Catz in the Kitchen

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Tuesday's Tidings for March 4, 2014

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1. As mentioned in the weekly menu, we made Lauren's easy cauliflower mac n' cheese last night. Wow. That was amazing. Chels and I both love cauliflower anyway, but in this pureed form, with cheddar and parmesan cheeses, it adds this marvelous layer of creaminess and richness to everything without being high in calories or weighty like a sauce made with cream. Incredible. I highly recommend. Perhaps we'll blog it, or adapt it with stronger cheeses or a crunchy topping. We shall see.


2. Speaking of amazing - how incredible is this paper? I don't know (or care) if this was really a student's paper or not. Nor do I care if the teacher providing the appropriate critique surrounding the many fragments in said paper. It is mind-blowingly clever, and deserved a AA or a AAA+ or whatever is better than A+ these days (ask the credit rating agencies, they will know). Sorry, financial markets humor in a food blog. Bad idea.

3. So, Chels already talked about the Oscars in the weekly menu, but let me just say, it was awesome to see Gravity sweep the show, and 12 Years a Slave take away the big prize. I haven't seen 12 Years yet, thought we both really want to, but it's a true story, a historical one, and an important one. Gravity was original, riveting sci-fi pushed to creative limits. These are the kinds of films I wish swept the Oscars every year.

4. Speaking of sic-fi, if you haven't read Lee Hutchinson's feature "The Audacious Rescue Plan That Might Have Saved Space Shuttle Columbia," you should. Well, okay, in fairness, it's not for everyone, as it gets pretty deep and technical in parts, but it is a moving, gripping tale of NASA as we once saw it, and would love to see it again. I didn't live through the moon landings or Apollo 13, but I grew up with a reverence for the work done by the American space program, and, someday, I'd love to have a reason to feel that reverence again.

5. It's been a bit of a tough two weeks here at Catz. I've had a perpetual sore throat, and Chels has had a severe tooth ache - two things that don't exactly lead to creativity in the kitchen. It's been one of those times when bringing enthusiasm to the table isn't really happening, but we're both on the upswing, I think (though Chels could be hit and miss until after her consultation with the oral surgeon a week from now) - hence the cauliflower mac n' cheese last night!

Well, that's all I've got for tonight - a short Tuesday's Tidings, to be sure! It'll be better next week, when you get Chels back! :)

Weekly Menu 3/3-3/9

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How did your weekend go? It's not quite over as I sit here and write this. I'm watching the Oscars and Daniel-Day Lewis just walked on to give the award for Best Actress...c'mon Sandra Bullock!! I think all of the actresses in the running are fantastic. But the only movie I've seen out of the group is Gravity.
And the Oscar goes to...CATE BLANCHETT! Love her dress! Does she ever age? Just wondering. You know what I think it is, I think it's an Aussie thing, I mean hello; Nicole Kidman, Naomi Watts...all of those woman just seem to look younger each year.

So if you read last Friday, then you know I've been dealing with dental issues. I actually had an appointment on Friday at my dentist office. (Don...don...don!) And they are sending me to an oral surgeon on the 12th! Sadly, I thought it was for this coming Wednesday and then went and looked at my appointment card and realized that I have to deal with this for a bit longer. And for probably a bit longer after that. I mean this could go on forEVER! So annoying! I think dental issues is like one of the worst things ever for a food blogger because not only do we make the food, but we kind of have to eat it too. That eating part isn't going so well, but what can ya do? How about we move onto the food.

Monday
(Meatless)
Tuesday
(Taco)
Wednesday
(Crockpot)
Irish Stew and Biscuits
Thursday
Turkey Chili and Cornbread
Friday
Hawaiian Pizza with Salad
Saturday
Italian Chicken with Pasta and Peas
Sunday
BBQ Chicken Wraps and Fries

February's Cooking Class

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February's cooking class almost didn't happen due to our snowpocolypse! Our class was scheduled for the very day our big snowstorm hit and sadly it got cancelled. But, Lisa is a saint, because she rescheduled it. I'm so glad I didn't miss this class because it was FANTASTIC!

Seeing as this was the February class, it was all sweet and Italian themed-my kind of class! We made mini focaccia loaves, caesar salad, lasagna, and cappuccino brownie cupcakes! I seriously was in love with all of the food. I was able to bring a few leftovers home and Josh wiped out the bread and cupcakes and Christian and I shared the lasagna for lunch the next day and it was GOOD!

