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Chocolate Coffee Crunch Pie

June 14, 2016 By Chelsia Rief 2 Comments

Chocolate Coffee Crunch Pie is a dessert recipe that checks all the boxes! It's got velvety chocolate, savory espresso, crunchy walnuts, and whipped cream!

You guys, there has been a lot of pie eating over here the last few weeks and I think everyone is getting used to having something chocolatey or sweet after dinner. Especially Christian!

Christian is going through this "I'm going to take 500 years to eat my dinner" phase and let's just say it is NOT cute. Over the last 12 years of motherhood I've gained a lot of patience in a lot of areas, but this is not one of them. I'm all for enjoying a leisurely meal, taking time to talk and enjoy every bite of food that was "so lovingly" prepared by yours truly (or that hunky man I call my husband), but when it comes to taking 45-60 (...to 90) minutes for that cutie to finish the food on his plate...both Josh and I find ourselves running low on patience. [Read more...]

Tuesday's Tidings for June 14, 2016

June 14, 2016 By Chelsia Rief Leave a Comment

Hers

1. We watched a new movie on Friday. We finally saw Zootopia! I have to say, it is really funny! There are a lot of really good lines that adults will appreciate, but with great kids' humor and zero crudeness. Well, none I took notice of, which is getting rare for family movies. It's super adorable guys, so if you haven't sat down to watch it yet, you should!

2. Last week, we started watching the current season of The Next Food Network Star. We haven't watched the latest episode, so don't say anything. But it's a fun show to watch, pick your favorite contestant, and of course, see who wins, all while absorbing tips, tricks, and ideas from some talented chefs!

3. I can't tell you exactly how long it's been since I've eaten a Three Musketeer bar, but I would gladly make an exception for a slice of this cake! [Read more...]

Weekly Menu for the Week of June 13th

June 12, 2016 By Chelsia Rief Leave a Comment

I am excited about this week! First of all, Father's Day is at the end of the week and I love celebrating Josh and my dads. They are all so deserving! But also, hello, Father's Day equals pie recipes and the new pie I'm going to share with you all on Wednesday is a doozy and has Josh's name written all over it and between you and I, he and I pretty much ate the whole dang thing by ourselves because it was that good.

I'm also excited about this week because Josh and I are trying something new out. Maybe some of you do this already to help you get through the week, and if so I want to hear about it. But, not only am I meal planning our dinners like here on the weekly menu, but we're also meal planning our lunches. I absolutely dread lunch time. I don't get excited about it. I don't like eating it. I would rather just skip the whole meal all together (and have, from time to time - not a great idea).

This week, I've made these cheesy burritos (that are lighter on calories) and this citrus chicken quinoa salad (both are delicious). The idea is that we'll rotate those two lunches through the week. This will save us time during our weeknights...voila, lunch is already made! I can guarantee we'll be eating something we both enjoy that is lighter on calories which is great for both of us! I'm also working on some of those overnight oats you can make in mason jars. If you have a favorite recipe, can you let me know?

If you are in need of pie recipes this week for you to bake up for your dad or husband, I'm your girl. Make sure you read the blog this week for those recipes and if you want more dinner ideas instead of what's just on this week's menu, you can take a gander at some of our older menus for inspiration for, too!

I hope you all have a wonderful week and a wonderful holiday!

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Heirloom Tomato Bruschetta

June 9, 2016 By Joshua Rief 1 Comment

Heirloom Tomato Bruschetta is our favorite, simple go-to recipe for light, healthy summer grilling! This recipe has five ingredients, & is ready in 15 min!

This post originally appeared on Catz in July of 2014. The original photos were of the recipe as prepared with Roma tomatoes and French bread, even though our favorite way to make it, and the way the post recommends, is with heirloom tomatoes and a rustic loaf of garlic clove bread, so we just had to update it! Heirloom tomatoes can be tough to get your hands on early in the summer, but our local market was carrying a few imported ones from Mexico, and while they weren't cheap, they were worth every penny! Try this super simple Italian staple this summer - you'll wonder how you ever lived without it!

One of our favorite, simplest, most-grilled recipes during the summer is "bruschetta". As I understand it, in traditional Italian cooking, bruschetta is an antipasto, made with thick slices of grilled bread and some combination of tomatoes, olive oil, and garlic. While I haven't tried fixing this strictly traditional version yet (I will, I will...), our standby is pretty simple as well. Five ingredients: bread, olive oil, mozzarella, basil, and tomatoes. And it's so good it's ridiculous.

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Dark Chocolate Cream Pie

June 7, 2016 By Chelsia Rief 2 Comments

Dark Chocolate Cream Pie with fresh strawberries! This pie recipe is sweet but not too sweet, with deep cocoa flavor - definitely for the true chocolate lover!

This post originally appeared on Catz in May of 2013. It is so wonderful, so luscious, so dark and craveable that with strawberries back in season and Father's Day around the corner, we just had to remake, reshoot, and reshare it! We hope you enjoy it - we sure did!

My goal of making one pie and one cake a month is going pretty well, don't ya think? I'm knocking out my second pie for the month! Whoop Whoop! Remember I told you about all of those strawberries I bought that I had to use up? Well, this pie is just another way for me to use up some of those delicious strawberries I had hanging out in my fridge. [Read more...]

