Catz in the Kitchen

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Weekly Menu 1/31-2/6

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Oh my gosh, this was a busy weekend. And we didn't get much packing done either. I got a lot of cleaning done, but not a lot of packing. We did however, get a lot of little things done. Basically, everything I wanted to get done this weekend got done! YAY!!

The menu however is always a hard thing to figure out when your in the midst of moving. We got some grocery shopping done and even though we said it was going to be a light trip, we still came out close to what we would normally spend on a normal shopping trip. How does that happen? I'm blaming it on the frozen pizzas Josh wanted to buy.

We took the kids to California Pizza Kitchen last night, for one last nice family dinner before the rest of the house gets completely torn apart and the meals become a lot less thoughtful. And we had such a fantastic time! I tell you, I love that place because your money really stretches there. Josh and I never even mess with straying from their pizza menu. We go there, only for the pizza...and occasionally we'll have an appetizer too. I know they have a million other things on the menu that's delicious, but they are known for their pizza and Josh and I can split one and it's cheap and yummy. Grace and Eden both ate their pizzas and we're so good too. We had a great dinner together.

I don't really know the order of the menu this week. It's just going to be kind of whatever we both feel like having. But we bought some pepper turkey deli meat from the deli, and some bacon. So I imagine we'll be doing a lot of sandwiches this week and maybe pizza again one night.

That's basically the menu. Sorry it's not more impressive, but I promise it will get better once we're settled into the house :)

Kitchen Item of the Week: Potato Bin

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It's been such a long long time, since I've posted a Kitchen Item of the Week. But here it is, at long last. :)

Let me ask you a question. How do you store your potatoes?

Potatoes, take up a lot of space and like to be kept in cool dark places. They're a pretty needy little vegetable.

When I was a little girl, my grandma bought my mom a potato bin. I thought it was the coolest thing I had ever seen when I was little and my mom has been using it for like 16 years. But as I got older, I made no secret to her, letting her know how much I wanted it someday. I even went as far as trying to coax my dad into making one for me.

But, my mom finally broke down and gave it to me. I think she was tired of me asking for it and it was taking up space in her pantry hallway, so over to my house it came.

I remember, I stayed home from church the day Josh brought it home for me from my mom's house. He walked in the door carrying the bin...and said something like," Um, your mom told me to give you this...what is it, why does it say Taters, and your not really going to keep this in the kitchen are you?" LOL!
I do admit, though I thought this was really cute when I was younger, it is kind of hokey looking now, but I love it's purpose. To store my potatoes. 
I would like to repaint this and make it a more modern potato bin so it could match the rest of our home decor. And the word Taters on it, now reminds me of that scene in Lord of the Rings when Sam is telling Gollum what a tater is "PO-TA-TOE" and that even Gollum couldn't turn his nose up at it, heehee. 
Hopefully, once we've moved and got settled in and Spring decides to show it's pretty shining face I can turn this into a potato bin that goes with everything else :)

Weekly Menu 1/24-1/30

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I think we've all recovered now...I hope. Early last week the girls got really sick and then 2 days later, it hit my husband, and then me. I am now just starting to feel like myself again. Everyone else seemed to bounce back pretty easily, but for me, it's taken a few days longer. But, I'm on the mends.
Saturday, we signed the papers and handed over a hunk of money so that we can officially say...The House is Ours! Friday, February 4th, we'll have the walk through and get the keys and begin moving some things over like food and clothing; and hopefully a washer and dryer. We found one on Craigslist the other day for a really good deal so we're hoping to look at it on Thursday, when were back in Oregon City and pay the guy...and he's said it's fine to keep it there until we move on Friday. Which is really nice. But, it could always fall through, but I am keeping my fingers crossed. 
For this week and the following week, my menu will not be to exciting. I think towards the end of the week, I'm going to begin packing some of the food I don't plan on using as well as some dishes...so it's going to start getting bare minimum meals. I predict a lot of sandwiches in our future. 
Monday
We're thinking Pizza. We don't know if we'll do a take and bake or make a homemade margarita pizza...but I think it will be pizza for sure.
Tuesday
Chicken Tostadas
Wednesday
Breakfast...not sure what kind yet.
Thursday
Chili Casserole
Friday
Leftovers
Saturday
I think we'll be celebrating my Father in Law's birthday
Sunday
I don't know.
I got a beautiful Spring Form Pan for my Birthday from my brother and sister in law, that I am so excited to use. They got me an awesome dessert magazine to go with it, but because I'm moving, I haven't even unwrapped my pan yet. I'm just going to pack it, and then as soon as we get settled and  back on a routine...I plan on making something delicious with it. :) So I won't be making any desserts or snacks for the next 2 weeks at least.