One of my favorite things about this class was that it was kind of centered around a meal ministry idea. The lasagna recipes (which is amazingly simple to prepare) makes THREE 9x13 baking dishes. The idea being you make one for yourself, one for someone else, and one for one of those days. The focaccia loaves are in individual servings, so each person gets their own little loaf, the caesar salad is actually Lisa's husband recipe that he prepares for his firehouse and it is so so easy and out of this world good. So much better than the stuff you buy in the bags in the grocery store. And the brownie cupcakes-oh my word! We made mini cupcakes and I could of eaten like five of them! I'm going to play with that recipe a bit for a St. Patrick's Day post for all of you I think.

I've told you Lisa has a little store in one of the bedrooms in her house that carries some of the things we use in the class. Like dishes, parchment paper, serving dishes, etc. I bought a few things that I could use for when I bring meals to people I know who need it. I love the idea of making it personal and special to someone who could use a little encouragement. Just speaking for myself in the times when I've had my babies or when I had my miscarriage...when someone brings you a meal...it is the BIGGEST DEAL! Eating or preparing food is the last thing you have the energy or time for and it is so nice to not have to worry about it. So I completely loved this class and I can't wait to put the tips I've learned to use.

Turkey Taco Lettuce Wraps

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I don't know why, but when I think of Mardi Gras (or Fat Tuesday) I always think of indulging in Mexican food. But Mardi Gras takes place in New Orleans and as far as I know, it's not Mexican food their eating during Fat Tuesday. It's creole food, which I absolutely know nothing about other than I know they eat gumbo, shrimp, and other Southern spicy things. I guess it's high time for me to take a trip to Louisiana!

 But here's why I think about Mexican food when I hear the words Mardi Gras. I blame it all on the Fat Tuesday bar in Las Vegas. I ordered a Margarita when I was there a million years ago and margaritas make me think of Mexican cuisine. Not Southern creole.

But whatevs! We are going to celebrate Mardi Gras (which is next Tuesday, March 5) with Mexican food. WHO'S WITH ME? Now that we're all on the same page, can we just talk about how cute these are? It's like the easiest dinner to throw together. I cooked up the turkey with some spices and diced green chillies and then the rest was cake. I just set out an assembly line of ingredients that I like in my tacos; black beans, corn, olives, cilantro, and salsa and I let the kids and Josh put however much they wanted into their little lettuce cups and they loved it! Josh was worried that this wouldn't be a filling dinner, but we each had two and were very full afterwards. These are also VERY healthy. Think along the lines of 130 calories per wrap. No guilt and all flavor. I left the cheese out because I wanted to see if I would miss it and I didn't.

I promise you guys will love these as much as we did and if you've got kids, they will really love getting to eat dinner with their hands.

Turkey Taco Lettuce Wraps

Recipe by Chelsia Rief
Craving a light, healthy, latin-esque treat? This is a tasty one of which you can feel very good about going back for seconds!

Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 15 min
Yield: approx 12
Ingredients

  • 1 large head iceberg lettuce, cored and sliced in half
  • 1 lb ground turkey
  • 2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • 7 oz (1 can) Ortega diced green chiles
  • 15 oz (1 can) black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 15 oz (1 can) corn, drained
  • 15 oz (1 can) black olives, drained and sliced
  • ¼ cup cilantro, chopped

Cooking Directions

  1. In a skillet, brown ground turkey. Once browned, stir in spices and chiles, heating over a low flame for about five minutes.
  2. Set out lettuce wraps and pour turkey, black beans, corn, olives, and cilantro in separate bowls, creating an assembly line so everyone can fill their lettuce cups with the fillings.
  3. Top with salsa, sour cream, and any other toppings you desire.

Tuesday's Tidings for February 25, 2014

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1. One of my favorite things about the house we live in is the trees we have around it. We only have one tree in our backyard, but on the side of the backyard, there are a few more trees up against the house and Josh, the kids, and I keep bird feeders and suet feeders all around the house. Honestly, I think we are the only neighbors who take of the birds. People don't know what their missing, I tell ya! We had a new bird stop by our suet feeder the other day. I asked Grace (because she is our resident bird expert) what it was and she had no idea. So I googled it and found out it is a Varied Thrush. It's gorgeous and quite big too. If you have a few trees around your house, you should get your kids involved and let them pick out suet. They kids will love it!

