A Day from Scratch

Concierge cooking - Tailored nutrition

Do one thing every day that scares you

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I’ve done a lot of scary things in my soon to be 28 years. I have quit a job without a back up plan, moved to another city and state all alone to pursue a dream that I kept secret for years, I sang at my best friend’s wedding, I went to culinary school, I started a food blog, I started a business, I’ve online dated.

Basically what I am getting at is that I am no stranger to making scary life decisions; I actually do it all the time without even knowing it. I follow my heart rather than my head to a default, but I kind of like that about myself.

“Where am I going with this?” you might ask. Or, “Isn’t this blog supposed to be about food?”

Yes, yes it is my friends. I love sharing my recipes with you and I am so grateful for your support. I was terrified of starting a blog last year because of the fear that my mom and dad would be my only readers… and maybe my grandma. Also, that I wouldn’t have what it takes to stay inspired and be vulnerable with people online.

What I am getting at is that it’s ok to be scared of things, but it’s not ok to be numb to your life out of fear. So, for the next 50 days I am going to do one thing every day that scares me. Some things will be big, some will be small; but I will do something every day.

In 51 days I will be 28. I want to go into my 28th year knowing myself a little better than I do today and to know that I am making the best out of this one wild and precious life.

Don’t worry, this site will continue to feature original recipes and the culinary musings of A Day from Scratch. However, you can follow along in this journey here or check back through the 50 Things tab.

Here we go!

Pumpkin Soup

by Filed Under: Home, Recipes, Vegetarian Leave a Comment

It’s Fall-la-la-la!! I’m so excited for the cooler weather I can’t even tell you.

Excited, thrilled, elated for the football, the hunting, the nights of grilling out on the patio. I LOVE FALL, love love love.

So what’s the first thing I do when Fall rolls around?

I make soup.

Pumpkin soup!

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I have been dying to share this recipe with you, my friends, my trusty comrades; that I couldn’t peel the pumpkin fast enough.

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You may feel tempted to use canned pumpkin instead of peeling, scooping out the guts, boiling and pureeing the real thing; but trust me that would be a mistake.

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Not only will your house smell like Fall, but you may “fall” in love with me for giving you this recipe!

Too cheesy?

My apologies, I promise to leave the jokes at home next time.

Ingredients: makes about 6 cups

1 medium sized pumpkin

1/2 sweet onion, diced

2 small carrots, peeled and diced

4 cups chicken or vegetable broth

1 teaspoon Mace seasoning

1/3 cup natural maple syrup

2 Tbsp grapeseed oil

Salt to taste

Recipe:

Start by peeling, scooping out the guts and dicing up the fresh pumpkin. In a large pot heat the grapeseed oil over medium heat and add the onion. Cook about 5 minutes until soft, then add the carrot and cook another 3-5 minutes. Add the diced pumpkin, mace, maple syrup and stir about 30 seconds to allow the mace to bloom. Add the broth, cover the pot and simmer for 20-25 minutes.

Either transfer the soup bits into a blender and puree or use an immersion blender to blend everything together.

Top with a splash of cream and pumpkin seeds, or serve with toast and enjoy!

You’re going to love it my friends. Happy Fall!

Chicken Lettuce Wraps with Hoisin Sauce

by Filed Under: Home, Poultry, Recipes 1 Comment

So I have a question for you, my friends. Do you ever suffer from vacation blues?

I never thought vacation blues was a real thing, but after the most incredible weekend in Jackson Hole I have had such a hard time getting back into the swing of things. I just want to go back and relive it all over again. I mean, I could be a mountain woman couldn’t I?

Trying to battle the vacation blues I was determined to have a fun night to bring me back to my reality. So I had some girlfriends over, we made dinner and spent the evening girl gabbing and watching Harry Potter. Side-note I have made it to the 4th movie and let me tell you this Harry Potter business is CrAzY!

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A little about these lettuce wraps: 1. This ain’t your typical PF Changs wrap 2. They are stinkin’ delicious and 3. Make them today please, you won’t be sorry.

