Catz in the Kitchen

menu icon
search icon
×

Garlic Butter Rice

By Leave a Comment

This easy recipe for garlic butter rice functions well as a base for a chicken bowl, or as a side on its own. It can also be made dairy free!

It's been a hot minute since I've had a chance to focus and write about a recipe I've cooked up for you. It feels like the last few months went by incredibly fast (recap for ya, I was pregnant and now I'm not), and I have a beautiful baby boy to show for my nine months of a different kind of work. In fact, my sweet little cub is currently taking a nap, allowing me this time to sit down and organize my thoughts long enough to write this post.

Garlic Butter Rice

So...garlic butter rice. I've been making this recipe for close to a year now. It's a pretty fantastic recipe if I do say so myself. I use this as a base for my Greek chicken bowls (I'll share that recipe with you next!). Of course, feel free to just have a base of lettuce, but I think the rice has a beautiful flavor to it, it's easy to make, and it helps the bowl to be a bit more filling.

[Read more...]

Mediterranean Caprese Salad

By 1 Comment

For a vibrant, mouthwatering Italian summer appetizer that requires no cooking at all, look no further than this Mediterranean Caprese Salad!

Chels and I have this Italian restaurant we love to visit for date nights. If you're local to Portland, Eugene, or Central Oregon, you'll very likely be familiar, as the owners have expanded it over the past couple of decades to eight locations, all of which, to my knowledge, survived the pandemic! It's called Pastini, and they seem to thrive on a fairly simple menu with minor seasonal rotations, a great wine list, freshly made pasta, and authentic, craveable appetizers. It's one of those appetizers - our favorite - that inspired this post. But, hey, before we get to that, if you're in the Pacific Northwest and somehow you've missed grabbing a meal at Pastini, do yourself a favor and get down there! Don't forget the tiramisu for dessert (we try it anywhere it's on the menu, and have never found one to compare...). This post is not sponsored by or affiliated with Pastini in any way.

Mediterranean Caprese Salad recipe

Our favorite summer appetizer is Pastini's caprese salad. Never having been to Italy, we can't verify the authenticity of this particular take on the classic dish, but we can say that this version is simple and spectacular. We're absolutely in love with the fresh colors and flavors. As with so many Italian dishes, this one's really all about the ingredients - even more so here, as you aren't cooking any of them, just assembling! You need good, ripe tomatoes, preferably heirloom, great mozzarella, fresh basil, and good quality oil and balsamic vinegar.

[Read more...]

DIY Classic Farmhouse Kitchen Table

By 2 Comments

As our family grew, we realized needed a bigger kitchen table, so here's our experience building our own DIY classic farmhouse kitchen table!

First things first. Yes, I have blogged about building "farmhouse" style tables not once, not twice, but three times previously. First, back in 2016, I shared my first attempt at a new dining room table for our family, which we still use today in our "formal" dining room. It's a beast, and definitely the most obviously "amateur" of my tables (I'm still an amateur, but I've learned a few things along the way). Even so, it serves its purpose and has held hundreds of family meals at this point. Later that same year, I built this round table for our breakfast area, and then a couple of years later, this large outdoor dining table based on one Chels saw during our first visit to the Magnolia Silos. So...why another table?

DIY Classic Farmhouse Kitchen Table

That answer is pretty simple. We've outgrown the round table in our breakfast area. We love it, but it's just too small. There are six of us now, soon to be seven, and we've gotten to a place where so much of life just happens in that room, and around that table! It's where the kids do a lot of their school work, where we eat two to three meals a day, where we play games, where we sit around on weekends to have brunch...it's easily the most used "surface" in our home. And that surface needed to grow a bit.

[Read more...]

Nancy's Black Bean Salsa Chicken

By 4 Comments

This recipe for black bean salsa chicken is a slow cooker staple in our home! It's simple, uses pantry ingredients, and is easy to scale!

This post was originally published back in August of 2013! Almost ten years later, it's still a family favorite, but we've made a few modifications to the recipe to make it even better. In addition to these changes, we've decided to re-shoot the photos and update the recipe card and so on. We hope you enjoy this simple, delightful slow-cooker staple of a recipe!

