uuuhhhmmm:

Dulci's Famous Vegan Apple Cake made Gluten Free!

2011-03-21T08:10:00.000-07:00

There are a lot of recipes that I used to make but have not been able to because two out of four of us are gluten free. One of our favorites was this vegan/lenten (we are vegan at certain times of the year due to fasting in our church) apple cake recipe given to us years ago by our koumbara (we are godparents to their daughter). Anyway, I miss this cake. And while it is not sugar free (I am one of those crazy people who does not eat sugar or artificail sweeteners- DH is not sugar free)- it is nice to, on occasion, have a decent lenten/vegan dessert that you can bring to a potluck or serve to guests.

About six months ago, I discovered Jules Gluten Free flour mix and have had wonderful results making GF bread in my bread machine and following Jules' recipes for making cookies, pizza, etc. And nothing tastes like it is GF- you know what I mean- slightly gritty, maybe with a "bean" aftertaste. I have 5 or 6 of her ecookbooks and use them often. So I made a GF Irish Soda bread the other night for St. Patrick's day and it was amazing. I decided, ok. let's put this flour to the test and try a recipe that we loved but haven't been able to eat in a few years.

It turned out great! I took it to our mom's potluck last night. There is one piece left and I am going to save it for DH while I take the boys to the monastery for the night.
Here is the recipe (I 1/2'd the recipe because if it didn't turn out, I did not want to "waste" that much flour as it is kind of spendy- but in one of Jules' cookbooks she has the ratio for her flour mix and sometimes I buy the flour and sometimes I mix it myself).
Dulci's Famous Vegan (and now Gluten Free) Apple Cake

6 apples, peeled & sliced (like for a pie)

1.5 c sugar
1/2 c veg oil
1/2 c olive oil
1 t vanilla
combine apples & sugar in a pot over LOW heat. When sugar melts, add oils & vanilla & stir

In a large bowl combine
3 c flour
1 t soda
1 t cinnamon
1 t cloves

When apple mixture is ready, stir it into the flour mixture until it's well combined - it will be gooey!
Bake at 350 for 40-50min in a greased & floured 9x13 cake pan. The top will be a dark golden brown & slightly crispy.

NOTE: for the oil, I used coconut oil. You can use any combination of oil to make this- I probably wouldn't use all olive oil, though. But a combination of coconut oil and olive oil would work nicely.

Treacle Tea Cake (aka Irish Soda Beer Bread) (also dairy, soy, nut & egg-free!)

2011-03-17T12:50:00.000-07:00

Treacle Tea Cake (aka Irish Soda Beer Bread) (also dairy, soy, nut & egg-free!)
In Celebration of St. Patrick's Day. Next, I am going to attempt a St. Phanourios cake using Jules' Gluten Free Flour mix. But that will probably be for next week.

New Recipe...

2010-11-21T15:09:00.000-08:00

and, wow, has it been a long time....
First, Happy Feast of the Entry of the Theotokos into the Temple!

We are now well into the Nativity Fast. For this year, I wrote up a list of all our favorite Lenten recipes and then a second list of new recipes that I would like to try. Most of the next 40 days we will have meals that I have already published the recipes on this blog. Especially from last Nativity Fast (when I attempted as many new recipes as possible).

Anyway, last night I tried one of those new recipes and I am posting it for you now:)

Enjoy!

Greek Ragout
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 medium onions quartered and very thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, pressed
2 pounds boiling potatoes, peeled and cut into 2 inch chunks
28 oz diced tomatoes, drained
3/4 lb trimmed fresh green beans
1/4 vegetable broth
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 tsp. sugar
salt and pepper to taste
juice of half a lemon (1 1/2 Tbs- which I actually forgot to add to last night's meal so it tastes pretty good without it)

In a medium stockpot, heat the oil over medium-low heat. Add onions and garlic and cook over low heat. Cook about 15 minutes until very tender. Add potatoes, tomatoes, green beans, broth, oregano, sugar, salt and pepper. Bring to a brisk simmer. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer gently for 1 hour, stirring occasionally or until the veggies are tender but not mushy.Add lemon juice and cook for an additional 5 - 10 minutes. serve warm.

Zucchini and Tomato Soup

2010-09-14T19:05:00.000-07:00

Here is a keeper. Even the children are eating it!

Zucchini Tomato Soup (you could leave out the zucchini and have a really good tomato soup)
2 Tbs. olive oil
1 med. onion, finely chopped
5 cloves of garlic (we like garlic- you could use less)
1 bay leaf
1 medium zucchini, halved and cut into 1/4 in. pieces
1 jar roasted red peppers (I didn't have any and it tastes great without it)
salt and pepper, to taste
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
1 tsp. oregano
2 cups vegetable broth
2 cups water
1 1/2 cups macaroni type paste (i used gluten free)
1/2 cup white beans (already soaked and cooked)

Heat a pot over medium heat. Add oil, onions and garlic. Saute for a few minutes, stirring. Add bay leaf, zucchini, salt, pepper, oregano. Cover pot and cook five minutes. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, broth, and water. Bring to a boil. Add pasta and beans. Reduce heat and cook for 5-10 minutes (depending on how you like your pasta). For a non fasting day, garnish with parmesan cheese! Yum!

St. Phanourios...

2010-08-26T15:02:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is the feast of St. Phanourios. Right now, I am making my "phanouropita"- the cake that you make for St. Phanourious when you find something you lost. A few months ago, it was my weekend to make prosphoro for church. I get ready to make it and I cannot find my prosphoro seal that my DH bought from Mt. Athos. Those at our church know that this is a really nice seal. It's big. It's carved very deep into the wood. It is a great seal. I search the whole kitchen and even in other areas of the house (I keep my seal in a specific place so it was odd that it was missing). I let a friend borrow it, but I remember getting it back from her. Did I let someone else borrow it and I just don't remember? Fortunately for that Sunday, I had my yiayia's seal. And it was nice to use her seal, although it is made of plastic. And it is not as nice as my seal. I ask around at church, no, it does not seem that I let someone borrow it. I pray to St. Phanourios- help me to find my seal! And, a few weeks later, I am taking something down from a shelf in the kitchen (the shelf where I also keep my seal) and there it is- seriously, it was not there and then there it was- so in keeping with tradition, I am baking a phanouropita. This is actually going to be a gluten free apple spice cake. I have baked the "traditional" cake but our priest says that any cake will do. I have a mom's group potluck dinner tonight and I think I might bring it there to share with the women of our parish. But, I will, of course, leave a few slices home for DH. Thank you, St. Phanourios, the finder of lost things! Through his intercessions, may the Lord have mercy on us and save us!!!

Day Three through the end of the journey....

2010-08-17T11:19:00.000-07:00

Uhm, yeah. So I stopped writing about our summer trip after day 2. We were just a bit busy. Now that my sister is back in Moscow, we are not so busy:) So, for those of you who have been holding your breath to read about our trip to Crater Lake/Northern California, here is the condensed, one post verion. This might be a long one (or it might not) so maybe you should go pour yourself a cup of coffe (or some green tea), pull up a chair, and read....

Day three we showered (yeah!) at Crater Lake (really, at the shower facilities in the campground- I think it was 75 cents for 5 minutes- I have to say it is nice that I get to take my shower all by myself and get ready, etc. while DH has both boys with him in the shower- the small things). And started the next part of our journey. With Mt. Shasta soon in our view (is that one beautiful mountain or what) we drove to Manton, CA to the Monastery of St. John of San Francisco. Our original plan was to go to Mt. Lassen to camp for one night and stop by the monastery for a few hours on our way to San Francisco. But, a few weeks prior to leaving, we receive an automated phone call cancelling our camp reservation due to snow- Mt. Lassen did not open up until July 8 (I believe that was the date). So we missed it by a day or two, BUT we were happy to be able to visit the monastery (esp. because we have a friend who is working towards entering that monastery and we got to check it out- it was esp. good for Big P because he is close to this friend and we talked a lot about where Mr. J would be living and becoming a monk, in general). The boys loved it. They have this wonderful dog (and, while we were there, they had a new puppy). The chanting was amazing. Big P made it throught the services, little p struggles with going to church. The monastery is beautiful. We had wonderful dinner (it was the feast of the birth of St. John the Baptist- they are Old Calendar). It would have been nice to stay for a few days but. alas, the next day we departed for San Francisco.

On purpose, we made each "leg" of our journey about 4 hours long so that we were not in the car for too long. And, we would not have to stop to eat (plenty of potty stops- esp. for little p) just have snacks in the car. One of our goals on this trip was to not have to eat out (with our gluten free diet it can sometimes be difficult to even find places to eat - and for DH, a burger without the bun just isn't enough for him). I planned all our meals plus extra.

Anyway, no trouble getting to San Francisco. Beautiful city. I have been before (so has DH). We really needed more time there. DH found a state park about 20 minutes from the Golden Gate Bridge. We pull into the park and find out that we have to carry all of our camping equipment anywhere from 500 yards to 1200 yards (we leave the car in the parking lot). I was not thrilled with this plan (esp. when we at first couldn't find our site and DH is walking up this big hill and I am thinking about how many trips it will take to get even our basic car camping equipment up there, etc. As it turned out, we had passed our site so we walked back and found it and it actually (I have to swallow my pride and admit to this) ended up being one of the nicest campgrounds we have ever stayed at (China Beach State Park).