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Ingredients:

Hoisin Sauce: makes 1 cup

1 Tbsp grapeseed oil

1 large garlic clove, minced

1/2 tsp chinese five spice

1/2 cup red miso paste

1/2 cup good quality maple syrup

2 Tbsp brown rice vinegar

 

Wraps:

1 pound ground chicken

1 small yellow onion, diced

4 garlic cloves, minced

2 Tbsp finely minced ginger

2 small carrots, peeled and finely diced

1 head of iceberg lettuce

3 green scallions

Sriracha hot sauce for some kick

 

Recipe:

Hoisin Sauce:

Heat the oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and five spice powder and cook for 30 seconds so the spice can bloom. Whisk in the remaining ingredients, bring to a boil, and cook, whisking constantly for 3-4 minutes or until lightly thickened. Let the sauce cool before using. It keeps well in the fridge for a few days.

Wraps:

Heat a 2 Tbsp of grapeseed oil in a sauté pan over medium high heat and add the chicken. Season with salt and pepper and cook about 10-15 minutes until the meat is lightly browned.

In the meantime, heat another 2 Tbsp of oil in a separate skillet. Add the onion, garlic and ginger and cook about 5 minutes until the onion is softened. Add the carrot, a pinch of salt and pepper and cook another 10 minutes.

Combine the chicken and vegetables into 1 pan. Add the hoisin sauce and 1/2 cup of water and cook another 2-3 minutes to bring everything together.

Fill the lettuce cups with the chicken mixture and top with scallions and sriracha. Wrap ’em up and enjoy!

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Alessandro Wedding Festivities in Jackson Hole WY

by Filed Under: Gallivanting, Home 5 Comments

What a whirl wind this weekend was. One of my very best and most beautiful friends, Kendra, married the love of her life, Alex, this past weekend in Jackson Hole Wyoming.

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I have been friends with Kendra since we were in the 7th grade. She is the most compassionate and loving friend I could have ever asked for. We have been through a lot together over the past 15 years and it was such an honor to stand by her side while she married the man of her dreams. Who also happens to be an incredible man!

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Kendra and Alex are lucky enough to call Jackson Hole home. Even though I love me some Austin TX it would be a dream to wake up everyday with the mountains as a backdrop.

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While I was in Jackson for the wedding festivities we ate at one of the most incredible restaurants, and in pure chef like fashion, of course I have to share it with you all.

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Bin 22 has everything you could possibly look for in a lunch spot, great Italian rustic food, incredible beverages and it’s even a little wine shop and market.

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What’s better than great friends, great food and some great vino?

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It was hard to narrow down a few options when everything looked so great, but following the advice of our server we settled on some of the best.

Such as this house pulled mozzarella capreze salad.

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House made meatball in a delicious san marzano sauce with basil and mozzarella

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Charred baby octopus with pickled beans, fingerling potatoes, piquillo peppers, luques olives, lemon-oregano vinaigrette.

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The most incredible gulf shrimp with garlic, piquillo pepper, butter, white wine.

This dish will definitely be making an appearance at my home!

If you ever make it to Jackson Hole, I highly suggest you eat at Bin 22 at least once.

Thank you Bin 22, we had the best time!

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Congratulations again to Kendra and Alex! This weekend was so incredible and I can’t wait to come back and visit. Is next weekend too soon?

 

Comfort Turkey Meatloaf

by Filed Under: Home, Poultry, Recipes 3 Comments

How do you feel about meatloaf? Do you loathe it? Or it is a sweet comfort for you?

Meatloaf was never a staple in my house as a kid, even though it is apparently one of my dad’s favorites. My mom will swear that she made it a few times throughout my childhood, but I must have blocked it out because I don’t remember eating meatloaf until sophomore year of college at the sorority house.

Mise en place

Mise en place

I remember sitting around the dinner table with a few of my friends and being very hesitant to try a loaf of meat. I mean, what was it really? It was a mystery to me. I don’t know why I was so afraid of it, because it was delightful.

Fixins

Fixins

In the years since that fateful meatloaf night, I have made a few different versions of the yummy comfort; some with Bison, Beef, and Pork. This go around I thought I’d make it with Turkey and I loved the way it turned out.

Into the oven we go

Into the oven we go

If you are scared to give meatloaf a try, I highly recommend starting here! Who knows, maybe it will become your new favorite comfort food?

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Ingredients: makes 1 loaf

1 carrot, peeled and smal diced

1 celery stalk, small diced

1 small onion, diced

1/4 red bell pepper, small diced

2 Tbsp grapeseed oil

1 pound lean ground turkey

1/2 cup panko bread crumbs

2 Tbsp tomato sauce

2 teaspoons worcestershire sauce

1 egg, beaten

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 cup chopped parsley

S&P

For the glaze:

1/2 cup tomato sauce

1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce

2 Tbsp brown sugar

1 teaspoon dijon mustard

 

Recipe:

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.

