Thoughts For Thursday

Yes, dear readers, we remember “Thoughts for Thursday” – thank you for your patience with us!

What am I cooking? Steak fajitas, yum! Here is a delicious marinade for flank steak from Fr. Leo Patalinghug’s new cookbook, Grace Before Meals (makes a great gift, by the way!):

For 1 1/4 pounds of flank steak:

2 garlic cloves, finely minced
1/4 c. white wine
1/4 c. soy sauce
2 T. ketchup
1 t. red pepper flakes (I left this out)
1/4 c. red wine vinegar
1/4 c. olive oil
1 c. dark brown sugar (I used 1/3 c. light brown sugar)
2 t. kosher salt (I used 1 1/4 t. regular salt)
1 t. cracked black pepper (I used 1/2 t. pepper)
1 t. garlic powder
1 t. ginger powder (I used 1/2 t.)

Use a fork and poke holes in the steak to tenderize. Mix all of the marinade ingredients in a re-sealable plastic bag, reserve 1/4 c. of the marinade, and place the rest of the meat into the bag to marinade in the fridge for 2-4 hours (I did mine at room temp. for about 20 minutes because I was short on time). Grill and enjoy! I used the reserved marinade for a side tomato/corn/mozzarella/cilantro salad – delicious!

What are my weekend plans? We have a big birthday weekend coming up in our family, and for the first time ever, we are doing an organized party at a venue outside of our home. The local roller-skating rink is a favorite of the 2nd-graders, so we opted to go this route for Christopher and are already reaping the benefits of how easy this party will be on us! All we need to do is bring the cake, candles, and guest list, and they take care of the rest – can’t wait! Other than eating lots of birthday cake, we will be doing baseball, baseball, and more baseball – a great sport, but oh-so-time-consuming!

What are my prayer intentions for the day? A young girl in our neighborhood had surgery today to remove a basketball-sized tumor from her ovary – she is only 12 years old, and just one week ago, she was living life as a regular 7th-grader. Life sure can be crazy at times, and I am praying especially for her parents as they endure this trial.

What can my children do instead of watching TV? The weather is still pleasant enough to play outside in the mornings and evenings, and we are loving our new backyard play set! The kids can go out to play for a few minutes at a time, which is great for getting out the wiggles, and we are now trying to decide whether or not to get a gate so that we can send the kids into the yard to play on their own.

What have I done for my marriage this week? We’re going on a date on Saturday night, and I arranged the sitter! I realize that this isn’t a huge effort on my part, but we’re both excited for some time together!

What am I reading? Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey, a real gem. I am always amazed at Jane Austen’s cleverness, and how attuned she was to human nature, which hasn’t changed a bit since she wrote in the late 19th century! Up next is a re-read of Pride and Prejudice, which I am sure I didn’t fully appreciate as a busy high school student.

What is one product that made my life easier? A small, easy-to-swallow prenatal vitamin. I usually am fine to swallow large pills, but during pregnancy…Well, anyone who has ever been pregnant knows what I’m talking about!

What is challenging me lately? It shouldn’t be a hard question, but when people ask me what number baby this is for me, I just don’t know what to say! This is my 5th baby, of course, including Lucy Rose, and it feels right to me to include her when I say how many children I have. But then I feel that I need to explain, because people go on to ask how old my children are, how many boys and girls, etc. And then I am stuck in the awkward situation of not knowing whether to explain about Lucy and about Annie’s condition, or whether to just smile and change the subject. Usually, I choose the latter because I do not want to make people feel uncomfortable, and then if at all possible I follow up with a personal email to explain the situation.