Tuesday's Tidings for June 7, 2016

June 7, 2016 By Chelsia Rief Leave a Comment

Hers

1. We were cooking with a pineapple the other day, when Josh asked the question if there was anything creative we could do with the core of the pineapple. Since I'm all allergy-brained at the moment I couldn't think of a thing. So I googled it and came across these pretty helpful tips - so right away we froze our pineapple core for future drinks, smoothies, and ice cubes.

2. One of my friends recently shared this post on Blockbuster employees and we all had a good laugh over it because we all worked at Blockbuster Video while we were in High School, and several years after! If you ever rented movies there, you might find some of these secrets kind of entertaining. And they ARE ALL true!

3. I made this Watermelon Pineapple Smoothie a few weeks ago. Aaamazing! Watermelon in a smoothie is kind of delicious and refreshing treat. [Read more...]

Weekly Menu For The Week Of June 6th

June 5, 2016 By Chelsia Rief 2 Comments

So, it's June and we've already hit the 100 degree temps! Can you believe it? I'm basically at the point where if I go outside I'll either shrink up to nothing while I wither away in the heat or I'll die from hay fever. Either situation is not a good one.

Thank goodness for air conditioning. And if you don't have air conditioning, then I feel your pain because I've been there. And...actually still am to a degree (haha, get it? Degree?) because my SUV doesn't have working A/C...which means I'm stuck in the house until Josh can rescue me and bring back to the world of the living!

We've been noticing a technical issue on our mobile site. Sometimes when you load it our pop-up feature for our mailing list doesn't go away, which means you can't scroll through our site and look at recipes. I want you to know, we've also encountered this issue and we are trying to sort it out. Please be patient with us while our developer tries to come up with a solution!

I hope so far you're enjoying "summer" break. I don't know if your kids are out of school yet, but if they are, I hope they are finding many things to do and having fun. How many of you have trips planned for the summer? We'll be going away for a week in July (I'm so excited!!) but we won't have any (and I mean zero, zip, nada) internet connection, so during that time, I won't be sharing any recipes with you. But until then, I'm here and we've got several tasty, delicious, mouthwatering recipes just waiting to be shared with you.

I hope you enjoy this week's menu, and if you're looking for an older menu featuring a specific recipe, make sure you check our archives out!

Have a beautiful week everyone! [Read more...]

Old Fashioned Peach Cobbler

June 4, 2016 By Chelsia Rief 2 Comments

Old Fashioned Peach Cobbler is literally a recipe for comfort! This easy dessert features hints of cinnamon and nutmeg alongside sweet, juicy peaches - yum!

Back in December, I quit the gym and have been working out at home ever since. Of course, buying our own treadmill (used) certainly helped ease the transition from scrambling to fit in the gym on busy weeknights. Unfortunately, now the track of my treadmill is all jerky which means I've had to take any running I want to do outside...and any of you who have read this blog for awhile know that come May, going outside becomes completely unbearable. You know, because of the:

itchy, watery eyes

sneezing

runny/stuffy nose (I never know which it's going to be!)

not being able to breathe

Somehow, I just have to force myself out there to run and, amazingly, when I do, the allergy flare-ups subside until the moment I walk back into the house...and then you can hear me sneezing up a storm while I trudge up the stairs to change out of my activewear! [Read more...]

Creamy Parmesan Orzo

June 1, 2016 By Chelsia Rief 2 Comments

Creamy Parmesan Orzo with basil is a recipe for a tasty, easy side dish that goes with a wide variety of main courses and is ready in 30 minutes!

This post originally appeared on Catz in March 2013. It's one of our favorite, easy, tasty go-to side dishes, and it truly goes with (almost) everything. We've updated the photos, the post, and the recipe, and we hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Josh and I have a habit of stalking the sale reduction bins in our grocery store. We've found some real treasures there. For example, Josh was perusing that section when he came across a John Frieda straightener for 50% off. Being the sweet guy that he is, he called me up asking if I needed it. Of course I said, "YES!" The only thing I liked about the one I had was its color, which was pink. Other than that, I hated it. [Read more...]

Tuesday's Tidings for May 31, 2016

May 31, 2016 By Chelsia Rief Leave a Comment

Hers

1. Let's talk social media for a moment. A lot of people are on Snapchat. I am not. I don't think there is anything wrong with it, a lot of my friends use it. But you guys, I do not know how everyone keeps up with Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat...and whatever else is out there. I simply cannot do it all. Josh handles Twitter, while I take care of the Catz Facebook page and Instagram. But you are more than welcome to follow us on the other mentioned social media outlets. I check them daily and love interacting with our readers!

2. We blew a flat tire just as we entered into Oregon on Saturday night and it sure was handy having a working spare tire. That little tire crept along at 50mph for over four hours that evening...and thank goodness it did! Make sure you're keeping up on your spare tire maintenance!

3. Speaking of creeping along at a snail's pace. While we drove home, we listened to the BBC's Witness program - which are 9-ish minute long historical bios on all sorts of different topics. The first one we listened to was on The Execution of Anne Boleyn and listening to it only made me want to read more about her because I basically know nothing about the family. If you've got book suggestions on the topic, let me know! [Read more...]