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C’s picks – week of Jan 18th.

January 18, 2015 / By Courtney / 1 Comment

Woohoo! Let’s hear it for the heat wave! We’re actually able to play in the snow. What a concept.

Alright, here we go with another week of meal planning. Who’s with me?

On Sunday we are off to my mom’s to celebrate my dad’s birthday. Yippee! I’m in charge of pasta salad and I’m bringing this oh so pretty one.

We need a soup Monday. Let’s go with this awesome mexican tomatillo one. Take that, Monday.

French onion beef stroganoff? Hold me. Totally making this for Tuesday.

On Wednesday let’s go with this super quick and healthy Chinese chicken. Yum.

We love this tortilla pie – have you made it yet? Perfect for Thursday.

And that brings us to Friday and to a night out for mom. See ya, boys!

What’s cooking in your kitchen this week? I’d love for you to share your menu plan with me in a comment below!

Think lovely thoughts.

January 16, 2015 / By Courtney / Leave a Comment

So, we’re deep into January, right? It’s cold. It’s dreary. It’s dark.

How about a little red and pink to cheer us up? Yep, Valentine’s Day is less than a month away and while it’s not exactly my fav holiday, it can be fun if celebrated the right way. Especially with kids! So here are some cheery ideas that will be circulating through our home on 2/14.

1. B is so rocking this Old Navy tee on Valentine’s Day… and beyond. Love the retro vibe.

2. In my dreams, my pretend girl is wearing this. Swoon. Man, stripes. They get me every time.

3. I may have purchased this for an upcoming February 2015 babe that’s due to arrive. So obsessed with everything about this onesie.

4. Let the guys get in on the fun! A shot of red with these Happy Socks is oh so fun.

5. Dogeared charms are the best. I have this sweet little heart charm next to my boys’ initials and I could not love it more.

6. I am obsessed with Minted’s collection of classroom Valentines. Obsessed. I love this classic one, but there are a ton to choose from… Stay tuned for my boys to showcase theirs next week!

7. I mean, these count as lingerie, right? Super cute, cozy, yet with a totally come cuddle me vibe…

8. B is obsessed with the llama llama series; totally wrapping this up for him with a big chocolate heart.

9. We love spreading out on the giant rug in our living room and playing memory games by the fire. This candy version would be such a sweet change up!

So, what do you think? Feeling the love? Why not share some of your Valentine’s Day ideas in a comment!

*The fine print: this post contains affiliate links which means that if you use one of these links to make a purchase, I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Of course, you are not obligated to use these links to make your purchase but please know that when you do, it helps to support my blog and for that I thank you.

Happy 500th…!

January 14, 2015 / By Courtney / 13 Comments

Wow.

This is my 500th post on A Life From Scratch.

What started as a mere experiment (can I do this? is anyone reading this aside from my mother? how on earth do I take photographs of food?) has turned into a pretty exciting thing around here.

I always say the absolute best part of this blog is that I’m able, through mainly food, to document our lives. I can look back on our very first post, what we ate at L’s 5th birthday party, or the day we brought B home. Sometimes the posts are hard for me to read. I can’t believe how much my boys have grown (sobbing) and my photography skills early on? EEK. So scary.

If you’re new here, thank you so much, for stumbling upon my own little corner of the internet. I hope it captures you enough to deserve a following. And for those of you have been following me from day one, thank you oh so much. Every single comment, like, share, text, email, call is beyond appreciated and makes my day. I’ve gone from 37 Facebook Fans to approaching 3,000 and am averaging close to 12,000 visitors per month. That’s all you.

Let’s see. How to celebrate properly. I think you all deserve something pretty spectacular. Does this work…?

I thought it might. Or were you thinking champagne? Don’t worry, I was too. So I made the ultimate sacrifice and tested it. These go great with champagne. Or milk. That might be the more logical choice but let’s be honest – that’s just not as fun.

You guys, we know ALFS has always had a serious deep mad obsession for cookies. From gaia cookies to bus stop cookies to the perfect chocolate chip – the list goes on and on. So when I saw these I just had to dive right in.

Is it a cookie? Yes.

Is it a brownie? Yes.

Is it completely ridiculous? Yes.

But hey, you don’t hit 500 posts every day. Make these to celebrate something great going on in your life. You totally deserve it. With the champagne.

