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C’s picks.

March 2, 2014 / By Courtney / 4 Comments

Well well well – we’ve had a pretty girly weekend around here! I started the weekend off with a bang by having dinner with my five Chicago dwelling sisters – a blast. Saturday we cheered on long term friend, Olivia, at her (high school!) theater debut. And lastly we all attended a (subtle) princess themed birthday party for qt Kelsey. A lot of…pink this weekend! Fun mix up from the normal bats, balls, cleats, gatorade, etc that typically consume our weekend. Although all of that, of course, happened as well.

Alright! Our meal plan for the week:

Sunday night is Oscar night apparently, so, we’re going super fancy here. Yummy filets will be served along with crack potatoes. We’ll be wearing sweats I’m sure.

Let’s make a soup for Monday. We’ve been doing super healthy soups lately which have been delicious, but, I feel like I need this recipe in my life this week. I think you need it as well.

Busy chicken is a new staple in our home and we’ll roasting it up Tuesday night.

Wednesday will be another night of the chicken corn chowder.

That brings us to Thursday and to this recipe I’ve been dying to try: one pot lemon garlic pasta. I could not love one pot dishes more.

Yippee for wingless buffalo chicken pizza on Fridays!

That’s our kitchen line up – what are you making?
C

Polar vortex roast.

February 27, 2014 / By Courtney / 4 Comments

It was another dreary and cold winter in Chicago. There didn’t seem to be much else to do than to cook up a big bubbling pot roast, get a few good bottles of red going, invite our friends who love to eat just as much as we do to come over, let the boys run around the home like mad, and bam – call it a night. And that’s precisely what we did.

I’m convinced there is no greater comfort that setting a warm and messy dutch oven on a wooden table to enjoy seconds, thirds, and sometimes….fourths? (Ahem, Catherine). Everything is full and hazy and suddenly the fact that 4 shrieking boys are taking all the cushions off your new RH couch doesn’t matter one bit because you’re eating crusty bread with softened garlicky olives that have been drenched in a rich sauce. Next to good friends. With good wine. Shriek away boys, shriek away.

Let this winter pot roast recipe and your friends help you through the rest of this brutal winter. I promise, for one night, you’ll be happy it’s still chilly.

Winter Pot Roast

2014-02-26 14:15:00

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Ingredients

Winter Pot Roast
Recipe from Curtis Stone

Ingredients

- 4 lbs boneless beef chuck roast
- kosher salt & freshly ground pepper
- 2 TBS olive oil
- 2 yellow onions, chopped
- 12 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- 1 cup dry red wine
- 4 cups beef stock
- 4 large sprigs of thyme
- 1 large sprig fresh rosemary
- 1/5 lbs fingerling potatoes, halved
- 12 ounces cherry tomatoes, preferably assorted colors
- 1/4 cup pitted green olives

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Pat the beef dry with paper towels and season generously with salt & pepper. Heat a large dutch oven over medium high heat with the oil. Sear the beef on all sides until browned, roughly 12 minutes. Remove to a plate and set aside.
Reduce the heat to medium, add the onions, and cook for 5 minutes or so. Add in the garlic and cook for another minute. Stir in the wine and boil for 1 minute. Stir in the broth and herbs.
Return the beef and any juices to the pot and scatter the potatoes, tomatoes, and olives around it. You should have enough liquid to cover all but the top inch of the meat. If you need to, add more stock or water. Bring to a simmer, cover, and into the oven it goes for 1.5 hours. Turn meat over, and then cook for an additional hour. Remove from the oven and set aside to rest for 30 minutes.
Using a slotted spoon transfer the meat, vegetables, and olives to a large platter. Gently pull the beef into large chunks along its natural separations.
Skim off any fat that has risen to the surface of the cooking liquid and discard the herb stems. Boil the liquid for 20 minutes, until slightly reduced.
Return the beef, vegetables, and olives to the pot and simmer for 5 minutes or until warm. Serve on your table with lots of crusty bread for the sauce.

Adapted from Curtis Stone

A Life From Scratch. https://a-life-from-scratch.com/

Eat up!

wwww.

February 26, 2014 / By Courtney / 5 Comments

Time for another what WE wore Wednesday, which basically means time to show off your little one(s)!

This week’s theme is all about haircuts. As I’m fully aware, both my boys could be mistaken for girls from behind. And actually from the front, B is mistaken for a girl about 95% off the time. Whoops. M came home from baseball evaluations claiming L could ‘barely see from under his hat’ and B just looks, well, like he lives down by the river. Ok, ok, I get the point. YOU try and take a kid for a haircut that was recently pinned down for stitches, removing stitches, and then 18 month old shots. Not so easy, huh?

Here is what we wore on a day of reading, school, and playing ‘night night’ in the kitchen:

On L: Abercrombie jeans, Crewcut tee.

On B: Old Navy ‘skinny’ jean and a Gap tee courtesy of L.

On C: AG jeans, Ann Taylor Loft top. I realize it’s like, 10 degrees out and I’m in short sleeves, but I was cooking a roast all day and I tend to run warm.

On a side note, did you know? It’s National Eating Disorder awareness week, which is something near to my heart. If you or anyone you know is suffering, please, begin here. If you’d like to donate to help insurance companies realize the severity these disorders have on one’s mental health please, donate here and know that:

Over 8 million Americans are suffering, 7 million women and 1 million men.
1 in 200 woman suffers from anorexia.
2-3 women in 100 suffers from bulimia.
Eating disorders are now considered addictions due to the fact that they change and manipulate one’s brain chemistry to associate starvation with reward. This is serious stuff.
Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness.
50% of girls between the ages of 11-13 see themselves as overweight. (this makes me cry).
Treatment ranges from $500 – $2000 per day. Average one month session of in treatment therapy? $30,000.

Please take the time to educate yourself on this important mental health issue. It’s all around us.

C’s picks.

February 23, 2014 / By Courtney / 3 Comments

What a nice weekend we’ve had so far. Playing in the snow, major progress on our master (whew!), lazy nap times, and NO stitches – yippee! Here is our menu plan for what we will be munching on this week:

A pot roast for Sunday dinner sounds like, well, perfection. Curtis Stone (swoon) has an amazing recipe that I can’t wait to try.

Zuppa Tuscana with crusty bread sounds like a great warm up for Monday evening. Love this recipe.

Tuesday night will be t-ball taco night. I’ve decided I’m always going to call them t-ball tacos even though L is now a bit beyond hitting the ball off a tee. He had baseball ‘evaluations’ this weekend. I have to say, I’m quite laid back about the whole thing and you can tell L is as well. He was running from station to station giving high 5’s to friends who had a good hit or a great catch. Yes L, that is exactly what it is all about. You are 7. Enjoy this. We promise you to never get caught up in the drama and to do nothing but encourage your talent and the wonderful heart you have towards your teammates.

Wednesday night is the season premiere of The Americans. Do you watch this show? Oh my goodness, we are obsessed. I wish M would eat homemade borscht, as it would be perfect for the oh so Russian theme. Unfortunately I can’t get him on board. I’m hoping to pick up some sausage and pierogis. All fried up with bacon? Yes please.

We’re going to need a major health boost Thursday night after our Russian feast. Chicken sausage, white bean, and kale stew should help balance us out.

Friday I’m off to the city. Beechick + Glantz girls night out. Watch out!

That’s our line up – let’s here about yours.
C