2. Pam, one of my FB friends shared this link the other day about the truth about Andy's mom in Toy Story! It's amazing and completely makes sense! Love!

3. Downton Abbey Season 4:Episode. 8-SEASON FINALE PEOPLE! Finally, a season ended on a high note! Sure the ending was not as mind boggling as some of the previous ones. But I loved the sending scene. It made my heart happy and can I just say those two are MFE. (That's made for each other if you have been living under a shell your whole life and haven't ever watched "Sleepless in Seattle." I love how Edith has come full circle. That's right girl! Go get your baby!!! I love how Mary has to deal with the horrible issue of choosing between two men who are hopelessly in love with her! In the words of Ann Shirley, "I would rather one in his rightful mind." And well, Josh and I enjoyed how they wove some real history about the Prince of Whales in there. I loved the ending and cannot wait till next year with hopefully more Paul Giamatii.

4. For the past 4 days, my jaw has been incredibly sore. It hurts to eat foods that are real chewy. My TMJ is really bad right now so I'm thinking maybe I clenched my teeth a few nights in a row. My friend told me to get some TMJ therapy at somewhere like Dentist Alexandria but I haven't got round to it yet. Either way...it hurts bad!

5. I don't know about you, but I'm ready for spring!

6. I love this picture of my little guy. He is so so cute!!!

7. This mocha bread pudding looks to die for! I'm going to need to make this sometime soon.

8. Last week I ordered a pair of Toms for Christian AND I'm getting a sample box from The Honest Company of Diapers, wipes, and household cleaners. I'm quite positive I'll just cancel the membership after I get the sample since I make my own cleaners, but I'm curious to try out the diapers, even though I love Pampers. They've served our family well for all the years we've needed them.

9. I know that at this time of every year most people are flipping out for the Girl Scout cookies, but can I let you in on a secret? I'm not a fan. I never buy the boxes and I don't have a particular flavor I like the best. I always feel bad saying,"no" to the sweet little girls when I ask if I want to buy their cookies, but I never carry cash on me, so it's easy for me to answer. Even if I do feel guilty about not buying anything.

10. I need to find more time in my daily schedule to read. The last few times that I've actually picked up a book that wasn't my Bible (unless you count the two Strawberry Shortcake books I read to Eden yesterday) and read was the last few times I actually took a bubble bath. I need more time to read. How do you make time for reading?

Weekly Menu 2/24-3/2

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Last week I wasn't feeling very put together. This week, I already feel on top of Monday and it's not even here yet as I'm writing this. And next week is looking just as good. I mean, I already have three, ( Count em 1..2..3..) dinner ideas written down for next week along with a dessert! Booya! Doing good!
Last week was soooo INSANE! I feel like I literally had plans almost every day or evening last week. And do you know what my cat did? She once again chewed through my charging cable that was connected to my MacBookPro. Ho, this was not the first time though. She pulled this same little stunt back in December. So we once again had to buy another charging cable...and they aren't cheap! This cat sometimes thinks she's a dog. So I basically missed one whole day of emails and post editing because working from my phone isn't my cup of tea and using Josh's laptop proved to be rather difficult because it wouldn't let me click and drag and that's basically how I run my online life. Clicking and dragging. Just kidding. Not really. Anyhoo, onto the good stuff. The Food!

Monday
Dinner at my in-laws 
Tuesday
(Taco)
Chicken Enchiladas and Refried Beans
Wednesday
(Crockpot)
Split Pea Soup and Rolls
Thursday
BBQ Chicken Wraps and Fries
Friday
Hawaiian Pizza and a Side Salad
Saturday
Chicken Fried Steak with Cream Gravy and Roasted Green Beans
Sunday
Fried Egg Sandwiches and Smoothies

Grapefruit Buttermilk Doughnuts with Candied Zest

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And now for something completely different... Yes, these are grapefruit buttermilk donuts, and yes, they will make you and your tastebuds dream of spring. Enjoy!
Grapefruit Doughnuts | Catz in the Kitchen | catzinthekitchen.com #doughnuts
 
I feel like I've had a lot of dinner flops lately in the kitchen. On average, I'm making one-two new recipes a week. Sometimes I make them with the hopes that I can turn them into a post for Catz and other times, it's just something to feed my family for dinner. But, I feel like I've had A LOT of flops. It's probably only been like three or four recipes that didn't turn out, but ugh, I hate it! And I get snobby about it too. If it doesn't turn out, or the flavor is just to one-note, I simply won't eat it. I push my plate or bowl aside and look for something else. That's kind of terrible right?