Cheers, friend!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Brownies

2015-01-13 18:01:34

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Ingredients

1 stick salted butter (1/2 cup, very soft)
¾ cup white sugar
2 tablespoons brown sugar, packed
1 egg
½ teaspoon vanilla
1 cup + 2 tablespoons flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate chips
18.9 ounce brownie mix - my all-time favorite is Ghirardelli Double Chocolate
(eggs, oil, and water for brownie mix)

Instructions

With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugars in a small mixing bowl. Add vanilla and egg; cream again until smooth. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir gently until incorporated. Stir in chocolate chips. Store in refrigerator until ready to use.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare brownie batter as directed. Pour batter into a glass 8x8 or 9x9 baking dish. Scatter pieces of cookie dough over the top of the brownie batter. In my 8x8 square pan, I was able to get about ⅔ of the cookie dough to fit over the brownies and I just saved the rest for regular cookies. Press gently on the dough just until it starts to sink down into the batter a little bit.
Bake for 35-40 minutes (35 for gooey, 40 or more for fully baked), covering with foil if you need to keep the cookies from getting too brown on top. I baked them uncovered for the first 20 minutes, then covered an additional 20 minutes. Let stand for 15-20 minutes and cut into pieces for serving.

Adapted from Pinch of Yum

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

Healthy living.

January 12, 2015 / By Courtney / 6 Comments

Well, here we are. It’s January and thoughts tend to shift towards making positive changes, working on bad habits, eating better, and all that jazz. I’m sharing some of my favorite healthy living tips I try to maintain throughout the year, and I would so love to hear any you have!

1. We all know drinking water is good for you. Luckily, I love to drink it in excess, especially in this cute water bottle. I start every morning with a large icy glass and a 1/2 squeezed lemon. Kickstarts my metabolism for the day and is such a natural wake up call.

2. I like to think about healthy living from my head to my toes. This argan oil does wonders for dry skin. Also works great on any cuts you may have as well as dry cuticles.

3. Get healthy and super shiny hair with this oil. After blasting my hair with a hair dryer and straightener for years, I finally called it quits. Most of the time I just rub this oil on and let it air dry. Major, major difference.

4. We all know exercise is important, but I like to remember to keep everything in balance. Days where I am toting around kids, chasing my 35 pound toddler, running up and down the stairs with laundry, chores, etc., totally counts. I just make it a point to… move. Bonus that I get to wear these cute shoes. When it feels like I’m not moving enough, I get my butt on my neighborhood hills or treadmill.

5. Sleep. I think I tell M every night before I go to bed that I love sleep. So much. I try to get at least seven hours. Most nights it is 8-9. I fully realize that is not the phase everyone is in. For B’s first year, it was probably half of that, if I was lucky. P.S. How cute are these darling pj leggings from Old Navy?

6. My go-to lunch item during the week. Super healthy and low in calories. I heat it up, throw in some crackers, and snack on some of B’s hummus as well. Their lentil soup is also a delicious option.

7. Vitamins. Do you take any? For some reason, I just never stopped taking a prenatal (no mom, I am not pregnant). I figured, why not? Good for you and my hair stylist says it’s great for your hair and nails.

8. Balance. It’s key. 2 glasses of wine, 1 cup of coffee, some exercise, good sleep, good food. Never too much or too little of anything. I try to make this my perspective on most, if not all things.

Do you have any healthy living tips for me?

*The fine print: this post contains affiliate links which means that if you use these links to make a purchase, I may receive a small commission. Of course, you are not obligated to use these links to make your purchase but please know that when you do, it supports my blog and for that I thank you.

C’s picks – week of Jan 11th.

January 11, 2015 / By Courtney / Leave a Comment

After a few weeks off due to the holidays and travel, it’s time to get back in the C’s picks saddle! Here is what will be cooking in our kitchen this week. It’s all about healthy comfort food because you know, it’s horrid outside.

I’ve been hearing great things things about this Broccoli-Quinoa Casserole recipe from a great friend. Let’s give it a go for Sunday dinner.

This one has it all going on: sausage + sweet potatoes + kale in a cheesy white sauce. Yes, please.

Let’s go with a pasta for Tuesday night. This 3 minute one is always a winner.

Sticky bourbon chicken? Oh. Yeah. White rice and broccoli on the side. I can’t wait for Wednesday.

Thursday sounds like a good leftover night.

And then it’s Friday, which means it’s time for our pizza.

A friendly reminder: our awesome Reclaimed giveaway ends TONIGHT! Have you entered? Winner announced on Facebook tomorrow.
C