Lent. Enough said.

A few weeks ago my husband asked the kids and I, "Who's excited for lent to start?"
I responded with an enthusiastic, "I aamm!" And I was. I was looking forward to that going "deeper," recommitting myself to daily devotional time, come "hell or high-water," or in my case, an early ringing alarm clock. I had a few "sacrifices" I had decided to give up, etc.

So, Ash Wednesday arrived. We had all our "Lentish" things in place. For us that means, we do some form of Lenten Journey paper, or poster. (A page where you fill in each day as a "check-mark" type thing.) We also re-purposed our Advent prayer intention-a-day idea, and filled a jar/vase with prayer intentions and sacrifices for the day. (Each family member filled out a certain number of prayer intentions and sacrifice ideas.) The idea is that this jar of sacrifices will turn into jellybeans at Easter. And of course we "buried" our Alleluias and each kid picked a sacrificed toy item that would not be seen till Easter, not even on Sundays. I had my devotionals all picked out, my "plan" in place. Some of the kids had started Lenten lapbooks...So, I was ready.

Wednesday was great. We fasted, we prayed, we received Ashes. It was great. Then, night fell. The baby was up. ALL. NIGHT. LONG. My 4 year old, was up 5 times. My alarm rang. It was morning... and I had to homeschool. Then it all hit the fan. I am not proud of my behavior that day...or maybe a few times since. You see, I had my own "plan for Lent. It involved my own tidy sacrifices. My own "way" of doing things. But my Heavenly Father, whom ALWAYS has a perfect plan, knew better. It was only after several days of near-to nervous breakdowns, that I realized...God's plan for me this lent may not include me waking up before the kids, having quiet prayer time so I can begin my day "my way." Instead, I learned, not every lent looks the same. Not every sacrifice we think is good is what God is asking of us. He says: "Rend your Hearts not your Garments." This is such a common thought for the beginning of lent. I have heard many a homily on this very thing. This year it rings true in a loud way. God wasn't/isn't asking me to give up certain things, although I will try and continue to die to myself in ways that present themselves to me. I feel he is asking me to go further. Especially if the "challenges" that have been all too obvious in my daily life have anything to say. God was/is asking something else from me...It is the sacrifice of my "sharp tongue" when I am tired. It is the sacrifice, of loving when I have had no sleep, and my head is pounding. It is the sacrifice of giving, even when I feel like there is nothing left to give. I mean there have been days...it's possible that yesterday was one of those days...that I have an absolute desire, no need, to just be alone, to not be in charge of so much. That even the smallest of my tasks looms above me like a mountain that I am required to climb. I was tired. Cranky. And I am sure I was far from a great example of holy motherhood...I am a weak woman. I make so many mistakes...but I fall back on a sweet promise of my Lord:

The faithful love of the Lord never ends!^[a]

    His mercies never cease.

²³ 

Great is his faithfulness;

    his mercies begin afresh each morning.

²⁴ 

I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance;

    therefore, I will hope in him!” Lamintations 3:22-24

Remembering this, I press on. I have to trust in his love and hope in his mercy. If I look forward to the next 30+ days of Lent, and furthermore, the next 11+ weeks I have left in the homeschooling year, I find my strength waning. I feel the burden of my life press upon me like a ton of bricks. But...What our Lord has reminded me is, it is in my weakness that He is strong. (I am not all that strong in my strengths, so I am more than happy to ride that promise out!) It reminds me of a song that one of my good friends used to strum on the guitar and sing in her sweet voice in our dorm rooms at college: A few verses went like this:

"You are the wine, I am the cup. I can do nothing till I am filled up...You are the wind, I am the sail, You are my strength and without you I fail. Breathe but a sigh, And I'll open wide, please gently fill me with you. Please gently fill me with you."

I remember a few years back, when I was so exhausted one time, upon waking, I just knelt by my bed, and prayed, "Well Lord, I am so exhausted, but I guess this is what you are asking of me. Please do it all for me today." And you know what? He did. I remember going to bed that night with far fewer regrets about screaming and yelling than I had when I relied on my own strength.

I think that is what this Lent has turned into for me. I think God is asking me to completely embrace my daily life and duties...but not on my own. To face the sometimes monumental-seeming tasks with his strength. With HIS love. What I have been reminded of, is that I don't have to have it all together. I don't have to be super mom, and super wife, and super (enter whatever it is that I am supposed to do superbly). I just have to be me, emptied out--So that he can be strong in my weaknesses.

