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Weekly Menu For the Week of Sep 25th

September 25, 2017 By Chelsia Rief Leave a Comment

I cannot believe that this is the last week of September! Today, or more like tonight, Ruby will officially be two weeks old and, oh, how my heart breaks at the thought! I feel like it was just the beginning of the month that I was anxiously awaiting her arrival and now she's here and the month is coming to an end!

In the two weeks that Ruby has been in our home, she has been an incredibly relaxed and peaceful baby! She cries when she is hungry, when she's getting her diaper changed (my goodness, how she hates that), or when she is getting her clothes changed, and bath time seems to be hit and miss with her. But other than that, she's a great little sleeper, and appears to be very strong and alert.

To be honest, so far, she's been the easiest newborn of our four kids! [Read more...]

The Best Breakfast Quesadillas

September 22, 2017 By Joshua Rief 1 Comment

This breakfast quesadilla recipe is one of our family's most requested "breakfasts for dinner"! It is incredibly simple and totally craveable!

Along with breakfast pizza, the breakfast quesadilla is one of those marvelous ideas we always crave but don't actually make super often! Imagining the combination of Mexican food and breakfast cuisine typically brings the classic standby breakfast burrito to mind (yum!), but it's far from the only entry in this fusion-ish culinary genre. We adore breakfast tacos and salsa baked eggs, and those are just two of literally dozens of breakfast ideas inspired by or utilizing more traditionally Latin ingredients. I'm not sure what they actually eat for breakfast in Mexico (it's been over twenty years since I lived on the border) - chilaquiles, maybe? Oh, man. Chilaquiles. If I wasn't hungry already, I am now...okay, that's a recipe for another time. Back to the topic at hand.

Of course, the thing about the incredible edible overachieving quesadilla is that it is so danged flexible. Chels and I will not soon forget the marvelously simple but perfectly executed Oaxaca cheese quesadillas that consistently lure in the tourists along the beach in Cabo San Lucas, while our kiddos rant and rave about the cheesy goodness of the basic flour tortilla and jack cheese versions at the local taco truck. Then, of course, you can add your choice of protein, change up your cheese, your salsa, your tortilla...the possibilities are myriad. But, one thing the majority of quesadillas have in common is this - they are served for dinner or lunch, and constitute themselves primarily around cheese. [Read more...]

Tuesday's Tidings: Ruby's Birth Story

September 19, 2017 By Chelsia Rief Leave a Comment

In keeping up with the last few Tuesday's Tidings posts that involved my pregnancy updates, some of you have followed our journey since the beginning of the year when we found out we were pregnant, so I felt it was only fitting to share Ruby's birth story on here. Not just to share, because bringing a baby into the world is quite possibly the most beautiful and magical experience, but for me, so that I can always come back and read about it later, before all details become mushed together in my memory! We won't be sending out an email about this, or doing a ton of sharing on social media, or anything like that, but if you like happy baby stories, read on... [Read more...]

Weekly Menu For the Week of Sep 18th

September 18, 2017 By Chelsia Rief Leave a Comment

If you haven't gotten a chance to read Tuesday's Tidings (which was late) or haven't been on the Catz FB page or the IG page, you may have missed that last Monday evening, we brought our precious little Ruby into the world. Since then we've just been readjusting to life without too much sleep, but an overload of constant cuteness and baby snuggles.

With that being said, our wonderful church family has offered to bring us a few meals this week and next, so we won't be working through so much of a weekly menu here, but we'd still like to get you a list of dinner ideas to try out!

Easy Biscuits & Gravy | Catz in the Kitchen | catzinthekitchen.com | #Gravy #Recipe #Breakfast #Biscuits — Easy Biscuits & Gravy

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Tuesday's Tidings: Pregnancy Update (Ruby is here!)

September 14, 2017 By Chelsia Rief 1 Comment

Happy Tuesday! (Okay, so it's not Tuesday anymore, but it was when I wrote this!) I just wanted to hop on here real fast and let you all know that Ruby Gladys Louise is here!!! In keeping with the theme of these pregnancy updates (sharing experiences for other moms), I may work on a little birth story next week.

But for now, I just so happy to have my little "teacup" here. Yes, for whatever reason, I've begun calling her my little teacup. She is so dainty and precious! [Read more...]

