I still can't believe we're in March. I actually really look forward to the month of March because it signals the beginning of spring and I don't know about you, but I am ready for sun and those slightly warmer temps that we begin to see.

Plus...spring break isn't too shabby, either. I think we're all ready for a school break. It's kind of like that refresh before the big push to the end of the year.

I'll be honest, I haven't done too much cooking these last two weeks. We had a lot of life happen and there was more than one time when Josh and I ended up in our bedroom eating cold cereal in bed for dinner (how's that for food blogger life for ya). I'm currently enjoying Special K Chocolate Delight and a concoction my sister, Jess, told me about: it's equal parts Honey Bunches of Oats and Muesli. It's really good, and for a late night snack, it's not too bad, either, because the Muesli has a lot of really good ingredients in it, like oats and dates.

I'm excited to be trying out some new recipes this week and Eden is cooking for us once again! If you follow me on Instagram, I mentioned how she has been offering to help make dinner one night a week. She's learning so much and doing so well. It's been such a help to me and so fun to watch her gain confidence in this area too.

Onto this week's menu:

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Happy last full week of February, friends! I feel like January drug on (as per our usual arrangement) and February has actually be pretty brief! That's not always the case for these winter months in my opinion. Usually it feels like they move slower than a...really slow thing. I'm eagerly anticipating spring and more daylight.

We actually experienced a bit of a cold spell last week. The last two weeks have been fairly warm and mild for February, but last week it snowed in Oregon City (where my family lives) and was in the teens in the evening. I'm so ready for open toe shoes and dresses!

My menu this week reflects that weather. We had rain last weekend and ended up playing a board game with the family, eating leftover pizza for dinner, and making milkshakes with the ice cream in the freezer that was getting freezer-burned. I'm just saying, a great way to use up old ice cream is to make a milk shake with it.

Here's what we're cooking this week:

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Happy Valentine's Day, friends! I hope you all are having a really nice day with some friends you love or someone special in your life. I'm not a big fan of celebrating Valentine's Day day of. Flowers are expensive, menus are too fancy, and places are crowded. Josh and I actually went out a couple of weeks ago and had a nice quiet (almost 24 hours!) night to ourselves at a nearby hotel (The Allison Inn, for you locals out there - highly recommended, but spendy - definitely a special occasion kind of place). We don't get away for a night too often, so this was a treat, and it was really nice to do it a few weeks in advance of Valentine's Day.

Usually on Valentine's Day, I choose to make a nice meal - sometimes fancy and sometimes not (we've made Beouf Bourginon before and simple pasta dishes like Pasta Bolognese) before. I was going to make a chicken pasta dish tonight (Monday), but someone (me) forgot to thaw the chicken out earlier, so I think we might honestly pick up heart-shaped pizza from Papa Murphy's and right now in this season - I love that idea!

I will include one "nicer" meal in this week's menu as well as one of my favorite desserts that I will often make for Valentine's Day. What I like to focus on is the idea that any evening of the week can be a nice family meal for this holiday - so make the week work for you. That's what I'm doing. I'll probably switch our Wednesday night meal for the dinner we were supposed to have tonight. The point is that we're all together at the table. That's where my heart is.

Onto this week's menu.

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I hope you all had a nice weekend. Ours was both busy and relaxing. More busy for Josh than me. He had to get up early Saturday morning to drop our two eldest off at the airport (they flew down South to visit their aunts at college for a few days) and then he went for a 10 mile run before spending the afternoon splitting logs at our church. Meanwhile I slept in on Saturday, worked out, and washed my hair! We did a good amount of taking it easy on Sunday, though, which was nice. The sun was out and even though it is chilly, we spent about half an hour outside just enjoying it.

Since my girls won't be back home till mid-week, I discovered last week when I was working on the menu how hard it is to cook for a smaller family when you're not used to it. Two adults and two kids who eat like birds...I was scratching my head trying to figure out what to make!

Here's what I'm cooking!

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Happy "last Monday" of the month, friends! Did this January feel long and unending or fairly normal in length? I feel like January is a surprise month every year. I personally feel like a lot got packed into it and I'm glad it's over because I'm ready to get to spring.

We've got a family birthday dinner this week, my oldest two daughters are flying to Mississippi to visit their aunts at college at the end of the week, and we've got to get our tax stuff in order this week. It's a full week and I'm not excited about the taxes part at all! (shocker!) I am however trying a few new recipes out of the Magnolia Table cookbook for dinner, so that should be fun.

Speaking of recipes, here's what's cooking this week!

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Hello, friends! I'm back after taking a full three weeks off from (this) work. I feel a bit more refreshed and like I have a slightly clearer focus of how I'd like to continue working on this little blog of mine. I'll share more on that later this week when we (hopefully) send out a "newsletter" sharing some updates on life and plans for the blog.

How many of you remember our old Tuesday's Tidings posts? I'd like to do something kind of like that, but newsletter style and maybe once a month instead of weekly. We'll share the books we're reading, movies we've enjoyed, family updates, recipes I've made from around the web/cookbooks, and blog updates. And keeping with the Catz theme, maybe we will simply title it Catz @ Home. :)

Onto this week's menu - which is full of favorites! It is supposed to be dry here all weekend and mostly sunny (thank goodness), however it will also be cold. So all of my recipes this week are those feel good recipes that will warm you up from the inside out.

Since it's January, I don't know how many people are still on a health food kick, but I believe food should be enjoyable and enjoyed in moderation. But I also recognize that for many, January is a food reset and I want to support that! So without further ado, here's my Healthier Dinners board and my Healthier Breakfasts board for some recipe ideas.

I'll see you back with our newsletter and a recipe later in the week.

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