Try Our St. Joseph's Sawdust Pasta

 

For years now, my children have enjoyed St. Joseph's "Sawdust" Pasta at our St. Joseph Table events.

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Yesterday, as we shared some at a potluck for the feast day, a friend asked me for the recipe, which made me realize I had never shared it here for easy-access. So, I am doing so now.

• 2 bags of your favorite gluten-free  linguine or spaghetti (We typically use the Sam Mills, which can be found at a local-to-us discount store, but can also be purchased on Amazon)
• water
• 1/2 cup soy-free Earth Balance
• 6-8 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/4-1/2 cup raw local honey (depending on how sweet you like things)
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley (can use fresh if desired)
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/4 cup fresh basil, minced
• crushed gluten-free, casein-free crackers - or GFCF bread crumbs (As much as you like)

1. Cook the pasta according to the directions. Then, drain.

2. Meanwhile, sauté garlic in Earth Balance.

3. Stir in honey and herbs.

4. Pour over drained pasta, stir together, and sprinkle with "sawdust" (crushed crackers or breadcrumbs).

We hope you enjoy this dish as much as we do.

St. Joseph, pray for us.

Try This SOS-Free Vegan Irish Stew!

Our whole household has been sick this week, so I have not been out to a store and will be making our St. Patrick's Day meal from our pantry and fridge.

As a part of it, I will make a simple salt-oil-and-sugar-free vegan Irish stew.

If you'd like to make something similar, here's the recipe:

1 onion, diced
6-8 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons of GF flour
3 cans white potatoes, chopped
4-6 carrots, sliced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
4 cups water
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
1 tablespoon marjoram
1 can green beans
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
a generous splash liquid amino acids

1. Put just enough water in the bottom of a large pot to cover the bottom. Add diced onions and minced garlic. Cook for several minutes until starting to become translucent.

2. Sprinkle flour on onion-garlic mix and stir in.

3. Add potatoes, carrots, tomato paste, water, and herbs. Cook until carrots are as soft as you like them.

4. Add green beans, vinegar, and amino acids. Stir in.

You can eat this stew freshly made, or let it sit for a bit for the flavors to mix together and deepen. Any canned ingredients can be swapped out for fresh or frozen and vice versa. You can also add other vegetables if you like. It's quite a forgiving recipe and one my entire family likes despite it being vegan, salt-, oil-, and -sugar-free (which *I* love, but my family sometimes balks at.)

St. Patrick, pray for us.

 

6 Ideas for Simple Suppers during Lent

Looking for simple meatless meal ideas to enjoy at home this Lent, share with others before or after Stations of the Cross on Friday nights, or bring to others on Meal Trains?

Let me share six categories for simple suppers that I drew up after one friend asked me for ideas since her child is going vegetarian for all of Lent, another friend asked what we'll be bringing to the Soup-n-Stations event she is hosting this week, another friend posted a meal train for a new-again mom we know, and my children and I attended a Stations and Simple Supper event at a semi-local parish this past week.

Hopefully, these ideas will get you going with your own menu planning for Simple Suppers this Lent.

1. Soup and Sides: Pair your favorite vegatarian, pescatarian, or vegan soup or stew with a vegetable or fruit salad, some hearty bread, or some crackers and chips.
2. Breakfast for Dinner: Pair a baked veggie omelet, French toast casserole, todu scramble, potato-onion-garlic home fries, vegan pancakes, or something similar with a fruit platter. Or, set out an oatmeal bar: a large pot of oatmeal with loads of delicious toppings to choose from: honey, maple syrup, cinnamon, berries, dried fruit, nuts, seeds, coconut, etc.
3. Pizza, Pasta, and Sides: Put together some pasta and sauce, lasagna, margherita pizza, spinach and feta pizza, raviolis, or whatever special diet (vegan, gluten free, etc.) alternative you like with salad.
4. Dips-n-Spreads: Hummus, guacamole, hot artichoke and spinach dip, hot bean dip, baba ghanouch, salsa,... whatever your favorite dips and spreads are... Lay them ut with some crackers, bread, tortilla chips, vegetable crudites, and sliced fruit and you're good to go.
5. Salad and...: Make salads the main dish! Enjoy ruit salad, Waldorf salad, Mexican-inspired salad, Asian cabbage salad whatever kind of salad you like paired with brea, crackers, sliced avocados, or an array of protein toppings/add ins (beans, lentils, nuts, and seeds).
6. Vegetable Casseroles: Green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, baked ziti with lentils, vegan enchilada casserole, Mercian tortilla casserole, and.... the list goes on! Pair you favorite casserole with a fruit or veggie platter or some salad and enjoy.