We're moving!!

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Hello, everyone!

We have some news. The whole Cat family is moving!

We've found a home to rent a lot closer to our families ( about 10 miles from them actually) and so were going to  be moving. We've decided on a move-in day of February 5th, which is about 2 weeks away.

A lot of packing and preparation is going to be going on while we get ready for this move so that means I will probably won't have much time for a lot of cooking or blogging. I imagine we'll be doing very easy meals for the next two weeks.

I'll try and get on and post things as I have the time for, but sadly this means I'll be away from cooking yummy things in my kitchen and sharing them with you and I won't be linking up any dishes to my other foodies either. As soon as we get settled into our new place, I'll pick up where we left off. In the mean time, just say a prayer that we can get everything done in 2 weeks that needs to be done :)

Love,
Chels & Josh :)

Weekly Menu 1/17-23

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My kids are sick. Well, they are still sick from their colds, but last night, we think they got food poisoning from a restaurant. So they spent the entire night ridding their bodies of anything that wanted out. It was a looong night! Today they are on a liquid diet till we feed them something bland tonight and them tomorrow they start more antibiotics.

We celebrated Josh's birthday Saturday night and it was a lot of fun. He got the Inception Soundtrack which he was really excited about, a couple of giftcards to Macy's, books, money, and some Starbucks Love...not to mention the Panini Press the girls and I bought for him.

Josh's mom made him his favorite cake. Josh isn't much of a cake person, so every year his mom makes him his special Texas Sheet Cake...do you want to know how old my hubs is? He is 26 years old now!
We still have to go grocery shopping. I may run out and do it later or if the girls are feeling up to it, we might do it tonight. But I do have a menu for everyone. 
I will say this in advance- we have more birthday cake in the house and so therefore, I will not be making any sweets this week. I know, I know, I said I would last week...but I guess I fibbed just a bit ;)
Monday
We're going to do eggs and toast for the girls tonight. Simple and Bland, but Josh will probably spice ours up a bit :)
Tuesday
Baked Potato Soup
Wednesday
I'm going to use the Honeybaked Ham in my freezer with artichokes and herbed rice.
Thursday
( Awana Night)
Chili Casserole
Friday
Homemade Margarita Pizza with a salad
Saturday
Josh is going to try out his Panini Press and make us sandwiches with chips
Sunday
Chicken Tostadas
Well, that's it. I'm looking forward to Sunday's dinner, it sounds good to me...but right now, everything sounds good to me since I haven't eaten all day because I didn't want to make my kids feel bad since they can't eat till tonight. Now, that's love right there ;)
Have a great week everyone, and please try and stay healthy!

Mmm, Garlic Salmon!

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Monday was Josh's Birthday and I wanted to make him a special dinner. Having your birthday on a Monday kind of sucks. It's the beginning of the week and your tired and there is still a long week ahead of you. But I wanted him to have a special evening at home with his ladies.

When I was scanning our grocery stores ad, I saw that Salmon was on sale. We don't get to eat a lot of salmon in our house because normally it's expensive and it doesn't play well with our budget. But they had salmon on sale for $5.99 lb and I thought...maybe, just maybe...that was something I could make work into our budget.

I called my mom to ask her about what kind of salmon it was and her thoughts. The salmon was a Wild Alaska Yukon River Kepa Salmon and she said, it's on the lower totem pole as far as Salmon goes, but that they've ate it many times and it's good. My thoughts were, I don't care where on the totem pole it is, if I can afford it, Salmon is Salmon and Josh and I love it and I wanted to get it for him. So I went to the store and got my groceries and Salmon and came home.

The menu  I had planned out was the Garlic Salmon, with baked sweet potatoes, a fruit salad, and seasoned corn. All delicious and healthy, but simple too.

The first thing I did was take a baking sheet and place some aluminum foil on top of it and sprayed it with cooking spray. Then I rinsed off my fish and patted it dry and laid it on top of the greased foil. Then I set my oven for 450 degrees.

