7QT: Opan Lenten Style

1.  Peter realized on the eve of Ash Wednesday that Lent is ACTUALLY FORTY DAYS, if you don't count the Sundays (because every Sunday is Easter, yada yada yada).

He told me this amazing fact in a state of wonder and disbelief.

But, Mom, I counted the days on the calendar, and it is EXACTLY forty!  Does this happen every year?

Peter has gone to Catholic schools for thirteen years, and is supposedly ready for college.  He even did well on his ACT and SAT, where I guess "How many days are actually in Lent?" is not part of those tests.

I thought it was hit or miss, like some years it's forty-two days and some years it's only thirty-seven. Whoa!  HOW DO THEY MAKE IT EXACTLY FORTY EVERY YEAR?

You could hear the sound of his mind blowing up at least two doors down.

Yes, all of my children are blonde.

2. One of my more popular posts about Meat Fridays, ironically (did I do that right?  That's ironic right?) included another mind-blowing fact.

Bone broth is not meat.  Chicken broth, beef broth, these items are not considered meat.  When you're making vegetarian minestrone tonight and realize you don't have vegetable broth, don't worry.  Broth is not meat.

My resident expert explained it like this:

Basically, in the 1917 code (of Canon Law) you could not eat soups made from meat. A revision to this part of the law happened in 1966 but omitted the phrase on soups made from meat. Under canon law this is called derogation and the part of the former law that is omitted in the new law is no longer binding.

This is in Canon Law, folks.  Or rather, it ISN'T in Canon Law.

3.  Nowhere in the rules does it state that you can only have clear liquids on a day of fast.  

I don't know where some people got this crazy notion (Mom), but you can have liquids between meals, whether or not they are clear. If your liquid is a glass of milk or an opaque Guinness, you're just as good as the person who is drinking iced tea or Bud Light or water.

If you choose the Guinness, you are getting less calories than if you chose skim milk or orange juice, and less alcohol than lots of other beers, but I digress.

Canon law, as it written today, does not mention clear or opaque liquids.  Canon law DOES refer you to your own diocesan rules.  My diocesan rules specifically state that liquids including milk and fruit juices are allowed.  My diocese makes no reference to the opacity of the liquids.

4.

Looking for meatless meal ideas?  I can give you some good ideas here (the bulk of my ideas on the topic), here (if you're near a Trader Joe's, this is a good one), here (meatless and gluten-free migas), and here (Potato and Egg Tacos and Spicy Quinoa with Kidney Beans, Corn, and Lime).

I bought a Ninja Blender sometime in the last year, and I've been very impressed with the small cookbook that came with it.  Here is a list that links to lots of soup recipes from that book, and most of them are meatless.

5.  We were listening to The Story of the World: History for the Classical Child, when I heard for the very first time that the 10 plagues sent to Egypt were in direct correlation to 10 ancient Egyptian gods!

Peter probably already knew this and would make sarcastic remarks about my mind being blown by something so obvious, and it is!  But seriously, did you know that the plague of darkness is for Ra the sun god?  And the plague of boils is for Isis the goddess of healing?  Google it.  Lots of sites have charts for this.

6.

The Prince of Egypt is streaming on Netflix right now.  We watched it a few weeks ago for our Ancient Egypt Unit Study, but Jill wanted to watch "the Moses movie" again this week when she was ill.

And she wanted me to watch it with her.

How could I refuse my poor little pneumonia baby?

I forgot what a great movie it is and for once, the critics at Rotten Tomatoes agree with me mentioning the "stunning visuals" and "first-rate voice cast."

I think the songs are superb.  Definitely not the ear worms you get in Frozen.

It should definitely be part of this list of our Holy Week movies.

The story of Moses from birth until leaving Egypt is fairly accurate.  There are some scary sequences when Moses realizes what happened to all the other baby boy Israelites the year he was born, and also that last plague is very grim, but Jill wasn't phased.

Jill loves the parts with the baby in the basket and the wedding.

I like the parts with Moses and the burning bush, the wedding, and the jaw-dropping parting of the Red Sea scene.