Sometimes, you get a recipe that you know could be good and somehow you missed a step or the recipe ingredients need to be rethought, rethunked, rethinked? Anyways, the ingredients need to be polished up a bit. And when a recipe like that goes haywire, you know in the back of your head that you can salvage it and probably make it better. But then there are times when you find a recipe...say on Pinterest and the picture looks amazing. Delicious! You could practically like the screen-kind of good and then you make it, following the instructions to a T and it is bad, bad bad! And worst part about it, you have no idea how to improve it! So between those two types...I've had a few bad recipes. Life of a foodblogger, eh?

Grapefruit Doughnuts | Catz in the Kitchen | catzinthekitchen.com #doughnuts

Thankfully, these doughnuts are not lacking in any area. The recipe is easy to follow. And the flavor?? WOW! I made these doughnuts back when we had a ton of snow dumped on us and I had so many doughnuts I ended up sharing with our neighbors and my parents who came by one afternoon. They are bright and cheery and make me wish spring was here, and I love winter, so that's saying something.
 
If you're in a winter funk and you need some cheering up, you should get yourself into the kitchen and whip these up!
Grapefruit Doughnuts | Catz in the Kitchen | catzinthekitchen.com #doughnuts
 
 

Grapefruit Doughnuts | Catz in the Kitchen | catzinthekitchen.com #doughnuts

Grapefruit Buttermilk Doughnuts with Candied Zest

Yield: 12
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes

And now for something completely different... Yes, these are grapefruit buttermilk donuts, and yes, they will make you and your tastebuds dream of spring. Enjoy!

Ingredients

  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 ¼ cups buttermilk
  • 1 egg, lightly beaten
  • 2 tablespoon canola oil
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 grapefruits
  • 1 cup powdered sugar

Instructions

  1. Collect the zest from one grapefruit. Cut four two-inch long strips of the zest from the second grapefruit, and slice them thinly. Collect three tablespoons of juice from either or both of the grapefruits.
  2. Use non stick cooking spray to coat two six-cavity donut pans.
  3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  4. In a large bowl, combine flour, 1 ½ cups sugar, baking powder, ginger, and salt, and mix well.
  5. In a small bowl, combine buttermilk, egg, canola oil, vanilla, and the zest of one grapefruit, and whisk until combined.
  6. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir.
  7. Spoon batter into pans, filling each cavity to a bit over ¾ full.
  8. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Allow to cool in pan for five minutes before turning donuts out on a wire rack to cool completely.
  9. In a small bowl, whisk powdered sugar and grapefruit juice until smooth, then set aside.
  10. In a small saucepan, combine strips of zest, 3 tablespoons sugar, and 3 tablespoons water, and bring to a boil.
  11. Reduce heat to a low flame, and simmer until sugar has dissolved. Strain.
  12. Toss zest immediately in remaining unused sugar until coated.
  13. Transfer to cutting board and chop.
  14. Dip the top of each donut carefully in the glaze, then place on a wire rack glaze side up, allowing the excess to drip off. Sprinkle immediately with chopped zest.

Notes

Carrie Purcell for Country Living Magazine

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 296Total Fat: 3gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 17mgSodium: 234mgCarbohydrates: 64gFiber: 1gSugar: 46gProtein: 4g

Nutrition information isn’t always accurate.

© Catz in the Kitchen
Category: Dessert

Easy Biscuits and Gravy

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Don't eat it every morning, but when you need a little brunch comfort food fast, this recipe for easy biscuits and gravy is what you want!
Easy Biscuits & Gravy | Catz in the Kitchen | catzinthekitchen.com | #Gravy #Recipe #Breakfast #Biscuits
 Without a doubt, one of the most comforting, indulgent old-fashioned breakfasts, from my perspective, is biscuits and gravy. I'm not from the South (though my grandma is), so I have no idea what the "traditional" preparation is supposed to taste like, but I know that the versions we have access to here in the Northwest are quite tasty. I've ordered it in restaurants, with varying degrees of success (generally, the cardinal sin seems to be an insufficient amount of salt), but nearly every time I've tried it at home, it's turned out perfectly. And little wonder - there are a just a couple of ingredients in the gravy, which is the easy part, and the only part I attempt! Yep, I use a can of Grands biscuits. Why? Because they're incredibly tasty. Chels makes some great drop biscuits, and maybe someday I'll learn how to do that, but right now, not being especially comfortable with baking but being incredibly comfortable with a skillet over open flame, I'll stick with what works. [Read more...]