Then I started mincing my garlic. Fresh garlic is one of my favorite herbs to cook with. I love the smell, and the taste and I love how my hands smell afterwards. When I was a kid, I would always beg my mom for her empty garlic powder container so I could play with it and take the cap off and take a whiff...it is probably one of my favorite cooking smells.

Then I took some sprigs of fresh organic baby dill and chopped that up nice and fine. And then I strayed from the recipe a bit. I took some butter ( Mmm, butter) and softened it just a bit in the microwave. Then I mixed in the garlic, dill, some salt and pepper, and lemon juice and mixed it together to make a delicious garlicky buttery paste.  I sprinkled my fish with Salt and Pepper and began lathering my fish in a sweet buttery spread. Then I sliced some lemons and placed the sliced lemons on top of the salmon along with a sprig of dill on top of each lemon. It looks like a masterpiece even then...and it wasn't even cooked yet.

When the fish was complete, I took another long stretch of aluminum foil, greased that and covered the fish and made a fishy tent.
Another great thing about fish, other than it's relatively a easy thing to prep, is that it cooks pretty fast. I stuck it in the oven for 20-25 minutes and I let Josh open his Birthday gift from me and the girls :)
What could it be?!
Ta-da, it's a Panini Maker!!!
By the time, Josh had read all of his cards, opened his gift and examined it and thanked me a million times, dinner was ready.
The Salmon ended up being a perfect doneness at about 23 minutes. But it smelled and looked so good sitting there in it's little buttery bath :)
The fish tasted awesome and we had a wonderful birthday dinner for Josh. I couldn't of been more pleased about my lower totem pole Salmon. It did the job just fine and I felt so healthy afterwards too...which is why, I ate a birthday cupcake that Josh brought home with him because his staff made cupcakes for him, so sweet :)
Adapted by Me

1 ½ pounds salmon fillet
salt and pepper to taste
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 sprig fresh dill, chopped
5 slices lemon
5 sprigs fresh dill weed
¼ cup butter, softened- to make a paste
Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees.
Spray two large pieces of aluminum foil with cooking spray.
Place salmon fillet on top of one piece of foil. Sprinkle the salmon fillet with salt and pepper. 
In a small bowl make a paste with the butter and add the minced garlic and chopped dill and combine.  Spread the buttery paste over the salmon. Top with lemon slices and sprigs of dill.
Cover Salmon with other sheet of foil and pinch tight to make a tent. Place on a large baking sheet. Bake in pre-heated oven for 20-25 minutes or until fish flakes easily.

Weekly Menu 1/10-1/16....and why I haven't been posting at all this week.

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You're probably wondering why there hasn't been a Menu of the Week and why I haven't posted any recipes...seeing as though it's Thursday. Well, we've had a bit of a dilemma in the house this week and today is really the first day since Tuesday, that I've had a chance to type without being to uncomfortable.

Monday's are my weekly menu days, but we had a really fast busy weekend and I wasn't able to go grocery shopping till Monday afternoon and then I spent the rest of the day cleaning and Monday was also my husband's birthday and I made him a delicious dinner. So that's Monday's excuse. For Tuesday and Wednesday's excuse you can read about it over at my other blog 4Catz @ Home as to why I've been absent from the blogging world.

At this point it's Thursday and I don't see much of a point of posting my weekly menu because this week has already been such a mess and we've been kind of playing it by ear every night anyways. But I will go ahead and tell what we have done for the week and maybe what were doing for the rest of the week as well.

Monday
It was my Hubby's Birthday and I made him a delicious Garlicky Dill buttery Salmon dinner with Baked sweet potatoes, fruit salad, and seasoned corn.
Tuesday
 We had Taco Bell
Wednesday
Neither one of us felt like cooking since we were so tired after cleaning for hours on Tuesday, so Josh made Fried Egg Sandwiches...which we're delicious.
Thursday
( Awana Night)
I'm not sure about tonight. We have Awana at 6:30pm and we're looking at a house at 3:45pm...so I'm not sure.
Friday
Honey-Ginger Chicken Stir-Fry with rice
Saturday
We're celebrating my husbands birthday that evening so I think we'll do something before the party. Maybe use a giftcard out to eat.
Sunday
Um...Depends on how tired we are and if we go grocery shopping...but maybe Sandwiches.
There will be no sweets this week. I promise to make something next week, I swear I will. I was going to make something this week, but because it was hubby's b-day, his work staff made him cupcakes and we've been eating those for the past few days and then someone else brought him donuts to take home last night. I don't know how many more sweets I can take, lol! 