Nancy's Black Bean Salsa Chicken

I first met Nancy, I want to say between 3-4 years ago...it could quite possibly be longer than that though. She has become a very dear friend to me and I look up to her in so many ways. She is aspiring to me! She has this incredibly witty personality and huge heart for her friends and family. I wish, I could meet her in person. Yes, that's right...we've never met. Were "Internet" buddies. We met in Myspace in a marriage group. And when I came up with the idea to start my own "marriage group" I started a thread called WFD (What's for Dinner) and normally there is a post for it every day. I quickly found that through that thread, Nancy was an incredible cook and I had much to learn from her, so through the years...I've started collecting recipes from her. And that is where this recipe has come from. This reminds me of our Trainwreck recipe on the blog so you could consider this to be the chicken version of that!

Black Bean Salsa Chicken

[Read more...]

Weekly Menu for the Week of April 25

By Leave a Comment

Hey, friends! We're back from our little social media break. As you may know, our family traveled to Florida towards the end of March for spring break. But while we were gone, I got a cold and then slowly the kids dropped one by one with the flu. While that was going on, Josh was busy working on the girl's room, building them a loft bunk bed type of situation. Maybe he can drop a picture in here so you can see the finished product. (Editor's Note: I don't have one yet, but I'll work on it!)

Josh and I were able to use our miles and points from our twice-cancelled trip to Hawaii (2020 due to COVID, and 2021 when I broke my wrists!) to get over to Maui for a few days to celebrate a little baby-moon, which was a wonderful blessing. When we came back, we finished up getting the kid's bedroom situation figured out and now we can finally begin working on the nursery! YAY!

I am definitely feeling very pregnant at this point and I still have several (11?!) weeks to go. I'm at the point where I'm getting very uncomfortable and achey and feeling very unmotivated at times. Even cooking has gotten to the point where it's hard because my belly is in the way!

Speaking of cooking, it has really been awhile since I've truly been in the kitchen to cook, so I am looking forward to being in there again and I've got a list of recipes to test, photograph, and just cook for fun. I'm also already building next week's menu - I'd like to get head start on some recipes for fall. (I know, too soon...I'm not ready to think about fall yet either.) So let's not! Here's what's on the menu for this week!

[Read more...]

Weekly Menu for the Week of April 4

By Leave a Comment

Is it just me or did March go by in a blink!? Here it is, April and Easter is already upon us. We're back from our spring break trip to Disney World/Florida and we had a really nice time. However, I did come back sick. Monday evening I felt something coming on...chalking it up to allergies, but nope. It's a baby cold. As soon as we got home from our trip I literally just hunkered down in bed and rested, drank all the fluids, and tried to get myself back on a normal schedule. I think resting in bed all weekend definitely helped with that - and I'm not one to stay in bed when I'm sick, but I really hate having a cold while I'm pregnant. I can't take any of my usual meds!

In other news, Josh is busy working on the girls room. Ruby will be moving into their room and Josh is building loft beds with desks and vanities (I think?) for the girls to try and give them as much space as possible. Between you and me, it is hard to rest with all the drilling and sawing. But, there really is no way around this.

I got the grocery shopping done on Wednesday. Technically, Josh picked up the groceries and I had most of the grocery list built out before we went out of town so I just had to figure out meals and I am using a lot of ingredients that I had in the freezer for main meals. Spaghetti (because it is easy + I'm sick), salmon because it is good for me pregnant and sick, chicken because it is really good protein, etc.

Oh, and we made a new recipe out of Joanna Gaines' second cookbook this weekend for breakfast. Have you made her table-side porridge yet? So creamy and good. We paired it with smoothies and it made for the best weekend breakfast.

Okay, here's this week's menu!

[Read more...]

The Best Bran Muffins

By 1 Comment

These are the best bran muffins we know how to make! Our family has found this recipe to not just be healthy, but also actually craveable!