Our two goals for San Francisco were to go to the Holy Virgin Cathedral - Joy of all who Sorrow to venerate the relics of St. John of San Francisco and to go to Alcatraz. The "plan" was to go to Alcatraz around 12:30 (that was our departure time) and then spend a few hours there. Afterwards we would go to the Cathedral for Vesper's. Not knowing San Francisco traffic in the morning, we left at 9am. We arrived at the wharf at 9:30. Hm. We have three hours before the boat departs. Let's head over to the cathedral. We arrived at the cathedral shortly after liturgy was over and about 1/2 hour before the bookstore would open. We went inside. Aside from a babushka sitting in the corner, we were the only people in the cathedral. The boys were able to ask questions about the different icons and to venerate the icons without my worrying about their noise level (they were quiet and respectful). It was so peaceful inside the church. We stayed for quite awhile. Went to the bookstore, eventually. Met a man from the tri-cities who goes often to the monastery in Goldendale, bought a gift for our godson (who had recently celebrated his nameday and is named for St. John of SF), and left for Alcatraz. I felt that I was given the opportunity to lay my prayers at the feet of this wonderful saint and when I left, a huge burden had been lifted. I was at peace.
Alcatraz was fun. Big P loved it. I have lots of great pictures on Facebook if you want to look at them. After Alcatraz we were so exhausted (you know, you just don't sleep well camping) that we walked around for a bit and headed back to camp. And we were happy that we went to the cathedral before Alcatraz rather than waiting for vesper's where there would be more people and I would probably be stressed by the boys behavior, etc. All worked out well.

The next day, we woke up early, had breakfast and broke camp. DH wanted to drive up Hwy 101 to get to St. Herman's monastery (about a 4 1/2 hour trip- a little longer than the more direct route). So we did this. We punched it into the GPS and headed north. Ok, so word of advice. Never trust your GPS. It had us going on this crazy route (when we left 101). I actually saw the GPS add time to our trip as it re-adjusted and re-calculated. Our 4 hour trip ended up taking closer to 7 hours. I drove on a dirt road at one point. I repeat- A DIRT ROAD. DH asked if I wanted him to drive. I, clenching the wheel, said, through my gritted teeth, "no. I am venting my frustration on this dirt road." It was crazy. I would highly recommend not doing this ever.

But we made it, eventually. I have heard of Platina for years (having read a number of Fr. Seraphim's books, etc.). I did not realize that it is population 65. Hm. Big P asked when will be there and I said we have to go through a town first. It was more like a gas station.

The monastery is beautiful. Rugged. The trapeza and courtyard reminded me of Greece (could have been the heat reminding me of Greece, too). We were there for the feast day of Sts. Sergius and Herman which they have a small chapel dedicated to these saints. So there was a vigil in the evening (little p and mama had to go back to the cabin because little p just couldn't make it through the service) and then liturgy in the chapel. It was so beautiful. Very intimate. Beautiful chanting. There isn't electricity or running water as we know it at the monastery. And it is so remote that when the sun sets, it is very dark. I saw lots of deer.
After liturgy and the meal, we were given a tour of the monastery. The monk gave the boys peacock feathers because at one point there were peacocks at the monastery. It was a wonderful tour. They have this amazing cemetary (during the service, I took little p to the cemetery where he kissed the crosses multiple times- it's a lot of crosses). We went to Fr. Seraphim's cell and to where he is buried. And then we packed up and left.

Our original plan was to drive into Oregon, find a place to stay, and then head home on Monday (and DH would go back to work on Tues.). But since we had that lovely adventure of driving for so long to get to St. Herman's the day before, we decided to push it and head home. Without stops, it was a 7 1/2 hour trip. We of course, have to stop. And we knew that we would have to stop to eat. But if we went straight home than DH would have all of Monday to help me put away the camping stuff, start laundry, take the boys to their first day of swimming lessons, relax a little. So we pushed it and we came striaght home. And the boys were wonderful in the car. Oh, and the GPS redeemed itself- just south of Salem we hit horrible traffic. No one was moving. So the GPS gave us an alternative route and we followed it and we bypassed all of the traffic.

It was a great trip- tiring, but very enjoyable.
DH thinks that we might be able to drive to Wisconsin next summer to visit his family.

TGFDC....

2010-07-22T16:54:00.000-07:00

or Thank God for Digital Cameras...
I forgot to add that every time we go to a museum or some sort of display, Big P wants me to take a picture of him standing next to each display. There is this little museum that overlooks Crater Lake. I have pictures of Big P standing next to each display case. He wanted me to take a picture of him next to each picture (there is a wall of framed pictures- some old, some new) but I convinced him that it would be alright if I just took one picture of him standing in the middle of the wall:)

Day 2 Crater Lake and how a one mile hike can turn into five miles...

2010-07-21T12:36:00.000-07:00

Paul looked up the 10 day forecast for each destination on our trip in order that we would be able to pack appropriately. Crater Lake was supposed to be high of 60. It was more like high of 75 in the shade. Not complaining, but I did pack a lot of long sleeve shirts and pants (along with skirts for monastery/church visiting). I only brought two pairs of shorts (which can definitely not be worn at the monastery) and our plan was to not do any laundry at all during the vacation (there really wasn't a chance to do any laundry).

Day 2- we went to the two visitor centers, watched a movie about Crater Lake, picked up our Junior Ranger activity books (the boys do activities and earn stamps to eventually earn a Junior Ranger Patch which is kind of cool because my boys collect patches from different places that we visit and I sew them on their school backpacks- my sister came up with this idea first so credit goes to her:). We bought postcards for the grandma and both sets of cousins and mailed them. We saw lots of amazing views of the lake and Paul really really wanted to do the hike down to the lake. I asked the ranger how it was (difficulty-wise- we DO have a four year old). Ranger said it is easy going down, difficult going up. Ok, well, let's give it a shot. Later in the evening at the campsite, one of the rangers had a program and he said that hike is a mile down, five miles up. That felt about right. Paul ended up carrying little p on his shoulders most of the way up. I was with Big P and about a million mosquitoes. It was nice at the water (very cold, by the way). Big P and I tried stopping every so often on the trail back up, but each time we stopped, we were attacked by all those mosquitoes. So we kept going. This is the only hike that I have ever heard Big P complain on- and we have done lots of hiking with him. And he never complains.

We went back to the site and made dinner and went to the ranger program. The next day we were leaving for St. John of Shanghai monastery in Manton, CA so we began packing some things. At the entrance of the campground there were showers ($.75 for 4 minutes). We decided to shower on our way out in the morning. End of day 2 (I don't think anyone could ever tire of just looking at the lake- it was disappointing to not be able to drive around the whole lake- ti na kanoume (what can you do).

First stop- Crater Lake (three days, two nights)- Day 1

2010-07-20T08:31:00.000-07:00

I am going to try to write up some of our experiences from our vacation in early July. I think I will do it day by day. I will maybe post a few pictures, too.

I am a native Oregonian. I have never been to Crater Lake (does that sound like an almost sin?). I have always wanted to go. So, as part of our Summer Vacation 2010 adventure, we decided to divide up our driving into roughly four hour time slots (drive four hours- stop somewhere for at least one night- continue driving). We thought it would be easier on the youngest son to not drive 12 hours in one day. Which, it did work out well overall (except on two occasions, but those are future posts).

Words are insufficient to describe Crater Lake. You enter the park and there is no lake. Drive for a short distance (up) and then round a bend and you see it. Rob/Paul says it is the most beautiful place he has ever been (and he has travelled all over the US). The deep blue of the water reminded us of the blue of the Mediteranean. But this is a LAKE. He grew up surrounded by lakes (the great lakes anyone?). And he had never seen a lake quite like this. And you cannot just walk down to the lake. There are two (I believe) trails that lead down to the lake- otherwise it is a literal bowl of water- cliffs straight down to the water.

Ok, other than the indescribable beauty (I agree, it is one of the most beautiful sites I have ever visited- I would have liked to have been one of those pioneers who happened on the lake- a few too many tourists to call it really peaceful) I was surprised by the amount of snow still on the ground! We could not do the rim drive because half the rim road was closed due to snow (all the while I am thinking that we are camping in this- Paul has threatened to take me winter camping on Mt. Hood every year - he goes with friends- I always decline- camping in snow just doesn't sound fun to me). Anyway, it was not ever cold, just that there were snow packs on the ground. Even in our campsite. And because it is such a late thaw, the mosquitoes were everywhere. I stepped out of our vehicle to be greeted by hundreds of eager mosquitoes, ready for dinner (and we were dinner). One can of deep woods off later we were ready to battle the mosquitoes (needless to stay, after three days and two nights at this site, the mosquitoes won) and set up camp. It was a nice site. We had our own personal snowpack that little p had fun climbing up and down (declaring that he was king of the mountain).

We walked around our campground. Paul and Big P hiked the trail down to Annie Creek (I believe that was what it was called?!?). little p did not want to go- which was probably a good thing because there was a lot of snow on the trails and would have been a difficult hike for him.

*no pictures posted, yet. I deleted them off of the laptop after posting them on Facebook (we keep our pictures on the upstairs computer).

Vacation Starts Today...

2010-07-05T08:26:00.000-07:00

Today we are leaving for our summer vacation.
First stop, Crater Lake for 3 days, two nights.
Next stop, the Monastery of St. John of San Francisco for one night.
Third stop, San Francisco for 3 days, two nights.
Fourth stop, St.Herman's monastery for one night.
Then head back to Oregon and maybe stay somewhere for one night or drive straight home (depending on how we feel).

We are camping except when we are at the monasteries. I don't think I have gone camping for this long (I went on one really big packpacking trip that was about a week long but not camping).

I don't know if we are going to have internet access- I don't want to take the laptop but DH wants to take it.
See you in a week!!!

Special Trout Dinner Tonight...

2010-06-06T18:31:00.000-07:00

The boys went to a Cub Scout fishing thing yesterday and each caught a legal sized trout (DH complains often of the fishing rules and regulations here in the Pacific NW- I guess it's a lot different in UP Michigan where he grew up).

Anyway, here is the recipe we are using for the fish. It is pouring rain so we can't BBQ it- so we are baking it. In June.

Will post a picture of the boys with the fish later. Pictures posted, as you can see:)

Still here...

