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A Life From Scratch.

A Life You Adore Around A Table You Love.

Swimsuit season is approaching chili.

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So we have hit the month of March. Temperatures normally sit between that 30 – 40 degree mark and people slowly begin to emerge from their homes. Hello neighbor, haven’t seen you in 5 months. Wow, your kid is literally a head taller.

Along with March comes spring break. That typically means some type of summer attire/swim suit will be worn. No need to panic! Let me introduce you to a lovely little bowl of white chili. White chili meet mom who has (imaginary) thigh issues. Mom with (imaginary) thigh issues meet 320 calories per serving white chili. Hellooo.

Honestly, this chili tastes bad for you. Meaning the flavor is out of this world. In no way will you feel like you are eating ‘healthy’ food. And if M will eat two bowls of it – it’s the real thing since he pretty much will go no where near anything below 550 calories. And he of course has no thigh issues, real or imaginary. NOT FAIR.

This recipe really is great. It’s a perfect transitional chili for spring and it’s incredibly easy to make. One note I do have, the original recipe calls for the poblano peppers to just be chopped and sautéed with the onions and celery. When I’m in a rush for time, (Tuesday at 6:15) I’ll do this. If I have a bit more time to cook (Sunday afternoon) I like to char the poblano peppers as I prefer this flavor. To do this, turn your broiler on high and char until all sides of poblano are dark. Let them steam in a bowl covered with saran wrap until cool. Then peel off the skin (will be easy), remove seeds and white ‘ribs’, and chop. I’ve made the chili either way and both have been delicious. Just different flavors.

White Chili
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Ingredients
  1. 2 TBS olive oil
  2. 1 onion, chopped
  3. 4 celery stalks, chopped
  4. 3 poblano peppers, chopped or charred and then chopped
  5. 3 garlic cloves, minced
  6. 1 tsp cumin
  7. 1/2 tsp coriander
  8. 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
  9. salt and pepper
  10. 1 lbs ground white meat turkey
  11. 2 15.5 ounce cans of cannelini beans, drained and rinsed
  12. 5 cups chicken stock
  13. 3/4 tsp oregano
  14. 1 15.5 ounce can hominy, drained and rinsed (wondering what the heck this is? I was. It is pretty much a 'skinned' kernel of corn. Weird...yes. Tasty? Yes.)
  15. Greek yogurt, cilantro, limes & cheese (optional garnishes)
Instructions
  1. Heat olive oil in a chili pot over medium heat.
  2. Saute onion, celery, and poblanos (if you didn't char) together until they are slightly tender. Add in garlic, cumin, coriander, cayenne pepper, and poblanos (if you did char). Cook for 30 seconds. Season with salt and pepper and add ground turkey, breaking up with a spoon and cooking until no longer pink. Next in goes your cannelini beans, chicken stock, and oregano. Bring to a boil then cook over medium low heat, partially covered, for 25 minutes. Stir in hominy and heat through.
  3. Garnish with a dollop of greek yogurt, lime wedge, cilantro and a little mexican cheese if desired.
Adapted from Ellie Krieger
Adapted from Ellie Krieger
A Life From Scratch. https://a-life-from-scratch.com/

Now, go place an order for that swim suit you’ve been eyeing.
Courtney

These muffins make me happy. Really happy.

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I knew I was due for another breakfast post soon.

I love muffins as they are super cute and super portable. Good for M on the train (the portable part – not the cuteness factor, I think). Hmmm, I always seem to have bananas laying around the home. They are one of those items I must buy weekly, yet rarely eat. Often times I just throw them out, only to buy more again. Why do I do that? Well, now I have an answer for all the madness. Banana Crunch Muffins, aka, the happiest little muffin ever to be made.

The base for this recipe came from Ina, obviously. I did make a few important alterations that I think took the muffins from an 8 to a perfect 10. I had the final recipe idea swirling in my mind for a few days. Monday I made chocolate chip muffins that I promised M. They were good – not great. Definitely not post worthy, yet. Wednesday I ended up baking cookies for a dear friend who helped me out in a pinch. Today, Thursday, I set the alarm extra early to get up to bake the recipe that I had been fixating on all week. Honestly? I wasn’t that motivated. Not enough sleep, it was early, I had to get 3 kiddos to pre school (happy to do so, very ‘wheels on the bus’) and then get to the office. Were muffins REALLY necessary? Oh yes. These so were. These are mood changing muffins.

I had so much fun delivering them on the way to school and at work. And I enjoyed one with some delicious fruit and a very dear friend during an afternoon play date. Perfect. These muffins made me extremely happy today, and I hope they do the same for you.

Banana Crunch Muffins
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Ingredients
  1. 3 cups flour
  2. 1 & 1/2 cups white sugar
  3. 1/2 cup brown sugar
  4. 2 tsp baking powder
  5. 1 tsp baking soda
  6. 1/2 tsp salt
  7. 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  8. 2 sticks unsalted butter, melted & cooled
  9. 2 large eggs
  10. 3/4 cup whole milk
  11. 2 tsp vanilla
  12. 2 ripe bananas, mashed
  13. 1 ripe banana, diced
  14. 1 cup sweet coconut
  15. 1 cup chopped walnuts
  16. 1 cup granola
  17. more coconut, sugar, & granola for topping, optional
Instructions
  1. Preheat over to 350 degrees and prepare a muffin tray with muffin cups.
  2. Combine flour, sugars, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl. Add in melted butter. Combine eggs, milk, vanilla, and 2 mashed bananas in a separate bowl. Slowly add to the flour/butter combo. Mix until just combined.
  3. By hand stir in diced bananas, coconut, walnuts, and granola. Fill muffin cups to the top. Sprinkle each muffin top with some coconut, sugar, and granola. Bake until lightly browned - 25 minutes.
Adapted from Ina Garten
Adapted from Ina Garten
A Life From Scratch. https://a-life-from-scratch.com/

Big smile,
Courtney

P.S. Thank you, Heidi, for the new beautiful plate featured! You know me quite well that I would be perfectly content with receiving a single plate. Very nice and very unnecessary.