I'd love to hear about your favorite recipes or other ideas. Do share in a comment.

Feast with St. Paul Miki on Feburary 6th

Want a tasty idea for a meal with the saints? 

Make or order Japanese-inspired food.

February 6 is the Memorial of Saint Paul Miki and Companions, Martyrs, who was born in Japan, educated at a Jesuit college, known for his eloquent preaching, and, sadly, crucified with twenty-five other Catholis during the presecution of Christians in Japan in the late 1500's.

If you are unfamiliar with this saint, this brief video can be a good one to watch:

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Last year, before and during our St. Paul Miki dinner, we watched this video, read about Saint Paul Miki and Charles Lwanga in Once Upon a Time Saints, prayed grace, prayed in thanksgiving for the courageous faith of martyrs and the way they often inspire others in faith, and prayed for all those persecuted for faith around the world.

A red tablecloth reminded us of the martyrs...

... and we laid our food out in a cross shape to remind us of how the martyrs met their death.

Our plates and chopsticks were a hodge podge of authentic Japanese ones from my time in Japan years ago. And all of our food was Japanese-inspired - and happily devoured!

Perhaps you and yours can enjoy celebrating the liturgical year at home with a similar saint day inspired meal this year!

St. Paul Miki and Companions, pray for us!

8 Easy Eats for Your All Saints Day Party

There are so many meals, snacks, and treats that can be made for All Saints Day.

In fact, if you want an idea, you could pick just about anything shared on Catholic Cuisine, peruse our past sharing of Simple Eats with the Saints, borrow an idea from Snacking with the Saints, or browse Pinterest.

You can also take a peak at these eight easy eats that have been served at All Saints Day parties we've attended through the years.

Mind you, our parties are often thrown togther fairly last-minute by busy moms who have too much going on, so you won't find picture-perfect set ups in the photos - just quick, easy ideas.

1. St. Thomas Fingers

Mini-franks were heated and put in a crock. Kids devoured them!

2. St. Bernadette's Sticks

We love bringing these, because they can be gluten-free and eveyrone likes them. 

Find a printable signfor this along with other snakcs here.

3. St. Maria's Stew

A crock of stew warms everyone up. Use your favorite recipe or the one here, and find a printable signfor this along with other snakcs here.

4. Blood of the Martyrs

Juice wigglers made like the orange juice ones described here, but with red 100% juice instead of orange juice, always go in a flash!

5. Saint Halo's

When you have Portuguese friends, their cookies become halos!

6. St. Francis' Friends



Who doens't like animal crackers? You can even find gluten-free ones.

7. St. Therese's "Carmel"ite Apples

Sure, they brown quickly if you don't shake them in lemon juice, ut sliced apples and caramel are always a hit!

8. St. Isidore's Bounty

It's alwasy good to have whole foods to balance the treats, so a tray of favorite produce is a must most years!

What are some of your favorite simple eats for All Saints Day parties? Do share them with us by posting them as comments or on our Facebook page. Thank you so much!

Saints in Heaven, pray for us.

What's Your Favorite Fermented Pickle Recipe?

I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew.

After trying out fermenting last year with a Starter Kit from Fermentools, I was excited to try more. Sadly, though, I lost some pieces to our kit. Thus, I was thrilled when I was offered a chance to review the Starter Kit again and have already begun exploring with it.

Just like our last kit did, the one I was sent this time came with quality products mostly sourced in the United States.

• a custom-made glass weight which fits inside wide-mouthed mason jars,

• salt which dissolves easily for fermenting,
  
  
  

• a corrosion-resistant stainless steel lid that is said to last a lifetime,

• a high-quality rubber gasket canning ring,

• an instructtion/recipe pamphlet,

• and an airlock that works so you don't have to remember to burp your ferment.

It's an effective and well made little kit!


My Latest Fermentools Experiment

Not long after receiving our newest Fermentool kit, I realized I had some cucumbers leftover from a gathering that were not getting scarfed down here. So I decided to experiment with them, some flowering-and-going-to-seed dill, some garlic scaped, and brine.

I simply put the cut up cucumber spears in a small jar with the herbs, mixed up some brine, topped the cucumber-herb mixtrue with it, and then put the weight and gasket, lid, and airlock on.

I poured some water into the gasket and, then, put the jar into a cabinet for several days.

The color changed some, of course, when the ferment was happening, and, then it was time for taste testing.