2010-04-21T14:20:00.000-07:00

Christos Anesti! Shannon has prompted me to post something (Shannon, are you on facebook?) I guess it HAS been a while since I last posted. Nothing new to report... just busy with life! We had a lovely Holy Week and Pascha. My parents are now in Greece; but returning on Monday (as long as the volcano does not spew out more ash). We had our spring break during bright week (did not go anywhere, but recovered from Holy Week and Pascha). We are back in school. My tulips have pretty much come and gone. Garden is started. Geraniums are on the front porch and pansies are on the back porch (I don't go in for annuals EXCEPT for these planters of geraniums and pansies- two of my favorite flowers). The geraniums must be red and the pansies must be dark purple. Don't ask me why- that's just how I like them. And here is a picture of my pansies.

Happy St. Patrick's Day and Italian Minestrone...

2010-03-16T15:10:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day- DH's Irish granfather was named Patrick. If we had another boy, his name would have been Joseph Patrick (after both of DH's grandfathers). Anyway, happy nameday to all the Patrick's!

I made this Minestrone over the weekend. 3/4 of us liked it. Big P is still not a fan of soup in general (unless it is lentil soup or chili). little p gobbled it up.

Italian Minestrone
1 cup dried white beans (I soaked two cups of white beans and now have some in the freezer for future use)
8 cups vegetable broth or combination broth and water
1/4 cup olive oil
2 medium onions chopped
2 small carrots chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
4 large cloves garlic minced
2 lbs. tomatoes or 1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1/4 tsp ground sage
2 bay leaves
salt and pepper to taste
8 oz. potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes
4 oz green beans trimmed and cut into 1 in. pieces
1/2 cup uncooked macaroni (I used GF)
2 small zucchini

Soak the beans however you soak beans. In a large stockpot heat oil over medium heat. Add the onions, carrots, celery, and cook, until vegetables are softened (about 10 minutes). add the garlic and increase heat. add broth, tomatoes, spices (I did not use thyme or sage- i do not really like thyme or sage so I used oregano). Bring to boil over high heat, reduce heat and cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
add the potatoes, green beans and pasta (I would wait a little longer to add the pasta). bring to a boil. reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes. add the zucchini (add pasta here instead), stirring well to combine. add the beans stirring well. cover and gently simmer until the pasta and vegetables are tender and the beans are heated through. Serve hot.

This soup would go well with bread. I wish I had made some GF bread to go along with it but that takes planning!

Corn and Bean Tamale Pie and yes, I do things other than cook:)

2010-03-12T12:14:00.000-08:00

I used to post things on this blog. Pictures, anecdotes from my life, notes from retreats, book lists, etc. Somehow I have gone down the path of posting recipes. And while I do enjoy cooking and I actually do enjoy trying new lenten recipes to mix things up a bit in our home, I guess there is more to me than just cooking (although, there are days that I feel like all I did was spend the entire day in the kitchen- esp. after making a loaf of bread that takes 3 1/2 hours from start to finish- yikes!).

Last weekend I went with our women's group to the monastery in Goldendale. Always a joy to go visit. This time was special for two reasons: the company in the car (you know who you are;) and to have a wonderful talk with a special sister at the monastery. I will leave it at that. Gerondissa, as always, said many profound things and I forgot my notebook. So, Katie, if you are reading, will you please type up your monastery notes for me and either email them or post them on your own blog (heehee)? I would GREATLY appreciate it.

One thing Gerondissa mentioned is the Panagia as our mother and running to her as we run to our own mother's. I forget this at times. That she is there to console us in our times of trouble and delight with us in our times of joy. I try to teach my children this; but, of course, we mom's are very good about taking care of everyone else but mommy. I had tears in my eyes as Gerondissa spoke of our Panagia. May she watch over us and protect us! (I still want those notes, though, Katie:) NOTE: Panagia is the Theotokos, Mother of God. Especially in this season of preparate for Annunciation with our Akathist Hymns on Friday evenings- and the struggles of Lent- always worthwhile to remember the Mother of God who knows what it is to be a mother and to watch her own Son crucified- but also to have the joy of the Resurrection- OK- I could go on...

The boys in our family went camping while I was away... camping. In March. Not snow camping (little p wanted to know if they were going to "Mountain Hood")- I don't think the Biggest P (DH) is ready to take the boys snow camping. Anyway, they had a wonderful time and the boys were great. They all love the outdoors (I do too, and I did spend a lot of time walking the monastery grounds).

I am in the midst of filling out grant applications for our school. One to go out today (I am sort of procastinating by writing on the blog because I am waiting for one question to be answered and then it needs to be converted to Orthodoxy oh, I mean to a pdf file and then off it goes). This is my first grant writing project in a very long time. I am re-learning the art of BS, uhm, I mean, wordiness, uhm, I mean, making things sound pretty:)

Ok, enough procrastinating...here is dinner from last night.

Corn and Bean Tamale Pie
1 1/2 cups corn or two ears of fresh corn (guess which option I chose, come on, guess?)
1 Tbs. oil
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 green chiles, seeded and chopped
2 tsp. ground cumin
1 lb. ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped or 1 can diced tomatoes (again, guess which option I chose?)
1 Tbs. tomato paste
1 4 oz can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed OR 1 bag of frozen black beans that used to be dried and I soaked and cooked last week (guess which option I chose?)
1 tsp. oregano
1 cup polenta
1 Tbs. flour (GF flour, thank you)
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
1 egg lightly beaten (or whatever egg substitute you like to use)
1/2 cup milk or fake milk product (we use rice milk)
1 Tbs. butter (or margarine)
2 oz. melted cheese grated (or soy cheese)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Ok, I used frozen corn and did not parboil the ears of corn, etc. I just do not see myself ever using two ears of corn for this recipe. and I googled how much corn is in 1 ear of corn and came up with 3/4 cup. Anyway, moving on...
Heat oil in large pan and fry the onion, garlic and pepper for 5 minutes until softened. add the chiles and cumin and fry for 1 more minute. Stir in tomatoes (or can of tomatoes), tomato paste, beans (I used 1 2/3 cup black beans (b/c that's how I measure out my beans after I soak and cook them, etc.) which is more beans than the recipe calls for and it was fine), corn, and oregano. bring to a boil then simmer uncovered for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the topping by mixing together the polenta, flour, salt, baking powder, egg, milk and butter in a bowl to form a smooth, thick batter.
transfer the beans and corn mixture to an oven proof dish and spoon the polenta mixture on top and spread evenly. bake for 30 minutes. remove from oven, top with cheese, then return to oven for 10 more minutes.

this was very good. 3 out of 4 people in our home liked this. Big P did not like it (he can be super picky and doesn't really like corn anyway). But everyone else liked it. In DH's words, "it's a keeper."

Asian Spicy Green Beans...

2010-03-08T17:18:00.000-08:00

I have been trying new recipes, I am just not posting all of them. Last week I made my own black bean "burger" patties and they were good. Even Big P ate his right up!
Then I went to the monastery with the women from our church for an overnight stay (our women's group goes once a year, usually during Lent- I will take the P's with me for overnights during the year). DH and the boys went camping. Yes, camping in March! They had a blast and, as it turned out, Sat. was beautiful here (60 degrees and sunny). I came home from the monastery and have lost my voice and now have a bad cold. I hope it does not last too long (I am very blessed that I do not get sick too often- but when I do, it is usually a doozy (note: this is aside from the chronic stuff I have- if I didn't have lupus, I would be considered super healthy:)

On to Asian Spicy Green Beans:
1 cup white or jasmine rice cooked to directions
1 pound fresh green beans washed and trimmed
2 Tbs. sesame oil
1/2 small onion, thinly sliced
1 red bell pepper thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic minced
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 inch fresh gingerroot, grated or minced
Juice of 1 orange
2 Tbs hoisin sauce (I have some GF hoisin sauce)
slivered almonds for a garnish (ok, so I didn't have any slivered almonds but I happened to have cashew pieces so I used those)

Cook rice. Steam green beans in simmering water for 3 minutes covered. Rinse in cool water then drain. Place a large skillet on the stove over high heat. Add oil then onion and pepper. stir fry 1-2 minutes then add garlic, crushed red pepper, ginger, and beans and stir fry 1 more minute. squeeze orange juice over the pan and add hoisin sauce. toss everything to coat. Serve with rice and toasted slivered almonds (or cashews).

This was really good. I loved it. DH loved it. Picky boys who eat peas and brocolli didn't love it. I would highly recommend doubling the recipe because it was really enough for two adults.

Greek Potato Casserole and some suggestions for Shrimp Cakes...

2010-03-02T16:45:00.000-08:00

For the shrimp cakes... I believe that you could probably do without the egg. Process the ingredients in your food processor and then transfer to a bowl. Add the almond flour (or, if you are not gluten free use regular flour) and then refrigerate overnight. I refrigerated for 30 minutes and it wasn't set enough to make "patties". So I heated up my oil (I used coconut oil but you could use any oil that you like- you don't need to use grapeseed oil like in the recipe) and dropped large spoonfuls into the heated oil to fry. It worked for me but I would like to make it the day before and refrigerate overnight and see how that turns out.

Tonight's dinner is an old favorite,

Greek Potato Casserole.
2 cups canned tomatoes

½ cup olive or vegetable oil
2 onions thinly sliced
1 clove garlic crushed
4 Tbs. parsley chopped
1 Tbs. mint chopped (I use dried mint in the winter)
1 ½ tsp salt
¼ tsp. pepper
4-6 large potatoes thinly sliced
2 peppers cut in 2 in. pieces
1-2 zucchini and or summer squash thinly sliced

Mash tomatoes with a fork; combine with oil, onions, garlic, parsley, mint, salt, and pepper. In a greased 8x12 baking dish, alternate layers of tomato mixture, potatoes, peppers, and squash, ending with tomato. Bake covered in oven at 350 for 45 minutes. Uncover; cook until vegetables are tender.

