Lenten Menu Plan – Week 1

We are trying to do a (mostly) vegetarian Lent so that we reduce our grocery bill and can send some extra money to those in need this year. However, I am determined that it not be pasta every night of the week, since many of my quick, go to meals involve chicken or beef. I have created a menu plan for this week, and any keepers will make it on to next week’s plan as well.

We are super duper busy at the moment, so the goal was easy, healthy meals which the children could help to prepare.

Monday — tomato soup and grilled cheese
Tuesday — slow cooker vegetable and chick pea curry, jasmine rice and naan (this failed, it was gross, so I am not even sharing the link to the recipe, but I am going to seek out a better curry option)
Wed — Green Pepper, onion, black bean and cheddar quesadillas with homemade guac, greek yogurt and salsa
Thurs – tortellini with mushrooms and peas in cream sauce, salad
Fri — soup and stations at church
Sat — slow cooker ratatouille over rigatoni, salad, bread

If one of these appeals to you, maybe it will be your Friday option! I set myself up for success by making a really good list, dividing it by section of the store, and shopping for everything I needed on Monday, hence the super easy Monday dinner.

Courage! Forward!

From yesterday’s “Saint Quote of the Day” calendar:

Courage! In the spiritual life, whoever doesn’t go forward goes backwards. ~Saint Pio of Pietrelcina

And today:

So you have failed? You have not failed; you have gained experience. Forward! ~Saint Josemaria Escriva

So very appropriate for this Lenten season!

 

“Marriage is like planning a trip to Hawaii…”

This is not Hawaii, for the record :) Still beautiful, though!

As I was driving in the car one night, listening to the radio, I heard Chuck Swindoll giving a talk on marriage. He made a great analogy that I thought I would share with you today: “Marriage is Like Planning a Trip to Hawaii.”

Imagine that you are planning a trip to Hawaii. You have all of your suitcases packed full of funny-looking Hawaiian shirts, flip-flops, sunscreen, and big hats. You step onto the plane and you are in a great mood – you’re going to Hawaii, after all! You imagine the sunshine, the birds singing, the fresh pineapple, and the beautiful beachside villa that will be your home for the vacation.

Suddenly, the plane veers off course and instead of landing in Hawaii, you have landed in the Swiss Alps. The weather is snowy and cold, and instead of staying in a beachside villa, your accommodations will be be a small, drafty chalet. You have no clothes for the Alps, not to mention shoes, and you are standing in the snow, shivering.

You now have a choice to make: You can either decide to go on with your vacation as if you were in Hawaii, walking around in your flip-flops and crazy Hawaiian shirts, or you can change course. You can decide to buy heavier clothes and appropriate shoes, and you can even fix up that drafty old chalet so that it becomes quite a lovely home. If you make the latter choice, you might find that your vacation, while unexpected, has become quite a wonderful adventure. Your time in the Swiss Alps will be even more amazing than you could have ever imagined your trip to Hawaii would be, if you choose to adapt.

Marriage is like planning a trip to Hawaii and ending up in the Swiss Alps (or vice versa!). The Swiss Alps are lovely, but they are very different from Hawaii. There are many unexpected conditions and events in a marriage, and if we stick to our initial expectations, we will be sorely disappointed and uncomfortable. However, if we are able to adapt and change our plans, marriage can become a beautiful adventure.

Perhaps this Lent would be a good time for us, who have been blessed with the particular vocation of marriage to our spouse, to reflect on the areas in which we might make some personal changes. The three pillars of Lent – fasting, prayer, and acts of service – might be a helpful guide in this exercise. I’m going to ask Our Lord to open my heart to the changes that I might make in my life, so that I may more fully engage in my relationship with my husband – will you join me this Lent?

Patheos Switch

Good Afternoon! I just wanted to give you all a quick update and let you know that we will not be moving over to Patheos today. There are some tech and design issues with the new site and we are currently working with Patheos to fix these things. I am hoping everything will be ready to go in the next week. And we will let you all know as soon as the new site is up and ready to go. Thanks again for reading!