My kids said the pickles were "strong" and "different", but "not bad, just different". They asked that I use a "real recipe" next time. So, here I am asking YOU for your favorite tried-and-true one. Please leave a comment to let me know what it is. For I liked our fermented pickles well enough, but would like something even better. And, honestly, our Fermentools kit makes trying out fermented recipes so easy that I am ready to try more tried-and-true recipes and experiments.

It's truly an easy process! No need for me to figure out brine formulas nor "burp" jars. Easy peasy and nutritious.  That's my kind of thing!

Looking Forward to More Ferments with This 100% American, Quality Kit that Supports a Fellow Homeschool Family!

I look forward to using our handy Fermentools Starter Kit and encourage you to try it, too. It's easy, the results are nutritious, and, even better, Fermentools is a family run, home educating business run by a husband, wife, and their  children. I love that!

Sauerkraut, kimchi, pcikles, and other fermenting is made easy with a Fermentools Stater Kit.

Learn More

Just one scoop of home-fermented goods is said to be packed with probiotics which can help immune systems, digestive systems, skin, and absorption of nutrients from other foods. That's a lot of punch for a little money and effort!

About 30 Homeschool Review Crew families made ferments with Fermentools. See blog and social media reviews by clicking through links found here.

Find Fermentools on social media:

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Enjoy a Nutritious Salad for St. José Luis Sánchez del Río's Feast Day!

It's no secret that I like to focus on faith, family, outdoor time, and Saint Day celebration here. In case you do, too, I'd like to share a simple, nutritious idea for a  St. José Luis Sánchez del Río feast day picnic and walk with you!

Whether it is bright and sunny, as it was on an All Saints Day when my son dressed as Saint José Luis Sánchez del Río...

... or a bit brisk, as it was on St. José Luis Sánchez del Río's feast day here a couple of years ago...

...you can enjoy a simple salad paired with a nature walk as part of your St. José Luis Sánchez del Río feast day celebrations on January 10.

The Mexican-inspired salad is easy to make and has symbolism, too, since the colors of the salad reflect the colors or the Mexican flag and since the red stripe made from tomatoes (which could be subbed with chopped red peppers) can remind us of  St. José Luis Sánchez del Río's martyrdom.

To make the salad, simply start with a bed of greens.

Top those with rows of black beans, corn, chopped onion, and chopped tomatoes or red peppers. (Or put the salad greens in one serving dish and the stripes in another if you have picky kids like I do.)

Then, blend an avocado with the juice of a lime, a tablespoon or so of nutritional yeast, some cilantro, a garlic clove or two, and some water to make a dressing.

Serve all this with a side of tortilla chips (if your kids, like mine, love them) as well as some Mexican Hot Chocolate (or Mexican-esque Hot Chocolate made from nut milk or coconut milk if you are casein-free, sweetened with date syrup if you are sugar free), and you've got a relatively nutritious and easy picnic as Simple Eats with the Saints.

Before eating, pray one of these prayers found at Synod.Va, where you can also find a brief biography about St. José Luis Sánchez del Río.

Dear Lord, 

Help me to be courageous and steadfast in my devotion to you. Help me to identify causes and injustices in my day that are worth defending and standing up for. Give me perseverance and a desire to help others at any cost. Help me to revere Christ as the king of my life. Saint José Sánchez del Rio, pray for us. Amen.

Dear Lord, 

Help me to be brave and strong. Help me to pray for those who hurt me and those who hurt others. You are the king of my life. Help me to listen to you and to tell others about you. 

Saint José Sánchez del Rio, pray for us. Amen. 

Credit: Holy Heroes

You may also want to listen to The Story of Saint José Luis Sánchez del Río: Glory Stories CD, Volume 9 before or after your picnic to learn more about Saint José Sánchez del Rio in a child-friendly way.

Walk, Talk and Enjoy

I also suggest going for a nature walk before or after you eat to ensure plenty of time to pause to pray... to amble along chatting about St. José Luis Sánchez del Río... to give thanks for the faithful saints that inspire and intercede for us... and to enjoy time together as laugh, discover, and connect.

Some of my children and I surely did some of this when we went on our St. José Luis Sánchez del Río picnic and nature walk a couple years ago, and I look forward to doing it again in the future.

Here are some snapshots of our walk to inspire you - and us - to get outside for a picnic and walk this St. José Luis Sánchez del Río day!

We pray that your feast day is a fruitful, faith-filled one.

¡Viva Cristo Rey! ¡Viva la Virgen de Guadalupe!

St. José Luis Sánchez del Río, pray for us.