Honestly, I do not layer this. I actually just put everything in my largest bowl, mix together (so everything is well coated with the tomatoes and oil and spices) and then "dump" it in a baking dish, cover, and put in the oven.

Shrimp Cakes and Greek Potatoes

2010-03-01T14:19:00.000-08:00

We had a modified version of these Shrimp Burgers for dinner tonight. Yes, I did use the egg (we can have limited eggs). They were delicious! The boys even ate their required amount for dinner, too. I also made Greek Lemon Potatoes and we had a salad of tomatoes, cucumbers, and Greek olives with olive oil and salt and pepper to flavor. Very nice.

Here is the Greek Lemon Potatoes recipe:
5 potatoes (or enough that when you cut them up they fit into a baking dish)
juice of 3 lemons
2/3 cup olive oil
1 tsp. oregano, dried
4 garlic cloves, minced
salt and pepper to taste

In a bowl combing all the ingredients minus the potatoes (I use a whisk). Set aside. Peel potatoes and cut lengthwise (remember, to dry your potatoes with a towel so they will not stick to the pan while cooking)- you can cut the smaller- they will cook faster. Let marinade one hour (optional). Cover with foil and bake in a preheated 375 degree oven. Uncover and cook an additional 30 minutes (I actually broiled them) or until potatoes are browned. Remove pan from the oven and let stand a few minutes before serving. YUM!

Ok. This was super yummy. So yummy that when my husband suggested that he take the shrimp "burgers" to work, I said, "no!" And so I had them for lunch today:)

Butternut Squash Soup...

2010-02-25T19:25:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I made Butternut Squash Soup and it wasn't very good. I am not sure what I did wrong- but it was very bland. So, I am freezing the leftovers in individual containers and calling it thick vegetable broth. I think it will make a good broth for the Garlic Potato Soup I made before Nativity. And if I use it as a broth for the Garlic Potato Soup I can definitely leave a lot of potatoes chunky in the soup (like DH likes it).

SO... if you have a really excellent, non bland butternut squash soup, please either post it or email me because I would really like to have it:) Thanks!

Gigates or GIant Beans...

2010-02-24T08:34:00.000-08:00

Go to my mom's blog for her gigates recipe. They are very good. This is my nephew's favorite food!

Angela's Stir Fry

2010-02-24T08:30:00.000-08:00

DH's coworker is Chinese-American. She grew up in Chinatown in New York. Anyway, here is her thrown together stiry fry recipe (he tried it at work one day and then wanted me to make it). Angela actually does not use a recipe so this is what I had to follow:

Angela's Stir Fry
2 pound bag of Miki Noodles (these are wheat based noodles, Gluten Free Spaghetti noodles will work too)

Meat (Sliced Pork, Chicken, and/or Beef, or Shrimp, Anything Goes!)
3 Medium Onions
Baby Bok Choy or Half of a Nappa cabbage
Soy Sauce
Asian Oyster Sauce
Dark Soy Sauce (Optional – This is to give it a dark rich color)
Veggie Oil (I just used sesane oil whenever it called for oil)
Sesame Oil
Couple cloves of garlic
Teaspoon Corn starch
Salt
Freshred Chili Pepper (in oil) - this can be purchased at an asian market- she bought a jar for us:)
Marinate meat with some soy sauce, salt and a little bit of water. After a few minutes, add the cornstarch and mix. Heat stir-fry pan with oil with medium-high heat. Add garlic and dash of salt and let it brown for a little bit. Add meat. Add onion and veggies when meat is almost done cooking. Remove meat and veggies to another bowl. Add oil. Add noodles and a teaspoon of water (The purpose to adding water is to make sure that noodles are separating). Once the noodles are warm, add back the meat and veggies to the pan. Add about 2 teaspoons of sesame oil, 1 tablespoons of soy sauce, 1 1/2 tablespoon of oyster sauce, ½ tablespoon of Dark Soy Sauce. Mix and adjust.

Ok- so what I did was marinated shrimp. Heated stir fry pan with sesame oil. added garlic and salt. added shrimp. i used 1 large onion and this is where I added 2 Tbs. of the freshred chili pepper (but this was too much- this is super spicy so you might only need to add 1/2 Tbs. and then adjust- it was so spicy that I could not eat it and DH ate it but said it was spicier than what Angela brought to work). I also used gluten free spaghetti noodles. Everything else I followed as it is written. I did not use dark soy sauce as I do not even know if they make a gluten free dark soy sauce. I just used my regular gluten free soy sauce. Oyster Sauce is usually not gluten free but one brand is- so if you need gluten free oyster sauce buy the Wok Mei brand. They sell it at Whole Foods.

Anyway, there is a lot of this in the fridge (good lunches for DH over the next few days). I might try this again with less of the chili pepper. DH loved it!

Quote and Vegetarian Chili with friends....

2010-02-22T08:20:00.000-08:00

A quote from St. Seraphim of Sarov in "The Joy of the Holy" on watchfulness (goes along with the Elder Thaddeus quotation I posted last week):

You must always strive to avoid mental distractions, because coming from the devil, they turn your soul away from the awareness of God and away from His love. Do not forget the words of St. Macarius, 'that the devil devotes all of his energy to turning our thoughts away from God.'

Yesterday was Sunday of Orthodoxy and the Orthodox of Portland gethered at Holy Trinity to celebrate and to have our procession (on a very sunny and beautiful day- that can be a rarity in the Pacific NW).

Afterwards, we came home and I had vegetarian chili in the crockpot (put it together on Sat. evening and put it in the crockpot Sunday morning). I doubled the recipe because we had invited friends over for dinner (this all came about because little p and his buddy v were playing last Sunday after church. little p and v decided that they were going far far away together. v left. little p cried. little p sobbed. little p wailed. so I though, we should have v and her family over for dinner and let them PLAY! little p and v play really well together (if you have 3-4 year olds you understand that some children play well together and some do not play well together). that's the story of how our dinner plans came together).

So v and family came bearing guacamole and corn chips and apple grape juice (yum). We had our chili and I made a coconut berry crisp from the Almond Flour Cookbook. Unfortunately, this recipe is not on the website. and even though I changed the recipe to use all blueberries instead of strawberries and blueberries, I feel a little strange posting the recipe here. It was delicious. It was lenten. It did not have sugar in it (I used Agave Nectar- although, most times I substitute honey for Agave Nectar in this cookbook). Perfect.

I am being a little lazy this morning and will not post the link to the vegetarian chili recipe. Look through my last few posts and you should see a link to that recipe.

It is now Monday, Big P is at school, little p doesn't go to school on Mondays so he is still asleep. And I am on the computer posting this blog to you.

BTW- Saturday was little p's 4th birthday! And four years ago at this time there was a freak snowstorm in March! I see lots of people outside, prepping their gardens and beginning to plant and all I can think of is that there is a possibility of a freak snowstorm in March. So I am holding back on the tempation to plant; at least for now:)

Soaking beans for future use...

2010-02-19T10:30:00.000-08:00

We are having some friends over on Sunday for lunch/dinner so I decided to make my vegetarian chili.
So I will probably have to make a double batch.
So why not just soak 3 lbs. of different beans all at once and then have enough beans not only for my double batch of veggie chili on Sunday but for two more single batches of chili?
So I am now up to my elbows in soaked/cooked beans:)
But now it is done. And the beans for Sunday are in the refrigerator. And the future beans are in the freezer.
(BTW- I used 1 lb. kidney beans, 1 lb. black beans, and 1 lb. pinto beans and soaked them according to Nourishing Tradtions and cooked them according to Make it Fast, Cook it Slow in my crockpot which means I soak the beans with whey or lemon juice and then drain the beans and either cook them on the stove and/or cook them in the crockpot).

Book Fair at school!

2010-02-18T10:51:00.000-08:00

I just cut and paste the following from an email from the school. The great thing is you can order books from anywhere in the US, have them shipped to you and still support the school! Or, if you live in the Portland area they can ship to the school and you can pick them up from there:)

Usborne Book Fair is coming to Agia Sophia Academy! You may view the books on display next week and select books anytime during the Book Fair. For your convenience, cash, check (payable to ASA PTP please), Visa, MasterCard, and Discover are all accepted. These books make great Birthday or Pascha/Easter gifts!

The school will receive up to 50% of the sales in FREE books!

You can also browse the full Usborne books catalog and place your book order online: Go to http://www.usborne-books.com/ and click on Agia Sophia now through March 3. A terrific option for Grandparents, Friends, and Family who would like to purchase books as well.

We won something!

2010-02-18T07:54:00.001-08:00

We won this book the other day! Woohoo! Should be arriving sometime this week. Thanks, Chrissi!

Elder Thaddeus, Lenten Reading, and Clean Week Menu...

2010-02-17T10:50:00.000-08:00

As soon as we conceive a thought that is not founded on love, we have accepted the evil suggestions of the demons. By accepting a negative thought, we accept the devil himself. The demons are invisible, but we lend them our bodies so that they become visible.
~Elder Thaddeus of Serbia
(Sylvia posted this on a Facebook page called My Notebook: Orthodox Treasures - I am not certain what this link will do as it is posted to a Facebook group- so it may or may not work, FYI)

Fr. T. recommended I read "The Joy of the Holy: Saint Seraphim of Sarov and Orthodox Spiritual Life" so have begun that work while also reading "Middlemarch" with Mimi and my sister (I am sure there are others reading it, also). DH is reading "Our Thoughts Determine Our Lives: The Life and Teachings of Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica" so I hope to read that soon:)

I will post new recipes for Lent. But this week being clean week, we keep it real simple.
Hummus
Big pot of Basic Lentil Soup
Plain Brown Rice- "plain" means water and rice and salt only (no butter or olive oil)
Veggies
Fruit
New GF Bread Recipe (which we all like and Big P was able to take a Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich to school today which he hasn't done in MONTHS!!!- is it considered fasting when you are this excited about PB&J?) I also must add that this is the BEST homemade GF bread I have ever made which is super exciting. It is an involved recipe so I can see mysel maybe making this once a week and maybe making two loaves at a time (slice one and put in freezer for toasting maybe?). We shall see.

