Catz in the Kitchen

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Tips of the Trade-Series

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I thought it would be fun to do a series on how to be a successful grocery shopper. Some weeks are always easier than others in terms of planning, shopping, and buying. And I struggle along with everyone else some weeks. But, I think that if your armed with tips and tools to help you along, the process is much easier and even sometimes, fun! Yes, I said, "Fun." I do, have fun making out the grocery/menu list. And I want you to have fun too :)

I'll post one tip, tool, or trick a week...( except for next week, because we'll be on vacation) that you can use in your quest to become a better, smarter, and frugal shopper.

#1 in Tips of the Trade- Invest in your Sunday Paper. Here in Oregon, we have The Oregonian, newspaper. We buy it every Saturday (for the Sunday edition) because the Sunday paper is the one with all the fun ad's and coupons.

Unless you read the paper on a daily or weekly basis, there is no need to pay for a subscription. We've done that and the paper just stacks up so fast and we were just throwing it away along with the money we spent on the subscription. So just make a habit of every weekend going to your store and picking up a paper. You won't be sorry you did.

When you pick up your paper...as a rule of thumb...never grab off the top. When busy moms and dad's are in a grocery store they will flip through the paper on top sometimes just to find the ad's they need...leaving the buyer (you) of the paper...without some of those coveted ad's. This is a tip I learned from my mom and I've stuck to it. So just grab your paper from somewhere in the middle and try to grab the thickest :)

Pretty Easy right? Just grab your Sunday paper :)

If any of you have suggestions or tools/tips that help you, feel free to email your ideas to me. I would be happy to feature your tip in the series :)

Weekly Menu 9/19-9/25

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I would say "Fall" is officially here for us Oregonians. My absolute favorite of all the seasons. It takes my breath away to write this post and know that already it's September 20th! Where did the month go? In our beautiful neck of the woods here in Wilsonville, the trees are well on their way in the changing of colors. I'll have to take a picture of it, because it's so beautiful!

The leaves are already starting to fall, in fact Eden loves to stop and try and pick up every leaf she encounters. It's pretty cute. We even got caught in our first down pour this weekend. It pretty much rained all weekend long with the exception of maybe an hour here and there. We went grocery shopping Saturday evening and on our way home it started to rain so hard. We all made a mad dash to our apartment door...I was pretty soaked by the time I got to the door because I was wearing heels, lol! But nothing a good fire and pajamas can't fix. I just felt bad for Josh because once he got us all inside the apartment, he had to go back out in the rain and bring in the groceries. He's so good!

Next week we're going to be on vacation! We are all so excited! We're going to Sunriver and we're hoping to leave for the Cabin on Monday. We'll be gone the whole week! It's been years since Grace has been there...I think she was 2 ½ the last time she was there and that means Eden has never been there. I think the kids are going to have a blast. The wonderful thing about Sunriver is that it's not a fast paced place. It really forces you to slow down and enjoy every moment which is what were looking forward to doing as a family...and so far the weather is looking real good too. That being said...Most likely there will not be a weekly menu for that week. Were going to be bringing a lot of food with us so that we can make some meals, but were also going to be eating out a bit. But, I do have a menu for this week. I have 8 possible dinner meals for this week...Impressive, I know. And I think I have figured out which meals I'm going to be using.

Sunday
The kids ate Chicken nuggets from Wendy's and I don't remember what I ate, lol
Monday
BBQ Chicken Sandwiches (slow-cooker) with
my mom's macaroni and cheese and green beans
Tuesday
Tuna Casserole and a fruit salad
Wednesday
Josh will make Chicken Taquitos 
( with the leftover chicken from the whole chicken I made last week)
with maybe some beans.
Thursday
I think we're going to my in-laws house, to have dinner with them, since they are leaving for Cali on Saturday for a week.
Friday
The Homemade Pizza- rolled over from last week
Saturday
I'm leaving this day open. Josh has a bank meeting in the morning till 1pm and then he is probably going to need to work on his message since he'll be preaching at church Sunday...and we have a pest control people coming out...and we may begin the packing process as well as grocery shopping. I have a roast I could throw in the crockpot or I could make Spaghetti. 
Special Treats
I didn't actually make any last week. I tried to avoid a lot of reading and stuff without my glasses ( which I now have) and so I might try to make that pumpkin bread. I'm not sure though. 

The Great Pumpkin Heist!??