Heat the grapeseed oil in a sauté pan over medium heat and add the diced onion, bell pepper, celery and carrot. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes until the vegetables are soft. Then let the mixture cool.

In a mixing bowl add the ground turkey, breadcrumbs, tomato sauce, garlic and onion powder, worcestershire sauce, egg, parsley and the veggie mixture with some salt and pepper. On a baking sheet form mixture into a loaf. Whisk together the topping ingredients and spread 1/3 of the glaze over the top of the loaf. Bake the loaf for 10 minutes on 450 degrees. Remove the loaf from the oven, and lower the temperature to 350 degrees, add another 1/3 of the glaze. Put back in the oven and bake for 30 minutes. Add the remainder of the glaze and bake another 5 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let cool 5 minutes before slicing. Garnish with parsley and serve alongside a big salad and/or mashed potatoes and devour!

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Lemon and Thyme Pulled Chicken Tacos

by Filed Under: Home, Poultry, Recipes 1 Comment

Sometimes when I am writing recipes I have the intention of having leftovers for the next day. Maybe it will be a busy one and I won’t have time to cook an entire dish or maybe I am just being lazy.

I’m not the only one who just gets flat out lazy sometimes, right? Life can get pretty stressful and being a little lazy is a good way decompress stress. In my book at least.

Back to the recipe. Last night I made this chicken knowing that I was going to be busy today. One of my favorite ways to make pulled chicken is poaching it in the oven with some yummy herbs and spices. Using what I had in my kitchen, lemon and thyme took the prize. You could also use rosemary and lemon- that would be lovely.

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Trying to change it up a bit in the taco arena I decided to shred up some brussels sprouts and then sauté it up instead of just using romaine or cabbage. I must say the brussels really worked here.

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Finishing the tacos off with some black beans, these were quite tasty. I plan on throwing the extras together with some quinoa for a quick grain salad lunch. Be adventurous, how will you use your leftovers?

Lemon and Thyme Pulled Chicken, serves 4-5

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 lemons, sliced and deseeded

1-2 Tablespoons picked thyme

4 garlic cloves, sliced

1 large shallot, sliced

1-2 teaspoons paprika

2 cups chicken broth

Salt and Pepper

 

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. In a baking dish add the garlic, shallot, lemon and thyme to cover the bottom of the dish. Season the chicken breasts with paprika, salt and pepper and add to the dish. Pour the chicken broth into the dish. Cover with foil and bake for about 1 hour.

After an hour, remove the chicken from the liquid and pull apart with two forks. Once the chicken is bite sized return back to the cooking liquid to allow the chicken to absorb the broth. Let the chicken sit for 10 minutes in broth before consuming.

 

Shaved Brussels Sprouts, serves 3-4

8 large brussels sprouts, 3 cups

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

S&P

 

Start by cutting off the root ends of the brussels, and peel off the outer layer. In a food processor, pulse the brussels until desired shredded consistency.

Heat olive oil in a sauté pan and add the brussels. Season with chili powder, salt and pepper and cook for about 4 minutes or until the brussels start to brown. Remove from heat and use to garnish tacos.

* Assemble the tacos with black beans and on corn or flour tortillas. Salsa would also taste good, or add a little spicy jack cheese. Whatever your heart desires.

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Here We Go…

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I am so excited to finally share that…

a day from scratch is officially in business in Austin and surrounding areas!

When I decided to move back to Texas and trade in my musical aspirations for culinary knives I knew that I wanted to be a recipe developer, food blogger/ writer and personal chef I just didn’t know exactly what that would look like. After working for a talented Austin caterer and two prestigious restaurants, I decided that if I didn’t create the business I dreamed of no one would come knocking on my door for it. If you don’t build your dreams, someone else will hire you to build theirs. Right?

For me life is never more perfect than when I am with my friends and family enjoying a great meal. At a day from scratch I believe every day is an opportunity to create a food memory and that is what I am here to do! Help you and your loved ones create delicious memories.

Whether it’s your birthday, anniversary, graduation or just every day living; I’m always cookin’ up a good time! So select your desired service from the drop down menu and let’s get cooking!