I don't know if I have given you enough links in this post:) Enjoy!!! And I will be posting more recipes next week as our menu begins to change (and, hopefully, I will be posting new recipes next week). May your Lenten journey be blessed!

2010-01-24T16:35:00.000-08:00

Dinner tonight...
Prepped it all last night in the crockpot, put in fridge, woke up, take out of fridge, start crockpot, go to church, come home. Dinner's ready:)

No fasting this week. If you are Orthodox, you will understand. If you are not Orthodox and would like to know more, leave a comment:)

Four years ago..

2010-01-19T13:48:00.000-08:00

On this day four years ago I went to the hospital because I was not feeling right. I was 28 weeks pregnant with Petros. Obviously, everything turned out just fine; but every year, on this day (and there are a few more key days in the next two months) I am reminded of how precious life really is and how much of a miracle my boys are in my life. I live with lupus everyday, but Jan. 19 is a day to pause- to reflect, to pray and be thankful for life. I think that for the rest of my life, the month's of January, February, and March will always be a reminder that experience (talk about "joyful sorrow"- out of all that mess came Petros- out of pain can come joy and beauty- a reminder of the joy that is present in our lives always if we choose to see it). Funny that today in Bible study we were finishing up Philippians (I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me). I have always took this to mean that I can endure through whatever trial because Christ will give me the strength (even when I feel that I have none).

Normally I don't get all Biblical on the blog- mostly I post funny things the kids say or pictures or recipes. But today is a day to reflect; to think; to remember. And I hope that I will always remember.

To read about "what happened four years ago" go here.

Oh, and happy birthday to my mother in law!

Java Roast...

2010-01-09T09:23:00.000-08:00

Miss me? I am not planning on posting recipes everyday like during the Nativity fast (that was fun- but it has been nice taking a break from blogging). Nativity was such a whirlwind with my sister here. It felt like the boys' break was not long enough. I would have welcomed having them home for another week!

I love my crock pot. If you do not own a crock pot- go get one now. I made this recipe from a new cookbook I purchased called "Make it Fast, Cook it Slow". I love this cookbook. Here is the Java Roast recipe that we had for dinner last week. It was delicious. Many of the recipes in the book are on line so peruse the website to find some excellent crock pot recipes!

I may continue what I started during the Nativity fast- the posting of recipes- the planning of all our meals for the entire fast period- just to continue trying new recipes. But for now, I hope that you will enjoy the occasional post- might be food related, might not be food related:) Have a wonderful weekend!

Christ is Born! Glorify Him!

2009-12-25T08:56:00.001-08:00

No recipes today... Happy Nameday to all the Christina's, Christos', Christiana's, and Christian's out there (and forgive me if I forgot anyone). Our gifts for the boys ranged from purple vestments to plastic swords to Star Wars! Noting like variety in our home:)

Christ is Born! Glorify Him! Have a wonderful feastday... from our family to yours...

Gluten Free Sugar Cookies and other Nativity Treats:)

2009-12-23T16:15:00.000-08:00

Artoklassia is on its last rising so we are going to make GF Sugar Cookies.
Here is the Arto. recipe. Alas, it is not gluten free. I do not think that would go over well (as the priest says something about this offering of wheat, wine and oil in the service). That is ok with me. It is blessed and at least Big P and I will eat it (little p is not on a gf diet and DH actually has celiac's so he will not eat it).
Here is the GF Sugar Cookie recipe. I made it two days ago so it is ready to be rolled and cut into cute Christmas shapes:)
Here is the Ginger Pumpkin Cheesecake recipe. I make it GF by using GF ginger snaps. I am normally sugar free, but have saved up all my not-eating-sugar-bonus points for a slice of this cheesecake on Christmas day (and I find that by not eating sugar, all I really can handle is a small slice and I am happy:) And, yes, it is on the flylady site. Many years ago I was a member of flylady and it did help me to get undercontrol but I didn't like receiving so many emails. So once I felt like I had a schedule, I stopped being a member of the flylady world. And the things I like, I still do and that's fine with me! And this recipe is amazing.
Granma's Famous Meatballs... wait a minute... family- should I post granma's famous meatball recipe?!? I don't think it's a secret...

Brazilian Shrimp Stew and Coconut Rice

2009-12-22T17:36:00.000-08:00

This is an amazing lenten recipe. Go to this website for the recipe. The coconut milk makes it so creamy that you do not even realize that you are not eating milk!

Coconut Rice is here. It is an unsoaked brown rice recipe. The only thing that I do different is use 2 Tbs. margarine and 2 Tbs. olive oil. Oh, and I just skip the whole cardamom pod thing and the saffron.

I will try to post the gluten free pizza crust recipe soon.

Until then, have a great evening (I am, in addition to making dinner, making 2 loaves of prosfora for Christmas Eve Liturgy because tomorrow I will be making Artoklassia for Christmas Eve Liturgy- our liturgy is really Christmas morning because Orthros is at 11pm and Liturgy is at midnight:) The boys helped with the prosfora!

You know you are nearing the end of a fasting period...

2009-12-22T07:41:00.000-08:00

when you have soy cheese pizza for dinner! I made two pizzas (one for the kids and one for the adults- we had LOTS of veggies on our pizza). I made a gluten free crust (I finally feel like I do not need to fear the GF pizza crust)- well, actually made two GF crusts. This is really the only time we use soy in our home. I am not a fan of soy but DH likes to have soy cheese pizza at least once during a fasting period. So there you have it. I may post the crust recipe (it, too, is lenten) but I also am heading over to mom and dads because my uncle is going to be over for a short visit. And we get to see him maybe once a year (although this year he came to the family reuinion in June).

Falafel, Juddrah, and Hummus

2009-12-19T07:19:00.000-08:00

This is what we call Middle Eastern Night in our home. I used to buy the falafel mix but most of them contain wheat (and other things). So when DH was diagnosed with Celiac's I thought that we would never have Falafel again! But I found and adapted a recipe for us that does not contain wheat! Yay! And these are the best tasting falafel I have ever made (stop making those just add water mixes right now and go make this falafel). It does take more work and planning (soaking the beans at least two days ahead of time).

Falafel
2 cups garbanzos
water
4 Tbs whey or lemon juice
4 large cloves garlic
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. coriander
1 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tsp. baking powder
1 cup oil

So the 2 cups garbanzos, water, and whey/lemon juice is for the soaking of the beans. You soak these beans twice (2 Tbs. whey/lemon juice for the first soak and 2 Tbs for the second soak).

After you have your soaked/rinsed beans either make the falafel or put the beans in a freezer bag or container and put in freezer. I will do this a lot (esp. during fasts) so that I know I have beans on hand.

I use my food processor for this job. Add 1/2 the garbanzos to food processor. Add 2 cloves garlic and 1/2 tsp. of each of the spices. Do not add oil (that is for cooking). Pulse until reduced to a coarse paste. The mixture should be finely ground enough to form into a ball (and then flatten - that's how I make my falafel) and hold its shape but it does not need to be entirely smooth. Dump falafel mixture into a bowl and repeat with the rest of the garbanzos and spices. Mix the two batches together, cover, and put in refrigerator for 1 hour. Form into patties and cook in oil. Serve with hummus and sliced veggies (tomatoes, cucumbers, etc). We do not use pita bread (does anyone have a gluten free pita bread recipe?) I have read to serve with corn tortillas but that just doesn't sound appealing to me. So we just dip our falafel into the hummus and eat with the veggies.

Juddrah
Sometimes I will also make juddrah as the side dish (although, this ends up being a lot of beans eaten in one sitting). You can soak your lentils, just not as long as the other beans...
to soak lentils... put amount of lentils you will need for recipe into a bowl, cover with warm water and stir in 2 Tbs. whey or lemon juice. Let sit for 6 or 7 hours then drain and rinse and continue with your recipe. I suggest initially decreasing the water that you cook with and adding later as you cook because the soaked lentils can and will cook faster with less water. Just keep an eye on it:)

Back to the Juddrah...
1 cup uncooked lentils
4 cups water (but use less if using soaked lentils)
2-3 large onions chopped
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup uncooked rice (if you use cooked rice, use less water)
1 Tbs. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
2 Tbs. lemon juice

Chop onions. Heat oil in pan. Add onions. Saute until carmelized/almost burnt. Add water, lentils, and rice. Cover and cook (ok, I usually use brown rice and it will take longer than 20-25 minutes but I don't remember how long) until rice and lentils are cooked, stirring occasionally. Add salt, pepper, and lemon juice.

Hummus
So I tried this once with soaked garbanzos and it just wasn't smooth enough for my family (and, hey, my boys will eat hummus so why mess with a good thing, right?)
1 can garbanzo beans, reserve juice
1 1/4 tsp. tahini
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 large clove garlic, minced (I usually use at least 2)
1/2 tsp. salt
1 Tbs olive oil (optional)

Heat beans over medium heat until they come to a boil. I use a slotted spoon to remove the beans (put beans into a bowl) and reserve the juice. Add the next 4 ingredients to the beans. Now, add about 1/2 the reserved juice (more if you like a runnier hummus, less if you like a pastier hummus). I have this milk shake attachment to a hand chopper (electric) that I use to mix the hummus but I have also done this in a blender. Blend until creamy and very smooth. Serve with vegetables, tortilla chips, rice crackers.