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It's like clockwork; same time every year I got to the store to hunt down a few cans of pumpkin. I like to buy the bigger cans of pumpkin that way I can refrigerate any leftovers and make something else down the road. But this year, I started hunting down pumpkin cans a little bit early. You see, I had a heard a rumor through the grapevine of the cooking world that for whatever reason, there is a shortage on canned pumpkin. 


Josh laughed at me last month when I told him I wanted to start stocking up on canned pumpkin. He didn't believe me at all....Boys, right? So I went to our local Fred Meyer's grocery store and I couldn't find any cans anywhere! I looked in the canned foods aisle, none was to be found. I looked in the baking aisle, again coming up short. I went to the health foods aisle...nothing there. Of course, I thought it was very very strange. So I found a store clerk...(is that what we call them...store clerks?) and asked if they had any pumpkin in the store. And she told me that they had been completely sold out since June...JUNE! Can you believe it? I was shocked. 





So I let it go, and kept my eyes open every time we went to the store. I was coming up empty and now that September is here...it's really just frustrating now. WHO IS STEALING THE CANNED PUMPKIN?? Even some of my girlfriends online * Hi Emily & Nancy* have discussed this amongst ourselves and it's so funny because Nancy had warned us about this last year and I completely forgot about it...( I guess I need to pay better attention) but Canned Pumpkin is very hard to find right now. Emily and I joked that we should go in on a big box of it from Amazon and split it...and I think we both would of done it...but Josh said no! * Are you reading this Josh...please reconsider?*

Finally, last week we went to our neighborhood Thriftway ( which is where we buy most of our produce) and I was able to find one last can of Organic Pumpkin puree. That's all there was. Now, I'm deathly afraid to even use this can in fear that I will never again find another one!  * You see what your doing here Josh...you should just let me split a box with Emily!* 



Every week, I put it on my grocery list so that I'll remember to look for it..but every time, somebody else beats me to the punch...isn't that rude? My friend Nancy ( who I mentioned above) is contemplating just buying a regular old pumpkin and gutting it herself, so she'll have her own pureed pumpkin. I'm not sure I'm that ambitious though...maybe if we didn't live on opposite sides of the country I could just go to her house and we could dance and sing along in her kitchen while making homemade batches of pumpkin puree. But I don't know anybody who would be so kind as to buy me an airplane ticket to go see Nancy...though that would be so wonderful * Don't you think Nanc?*

Have any of you noticed a pumpkin shortage, or is it all of you who is beating me to the punch at the store? If it is, watch out...I'm coming after you, lol...Just kidding :)

Weekly Menu 9/12-9/18

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Remember those headaches I've been telling you guys about? Well we figured out the problem. I'm near and far sighted. I've only ever needed glasses for reading in the past, because I had trouble seeing the print when I would be reading. The last time I went to the eye doctor it was in 2006...when I had blonde hair, lol :) Then I was prescribed a lens that would help my eyes and I got pretty Ralph Lauren frames for them. Well, my eyes are no longer that prescription. So my doctor prescribed me new lenses for those glasses...but also a prescription for everyday glasses. These are the glasses I will be wearing when I'm not in front of the computer or reading and stuff. I don't have to wear them all the time, seeing as though I can see just fine...but not so good up close or far away anymore...( I guess this is me getting older?) but I probably will for the first few weeks so I can give my eyes the rest they really need.

 I fell in love with the first pair of new frames I tried on...and luckily, they were pretty inexpensive as far as frames go but we didn't really have to pay that much because of our insurance ( Thank you Josh for getting us the best the Bank offers) pretty much covers all of it. The frames I got are like a light brown and they're the Bebe brand and so cute. I kept wanting to try more...ya know...just to see what else was there...but Josh and the lady who was helping us insisted that these were the ones for me. I'm really excited to get them back.  Yes, that's right...I don't have them yet. I probably won't get them till the end of the week. This means I am really going to try to make an effort to limit my computer and reading time this week until I either get a pair of temporary readers or my new glasses come in early. So if I'm not blogging a lot this is why. As it is right now, I have a headache and it's funny now, because I can see how my eyes are straining to concentrate on the computer screen.  So there is the update on my eyes, and here is the menu for the week!

Sunday
My brother's b-day party
Monday
Grilled Chicken Bruschetta with steamed broccoli and baked potatoes
Tuesday
Tuna Casserole and a fruit salad
Wednesday
Maybe leftovers...Josh is having a "boys" night...so I don't know if that means we will actually eating together or not.
The rest of the week, depends on the weather...
Thursday
If it's cold and gross I might through a whole chicken in the crockpot and we will have mashed potatoes and carrots with it.
Friday
Attempting my first home-made pizza crust...with pepperoni, olives, and I have some leftover pineapple in the fridge...maybe a salad with it.
Saturday
This is up in the air still...we may cook or I don't know...attempt to have a date night...not sure. Or we'll make Taquitos with the leftover Chicken from the one I cooked in the slow-cooker.
Special treats for the week:
I just was sent a recipe for a pumpkin Nutella bread recipe...so I might make that...
or a mexican chip dip so we can have something snack on during the week.