Need to impress a lot of tummies?

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Then this is the recipe for you.

I recently stumbled upon this recipe idea on a food blog I follow, Dinner A Love Story. It sounded right up M’s alley – braised meat. And by braised meat I mean heaven in a bowl.

This is the perfect dish for company. It feeds a lot. (Bonus, it’s quite a cost effective cut of meat). The flavor is amazing – you know it’s good when you can actually SEE flavor in your pot! And lastly, it makes your home smell insanely delicious. Your company will feel appreciated the second they step their toes in your home. What a perfect welcome.

I can’t say enough good things about this recipe, so please just make it. The original recipe calls for a bit less of a portion, but I went all out and upped the meat to 3 pounds. Good thing I did, since M consumed 3 bowls. We also had enough for next night’s dinner and ended up putting the meat on kaiser rolls for sandwiches. I love recipes that can stretch!

A few notes about this recipe. Always use fresh herbs, good red wine, and for the pasta I recommend ‘Mrs. Miller’s’ old fashion homemade wide noodles. I found them at Fresh Market and they really stand up to hearty sauce. Along the side I served a mixed green salad with a sweeter vinagrette (dijon mustard, red wine vinegar, salt, pepper, olive oil, and a touch of honey). We also enjoyed the rest of the bottle of red that I braised the meat in. An absolutely lovely ‘no fuss’ cozy dinner party menu. Done.

Pork Shoulder Ragu
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Ingredients
  1. 3 pounds boneless pork shoulder roast
  2. salt & pepper
  3. 2 TBS olive oil
  4. 1 TBS butter
  5. 1 and 1/2 large can whole tomatoes, with juice
  6. 1 and 1/2 cup good red wine
  7. 6 sprigs fresh thyme
  8. 6 sprigs fresh oregano
  9. small handful fennel seeds
  10. 1 TBS hot sauce, for smokiness
  11. pappardelle pasta
  12. handful of chopped fresh parsley
  13. freshly grated parmesan
Instructions
  1. Preheat over to 325 degrees.
  2. Liberally salt and pepper the pork roast. Add olive oil and butter to a large Dutch oven and heat over medium heat until butter melts. Add pork roast to pan and brown on each side, about 8 minutes in all. Add tomatoes, wine, thyme, oregano, fennel seeds, and hot sauce and bring to a boil. Cover and put in the oven to braise for 3 and 1/2 hours. Set your timer hourly to rotate the roast and make sure there are enough liquids in the dutch oven. The liquids should come to about 1/3 of the way up the pork. If more are needed, add in water, more tomato sauce or red wine.
  3. After 3 1/2 hours remove from oven. Shred the meat using two forks - it will easily fall apart for you. Cook enough pappardelle pasta for your guests. To serve, fill deep bowls with pasta and top with the ragu. Sprinkle fresh parmesan and parsley on top.
Adapted from Dinner A Love Story
Adapted from Dinner A Love Story
A Life From Scratch. https://a-life-from-scratch.com/

Hope a comfy pillow is waiting nearby,
Courtney

‘Work it’

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[dropcap1 color=”rosy”]T[/dropcap1] his next cookie recipe is favorite of mine. I’m always cautious about double chocolate chip cookie recipes; I fear more often than not they can be too dry. Not good. I obsessed over this recipe and the reviews and convinced myself that it just couldn’t be right. Every single part of my baking bone was telling me it needed tweaking. Only ONE egg? That can’t be. 2 and 1/3 cups flour PLUS 3/4 cup cocoa powder? Hello dryness.

I messed around with the recipe a lot. I added an egg. I decreased the flour. I increased the butter. When it was all said and done, I was wrong – well, partially. The ingredients should be left as is. What needed more explanation was the method. Also needed was assurance everything will turn out just fine. Sometimes it’s just good to hear that.

This cookie dough doesn’t come together easily. You need to work it a bit. To start, you need to let the butter and sugars mix together for quite awhile to guarantee a light and fluffy start. Next, there is a lot of scraping down the sides of your mixer to ensure everything is blending well. And finally, there is a lot of effort mixing the chocolate chips and nuts to make sure everything incorporates evenly. You have to really manhandle the dough. Grrr!

Once the ‘rougher’ dough comes together it yields quite a glorious cookie, I promise you. Chewy on the inside with a bit of crunch on the outside. Not too thick – not too thin. Perfect cookie to have with a cup of coffee and a good friend.

Double Chocolate Cookies
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Ingredients
  1. 2 &1/2 sticks salted butter, softened on the counter
  2. 1 cup white sugar
  3. 1 cup brown sugar
  4. 1 large egg
  5. 1 tsp vanilla
  6. 2 & 1/3 cups flour
  7. 3/4 cup cocoa powder
  8. 1 tsp baking soda
  9. 3/4 tsp salt
  10. 1 cup white chocolate chips
  11. 1 & 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
  12. 1 cup chopped almonds or walnuts
  13. sea salt
Instructions
  1. Preheat over to 350 degrees.
  2. Cream together butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add in egg, then vanilla. Meanwhile sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Slowly pour sifted ingredients into mixer. Mix in chips and nuts.
  3. Drop dough 2 TBS at a time on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle with sea salt if desired. Bake 13 - 15 minutes. Remove from oven, let cool on the cookie sheet, then remove to counter to cool completely.
A Life From Scratch. https://a-life-from-scratch.com/

Anyone else have Missy Elliot’s ‘work it’ stuck in their head?

Courtney

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