Tuesday's Tidings February 18, 2014

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1. My funny little Valentines. I love this picture! They are ALL looking at the camera, they all have beautiful smiles! These are the moments we as mom's live for, haha! Just kidding. Actually, this is the first picture I've had of the 3 of them in awhile. It's now the lock screen picture on my phone.

2. I love weekends that have holidays on a Monday. It makes the week so much shorter and better.

3. Downton Abbey Season 4:episode 7- I liked this episode, but I didn't love it. I think it's kind of cute that Violet is trying to set up Isobelle with quite a dashing older gentleman. I think it's rather sweet. I'm glad Edith confided in Violet. Robert is back, yay! Tom is such a gentleman. He's come quite a long ways since Sybil died. Anna confided in Mary-thank goodness!!! And Mr. Green is DEAD! (BOM...BOM...BOM!!!!!) Do I think Bates did it? Heck Ya! He had honorable motive. Is that a thing? Honorable motive?? Anyways, Greens out and now Anna has a whole new set of worries.  What do we say about Rose and Mr. Ross. I like the guy. He's a sweetie. But, it would be quite the scandal if those two went public. But let's face it, Downton is all about scandal!

4. It has been raining cats and dogs over here. All the little rivers in our town and ponds by our house are so high...between the melted snow and all the rain, we have a flood warning for our area. Is it bad that I think if a little, itty bitty flood were to happen that it would be kind of exciting?

5. Last week at Awana, one of Grace's friends was wearing like the cutest outfit ever. Dark skinny jeans, riding boots that made me envious, and the most darling little peplum sweater. Anyways, Grace has a pair of really cute boots, but she can only wear them with leggings or tights. I've been wanting to get her into a pair of skinny jeans for awhile, but she has always really hated them. She really just does not like tight things on her ankles. So I took her to Ross yesterday to look at new flats for her (which we didn't find) and to try on a pair of skinny jeans. I grabbed her a couple of pairs and this really cute top to try it on with and she ended up falling in love with these kids Jessica Simpson brand skinny jeans. They are a really dark blue, very nice stretchy material of jeans and the top with them...it was just the most darling outfit ever! Most importantly, Grace was in love with it! So she bought the jeans and the shirt for such a good price. Now to find her some ballet flats she likes. All of the flats she tries on either squish her toes or slip on the heels. The heels is the easy fix, but the squished toes is just no good.

6. I never get my nails done, but my in.loves got me a mani-pedi gift certificate for my bday back in December, so I decided to cash it in on Sunday, so my nails would look nice for my Valentine's Date with my hubby. Josh and I decided to get the girls their nails done too for their Valentine's Day gift. They LOVED it! I knew they would. It was so much fun to do with them and they love their colors!

7. I think I'm ready for spring.

8. St. Patrick's Day is quickly approaching. Anything you would like to see me make? I'm starting a list now!

9. My Cat!!! I love her to death, but the thing likes to chew. We've discovered she's been chewing on our laptop charger again! We've already replaced it once. I'll be conserving the battery life on my computer today.

10. I'm in the process of switching all of my foodie emails to my catz email address. That's a lot of resubscribing and and unsubscribing. But hopefully, it will make my email a bit more organized.

Okay, signing off to preserve my laptop battery. Gah! Cat!

Weekly Menu 2/17-2/23

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Did you all have a wonderful Valentine's Day? I hope you all got majorly spoiled by your loved ones. We celebrated a little bit all weekend long and ended it last night with dinner at a nice restaurant in the city. It was perfect!

This week has been a busy one for us. Josh flew to San Francisco for work and we had lot's of school things going on. I thought I would share the cute picture Grace drew of a California Gull for science this week.  I love her artwork and I proudly display all of my kids are projects on the door that leads to our garage.

Monday
(Meatless)
Tuesday
(Taco)
Taco Lettuce Wraps and rice
Wednesday
(Crockpot)
Chicken Parmesan Subs

Thursday
Cooking Class

Friday
(Pizza)
Canadian Bacon and Pineapple with a Salad

Saturday
Marriage Dinner Celebration with our Church

Sunday
Fried Egg Sandwiches and Smoothies