Big News Coming Soon!

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Hi friends!

I’m sorry for the lack of recipes this week. I have been super busy working on some exciting things for a day from scratch which has kept me out of the blogisphere.

I’m really excited for the new developments and the news is coming your way SOON!! In the meantime, let’s take a jump back at some of my favorite recipes.

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Braised chicken with apples and leeks.

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Spinach and Mushroom Gnocchi

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Beet Burger

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My favorite meal in Italy, or one of them 🙂

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Venison Meatballs

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Roasted Vegetable Tart

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Filet with Mushroom Marsala Sauce and Mashed Cauliflower

Bear with me friends I’ll be back soon, I promise!

Shrimp Spring Rolls

by Filed Under: Home, Recipes, Seafood, Snacks 2 Comments

It is HOTTTTTTTTTTT in Austin y’all! Summer is definitely in full swing and I have some serious mixed feelings about it.

On the one hand I LOVE Summer because you can be out on the lake or at the pool soaking up the sun with a few crisp and refreshing adult beverages; but on the other hand working in a hot kitchen all day with the sweltering heat outside makes it almost impossible to cool off.

And blowdrying my hair… forget about it!

During the Summer months I crave foods that are light and crisp and that’s exactly what these shrimp spring rolls are.IMG_2426

With a honey lime vinaigrette dressing, these are great as a light lunch or dinner or even an afternoon snack.

I did a happy dance as I devoured these little beauties.

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Ingredients: for 4 spring rolls

1/2 pound large shrimp, deviegned

1 cup fresh spinach

1/2 strawberries, sliced

1/2 avocado, sliced

4 spring roll skins

Juice of 1 lime

1 teaspoon honey

2 teaspoons olive oil

Recipe:

Start by peeling and de-veigning the shrimp. In a pot of boiling water, cook the shrimp for 3 minutes. Be careful not to overcook or the shrimp will become tough. Immediately drain and place in an ice bath.

In the meantime soak the spring roll skins in cool water for 2 minutes. I used a shallow sheet pan with just enough water to cover the skins. Dry on a sheet of parchment paper for just a few minutes.

For the dressing: in a small bowl add the lime juice and honey, whisk to mix. Then while whisking drizzle in the olive oil.

To assemble the rolls: first spread the spring roll skin on a large plate, lay out a layer of spinach, a layer of strawberries, a layer of spinach with 2 slices of avocado. Drizzle the dressing over the top. Fold up the bottom half and top half of the skin, fold over the left side of the skin and roll.

Save a little of the dressing if you want some extra for dippin’

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Fredericksburg Favorites

by Filed Under: Gallivanting, Home Leave a Comment

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This weekend I am in Fredericksburg Texas celebrating my grandparents 60th wedding anniversary. I hope someday to have a marriage just like theirs! They are best friends to the core and have been a shining example for my cousins, sister and me of what it means to really be in love.

Tonight we are throwing them a party of desert and dancing with a 50’s jazz band to celebrate their big milestone. With friends and family coming from all over, it is sure to be a bash to remember!

I have spent my fair share of time in this small German town my grandparents call home, and I love sharing all of it’s gems.

Before we get busy welcoming everyone to town and prepping our party pants, I thought I’d share some of my favorite spots in town. If you are ever in the area be sure to check them out!

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On your way into town on HWY 290 you will pass a bunch of local wineries. Becker Vineyards is definitely my favorite!

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In the midst of all of the wineries is Chef Rebecca Rather’s new hot spot The Pink Pig. Rebecca’s food is delicious and it’s the perfect place to eat for lunch or dinner, especially if you are out touring the wineries. Also, she has the most incredible dog that lays around in the restaurant.

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“Vintage Finds, Modern lines” is a perfect way to decribe Red. Red is full of funky interior design and and home decor.

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Of course Der Kutchen Laden for the chef!

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There are all kinds of boutiques on Main Street, but Root is definitely one of the best. They have great jewelry and fun clothes.

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With some of the best German beers on tap you The Brewery has great German charm.

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If beer is not your thing, maybe fudge is!

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Stop by Bejas Grill for dinner. Their Chile Relleño will not disappoint.

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Then hit up Hondo’s for some live Texas Country Music, dancing, and drinks! If you happen to see any of my cousins or me there at any point, you know it’s about to go down!

I’m off to have a fun family filled weekend!

What are you up to this weekend?