7.  My favorite part about the Prince of Egypt movie is this song:

especially this line, "A man's life isn't judged by what he builds or buys..."

which gave me great comfort in the wee small hours on Ash Wednesday when I had a freak-out and wrote this:

Waking up at 3:18 am.  Wondering if I'll ever catch up on my photo albums.  Wondering if the basement will ever be clean.  Wondering if Edmund will ever go to high school.  Wondering where to put the new baby's dresser.  Wondering why I am so durned hungry at 3:18 am on ASH WEDNESDAY!  I had banana cream pie last night for crying out loud!

Wondering if Jesus will share some of my workload.  Wondering which of my worries is actually even worth worrying about because I read somewhere recently, probably a FB meme, that a man's life isn't judged by what he builds or buys but look at your life through heaven's eyes.

Wait.  Googled it.  Not a meme, but that animated Prince of Egypt movie from way back in 1998 that Jill made me watch with her when she was sick.

I think Jesus is trying to tell me to screw the scrapbooks and the basement and go eat some night cheese.

Linking up with Jen and the cool kids.

What We're Reading (Ash) Wednesday

We are still functioning at less than optimum speed here, so I'm going to fall back on an old favorite:  Chicken Soup with Rice: A Book of Months by Maurice Sendak.

In *Chicago
it's so nice
while slipping
on the sliding ice
to sip hot chicken soup
with rice.
Sipping once
sipping twice
sipping chicken soup
with rice.

It's March, but I am still slipping on the sliding ice.  Always winter, never Christmas.  Forty days til Aslan returns!

This little book of months has been a classic in our household for many years.  

It also comes in a set of four very tiny books in an adorable boxed set, Nutshell Library: Alligators all around / Chicken Soup With Rice / One was Johnny / Pierre.  Of these, I can only speak for the adorableness of Chicken Soup with Rice and Alligators All Around.

Chicken soup with rice sounds pretty good right now, maybe I'll make some for Ash Thursday.

For my Lenten reading, I WILL finish Fulton Sheen's Life of Christ.  

My copy looks like this:

I love old books and I cannot lie.

I'm taking this approach to Lent this year.

Hit me with your link-ups!  Fire Away!  

An InLinkz Link-up

Meatless Mania

A friend of mine started a Facebook group asking for meatless meal ideas for Lent.  However, I just gave up Facebook for Lent.

Just Facebook.  Not blogging or reading blogs or online shopping or Words with Friends.  Just Facebook.  Among an Easter basket of other assorted good intentions.  We'll see how it goes.

Since I cannot share my meatless meal planning with her on Facebook, I will share with everyone here!  Huzzah!  (One of my intentions is to use more colorful words like "Huzzah!" instead of the colorful words I usually use.)

Meatless meal planning at Chez Housewifespice is more involved because the Chef does not eat fish or cheese.*

*Unless the cheese is on pizza, in ravioli, in Nickson's Smoked Cheddar Grits, in pasta, or good parmesan.  He says he's allergic.  (eyeroll.)  Huzzam.  One of my intentions was not to roll my eyes at or about the Chef.  Flurbt.

So, here is a link to a good meatless pasta entree that I love, and I don't love pasta.  It's that good.  The smoky sundried tomato flavor mimics bacony goodness.  Plus cream.  I adore cream.

Also, on the menu this month is another one of these.

This one is for Mediterranean Herb Crusted Tilapia.  I can either wait for a night when the Chef is not home to make this, or I'll serve a side of gnocchi with it.  Costco has some delicious gnocchi, vacuum sealed, super easy to make.

I'll also try to sneak in an Asian Sesame Salmon.  I adore salmon.  If I could eat salmon daily, I would.  The Chef says it smells up the house.  I am NOT rolling my eyes here.

The Chef is a lost cause, but I have done an excellent job creating non-picky eaters.  With one exception.  Peter won't eat any fruits except apples and grapes.  And he'll eat strawberries, but if and ONLY if they are dipped in dark chocolate.  He says he's allergic.  Hmmph.

Maybe my kids' aren't picky eaters because we never do the jarred baby food thing.  Babies eat what we eat, just milder versions.  Everyone has to taste everything (except the Chef, no eyeroll).  If you don't like what's for dinner, you may have cereal, toast, or a peanut butter sandwich.  In Edmund's case, a soynut butter sandwich.