I want to suggest a few things for devotional reading if you are looking. I started reading the In Conversation with God series, just prior to Lent. A good friend of mine suggested it. I love this book because I find that every time I get to reading it, I am blessed. It always says something pertinent to my life. The other book that I am loving right now is Consoling the Heart of Jesus by Father Michael Gaitley. The same friend suggested this book, and I am ever so glad she did. It is so beautiful. I have always had a great devotion to St. Therese the Little Flower, and over the past year or so, I have grown in a great devotion to St. Faustina, and this book combines both spiritualities in a beautiful way.  Both of these selections are wonderful ways to go "deeper" this Lent. In fact, they both helped to lead me to my "conclusions" above about this Lent.

This is only the beginning of Lent. I suspect I have had a good preview of what is to come. I am sure many of you have too. But, at least now I feel "armed" so to speak. I feel like the Lord has reminded me of the "way" to go. For that I am grateful. I pray that this Lent will bring each of us a little closer to our Blessed Lord. That we may willingly walk a little closer to him as he walks the road to Calvary. That we may find ways to console His Heart, and we may offer our small crosses to him moment by moment.

My OWN Zucchini Banana Bread!

This is a big step ladies and gents! I love baking. I often bake to make my family(and my stomach) happy! However, I am always looking for ways to make things slightly more healthy! I make a scrumptious Chocolate Chip Banana Bread(which i may post later) that is so decadent it is like a dessert. I have also made a yummy Zucchini Banana bread that was great, but I couldn't find that recipe over the weekend. SOOO, I took a look at some recipes in my binder (you know, that catch-all place that all my "favorites" land with all sorts of notes and changes in the margins), and I came up with this recipe. We were having my brother in law, and his lovely wife and two adorable kiddos over for dinner for a hearty beef stew. We are trying to eat healthier, so I didn't want to serve a "dessert" per se, so I thought I'd make whole wheat zucchini banana bread. (I made this again and it came out so moist and delicious, that I can't wait to wake up for coffee and a slice(or 10) of this. )

After I served it, it was described by my husband in this way: "When we move to a small farm(a dream of ours) we will set up a produce/bake stand, and you will sell this."
Well, if that is not a good review, I don't know what is. Here is the recipe for all those who may want it.
Go check out my "notes" below, too.

A few notes: 

If your bananas are super duper ripe, which usually means you can count on a bit more sweetness, I would tend to leave out a bit of the sweetening. I tend to just stick with the honey. If you like things a bit sweeter, go on and add that 1/2 cup of sugar with the honey...or up the amount of honey. I am sure you could use other sweetening agents as well. Also, if you have never used coconut oil before, it is usually solid at room temperature(see picture to the left). I just mic it a couple of seconds to melt it(no, i didn't nuke the metal measuring cup, I have bad memories of microwaving a pop tart in its foil wrapper...i digress). It gets incorporated better that way. Okay, I hope you try it. And more importantly, I hope you like it!

Chicken and Dumplings...and a feeling of "Home"

One of my all time favorite dinners as a kid was my Granny's Chicken and Dumplings. It oozes comfort when you eat it and smells like home when its cooking! This stuff is "down-home" cooking at its best! (Plus, I read somewhere that if you can make a good soup, you can cook anything. True? Who knows.)

Being at Granny's for dinner was always a treat. (And NOT just because you knew you had a good shot of following it up with some strawberries dipped in powdered sugar!--life was so simple as a kid!)
There were so many good dinners to look forward to, but after a crisp fall day, or on a freezing cold winter night, Chicken and Dumplings was the best.

When I got married, and prior when I was in college, as well, my Granny began giving me all sorts of recipes.  I made many of them in attempt to hone a skill that was now necessary in my life. Feeding myself, and my new husband! I would scour the recipes she sent me, in hopes of re-creating great meals of the past, and some tasty ones she would find from the latest cooking shows or magazines. Every time I cooked, I had questions. I called her frequently. In fact, I probably had her on speed dial. She, having been the "main" person who taught me what I knew about  most things food related, helped bring me into my own, while I attempted any number of foodstuffs.

