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Weekly Menu For The Week of May 30th

May 30, 2016 By Chelsia Rief Leave a Comment

Happy Memorial Day everyone!! I hope the weather is beautiful and warm for you while you fire up those grills with some delicious food. The holidays make for such a special time to be able to get together with family and friends and celebrate the many men and women who have served so selflessly over the years.

We just got back from a very short trip to Spokane, WA over the weekend. My beautiful sister-in-love went into labor with her first baby on Thursday, and on Friday evening she delivered the most beautiful and precious baby girl. We are so looking forward to getting to know this new little one!

As I mentioned last week, due to some medical issues that arose, we had some family and friends bring us some very delicious meals, and since we were out of town, we actually only ended up making one of those meals last week. That's why much of this week's menu looks the same as last week's. (Gotta use up those ingredients before they go bad, right?)

In case grilling plans are still in the cards for you, make sure you check out some recipes from the grilling archives. There are a lot of really delicious choices...and, of course, you can always look at past menus for more great dinner options!

Have a wonderful holiday and please be safe if you are out on the road! [Read more...]

Chicken Pesto Burgers

May 24, 2016 By Chelsia Rief 5 Comments

Chicken Pesto Burgers change it up! Smoky chicken instead of beef, fresh tomatoes, spicy arugula, and zesty pesto instead of bacon and cheese!

It still surprises me sometimes how quickly time moves when you're an adult. One moment I'm looking at the clock and it's only one o'clock. I turn around five minutes later and it's after four!

It was just the beginning of May...and now Memorial Day is Monday! Someone please tell me that I'm not the only "grown up" who feels there aren't enough hours in a day or days in a month (...or months in a year!)?!

However, I do love Memorial Day because to me, it's like the kickoff to summer and GRILLING SEASON. Once Memorial Day hits, anything that can be grilled or barbecued is fair game...and for me, that means burgers. [Read more...]

Tuesday's Tidings for May 24, 2016

May 24, 2016 By Chelsia Rief Leave a Comment

Hers

1. I was blown away by this young girl's talent when it came to transforming herself into Vivian Leigh and Audrey Hepburn. I think you'll be as amazed as I was.

2. If you love ballet and you can appreciate Adele's music, then you have to watch this couple dance. It is seriously a beautiful thing to see.

3. This is just adorable and you will melt.

4. S'mores Stuffed Strawberries. Need I say more? [Read more...]

Weekly Menu For The Week Of May 23rd

May 22, 2016 By Chelsia Rief Leave a Comment

I hope you all had a nice weekend, and hopefully the weather was better than ours. It was mostly cloudy and rainy here. Somehow, we still managed to get a few things done outside and when I say we, I really mean, Josh and the kids. I kind of just sat there and watched and told them how I wanted things to be...

Sometimes it's nice to be in cruise director mode.

Josh even got started on building our newest project for our house, another table, but this one is for our eat-in kitchen. I'm really looking forward to seeing the finished product!

Let's talk about the menu for a second. I have a full menu that I made out this week. But last Thursday, Josh and I had a situation come up that needed medical attention and because of that, we've had some family and friends bringing us meals over the past few days - which has been a lifesaver for us! When you've got something going on, the last thing you want to think about is cooking! [Read more...]

Chipotle Fish Tacos

May 19, 2016 By Joshua Rief 4 Comments

Chipotle fish tacos are creamy, spicy, crunchy, smokey, and fresh - they really have it all. They have become a summer grilling mainstay for our family!

We've updated this post a couple of times now in the five years since it originally went up on Catz - it's that good! It's one of our all-time favorites in the Mexican / Latin food category, as well as the fish department! We haven't shared it in several years, and the photos weren't great the second time around either, so if you haven't tried this one yet - this summer's your chance!

Good evening, once again! How is it that I'm back with you again so soon? Well, don't worry - I won't be here long (at least not tonight!). I just wanted to share with you one of mine and Chels's favorite new recipes we have been playing with this summer - Fish Tacos. This will be a pretty quick post, as I haven't had time to properly photograph it, but with summer evaporating before our eyes, I would be doing you a disservice if I didn't get it to you while you could still use it! (2013 Note: Now, two years later, I've finally taken new photographs. 2016 Note: And five years later, finally some halfway decent ones!) [Read more...]

Trainwreck Crock Pot Taco Salad

May 17, 2016 By Joshua Rief 4 Comments

"Trainwreck" crock pot taco salad is simple, inexpensive, easily customizable, and incredibly tasty! It will please your family, or a crowd of almost any size!

First of all, let's deal with the name of this trainwreck taco salad. Honestly, we don't even refer to this as a taco salad in my family, though that's obviously what it is. We just call it "trainwreck" (...and everyone says, "Mmmmmm...."), but why do we call it that?