Once, Susan declared that she no longer liked Chicken.  Any Chicken at all.  Chicken nuggets, fried chicken, chicken piccata (The Chef's Chicken Piccata is divine), chicken noodle soup, chikin in a biskit crackers, you get the idea.

We did what parents sometimes have to do.  We ridiculed her out of it.  We use sarcasm and humor as parenting tools.  We laughed at her.  Then she laughed at herself.  Now, she eats Chicken.

Edmund tried the same thing with Soup.  He refused anything in the Form of Soup.  It didn't matter what kind of soup it was, if it was served in a bowl with a spoon, he wanted no part of it.  He was a little too young to appreciate mockery, so I did what any parent would do.  I ignored him.  I kept serving soup.  He eventually realized that either I was never going to make a separate entree just for him, or that we serve some fine soups and he was missing out.  Now, he eats Soup.

Back to meatless meals, I will make this at least once during Lent.  Cause it has Lent-ils.  Hee-hee.

Curried Lentil Burritos with Cilantro-Scallion Spiced Yogurt

Originally from Cuisine at Home April, 2005

This is a fabulous meatless meal, perfect for fish haters.

This recipe is written to serve 2 people, but I have tripled, quadrupled and quintupled it with great success.  You just have to know your way around fractions.  And since the magazine said it would take 45 min to make 2 burritos, the time lengthens somewhat for each tortilla you have to fry.  It’s a labor of love.

For the filling-

1 T. vegetable oil:

¼ c. onion, diced

1 t. curry powder

1 t. jalapeno, minced

1 ½  c. vegetable or chicken broth ( Chicken broth does not violate the meatlessness of the dish for Church purposes.  Just ask Catholic answers, or my husband.)

½ c. tomatoes, chopped

½ c.red potatoes, cubed

¼ c. brown lentils

1 bay leaf

½ c. frozen chopped spinach, or 1 c. fresh spinach

Juice of ½ lime

Salt to taste

Saute onion, curry powder, and jalapeno in 1 T. oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Cook until onion begins to brown.  5-8 minutes, stirring often.

Stir in broth, tomatoes, potatoes, lentils, and bay leaf.  Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, until lentils are tender, 20-30 minutes.  Meanwhile, prepare the spiced yogurt while lentils cook.  Finish lentils with spinach (if using frozen spinach, no need to thaw it first), lime juice and salt.

For the Spiced Yogurt-

1 c. cilantro leaves and stems

¼ c. scallions, sliced (white and green parts)

2 t. fresh ginger, chopped

1 t. sugar

¼ t. ground cumin

2 cloves garlic, chopped

Juice of the other half of the lime.

Salt and cayenne to taste

½ c plain yogurt (Please not the nonfat kind.  Eeewww.)

Process all ingredients except yogurt in a food processor until minced.  Stir herb paste into yogurt; chill until ready to serve.

For the tortillas-

1 egg

1 T. milk

1 T. chopped fresh parsley

10”tortillas

Shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Blend egg, milk, and parsley in a pie plate.  Heat a 12” nonstick skillet over medium high heat.

Dip the tortillas in the egg mixture.  Fry in 1 T. vegetable oil until golden brown on one side, about 1 min.  Flip.  Sprinkle with 1 /4 c. shredded Monterey Jack cheese and continue frying until second side is brown, about 1 minute; transfer to a work surface.  Add another T. oil and repeat for all tortillas. 

To assemble the burritos, place ¾ c. filling on the lower third of each tortilla, then roll the bottom of the tortilla over the filling to cover.  Fold in both sides and roll to the end.  Serve with the yogurt ladled across the top and sprinkled with chopped parsley to look pretty.

Everyone loves it.  No fish, no eggs, and it's darn tasty.  Lots of work though.  

And my last meatless-fishless-cheeseless meal is Vegetarian Black Bean Chili.  This isn't my recipe.  I can't find mine for some reason.  But this recipe looks an awful lot like the one I use.  

