LIFE FROM SCRATCH Archives - Page 98 of 228

Happy Friday!

October 23, 2015 / By Courtney / 11 Comments

Oh my goodness, it’s Friday. And I’m about as happy as a 9 and 3 year old jumping into a pile of leaves. Anyone else feel like it’s been a crazy (busy) long week? Yet the weekend is upon us, heck yeah! Here’s what is on my mind and going on around our home lately. I’d so love to hear what you’ve been up to!

The boys have been slurping up these smoothies lately – even the green machine ones, yippee!

Risk is an essential component of a balanced childhood. Exposure to healthy risk, particularly physical, enables children to experience fear, and learn the strengths and limitations of their own body. Yes, yes, and yes. It’s not a surprise I’d agree with the article, even though I’m often living on the edge of an ER visit between the two boys.

Double date night tonight with my fantastic sister-in-law and her husband, woohoo! Thinking of wearing these. Meow.

Met a darling new mom at the park the other day and she looked oh so chic and relaxed in these awesome booties. I had to ask where they were from and of course, now I can think about nothing else. Just what I need – another pair of boots.

Pot sticker soup. Get it going this weekend, if you can.

Halloween is almost here! Did you see my round up of fun ideas? The bat socks have been a serious hit with the kids.

Oh my gosh, I know, I know… I’m totally that insane person already thinking about the holidays, but I just love them so much! Been scoping out my Christmas card, here. Think I’ve found THE ONE, something that I may or may not obsess over for months.

Speaking of the holidays, these tags cracked me up.

Our favorite red lately. We served it at L’s 9th birthday and haven’t stopped buying it. Major bonus that it’s under $11!

Lots of fall fun to come this weekend, including a big game for the 6-2 Barrington Broncos. Come on boys! Next week the prep begins for cooking club, Halloween, and then… the photography shoot with Apartment Therapy for our home. Seriously excited. Seriously nervous.

What are you and your family up to this weekend? I’d love to hear all about it in a comment below!

Pot sticker soup.

October 21, 2015 / By Courtney / 6 Comments

What is it about shopping at Trader Joe’s that makes you just want to skip through the store with a goofy smile on your face? Seriously. Is it the darling cards priced at $1.99? Finding Tiki the turtle? The best hummus and pita packets ever? Probiotic smoothies that my boys slurp up each and every morning? The friendly staff? Oh, and let’s not forget stickers at check out. A huge win.

Well, as if I needed another reason to jump for joy over this place! And yet I found one. One that is oh so comforting, healthy, and cozy… perfect for fall.

Meet pot sticker soup.

It’s almost laughable how easy this one comes together. Minimal fresh ingredients provide a soothing and light broth. Fry up some pot stickers fresh, and pour the soup over or let them hang out in the broth to develop more and more flavor. We, along with my parents, gobbled this up. Not a morsel left for lunch the next day. Although my mom did hoard some for her breakfast.

Not kidding!

Pot Sticker Soup

2015-10-20 11:09:23

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Ingredients

TJ's 100% Greek Kalamata Olive Oil (I used plain olive oil)
1 package TJ's Potstickers (Pork, Chicken, Shrimp or Vegetable...we used chicken)
1 container TJ's Mirepoix (this is simply onion, carrots, and celery diced up)
salt and pepper
2 packages TJ's Low Sodium Chicken Broth
1 bag TJ's Baby Spinach
1 tablespoon TJ's Soy Sauce
1 tablespoon TJ's Joe’s Sesame Oil
TJ's Cilantro, for garnish (optional, but oh so delicious)
1/4 teaspoon TJ's Sea Salt, or to taste

Instructions

Coat the bottom of a large frying pan with oil (about 2-3 tablespoons) and lightly fry the gyoza over medium-high heat until they get some nice browning on both sides (about 10 minutes total).
In a large soup pot, pour a couple tablespoons of oil and add the mirepoix (onions, celery, carrots). Saute the vegetables in the pot until the onions start to appear translucent. Season with salt and pepper, generously. Add the broth to the pot and bring to a slow simmer. When the soup gets going, toss in the spinach and add the soy sauce and sesame oil. When the soup is officially simmering, add the potstickers.
Serve it up in bowls and garnish with cilantro.