I have no idea.

I pondered this often during the hundreds of times I ate this dish as a child. Is it because everything gets all mixed together, creating a hyperbolic "train wreck" of a meal out of the food on your plate? Is it because it would be a comforting and fulfilling meal to serve to survivors of a train wreck (admittedly, I dismissed this one early on...)? It is because (*shudder*) it resembles a train wreck scene when assembled (surely nothing so gory as that!)?

My mother made this almost anytime we had a sizable number of people coming over, as did my grandmother, and as children, my brothers and sisters and I found ourselves looking forward to large gatherings, no matter the attendees, simply because we could pile our plates high with this delectable, customizable, craveable goodness. It's crunchy and cheesy, warm and meaty, while still feeling fresh and smelling incredibly appetizing as it cooks. It's colorful, easy to make ahead of time, and, above all else, oh-so-simple to expand to feed a crowd of almost any size! [Read more...]

Tuesday's Tidings for May 17, 2016

May 17, 2016 By Chelsia Rief Leave a Comment

Hers

1. I'm pretty excited! I was going through some of my kids clothes and discovered that Thred Up is taking more brands! For example, before they were not taking Charlotte Russe, The Children's Place, Jumping Beans, Cherokee, or Crazy 8 and now...they are! This is so perfect because I have SO SO many clothes of my kids in bins that are taking up so many space. I guess it's time to go back through the bins and see what else I can donate. In case you want to sell your clothes too or just go shopping, here's a referral link to get a free $10 to go shopping. If you buy clothes, then I get $10 too! It's a win/win for us all!

2. My beloved treadmill's track has gotten jerky when I run on it. Has anyone ever tried fixing that on their own? I found this link with some helpful tips on how to troubleshoot the problem. If I can get out of buying a new one, I will!

3. This recipe is kind of genius! I'll have to try it sometime. [Read more...]

Weekly Menu for the Week of May 16th

May 15, 2016 By Chelsia Rief Leave a Comment

Hey friends!

We missed last week's weekly menu! Actually, I wrote it and everything, but you know how life gets. It completely and totally got in the way. But we're back and we're hoping this week, while still busy, is a little bit more normal and scheduled out.

Since, I wasn't around much last week, so how was everyone's Mother's Day? Ours was good. Josh made a delicious French feast for me. And then this week we celebrated not one, not two, but THREE birthdays! We started off by celebrating Josh's youngest brother on Monday. On Wednesday, our very own Gracie turned 12 years old! And on Friday we celebrated my mom's 60th birthday! It was a busy birthday week!

But the fun isn't over! Josh's sister hit 40 weeks with her pregnancy on Friday, and we're all eagerly anticipating the arrival of this little one. As soon as we get the news, we hope to head out of town to welcome the new addition to the family!

As always, feel free to take a peek at past weekly menus for other great dinner options. One of my favorite things to fix if I'm in a dinner rut is to make breakfast for dinner. Whose kids don't get excited about pancakes, waffles, or eggs for dinner?

Make sure you "Like" our Facebook page so you can stay up to date on posts, and follow me on Instagram for fun behind the "Catz" scenes!

Have a great week everyone! Here are the recipes: [Read more...]

Artichoke Bruschetta

May 10, 2016 By Joshua Rief 2 Comments

This recipe originally appeared on Catz in April of 2012. We have made it approximately eleventy billion times since then. It's so fast and so good...we just can't help ourselves! The pictures are new, and the recipe has been revised slightly.

Sometimes the appetizer is more fun (and tastier) than the actual meal. And, personally, I consider that a triumph. I mean, hey, if you can do more with fewer ingredients and less time...isn't that a win? My problem is simply that I usually come up with really tasty appetizers and run out of energy and creativity before I get to the main course. Not good.

[Read more...]

Southwest Wontons

May 3, 2016 By Joshua Rief 3 Comments

Crunchy, cheesy, and insanely craveable, these southwest wontons are the ultimate appetizer - grab your wonton wrappers and get frying!

This post originally appeared on Catz in January of 2012. The recipe has been remade and reshot, which was badly needed, as the old photos were quite unappetizing! We have taken to making this recipe in the deep fryer, which is quite a bit faster, but if you don't have a deep fryer, the pan method below still works great!

One day in November, I got into one of my moods. Chels occasionally refers to them as expensive moods, because that has a tendency to be how they end...with the spending of half our grocery budget at the local market. Thankfully, most of the time I just work with what I have in the house. In fact, normally it doesn't get too far out of hand unless there's a grill involved - which is pretty much every night during the summer. Also thankfully, I usually end up buying things we can use in later meals, so I'm actually contributing to the grocery shopping in a way...or at least that's what I tell myself. [Read more...]