Weekly Menu 8/5-8/11

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It's an odd feeling to know that today is officially the first day of school in our neck of the woods and I'm no longer in school and I officially don't start school with Gracie till next month. I remember so well, the days leading up that first day. I can't tell you how many outfits I repeatedly tried on to have that perfect "back to school" outfit. My poor parents, lol...I can only imagine what they must of been thinking.

I felt oddly like the parent of a back to school child this weekend. We ran several errands and got Grace some great back to school deals...( oh how I love coupons and saving money) and all in all...we had a really nice, low key holiday weekend ( aside from me being under the weather). But now, the weekend is over and today is Tuesday and Josh is back to work...which makes me sad because I really miss his company...but at the same time, I have that since of relief that my schedule will now become more normal and I can get that stuff done that needed to be done...and though my headache is still lingering...I can't let it stop me from getting things done...so here is THE MENU!

Monday
(Labor Day) we grilled Turkey Pineapple Burgers and we took lot's of pictures so there will be a blog showing up soon.
Tuesday 
(today) 
Almond topped cod with rice and glazed carrots
( and if my headache isn't to bad...we'll go grocery shopping)
Wednesday
Crockpot Minestrone Soup, salad, and garlic rolls
Thursday
We have our dear friends Jared and Karen flying in from Cali ( we miss them) and were having them over for dinner...Sooo Josh's Chicken Tacos with beans and rice.
Friday
Grilled Chicken Bruschetta...with sides...not sure yet...I might make a potato dish of sorts
Saturday
As of right now, were set to baby sit my little niece Lacey, so I imagine we'll be eating out somewhere before we watch her...I think I hear the Never-Ending Pasta Bowl calling my name???
Last week, I did end up making Chocolate Zucchini bread which was so good...I could of possibly died for it and Sunday night, I made myself make Peaches and Cream muffins because the peaches were ripe and perfect...and Josh and the kids loved them for breakfast the last few days. I plan to blog those too...hopefully this week. Of course this is all contingent on my headache...I don't like to be in front of the computer to much, because it tends to make it worse. 
I don't have any real plans to make anything this sweet, though I have some lovely little pears I'm trying to find something to do with. Maybe a tart...if I have the energy?? And the Huckleberry Pie...I'm waiting for my mom to come over to help with a pie crust seeing as how I am afraid of it :)
I hope you all had a wonderful Labor Day weekend!!!

A Delicious low calorie meal :Honey Dijon Turkey Cutlets

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A few weeks ago when Josh and I were grocery shopping, we came across the meat section of the store and we always like to take a gander at the clearance meat because a lot of times you can get lucky with something awesome. On this particular day we found a package of Foster Farms Turkey Breast Cutlets for a little over $2.00! I grabbed it quickly before the lady hanging over my shoulder could (Grocery shopping is serious business guys ;) ). When I glanced at Josh he looked at me and said," what are you going to do with those?" "I don't know, I said...but I'll find something amazing to do with them and for this price...I simply cannot pass it up!" And into the shopping cart they went.

A few days later I scoured all of my cookbooks trying to find something to do with them. But I had no luck. I then went to Allrecipes and they didn't have a whole lot either. So...onto google I went.  And wouldn't you know, I came across a blog called Cooking Done Light, and it would appear that this blog may no longer be functioning considering I didn't see any posts since September of 2009! But lucky for me, it had the solution I was looking for with an easy and delightful little recipe simply titled "Honey Dijon Turkey Cutlets."