Notes

The original recipe calls to fry the potstickers first and add to the soup. Totally delicious but I found the potstickers loose their 'crunch' which is a big part of the appeal of a potsticker, in my opinion. So I prefer to make the broth part of this recipe and come time to serve, fry the potstickers fresh and pour the broth over.

Adapted from Trader Joe's

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

A free gift for newsletter subscribers!

October 19, 2015 / By Courtney / 24 Comments

Are you a subscriber to the ALFS newsletter? If so, I want to say thank you. Thank you for following this blog and our lives each week by letting us into your inbox. It means so much to us that we are there!

Well now I’ve got a free gift for newsletter subscribers. Take a peek at this super cute and super functional menu planner and grocery list. It’s perfect for following along C’s picks each week, or doing your own menu planning thing. Either way works!

To download your freebie, check out the most recent edition of my newsletter (sent to you on Sunday and Wednesday mornings!) for a link. Download it and save to your computer, then print out a bunch and get to planning.

If you’re not currently a newsletter subscriber but want to get in on the fun, simply click here to sign up. Make sure you follow all instructions (and confirm your email address!), and the printable will be yours to download as well.

Thank you all for supporting my blog. I hope you find my new menu planner and grocery list to be helpful!

C’s picks – week of October 18th

October 18, 2015 / By Courtney / 1 Comment

I hope everyone is enjoying these magical days of Fall as much as we are! Outside forever, am I right?

Let’s take a break from all the fun to work on our menu plan for the upcoming week. Here we go.

On Sunday night, we’re going to watch some of our favorite all-stars play at the high school game – woohoo! Chili at home afterward. I’m thinking my end of summer chili will be a hit, along with some skillet cornbread and my new favorite salad.

We tried this one-pot chili mac and cheese a few weeks ago, and we enjoyed it but feel it could be even better. For Monday, I’m going to add some tweaking this time around to hopefully get it perfect.

Let’s get something healthy going in the crock pot for Tuesday. Slow cooker tuscan chicken stew sounds heavenly.

It’s been awhile since we’ve had some homemade pizza around here. His & hers sounds perfect for Wednesday night.

We need something quick for Thursday night, so let’s go with our always a hit homemade tostadas.

And that brings us to Friday and to a double date night out with Aunt Becky and Uncle Tyler – yippee!

This is our kitchen line-up for the coming week. What’s cooking in your kitchen? I’d love to hear about it in a comment below!

Halloween’s coming…

October 16, 2015 / By Courtney / 21 Comments

“Halloween’s coming, skeletons will be after YOU!” I hope you know the song I’m referencing. Preschool? Anyone? Ok. It’s Halloween prep around here, and I wanted to share some of our spooky ideas that are major players in our get-together with close family and friends. Eek! Can’t wait.

This black bean soup. It’s everything. Not only is it insanely delicious and healthy, but, I cook it up in a big black pot and totally pretend I’m a witch.

Essie’s Devils advocate, every year.

What are your kids dressing up as this year? B has picked out this frog costume. So random, but it totally works on him. L has reached the age where he’s too cool to actually dress up, so you basically take your sports jersey and make it scary. Obviously I nominated M to handle that.

Spider cookies are oh so scary. And oh so delicious.

It is so rainy and cold every. single. year. Hoping this year is different but if not, these rain boots are ready to go.

Spooky napkins are a must.

DYING over these bat socks. This is as far as I go in terms of dressing up because I am a boring person. Ordered.

I’ve mentioned this Bogle Phantom wine before on the blog as one of our favs. Perfect for a spooky night!

And going along with the wine… obviously you need these red cups, you know, for your own little treat while you’re chasing little goblins all over the neighborhood in the freezing cold.

Good luck to all parents on the scariest night of the year – that is, until the next day. Because nothing is scarier than kids who are hungover on sugar. Nothing.

What are some of your family’s must-have and must-do traditions for Halloween? Tell me all about it in a comment below!