Weekly Menu 1/3-1/9

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Happy 2011!!!!

Did everyone have a wonderful, fun, and safe New Year's Eve?

We had a very relaxing and low-key New Year's Eve which I think was really good for our family. We used a giftcard that we had received from my Grandma for a Christmas gift and treated the kids to Olive Garden. It was so busy there but thanks to Josh using the Call Ahead Seating method, he called Olive Garden on his way home from Salem ( which is about a 35-40min drive) and we were able to get seated right away because the wait time was about an hour. Grace really enjoyed her kids Fettuccine Alfredo, Eden snacked on breadsticks and ate the salad, and Josh had the Chicken Alfredo, and I tried the Parmesean Crusted Tilapia. Josh stopped by the Redbox on our way home after dinner and picked up Knight & Day and we got a bottle of a Spanish Champagne for us adults to toast at Midnight.

Grace has been sick since Christmas Day so the kids pretty much went to bed right away and we started our movie and fixed a bowl of popcorn until 10 minutes till Midnight. It was such a lovely evening. The movie was really good ( and I am not a Tom Cruise Fan) and pretty mild in terms of conduct...which I appreciate. Then we watched the Ball drop and toasted our champagne in our wedding flutes and had our annual New Years kiss <3

The rest of the weekend has been really low-key...mainly for Grace who kind of had a relapse in her cold. She seems to be feeling better tonight which is good because I'm about ready to get her into the Dr. 
Josh is making dinner right now, so I could work on a few blogs. He's making a homemade pizza tonight. This is our second attempt at this. The first time, our crust was huge...and though it was really good...it was really huge. So tonight, we're trying my sister in law's recipe that she had on her blog, The Rookie Cookie for a Whole Wheat Thin Pizza Crust. She's been making homemade pizza for awhile now, so I'm going to trust her on this one ;) I'll let you know in next week's menu how the pizza turned out :)
Monday
Traditional Chicken Noodle Soup and some rolls or biscuits
( My mom suggested I make this for Gracie since she's sick)
Tuesday
Spaghetti Bolognese, salad, and garlic bread
Wednesday
Chicken BBQ Sandwiches and my mom's homemade macaroni and cheese...with some fruit
Thursday
(Awana Night)
Leftovers or Chili Casserole...I'm just not sure what I'll have time for.
Friday
Pot Roast with potatoes and carrots, and gravy...and rolls
Saturday
I am really hoping for a date night...but if not, we'll either do leftovers or the Chili Casserole
Sunday
I'm super excited about this coming Sunday. We're celebrating my dad's birthday and having an amazing brunch breakfast at The Quey Restaurant at the Red Lion Hotel in Vancouver Washington. We've been coming here ever since I was a little girl as a tradition for my dad after Christmas. They have the most amazing breakfasts!
That night...I want to make a Baked Potato Soup from Our Best Bites. 
I won't be making any desserts or treats this week. I need one more week of a break. I'm sure you all understand. If I get ambitious, I'll make some muffins...but it's sooo cold and windy here right now, oatmeal for the mornings and  rich warm dinners seem to be enough for right now. Next week...maybe I'll plan something delicious to make. 
Have a wonderful week everyone!

My Top 6 Blogs of 2010

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I cannot believe Christmas is actually over and 2010 is also nearly behind us. For our family, 2010 was a pretty good year. There were plenty of sad moments, but we also had a lot to celebrate.

* We were finally able to buy ourselves another car- even though it ran really badly in the beginning, my hubby saved the day and it runs really good now.

* I started this blog on February 22nd and that means we are coming up on our 1 year anniversary. Which also means to celebrate this awesome occasion, I have something in the works...so stay tuned for that :)

* My Gracie started losing teeth and turned 6 years old and is becoming an awesome reader.

* Josh and I have celebrated 7 years of marriage, yahoo!

* Eden has turned 2 and she is so smart and cute.

* And my husband got a promotion at work.