Again, my sister is in town from Russia and we have been spending lots of time with them. Last night I did make Ratatouille and will hopefully post the recipe in the next few days. Today I have an intimate wedding shower in the morning and my niece's 1st birthday party/open house to see my sister in the afternoon. So it is a busy day!

Topsy Turvy Meals...UPDATED with Links!!!

2009-12-15T16:02:00.000-08:00

Sunday night was ended up having leftover pasta and red pepper sauce (from Friday night's dinner). Monday night we had leftover pasta with marinara sauce (I had some in the freezer). So tonight will be the Baja Fresh night (yay) with Katie's rice. Tomorrow we are doing falafal, juddrah, and hummus (get ready for the falafel). And Thursday we are going to have my parents and my sister and her children over for dinner before Big P and little p's school nativity program performance. For that crowd (of nine people) I am going to make the good old standby of Lentil Soup (and because my dad is super picky about eating cooked vegetables... he won't even eat cooked tomatoes (like diced tomatoes- he's fine with tomato sauce) or cooked onions! So to please my dad we will have lentil soup. And maybe some leftover falafel and hummus for those that want it!

The next 10 days of meals might be a whirlwind with my sister here from Russia (as in, we might be eating at my parents home a lot). Hopefully I will get to try some of the recipes that I have marked for the next 10 days of the fast. We shall see...

Thanks for reading and for following me on this journey of discovering new recipes for Gluten Free Fasting in the Orthodox Church:)

Update: go here to enter to "The Christmas Shoes" movie giveaway!

Dinner Saturday and Sunday Night...

2009-12-13T16:39:00.000-08:00

Saturday was the last Fish day before Christmas so we had our favorite Salmon recipe with our favorite french fry recipe and Greek Salad minus feta (and I am not planning on eating fish for Christmas). And, we had my mom and dad over because it is my birthday on Monday (we try to have my birthday on the last fish day so that we can have fish and not Lentil soup or something like it). It was a fun night and we played Apples to Apples with my parents.

Tonight we are having Baja Fresh for dinner with Black Beans instead of my homemade refried beans (I did soak the black beans and made them myself but I am not going to mash them like in refried beans). And I am going to try Katie's suggestion for the Baja Fresh style of rice. Tomorrow night (monday) is Cub Scout Christmas party (they are having pizza- not sure what we are having).

Penne with Sweet Pepper and Tomato Sauce AND Garbanzo soaking day 2

2009-12-12T09:46:00.001-08:00

I made a double batch of tonight (really last nights) dinner because I went to my mom's group Christmas Party Potluck and White Elephant Gift Exchange. Had lots of fun, came home way too late (and I was maybe the second person to leave!).

This recipe I am posting here is for a single batch (4 to 6 servings)
2 1/2 Tbs. Olive Oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 lb. ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped (or 1 can diced tomatoes- you choose how much work you would like to put into this dinner)
1/8 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes or to taste (ok- does anyone actually own a 1/8 tsp?)
salt and pepper to taste
2 Tbs. fresh chopped basil
2-3 Tbs. veggie broth or water
1 lb pasta (I used gluten free pasta)
1/2 tsp. coarse salt

heat the oil over medium heat. add onion and cook until very tender, about 15 minutes. add garlic and cook until onion begins to carmelize (I love love love carmelized onions). add tomatoes, bell pepper, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper, bring to a boil. reduce heat, cover, and simmer until the red pepper is very soft (about 15-20 minutes). Transfer the mixture to a food processor or blender and blend until smooth. return mixture to skillet and stir in basil. reheat over low and add veggie broth or water as needed to make a smooth sauce.

cook pasta according to package. transfer to large bowl and toss with the sauce and coarse salt.

DH walked in the door as I was preparing to "blend" the sauce. And he was aghast. Why would you blend something that looked so good and chunky (remember, he does not like blended foods- see the garlic potato soup recipe). So I partially blended the sauce. This is delicious. A winner to everyone but Big P.

Garbanzo soaking day 2.
drain water off of 1 day soaked garbanzo beans (no need to rinse).
add 2 Tbs. whey or lemon juice
fill with hot water
cover and let sit for another 24 hours.

Getting ready for falafel...

2009-12-11T11:10:00.000-08:00

So if you would like to join me in making falafel at some point in the next few weeks get soakin' (your garbanzo beans, that is).

2 cups dried garbanzo beans
2 Tbs. whey or lemon juice
hot water

put garbanzo beans in bowl. mix in whey or lemon juice. add water. cover and let sit over night. repeat for another 24 hours. rinse, drain, and store in the freezer for falafel day (coming soon, to this blog).

Cashew Vegetables (with optional shrimp)

2009-12-10T18:50:00.000-08:00

I added shrimp to this recipe...

1 cup white or jasmine rice, cooked to directions on package (I used soaked brown rice, go here for directions)
1 lb broccoli tops, separated into small florets
1 Tbs. oil (I used coconut oil)
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup snow pease
1 red pepper, thinly sliced
1 can baby corn (I opted to leave out the baby corn)
2 Tbs. hoisin sauce (I found Gluten Free hoisin sauce)
3 Tbs. duck sauce (I left out the duck sauce b/c the duck sauce I found either had wheat in it or was made with corn syrup so instead I used Gluten Free soy sauce).
1/4 unsalted cashews
salt to taste
crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

The recipe suggests cooking the broccoli before stir frying it but I have never done that when making stir fry so I skipped that step and went right into...
Heat a skillet or wok over high heat. Add oil and onions. Cook 1-2 minutes then add broccoli, snow peas, bell pepper and baby corn (which I did not add). Stir fry for 3-4 minutes (at this point I removed the veggies, added more oil, and stir fried the shrimp then continue) add hoisin sauce and duck sauce (or soy sauce) and veggies to pan and toss until everything is evenly coated. Remove from heat and toss with cashews. Season with salt and crushed red pepper if you like it spicy (DH added crushed red pepper to his). Serve over hot rice.

DH says this is a keeper. Even with all the changes that I made:) I liked the flavor from the hoisin sauce (and I like that I found the gluten free hoisin sauce). I may just have to keep that in stock in my refrigerator! The boys are always more difficult to please (the are still eating dinner right now).

Potato Casserole

2009-12-09T17:46:00.000-08:00

This is one of those recipes that you can probably add a whole lot of different "stuff" to and make it great every time.

2 cups canned tomatoes
1/2 cup olive oil or vegetable oil
3 onions thinly sliced (I think I used one onion)
1 clove garlic, minced (I used two)
4 Tbs. parsley, chopped
1 Tbs. mint, chopped
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp pepper
4-6 large potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
4 peppers cut in 2 in. pieces
1 zucchini thinly sliced

I actually just chopped everything and mixed it well in a large bowl and then dumped it into an oven proof dish with lid (I have one of those super nice dutch ovens from Martha Stewart (what are they called, katherine?)) rather than layering each veggie (potatoes then tomato mixed with spices then zucchini then peppers and repeat). Bake covered 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Uncover and cook until vegetables are tender.

I can see adding green beans or summer squash or, for those who like eggplant it could go well in it.

Salmon with oven potatoes instead of garlic mashed potatoes...

2009-12-08T21:16:00.000-08:00

Turns out I didn't have enough of the right type of potato to do the garlic mashed potatoes (doh!) so I just did the oven potatoes with unpeeled red potatoes. No complaints about this dinner! And I do stick with the same salmon recipe only because the times that I have ventured out and cooked salmon a little bit different are the times my children then will not eat dinner that night. We like this recipe and I feel like we mix it up enough with other types of fish that it's ok to eat salmon cooked the same way (except in the summer... we do cook the salmon on cedar planks on the bbq... you know, it's "only" 20 degrees outside, DH should really have bbg'ed this evening:) Go here for our salmon dinner recipe.

Hey, is it colder here than in Moscow? I need to look into that...

One thing I have noticed...

2009-12-07T15:56:00.000-08:00

is that trying out all these great, new recipes is awesome and we are finding some keepers. Most times, in my everyday cooking, I will double something and then freeze it so that we have lunches ready and waiting for the next few days and/or weeks. With these new recipes, I am not doubling (because who wants double of something that you don't like... remember the spinach, potato, garbanzo fiasco a few weeks ago?!?). So, for tonight's dinner (and I do have DH's thumbs up for this one) I am making a double pot of lentil soup. We are completely out of soups in the freezer for lunches in the coming weeks (and almost everyday I am eating lunch at school with either Big P or little p because of the distance and that I pick up little p at 12:30pm). I posted the lentil soup recipe a few weeks ago. I like it. In fact I like it so much that I used to ask for it on my birthday growing up! Yeah, I know, I am a little strange.

And tonight is Cub Scout night. It's the kind of night where you need something easy to make. Stay tuned for tomorrow night's salmon with garlic mashed potatoes!!!

No Dinner post tonight...

2009-12-06T16:32:00.000-08:00

because we are going over to some friends (see yesterday's post).

I am bringing gluten free chocolate chip cookies made with almond flour (and they are vegan!).

You can find the recipe here. I own her cookbook and it has the recipe in it (but I also found it online for you all:). Instead of grapeseed oil I used coconut oil and instead of agave nectar I used honey. Yum!

Happy Feast of St. Nicholas!!!

No dinner tonight...

2009-12-05T20:49:00.000-08:00

Sort of just kidding with the title of this post. I am not making dinner tonight. We went to Vesper's at St Nicholas this evening and they had some food there and we are now eating leftovers. Tomorrow we are going to some friends for dinner (we do this Supper for Six thing in our parish where three couples are grouped together and do three dinners together so that's what we are doing tomorrow night). I'm supposed to bring dessert. I need to figure out something that's lenten and gluten free. Maybe I will post it for you:) Good night... hope St. Nicholas leaves something yummy in your shoe!