One such time was a chilly fall evening, probably during my first year of marriage. I set out to attempt a lovely pot of chicken and dumplings. My husband, having not been born in Kentucky, aka the "south," was not too keen on the fact that I would not be putting noodles in his chicken soup. But I pressed on. I called Granny to ask her to tell me how to make Chicken and Dumplings, she gave me the recipe, walked me through everything, and I was off. I cut the veggies, put the seasonings in, the broth, chicken, etc. Now for the dumplings...SIDE NOTE: I had written out the recipe for "Drop biscuits/Dumplings." You just had to make few changes to achieve one over the other. Well, I mixed the dumplings(or so I thought), then dropped them by spoonful into my steaming soup, put the top on, waited 12 minutes--all the while hearing in my head, "do NOT take the lid off! Do NOT take the lid off for TWELVE minutes!!" Okay, so I didn't. While I waited I set our little table for two. Bowls, napkins, spoons, drinks. Good. BEEEP! The timer!

"It's ready, honey!" I say. We sit down. I take the lid off. Something is not right. My whole entire soup was filled with....a thick floury mess, not soft puffy dumplings. It was gross looking and it was inedible. I immediately begin to cry--I was a new wife. My husband, loving, caring man that he is. Says, "Oh, I am sure it will taste fine!" Well, it wasn't fine. I can't remember exactly what we did eat, but I do know that it wasn't chicken and dumplings!

I learned 2 things that night: 1)Don't try to make dumplings out of drop biscuits (and vice versa), and
2) always have a backup plan. Oh, and I don't think, even 11+ years later, I EVER put the lid on my pot after dropping my dumplings in, without throwing up a quick prayer to St. Zita, patron saint of homemakers. Ever.

Fortunately for me, and all those in my family, Chicken and Dumplings has turned from failure to a big success in my house. In fact, every one 3 out of the 4 "eating" children (Aidan will eat almost nothing that has anything green in it) LOVE this meal. It has even been requested as a birthday dinner! Now, you KNOW you hit the yummy dinner jackpot when that happens!

Granny's Chicken and Dumplings

The Soup:

3-4 ribs Chopped celery
3Chopped carrots(I like carrots in mine, so maybe i add extra)
1 chopped onion
Olive oil
Salt, Pepper
Seasonings(such as thyme, sage, tarragon, Poultry Seasoning) I
1 qt. Chicken Broth/Stock (Homemade is great, but not necessary)
Chicken, shredded or diced(to your preference--this is a great time to use leftover chicken, or rotisserie, but fresh is fine...just add and cook through, then remove to shred)

Sautee the vegetables in a soup pot(I use my Dutch oven, because we love each other, but you can just use a soup pot with lid) Olive Oil until soft
Season with salt, pepper, and seasonings(I like Poultry seasoning myself-although a blend of fresh and dried, is nice)

Add stock, and add shredded chicken(If raw, cook for about 15-20 minutes, or until cooked through). After the cooked chicken is added, check for salt and seasoning. I usually give a few more pinches of salt, pepper, and seasonings here. TASTE. You cant always depend on "amounts," you have to taste your food. That's why the old adage: "don't trust a skinny cook" exists, or maybe it's not, but you get the point. You can also add water at this stage. I find I had about half as much water as stock. But you can do one-to-one if you want. Simmer for about 15-20 minutes. Taste and season again. You are ready to add dumplings.

The DUMPLINGS(big yummy FLUFFY dumplings, no hard little flour balls here):

1 cup All Purpose Flour(Now, I am a BIG proponent of all things whole grain, but I dont mess with these)
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3-1/2 cup milk(your "batter" should not be soupy...start with the lesser amount)
1 egg

Mix flour, baking powder and salt in medium bowl. Lightly beat egg and milk together. Pour the milk/egg into flour, and mix with a fork or spoon until just mixed. Don't over mix. Let sit for a minute or two. Then into your slightly bubbling soup, drop by tablespoonful into soup. Until batter is all gone. Your "surface" should have little lumps of batter covering it now(They'll float to the top after dropping them in).



IMPORTANT STEP: put lid on and DON'T REMOVE for 12 minutes. Set timer. (Here say your prayer to St. Zita. Go on, do it. Okay)
After your timer rings, take your lid off and see how beautifully puffy your dumplings are. You're welcome. They are tremendous things, aren't they?
(I have learned that I am not the best food photographer, so if this picture is not appetizing, I assure you, it is photographer error!)


Okay, now, ring the dinner bell and dig in!! You'll thank me, well my Granny, later.