The recipe calls for a good quality Dijon mustard, but all I had was the French's brand Honey Dijon...so that's what I used. And it worked perfectly! I did add a little bit of honey at last minute...so it's not included in the picture :( sorry about that!
I don't like to cook with to much beef products and if you haven't noticed I don't do a whole lot of pork either. The smell of ground beef has made me nauseas since I was pregnant with Grace and the only time we ever really buy beef is if were going to make Hamburgers or something that really does need beef in it. And Pork, well, I like bacon, sausages, ham, and roasts...but pork loins and pork chops...I've never really been drawn to it...and neither has Josh. But, if I were to ever be recommended a great recipe...I would be willing to try it, but so far...I haven't had much luck. So those of you who are full on Pork lovers...give me a shout with your pork recipes...I would love to give it a whack, lol!
The recipe is very simple to follow. The ingredients listed are the marinade and I just whisked it all together in a bowl and then threw it into a ziploc bag along with the cutlets and let it soak up the yumminess for about an hour. Usually, I would soak it for a couple of hours...but I kind of dropped the ball that night and once the cutlets were completely thawed I just stuck it in the fridge ( I guess I suffered from a brain freeze of sorts) until Josh got home and when he asked me how long dinner would take, I consulted the recipe and said, "oops...!" But it really did work out well in the end. the hour was very generous with the meat...probably because they were cutlets and being a thinner meat made it soak up the flavor easier than say a thick piece of chicken breast...which by the way would work well with this recipe too...maybe...Ooh, you know what would be cool is if you made the marinade and made a stir fry out of it. That would be really yummy and you could use any meat you liked :) Oh the possibilities!
I have to mention to that I was so proud of myself  for not setting off any smoke detectors or needing to open any additional windows to let the smoke out...because when cooking meat in a skillet...sometimes it can get messy and smoky fast! And I have to say, I did cook the meat, perfectly * gives a pat on the back*
I finished off the meal with baked potatoes and some seasoned peas...which Josh hates...! I can't understand why some people hate peas. My mom always cooked them with tons of flavor and I always asked for seconds, but Josh is not a fan...but nevertheless, he has to eat them occasionally anyway...I mean they are so good for you and I want him to send a good example to the girls. Onto to the Turkey! The Turkey was delicious and moist and very flavorful. We had plenty leftover for 2nds which Josh and Grace both had. This recipe is a keeper and even kiddos love it, and if I can contribute a bit of healthy info here...this recipe is only 227 calories; so there is no wrong with this recipe!
Source: Cooking Done Light
2 TB dijon mustard- whatever you have on hand
2 TB dry sherry- you can find it in the condiments section
2 TB honey
½ TB Soy Sauce
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
4 turkey cutlets ( or a small pkg)
Whisk the sherry, mustard, honey, soy sauce, and ginger in a bowl. Add the cutlets to the bowl or throw it all in a ziploc bag...which I think is easier.
Preheat pan over med-high heat ( I added a bit of evoo to the pan). When hot, add cutlets. Cook for 4min on one side and flip for an additional 3-4 minutes on the other side.

A few Updates

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I've been in the works of making some fun improvements for my little blog here. Now that I have figured out and launched a few...I think I'll let you in the loop...how does that sound?

Catz in the Kitchen finally has a Facebook page!! Exciting, right?! I've been wanting to do one for awhile, but the summer was not a good time to try and make time to make one...so how about the end of Summer. On the right hand side of this page, you'll find a like button and you can like it from here and keep tabs on things going on at the page...or you can go here at Catz in the Kitchen and it will take you the Facebook page too.

The other exciting thing...which I am so overjoyed to have finally figured out, is if you want to get my blog posts sent directly to your email. This works really well for those of you who do not have a blogspot account. On the right hand side you will see a widget where you can type in your email address into the feedburner bar and you'll have to type out a captcha thing and then you'll have an email sent to your email address so feedburner can verify  your address and then therefore your activated and will start receiving my posts through your email. It's very simple and very awesome!

So I hope you enjoy the changes and you find it a little bit easier to navigate around :)

Weekly Menu 8/29-9/5

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It's Monday which means it's another weekly menu.

How was everyone's weekend? Ours was wonderful. Saturday, Josh made breakfast and then we took the kids to 3 different parks, 2 that had nature trails and we went exploring and then since the girls were so awesome while we explored the great outdoors, we then took them to a nearby playground and let them run around to their hearts content. It was a fun day. Sunday, we had church and then I picked up some Huckleberries at my mom's house that she got for me at the Huckleberry Festival and delivered a meal to a family in our church who just had a baby...and then I found a FANTABULOUS western shirt at Ross! It's Guess brand ( one of my fave's) and it retailed for $69.00 and I got it for $21.99! Such a steal!

Sunday
We had Papa Murphy's Chicken Garlic pizza, YUM!