"Olive" Garden Pasta

2009-12-04T19:45:00.000-08:00

This is what DH dubbed our dinner tonight (it's really only garden pasta). He thought that it tasted like something from the Olive Garden. So, from now on, we will call this "Olive" Garden Pasta!

"Olive" Garden Pasta
2 Tbs Olive Oil
4 cloves garlic minced (I LOVE when a recipe calls for lots of garlic)
1 medium zucchini, finely diced (ok, I just cut it in quarters the long way and then sliced it)
1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped (see note on zucchini)
2 bay leaves
1/2 cup veggie broth
1 28oz can diced tomatoes (I actually only used 1 14 oz can b/c that seemed like a lot of tomatoes)
salt and pepper to taste
Parsley
1 pound pasta cooked (we used gluten free)

Heat a deep skillet or pot over medium heat (I actually used my wok for this- my stock pot lid fits on my wok). Add oil and garlic and saute until the garlic sizzles. Add zucchini, onion, carrot, and bay leaf. Cover and cook 5 minutes or until zucchini is tender and onion is translucent. Remove cover, add broth. Stir, add tomatoes, salt and pepper and parsley (I had dried parsley and I just shook some into the sauce). Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer until ready to serve.

So this was super yummy and I thought of adding broccoli and I am kind of glad that I didn't- this was just fine. Oh, wait, I did add something. A splash of red wine. I can't make a tomato sauce for pasta without adding red wine so I did add that splash of red wine. When I asked DH what you would change/add to tonights dinner he said, "more of it." I actually think we do not have leftovers of this!

Finally, last night's dinner...

2009-12-04T19:28:00.000-08:00

Unsoaked Rice
2 cups long grain brown rice
2 Tbs. butter
2 Tbs. olive oil
4 cups broth (the recipe calls for chicken broth- I used 1/2 veggie broth and 1/2 water)
1/2 tsp. salt

Melt butter and olive oil in pan. Add rice. Saute rice. Add liquid and salt. Bring to a boil. Boil uncovered for 10 minutes. Reduce flame to lowest heat and cover tightly. Cook for 40 minutes (ok the recipe says 1 1/2 hours. We have a gas stove and my "lowest:" heat setting is still a pretty hard boil so it has never taken me 1 1/2 hours to cook rice- and if I left it on the stove that long I would end up with burnt rice).

Fish Tacos
1 lb fresh or frozen fish (I used tilapia- cod would be good)
2 Tbs. margarine or butter melted
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp lime juice (or lemon juice)
corn tortillas
Salsa, guacamole, whatever you like to put on your fish tacos (except none of that yogurt/sourcream dressing because we are fasting).

Rinse fish and pat dry with paper towels.Place fish in a single layer in greased shallow baking pan. Combine margarine/butter, cumin, garlic and lime (I actually used more lime because I love lime). Brush over fish. Bake in a 450 degree oven 10 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork.

Warm tortillas in the oven by wrapping in foil and placing in oven for about 5 minutes.

We also had the red kidney bean dip recipe that my sister, Katherine, had suggested. I happened to have some already soaked/cooked red kidney beans in the freezer:)

This dinner, though a lot of work (isn't taco night, even with meat, a lot of work? All those little add-ons to prepare and kind of a pain to make sure everything is done at exactly the same time so that all your foods are hot) is kind of worth it in the end:) Fish Tacos also take us back to when we first met, through Project Mexico. We did spend quite a bit of time at the fish taco place in Rosarito when we had time off from working. DH tried to explain to Big P that we met in Mexico working at an orphanage and that we went out for fish tacos all the time- I don't think Big P quite got it all. And I do think my home made fish tacos are better than the fried fish and mayonnaise on a tortilla that we would get at the taco shop.

Not dinner recipes, yet...

2009-12-04T15:17:00.000-08:00

Here is a link to sign up for the online newsletter from our school. It is different from what you might receive in the mail. I am just going to cut and paste what I received in my email inbox today. I will see if they can post it as a pdf on their main site so you can preview this beautiful newsletter.

(ten minutes later...) ok so I can't cut and paste it into blogger. Take my word for it, it is beautiful. If you would like me to forward the email to you, please leave me a comment and your email address (be sneaky about leaving your email address) and I will forward it to you!

UPDATE: try going here to view the newsletter before signing up!

Fish Tacos, Kidney Bean dip, Brown rice, and toppings...

2009-12-03T21:31:00.000-08:00

So that was dinner tonight. And I am actually a bit tired right now and will probably not post the recipes (although the kidney bean dip I posted a few days ago- a suggestion from my sister).

I will say that it was a delicious meal (I did the Nourishing Traditions non-soaked brown rice) although I did miss having some type of sour cream/yogurt sauce on my fish:)

Tomorrow, busy day. At school in the morning to make St. Nicholas cookies for the children (for Sunday school and for Agia Sophia Academy). Hopefully I will have some time tomorrow afternoon to post tonight's dinner recipe. Saturday, another busy day... I'm helping to lead a prosfora baking workshop (the bread that we use for Holy Communion) in the morning.

Big P and papa are "Scouting for Food" on Saturday morning. little p will probably be with yiayia and pappous. So, if a Cub Scout or Boy Scout comes to your door on Saturday and asks for canned food for the hungry, please, think of my Big P out their collecting food, and give to that scout. Thanks:)

Bouillabaisse of Spinach, Potatoes, Garbanzos, and Saffron

2009-12-02T22:22:00.000-08:00

This is our first "yuck" recipe (I don't count when Big P says "yuck") since the beginning. Not bad!

I have decided that I just don't like cooked spinach. Well, I liked cooked spinach in eggs or brownies or lasagna, but not in a soup.

But I will share the recipe...

2 Tbs. olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 cups vegetable broth
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 pound spinach or 1 10 oz bag fresh spinach cut into 1/4 in. strips
1 1/2 lbs. small red potatoes, unpeeped, cut into 1 in. pieces
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper to taste
1/8 tsp powdered saffron or 1/2 tsp curry powder or to taste
1 can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained (i actually did use canned beans... I have not had much luck soaking and cooking garbanzo beans- I do fine when I soak them for falafel (which I will post in a few weeks) but when I have had to add them to soup it seems as if I never cook them long enough)
4 thick slices peasant style bread (optional- we did not use the bread).

in a medium pot, heat the oil add the onion and cook until lightly browned. add the garlic and cook for about 1 minute. add the broth and wine; bring to a boil over high heat. add half the spinach, the potatoes, bay leaf, salt and pepper. Return to boil. reduce heat to medium boil and cook, uncovered, until the potatoes are tender (15 minutes)
Stir in the saffron. add garbanzos and remaining spinach, stirring well to combine. bring to a boil over high heat. immediately remove from heat, cover, and let stand for 3 minutes. remove bay leaf. serve (over bread if you choose).

So... it looked like a real good soup with the potatoes and beans and spinach. Except I think I don't really like cooked spinach (I know I already said that). DH thought it was bland. More saffroon? Should have gone with the curry? I do love curry. And I do agree with him. It was bland. But it also was a lot of wilted spinach. On potatoes. In a bland soup. Have I made my point? Maybe YOU like cooked spinach. I LOVE raw spinach- I love spinach salads so it's not an anti spinach thing- and I like kale- maybe I should have used kale? Kale holds it's form better, it tends to be somewhat bitter, but that would be an improvement to, uhm, bland, right?

Stir Fried Shrimp and Broccoli (and a question)...

2009-12-01T17:49:00.000-08:00

1 lb. shrimp (you decide if you want fresh, frozen, cooked, uncooked, tail-on, tail-off)
3 Tbs. red wine vinegar
3 Tbs. soy sauce (we use wheat free soy sauce)
3 Tbs. water
1 Tbs. corn starch
1 1/2 tsp. sugar (or substitute of your choice)
1 Tbs. oil
2 cloves garlic minced
2 cups broccoli flowerets
1 cup thinly bias sliced carrots
1 small onion, halved lengthwise and sliced
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms (optional- ok, not really, but I do not like mushrooms. There, I said it, a food that I will not eat. They taste like dirt to me)
2 cups hot cooked rice (as opposed to two cups cold, uncooked rice)

Do whatever you need to do with your shrimp (you could also use scallops, if you wanted to). Set aside. Combine vinegar, soy sauce, water, cornstarch, and sugar, set aside
Heat oil in wok or large skillet. Stif fry the garlic for 15 seconds. add broccoli, carrots, and onion. Stir fry for 3 minutes. Add mushrooms. Stir fry for 1-2 minutes or until all the veggies are crisp-tender. Remove vegetables from wok with slotted spoon. Add vinegar mix to wok and bring to boil. Add shrimp or scallops and cook until shrimp turn pink or scallops are opaque. Stir in veggies, heat through. Serve over rice.

We love this. Except Big P. But he's tough to please.

Question- I need to purchase hoisin sauce and duck sauce. Is there a wheat free version of hoisin sauce? Where do I find it? and what is duck sauce and where do I find that?
Thanks (I realize I could "goodsearch.com" it and raise money for our school, but I thought I would start a dialogue with my readers:)

Spaghetti with Marinara Sauce

2009-11-30T18:07:00.000-08:00

This is one of those recipes that I don't use a recipe to make. It's a little bit of this and a little bit of that. The nice thing about this meal is that I usually save it for busy days like today! I had a reg. dr. appt. today (everything is good), grocery shopping this afternoon, pick up at school, and, tonight is our once a month cub scout pack meeting. So we are all going (and, anyway, DH has somehow decided to be one of two assistant scout master's for the pack- he is an Eagle scout, BTW and really enjoys this scouting time he has spent with Big P).

anyhow...

I use GF pasta (if you have been following my lenten cooking blog so far, you will notice that we do not use a lot of pasta- and that's not just because we are gluten free- even before the celiac days, our fasting was more heavily beans and vegetable oriented so get out of that carb rut!!! It can be done!)