First, a disclaimer about what we mean when we say "the best" here at Catz. We don't mean the best in the world, or any other geographically defined space, or the objectively best, or the best in a particular category of that item. We just mean the best that we, personally, have tried or experienced. We've tagged a few recipes with "the best" over the years - cheesy scrambled eggs, macaroni salad, snickerdoodle cookies, breakfast quesadillas, rolled sugar cookies, and even oatmeal cookies - and in each case, we aren't trying to set ourselves up as the globe's preeminent experts on, say, breakfast quesadillas (though what a delight that position could be!), but rather, hey, if you want our opinion on the best one of these that we've tried...here it is.

The Best Bran Muffins

That out of the way, why are these bran muffins the best bran muffins we've tried? Well, for starters, it's a recipe we've been working on for awhile. Chels wrote it down in one of her notebooks when she found out she was pregnant last fall, looking for something that would help support her sensitive digestive system during pregnancy and postpartum. I took her notes and went through several batches of muffins, making small adjustments, and getting taste test feedback from Chels and the rest of the family. Once we got through the third iteration, we had settled on the recipe we're sharing with you here, and from our perspective...they're pretty great.

The Best Bran Muffin recipe
[Read more...]

Weekly Menu for the Week of Mar 21

By Leave a Comment

You guys! Do you understand?! Yesterday was the first day of spring!!! THE FIRST DAY OF SPRING! Just a little bit excited over here! I am so over winter and so ready for sun and hopefully, please Lord, some warmer temperatures. So, happy first day of spring and happy Monday to you all (and to all a goodnight, etc!).

Just kidding! I've got a menu I want to share with all of you this week, but heads up...it is probably the simplest and easiest menu ever. The idea is to make as many "dump and go" recipes as possible, and the reason for that is just the schedule this week. We're taking our spring break soon, and so this week just has a lot loose ends to clear up before we can relax a little.

There will not be a weekly menu next week and I won't be scheduling and posting next week. I will be back the first week of April, though.

Okay, let's move onto the weekly menu!

[Read more...]

Corn Pudding

By 2 Comments

We find ourselves craving the sweet comfort of this corn pudding side dish! Make it for a holiday, a potluck, or just a regular family meal!

Don't be deceived by the title of this recipe. Just because it says "pudding" does not mean that this is a dessert. Quite the opposite - I'd say that this leans more into the casserole category, but it is definitely a side dish - not a main dish.

Corn Pudding recipe

We've made this recipe so many times over the last few months - it takes virtually no time at all to prep. Which was great around the holidays because I made it once before Thanksgiving, once for Thanksgiving, and again for Christmas, and then there was one more time in-between that it got made just because it is so good and everyone loves it. In fact, my Father-in-Love loves this dish so much that if there are ever any leftovers, he always asks to take them home!

Corn Pudding serving

[Read more...]

Weekly Menu for the Week of March 14

By Leave a Comment

It does feel like spring here in the PNW this week. The flowers are blooming, the grass is green, and...the rain is pouring. Our forecast for the next seven days is straight rain. Yes, all day and every day, so I guess you could say in a way it still feels like winter with very visible signs of spring appearing!

I wanted to put a few things out there just so you know where we stand on the blog front right now. Our content has been a little more inconsistent that we'd like. Life has been a little crazy, both personally, and, for Josh, professionally - just a lot going on. Getting the work done that goes into a blog post has been tough, but we've got several in the hopper!

That being said, we've been working on a bran muffin post, I've been making a million smoothie bowls (it seems) to get one ready for the blog, as well as working on content that we've had set aside (ahem Easter). A review post coming, as well as a couple of new DIY posts! I also mentioned that Eden has been cooking for the family at least once a week and her recipes have been so good! I'd love to share a few of those with you because they are really great for kids who are learning or gaining more independence and confidence in the kitchen. Lots of things going on and I'm so excited to share them with you!

Now that we've got some of that housekeeping out of the way, let's move onto the menu - which is delicious this week, by the way!

Monday is Pi Day and Thursday is St. Patrick's Day so let's just go with it - check out both of those Pinterest boards! Make a pie on Monday and make something Irish or green for Thursday.

[Read more...]