Tuesday's Tidings - Pregnancy Update Week 38

September 8, 2017 By Chelsia Rief Leave a Comment

Okay, so basically at this point I'm more like 39 weeks pregnant. But for the sake of being technical, I'm actually 38 weeks and 5 days. See what I mean? Basically, 39 weeks...give two days. But really, who's counting. Oh wait, I totally am! Same disclaimer as before - I'm really writing this for a little myself and any pregnant moms out there who might find it helpful. Not expecting that this is of interest to folks looking for recipes! [Read more...]

Weekly Menu for the Week of Sep 4th

September 4, 2017 By Joshua Rief Leave a Comment

Well, guys, you'll have to bear with us, as the weekly menu continues to be rather brutally honest. There are some repeats here, for sure - we haven't gotten around to making those Chipotle Fish Tacos again yet, and the same goes for the Teriyaki Meatballs! At this point in the pregnancy, it's one day at a time for Chels and the baby, and that means our meals are a bit less...structured...than usual! Gracie and I are taking most of the at-bats right now, and while we're both pretty handy in the kitchen, we aren't necessarily worrying as much about sticking to the plan!

You know what, though? That's okay, and that's real life! It's great to have a menu, and to meal plan, so that you aren't having to eat fast food every night, or dip into your cold cereal stash daily, or burn through your junk drawer's stack of local takeout menus too quickly, but that doesn't mean you have to be inflexible. The reality is that a good meal plan and a well-stocked pantry give you more flexibility, and we are grateful for all the work Chels has put into that right now, believe me! [Read more...]

Catz Review: Chef'd Pistachio Pesto And Cherry Tomato Penne

August 30, 2017 By Chelsia Rief 1 Comment

We had the opportunity to review a Chef'd meal this month (an opportunity we hope to have and be able to share with you on a regular basis!), which we jumped at! We've been quite curious to try one of these meal prepping/planning services for awhile, but hadn't settled on which one to try. When Chef'd reached out, we did a little reading up on their service. A lot of our favorite chefs had bios and recipes on the site, and the meals that were available seemed creative and a bit "premium", if that makes sense. So we said yes, and picked out a couple of things that looked mouthwatering - Barilla's Pistachio Pesto and Cherry Tomato Penne (pictured above), with a little tiramisu for dessert.

The entrees and desserts offered really run the gamut - everything from gourmet seafood and steak recipes to simple chicken and pasta dishes. The same is true of servings and pricing - some meals serve 2, some 8, some are $19, some are $80+. Last I checked, there were almost 150 meals available, sortable by chef, cuisine, meal plan, skill level, allergens, spice level, and more. It was a tough decision to make, but for our first go-around, we wanted to find something approachable and reasonable that would feed the whole fam - hence the choice of this pasta dish.

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Tuesday's Tidings - Pregnancy Update: Week 37

August 29, 2017 By Chelsia Rief Leave a Comment

Okay, today (Tuesday) I am 37 weeks and 4 days pregnant! I remember thinking when I got to the 30-week mark that the distance between there and 37 (full term) seemed like eons away and there was no way I was ever going to make it!

Well, here we are and if I wasn't feeling huge and like I couldn't possibly get or feel any bigger last week, well, I was wrong. Because, I am and a I do.

So...here's my standard disclaimer about this post. If you're looking for recipes, they aren't here, so please head over to the recipe index! I'm writing these little updates because they're (a) a bit therapeutic, and (b) hopefully a little helpful or encouraging to other pregnant ladies out there, as so many of their posts and updates have been to me! [Read more...]

Weekly Menu for the Week of Aug 28th

August 28, 2017 By Chelsia Rief Leave a Comment

Happy Monday AND a BIG Happy Anniversary to my brother and sister-in-love!! They got married exactly one year after us and I remember their wedding like it was yesterday. Super hot, summer August day (just like ours) and one of the the first times we ever left baby Grace behind. 13 years ago seems like a long time, but it doesn't feel that way!

We've got three weeks left till my due date and this week Grace and I (and maybe even Josh) are going to help me with some of my freezer cooking (oxymoron, anyone?). I have a list of which meals I want to make, but we'll see how many we actually get done. I still need to do all of the shopping for the ingredients and pans needed to store it all.

I don't know about you, but it is supposed to be hot here. 100 degrees today and in the 90's the rest of the week! Too darn hot! Although, after seeing what the people of South Texas are dealing with right now, it's hard to justify complaining about the weather. My heart goes out to them. (Speaking of which, Magnolia Market is donating all of the proceeds from sales of their Texas Forever t-shirt to Hurricane Harvey disaster relief efforts for the next month.) [Read more...]