This year has been good to us. And I believe this first year has taught me a lot about myself and I feel like I have really grown as a person. Not just emotionally, physically, but spiritually as well.

I've encountered a lot of really awesome people through the blogosphere  ( did I spell that right?) and I would like to share my top pick list of food blogs I love to read. Maybe you have heard of some of them and maybe you haven't. But they are great reads and the pictures of the food will make you drool!

My Top 6 Foodie List

She is hilarious! She writes her blogs with a wit and charm I have rarely encountered before. The pictures of her food are AMAZING, and she is re-latable. I don't feel intimidated by the meals she fixes. 
This is such an adorable blog with really fun foods. Their writing is so cute and you can feel their passion through their pictures and stories. 
This is one of the first food blogs I began to follow and I love everything about it. The pictures are very special and I would love to be able to just get behind the scenes and watch her cook. 
This is another foodie blog whose pictures just capture me. I have yet to try any of their recipes yet since I found this blog towards the end of the year, but I intend to this coming new year :)
I love these gals! Josh and I have both fallen in love with several of their recipes and have yet to be disappointed. They are launching their first cookbook this Spring and I know it's on my list of books to buy.
This is the last blog I want to mention. I've tried so many of Tiffany's recipes I can't even tell you and they have all been excellent. Tiffany took on a really fun challenge this past fall where she hosted an "Ingredient Spotlight" every week she hosted a link-up that was for recipes with the ingredient listed for that week. I loved being a part of it and found so many other cute food blogs and recipes.  I really hope she does this again next year, because it was so much fun!
I have probably a million other food blogs that I follow, but these ones have been my favorites for the past year and they have inspired me to learn, try, and make new things. 
I would just like to take this moment to thank all of my readers! I appreciate all the comments you leave and support and encouragement given. Writing about food and taking the pictures is a form of therapy for me and I get excited every time I have a new post for you.  And Thank you to my wonderful and supportive husband, Josh! You are such an encouragement to me and your help with the writing and blogging makes this even more enjoyable for me because we do it together. We've taken our love of cooking to a whole new level this year and I can't wait to see where it goes next year :)

Weekly Menu 12/27- Jan/1

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How was everyone's Christmas? Our's was good. I'm really happy it's over and done with though. This past week was a bit of a rough one on me emotionally so I am doing much better now that it's behind me. Does this make me a scrooge? Oh and did I mention we took all of our decorations down on Sunday? I had it all down and my house back to normal by 2pm Sunday. My poor completely wonderful husband though, what a trooper. We've been having a bit of a windy rainstorm the last few days and he took all of our lights down in the rain, and took 3 trips to our apartment garage carrying our Christmas bins outside in the cold cold rain and then disposed of our tree. He had such a good attitude about it, maybe it was because I thanked him a million times for doing all of it for me.

Eden was not a happy camper Sunday morning though. She kept yelling at us to put everything back and to stop taking the lights and ornaments down. Yesterday afternoon, she told me she wanted the tree back. I feel kind of bad, but I know that when they are adults and with kids, they too, will want everything put away and they will come to understand that their mommy wasn't being a meanie. She just wanted order to her house again.

I've been debating on doing a Weekly menu this week only because we won't be going grocery shopping till maybe the weekend...so we're trying to get by on what's around until then...so please bare with me if I appear to be somewhat clueless on what's for dinner.

Monday
We had Taco Bell
Impressive, I know
Tuesday
Breakfast Burritos with leftover ham from Christmas, bacon, eggs, cheese and potatoes.
Wednesday
Possibly Pizza or Josh will fix something. Our friend Sam is coming over and I'll be at the gym so I won't be cooking at all.

Thursday

Josh may be making Chicken Taquitos...per my sis Jewelissa's request because they are coming over for dinner.
Friday
(Happy New Years Eve)
I am really hoping to go out to dinner with my hubby on this night. I never got to go to dinner with Josh on my b-day (it just didn't work out and yes, I'm a bit bitter about it)
Saturday
Hopefully we'll go grocery shopping and maybe...I don't know...make something good.
Sunday
Again, I'm clueless
I am taking a baking break this week. I'm low on a lot of ingredients and I'm slightly burned out from all the baking I did on Christmas Eve and on Christmas. I need the week to regroup and refocus and restock my house before I can dive back into my cooking and baking routine again. I promise next week...I just might be back to my old self again ;)