I'd call my mom to get the original recipe, but she just had a hip replacement, so she won't be able to get up and find her copy, and my father and brothers are no good at that sort of thing.  I could wait until my baby sister gets home from school.  She's eleven.  Yes, I have an eleven year old sister.  Weird.  I know.  But I don't want to wait that long to publish this post.  Baby J is going to wake up any minute.

This recipe is especially like mine in that it involves lots of chopping.  Get some kids to do those parts.  Edmund loves to chop.  Edmund loves knives in general. Add some serrano or jalapenos to the skillet with the onions , if you like spicy things.  We like it hot here.  Don't let the kids cut the chili peppers though.  Of course, you already knew that.

Maybe I will get the Chef to make a guest post to share his Pasta Puttanesca recipe.  Don't google translate Puttanesca.  It's not a nice word.  But it's a good pasta dish with black olives and capers.  Capers are my favorite vegetable.  

Tonight I'm serving  Falafel Pitas.  I picked up falafel at Costco, when I went nuts for packaged vegetarian items.  I also picked up veggie burgers (in the kids' lunches today) and some spinach/chickpea patties that looked good.  I might try the spinach/chickpea patties in pan covered with spaghetti sauce and topped with mozzarella and parmesan.  Sort of a vegetarian Chicken Parmesan.  I'll let you know how it goes.

If anyone has a delicious potato soup recipe to share, I'm looking for one.  Or if you'd like to share how you meet the meatless challenge, I love comments.  And I'm off Facebook, so I'm sort of desperate for adult interaction. 

Lenten Sacrifice: The Possibilities Are Endless

 

It's crunch time.  Ash Sunday.  And as usual, I don't have a clue as to what I'm going to give up.  Scratch that.  I can't even decide if I'm going to give something up or do something extra.

I usually figure it out a week or two before Holy Week.  I mean that I try on many different penances and figure out the one that I can actually stick with late in the game.  I have a problem with setting my expectations too high, setting too many goals for myself and then not accomplishing anything rather than just focusing on one thing.

Focus.

We went to confession yesterday.  The whole fam.  I personally knew 9 out of the 13 people in line in front of me, not including my own kids.  I think I'm hanging out with the wrong crowd.  All the sinners.

Anyway, my penance was to spend two or three minutes in silent prayer, reflecting on what would be a good Lenten sacrifice this year.  So, I went to the cry room, released Lucy from her task of watching Baby J, turned out the lights and sat down.  Then three other kids showed up to tell me they were ready to go.  I kicked them out and tried again to focus.

My mind has Attention Deficit Disorder.  This is how the two minutes went.

I thought about giving up shopping and thought about how hard it would be to give that up, because of course I have to get super cute coordinating Easter outfits for my brood, especially because we are going to visit the Colonel and his wife in Georgia.  And making large families look good is part of my vocation.

Then I thought about Georgia, and wondered how hot it will be, and how I will have to dig up summer wear for everyone.

Then I thought about summer wear, and how none of it fits me yet.  I got away with just two post-pregnancy pairs of capris last summer. I thought how joining Weight Watchers to get rid of the last of the baby weight could be a Lenten thing, but it's pretty selfish, based on appearance, and I don't really think He cares how much I weigh.  It's something that bothers me, not Him.

I dismissed the "Doing something nice for the Chef" because it isn't concrete enough for me to decisively do something extra or not do something every day.  I can fake it for 5 weeks and then look back and realize I haven't done anything at all.  Plus, should being nice to my spouse really be a penance?

I dismissed giving up caffeine.  Don't want to punish the family with extra irritability.

Exercise and prayer and eating better and getting organized are all things I should be doing anyway.

I rationalized away every single idea.  Out of all of these ideas, I just don't see the one thing that will bring me closer to Him.

I have these vague thoughts like, "For Lent, I want to be more like Mary."  Could I be any less precise?  

I have had some good Lents.  Once, I gave up ice.  It was subtle.  I drink iced tea A LOT, so it was something that I had to give up several times a day.  It didn't cause me to be irritable.  Last year, I gave up "spicy."  Pregnant and pouring Frank's Red Hot on everything, it worked for me then.  Wouldn't work now.

There should be some kind of Facebook quiz or iPhone app to help people find the perfect Lenten penance.

What to do.  What to do.  My two to three minutes are long past but I still don't have a clue.