into baking for hours. Smells of warming apples with cinnamon and nutmeg drift through the house, as pie after crisp after dumpling after sheet cake is removed from my mom’s prized double oven. ‘Apple picking day’ is my favorite day of the year. It typically goes hand in hand with my son’s birthday so to me, it is the perfect time of the year. I love the fall. I love apples. I love baking. And I love my son. Put those items together and you have one happy camper.

My favorite recipe to have evolved out of ‘apple picking day’ is the brown bag apple pie. This is an amazing pie for a multitude of reasons. 1. It is literally baked in a brown bag, at 425 degrees, for one hour, and the house does not burn down. (I promise!) 2. Two different crusts are featured, and neither are the ever so intimidating crusts you have to roll out! 3. To everyone that has tried this pie it has gotten the ‘best apple pie they have ever had’ comment. Not bad, right?

Make this pie for someone you love. Make it to comfort someone. Make it to remind yourself how perfect a fall day can feel. As a bonus, have a slice warm for breakfast. You just can not start a day any better than that.

Brown Bag Apple Pie
Serves 6
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Prep Time
20 min
Cook Time
1 hr
Total Time
1 hr 20 min
Prep Time
20 min
Cook Time
1 hr
Total Time
1 hr 20 min
Bottom Crust
  1. 1 & 1/2 cups flour
  2. 1 tsp salt
  3. 2 tsp sugar
  4. 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  5. 1 TBS milk
Filing
  1. 6 large Granny Smith Apples
  2. 1/2 cup sugar
  3. 2 TBS flour
  4. 2 tsp cinnamon
Top Crust
  1. 1 cup flour
  2. 1 cup sugar
  3. 2/3 cup butter, softened on the counter
Bottom crust
  1. Mix all of the above together. Pat the mixture into the bottom of a pie plate.
Filling
  1. Core, peel, and slice all of the apples. Mix all ingredients together and pour into the bottom crust.
Top Crust
  1. Mix above together, it will be sticky! Pat the mixture of the top of the filing.
  2. Place pie in a brown paper bag, fold over to close, and place on a cookie sheet and bake for 1 hour at 425 degrees.
  3. Again, the house will not burn down…but I would keep an eye (or two) on it.
Adapted from Mix above together, it will be sticky! Pat the mixture of the top of the filing. Place pie in a brown paper bag, fold over to close, and place on a cookie sheet and bake for 1 hour at 425 degrees. Again, the house will not burn down…but I would keep an eye (or two) on it.
Adapted from Mix above together, it will be sticky! Pat the mixture of the top of the filing. Place pie in a brown paper bag, fold over to close, and place on a cookie sheet and bake for 1 hour at 425 degrees. Again, the house will not burn down…but I would keep an eye (or two) on it.
A Life From Scratch. https://a-life-from-scratch.com/

Introduction To A Life From Scratch

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A Life From Scratch.
 
I’ve found that often people ask me the question ‘did you make this from scratch?’ It’s normally in an almost skeptical tone. My response is simply ‘yes’ in a tone just as skeptical.
 
There is an ease for me in starting from scratch. It feels natural. Grounded. Food has always seemed to tell a story for me and using a mix seems to interrupt that story.
 

Growing up, cooking and baking have always been a part of my life. I have a wonderful mother who I am blessed to have watched come to life while she was in her kitchen. Meals and baked goods were made from scratch and she would feed people with such joy and happiness that that became my normal.

Now that I am older and have my own family to feed I can appreciate the effort, care, and love to do all that she did. We had home made dinners every night we were home. Baked goods were always on the counter or in the oven. The fridge was stocked and the home normally smelled of semi sweet chocolate getting warmer and warmer as it baked away.

All of these things, the smells, the comfort, the feeling of a fully stocked fridge helped me grow my passion of continuing the story of food. A cookie is never just a cookie. There is a story behind it, how the recipe evolved and the hands that made it. That is my hope for this blog to explore.

Thank you for reading,
Courtney

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