Monday
Lasagna, green beans, and garlic bread
Tuesday
We have to go grocery shopping...but we might get CPK since Eden has a free dinner from her b-day
Wednesday
Crockpot Taco Soup and Cheese Quesadillas
Thursday
Hot and Sweet Drumsticks with baked potatoes and 
maybe a salad
Friday
Almond topped Cod (rollover from last week) with rice and glazed carrots
Saturday
Grilled Chicken Bruschetta, corn on the cob,
and rolls...but this could change because we have a b-day party this night.
Sunday
Crockpot Minestrone Soup, garden salad...
and I'm going to try out a new rolls recipe
I was fortunate enough to receive some Huckleberries from my mom...so this week, I plan on attempting to make her amazing Huckleberry Pie...her crust is to die for! And an elderly couple in our church grow a garden and brought some Zucchini to church to share. By the time I got there the only one left was this humongous one...so I grabbed it and I plan on using it for the Minestrone soup and today...I hope to make Chocolate Zucchini Bread...so without further ado...here are the treats I want to make. 

Treats to make:
Chocolate Zucchini bread
Huckleberry Pie
and....
if the peaches are still on the cheap side...I would love to make some...
Peaches and Cream Muffins

Yummy Food Snapshots!

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There wasn't a whole lot of cooking going on while I was away from my computer and on vacation. We did a bunch of really simple meals and a few meals out since we were at the beach. While we were at the beach, we bought our lunches out and made food at my grandma's beach cabin. Grilled Cheese one night and hot dogs the following. But I thought I would share a few photos of the food I did manage to take pictures of. I was totally planning on having more, but...as it goes sometimes the food looks and smells to amazing to not eat...and I had to stop myself a few times to remind myself to snap a photo. So here they are-

Josh made this Ham sandwich for he and I one afternoon and it was taasty! The rolls were on clearance at the store and Josh fell in love with them and we've had several of these sandwiches since. The chips are Kettle Chips in New York Cheese or something like that.
Grace was thrilled ( though she doesn't look it) to have her kids hot chocolate. And my Raspberry White Mocha, courtesy of Bella Espresso was handed to me after this picture was taken.
I made 4 dozen cupcakes for Eden's 2nd birthday using a Martha Stewart recipe- a blog on that is in the works.
Our Chocolate Cake from Macaroni Grill for our Anniversary...the Pralines were the perfect touch and it was Aaamazing!
As you can see, this is one of those last minute pics, I ate the other half of my bagel before remembering to take a picture. Ever heard of Einstein Bagels? Well my dad was sending us 2 dozen bagels from Vegas a few months ago until we discovered Noah's Bagels. Noah's is owned by Einstein and they're bagels are out of this world good! I'm a sucker for the Asiago Cheese Bagels with the Honey Almond Shmeer...as pictured and the drink is a Wildberry frozen lemonade! It was divine!!
So that's the pics I have for you. Are you drooling yet? For those who live in the Portland area, the bagels can be found in a few different areas. We went to Bridgeport for these on our way to pick up the kids from my parents. Sooo yummy. Seriously!

Weekly Menu 8/23-8/28

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It seems like it's been awhile since I've last blogged. Oh and how I've missed it. But, I was off on vacation with my hubby and I wasn't on the computer much at all and the break from the internet was nice and much needed, but now I'm back with a vengeance, hahaha!

I have many blogs up my sleeve that I can't wait to share, but alas...our computers are having many issues right now. Both of our computers are 5 years + in age and our Mybook that holds all of our pictures is threatening death and taking all of my archived photos with it. So Josh is desperetely trying to back up all our pics on dvds before our hard drives impending death happens. So, at the moment...with any pics I have taken and saved...I can't really get too. :( But I do have a few pics from a couple of weeks before that I uploaded to the computer and if I can get Picassa up and running again, I'll tweek and then proceed to blog what I can. Until then, I'm back with the Weekly Menu.

I know July and most of August's menus have been a tad uninspired...but that doesn't mean I haven't created amazing meals, we have...but the menu is hard in the summer when your not sure where your going to be. With that being said...I have made a menu for this week. It will get better as soon as we get paid again, and do a real shopping trip. This past trip was just a few things with coupons and sales and so I'm making do with what I have around the kitchen and freezer. I will take pics of some of the meals and maybe blog a few when I get a chance.

Monday
Grilling Cheeseburgers and I'm making my homemade fries
Tuesday
Grilled Chicken Tacos with a Mexican salsa salad
Wednesday
Honey Dijon Turkey Cutlets with peas 
and baked potatoes
Thursday
Almond Topped Cod with a Mediterranean Salad
and rice
Friday
Cheese and Herb stuffed Chicken Breast 
with garlic potatoes and green beans
Saturday
I believe is a birthday party...so I'm not planning anything for that night.
I have plenty of ideas for next week's menu and I'm looking forward to get back into the swing of my kitchen and begin cooking again :)