1 can diced tomatoes
1 small can tomato paste
2 cloves garlic minced
a little cinnamon
salt and pepper
oregano
water
red wine

that's about it. If I have lots of time I will saute onions and peppers and add it to the sauce. I have also been known to throw in some zucchini or yellow squash:)

This is our fast fasting option- I try to keep it all on hand at all times (big shopping trip to Costco today involved buying the bag o' garlic heads- yes, we do go through that much garlic).

Red Kidney bean Dip...

2009-11-30T08:17:00.001-08:00

My sister sent me this recipe. She soaked her kidney beans instead of using a can of beans. She also chopped cilantro withthe limes to put on the top. This would be a nice alternative to the pinto bean refried beans I made a few weeks ago. And I happen to have a bag of kidney beans in the freezer:) We might be doing this later this week! Looks yummy!

3 tablespoons olive oil (not extra-virgin)
1 large onion, finely diced
3 fat cloves garlic, minced or grated
1 3/4 cups kidney beans, reserving the liquid in the can
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 lime, zested and juiced

Heat the oil and cook the onion and garlic until soft and golden.
Add the kidney beans and their liquid and stir in the tomato paste and spices and cook for a few minutes.
Add the lime juice to the kidney bean mixture. Take the pan off the heat and when it has cooled a little, process the mixture until it is a bumpy puree. When it is cool, arrange in small bowls and sprinkle over the reserved lime zest.

Fish and Chips...

2009-11-29T21:03:00.001-08:00

We had cod and homemade oven fries tonight for dinner. It was delish.

Pan Fried Fish
1 pound fish (I used 1 1/2 lbs cod)
1 cup flour (I used 1 cup Gluten Free all purpose mix (I make it myself:)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup beer or milk (I used Gluten Free beer)

Rinse fish and pat dry with paper towels. Combine four, baking powder, salt, and beer and mix until smooth. Dip fish into batter. Fry fish in oil (I used olive oil) about 2 minutes on each side until goden brown. Serve. yum!

The homemade french fries are from this site. And remember, after you cute your potatoes- ALWAYS DRY YOUR POTATOES WITH A CLEAN KITCHEN TOWEL! That makes them crispy and they won't stick to the pan!

Vegetable Soup...

2009-11-28T17:04:00.000-08:00

Ok, so there are probably about as many different versions of vegetable soup as there are people who have inhabited the earth since creation. In fact, I have at least three different versions of "vegetable soup" that I make during fasting times. This is a new version (as in, I have never made it until tonight). And, of course, I changed little things here and there depending on what I have on hand(I do not happen to have Old Bay Seasoning so I looked it up online and sort of made up my own version of it).

Here it is... another vegetable soup recipe:)
2 Tbs. olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 carrots peeled and thinly sliced
2 ribs celery chopped
3 medium red skinned potatoes, diced
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 tsp. Old Bay Seasoning (see above)
1 can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 can diced tomatoes in juice
3 cans broth
salt and pepper to taste
5-6 oz. spinach or baby spinach

Heat a deep pot over medium heat. add oil, onion, carrots, celery, potatoes, bay leaf, and Old Bay Seasoning. Cover pot to cook veggies about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. add beans, tomatoes, broth and season with salt and pepper. Simmer for about 30 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in spinach. Serve when spinach wilts.

Ok. I did not have spinach so we did this without the spinach. But we would like to try it with the spinach. I used 2 cups veggie broth and added about 1 cup water so I used less broth/water than the recipe called for which I think is fine. We like a thick soup anyway. I did not use canned beans. Back when I made the Vegetarian Chili, I had soaked a combination of black beans, pinto beans, and kidney beans. I did not use all the beans for the chili so I put them in the freezer. I pulled the bag o' beans out of the freezer and used that (it was probably 3 cups of cooked beans). We liked this soup. It is very good; very hearty with all these veggies. You could probably add all sorts of other veggies (grean beans, peas, etc). This is a keeper recipe and it is actually better than my stand by vegetable soup recipe. Yay!

In other news... a friend of mine from church mentioned when I started this recipe blog that it reminded her of the movis Julie and Julia. At that point my only knowledge of that movie was that it was about a woman who sets out to make everything in Julia Child's cookbook. I didn't realize she blogged about her experience. Another friend mentioned that the movie was playing at the $3 theater last night so we went to watch it. It is very cute. I very much enjoyed it. I don't know that I would have the discipline to do something like this for an entire year and my reason for doing this is different than Julie's reasons... I am doing this to add to my recipe collection of good Lenten meals instead of eating lentil soup every night (even though we ate that last night:) Depending on how I am doing by thte time Nativity rolls around, I "might" continue to post new recipes for regular meals because we all do get stuck in that cooking rut. I would love to venture out and make new dishes for my family. AND we also have diet restrictions and I am always on the lookout for new ways to turn gluten filled foods into gluten free foods.

I do promise, though, that I will never post things about my relationship with my husband. You won't know when we have an argument; I just can't do that to him.

Anyway, enough ramling from me. Tomorrow we are having FISH for dinner!!! WooHoo! You know you are Orthodox when you get excited about fish:)

Meal plan put on hold for one day...

2009-11-27T14:28:00.000-08:00

Actually, I should say two days because yesterday was Thanksgiving. We have a problem with fleas in the house from my sister's cat, Honey. So Honey is now an outside cat at my parents and we "bombed" the house yesterday morning and stayed the night at mom and dad's (this is our second "bombing"- we bombed two weeks ago).

Now we are home and I am taking a break from cleaning in order to post an unplanned for dinner recipe. I have permission from DH that instead of making the little bit more complicated vegetable soup that the children will probably not eat- I can make the super easy lentils:) I know, we are trying to stay away from the lentil soup but I do have permission:) And the children LOVE it!

Here it is...
Lentil Soup (or as we Greeks call it... Faki- yes, you heard me right. And yes, it is pronounced like that infamous four letter word- fun to tell it to your friends when you are in grade school:)
1 cup lentils
1 can tomato paste
1 onion chopped fine (optional- my dad hates cooked onions so I grew up without the onions)
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 stalk celery, chopped fine (optional- dad also does not like celery)
1 clove garlic minced
5 cups water (or water and vegetable broth)
1 tsp salt

sort and wash lentils. Place in deep saucepan and add all ingredients. Cover and bring to boiling. reduce and cook slowly for about 1 1/2 hours (or boil hard for about 1 hour if it's 5pm and you need to eat dinner in an hour and you just didn't have time to prepare your meal earlier in the day because maybe somebody got sick at school and you had to go pick them up and that just totally interfered with your "plan"- hey, it happens sometimes;) Serve with red wine vinegar.

I double this recipe all the time because it freezes so well. I will also sometimes add 1/4 up brown rice (and a little extra water) or cut up two potatoes (dh likes the potatoes- he is of Irish descent, you know) or chop up some carrots.

Lentil Salad...

2009-11-25T09:02:00.000-08:00

Please forgive me... posted the sweet potato souffle yesterday and then time just went into superspeed and I lost track of it (until I was in bed and thought, should I go post our dinner recipe?) AND then, after I typed up the recipe at school today, the internet went down and I lost it all! So, here it is...

Lentil Salad

1/2 pound lentils
1 bay leaf
1 large tomato, diced
1/4 cup chopped parsley
3 Tbs. olive oil
juice of 1/2 a lemon
splash red wine vinegar
1 clove garlic minced
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. allspice
1/4 tsp. coriander
1/2 tsp. paprika
salt and pepper to taste
2 Tbs. tahini (optional)

Cover lentils in a pot with water and add bay leaf. Boil then simmer for 20 minutes until tender. Rinse in cold water and drain. Combine lentils with tomato and parsley. Mix oil, lemon juice, vinegar, garlic, and spices together. Pour dressing over lentils and coat evenly. Season with salt and pepper. Drizzle with tahini (use a little water with the tahini if it is too thick).

We really like the dressing on this. I added a cucumber and was feeling in the mood for shrimp so I sauteed shrimp in olive oil, lemon juice, and garlic. DH did not like the lentils. He felt like he was eating a bowl of lentils. His suggestion is to not use lentils at all and to make this a pasta salad and maybe add a can of rinsed/drained garbanzo beans. He did say to keep the shrimp in it.

Sweet Potato Souffle

2009-11-24T13:56:00.000-08:00

For Thanksgiving... this is a family favorite. It is not lenten:) It is easy to make gluten free.

Sweet Potato Souffle
3 c. mashed sweet potatoes (about 4 medium potatoes)
3 eggs
1/4 c. milk
1 stick butter
1 tsp. vanilla

Topping
1 c. brown sugar
1/2 stick butter
1 c. chopped pecans
1/2 c. gluten free all purpose baking mix (or 1/2 c. flour)

Mix all souffle ingredients and put in a 2 quart baking dish. Mix topping ingredients well and sprinkle on top of casserole. Bate at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until light and fluffy.

Will post tonight's dinner (Lentil Salad) well, uhm, tonight! After we try it!

Vegetarian Chili

2009-11-23T15:47:00.000-08:00

This is such a family favorite that we do not ever have meat chili. And when we were at some friends house for dinner one night and they served meat chili, we were surprised at how much we also like meat chili!

Vegetarian Chilis
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes
1 bottle of beer (we use Gluten Free beer- Bard's Tale or Redbridge)
3 to 4 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 Tbs. Dijon mustard
1 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. pepper
several dashes hot pepper sauce
1 15 oz can of pinto beans
1 15 oz can white kidney beans
1 15 oz can red kidney beans
(all beans drained and rinsed)
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen whole kernal corn
1 1/2 cups chopped zucchini or yellow squash

I put everything except the zucchini/squash in a crock pot on low all day. I did not use canned beans but I soaked black beans, red kidney beans, and pinto beans last week (according to bean soaking instructions in last week's post). I measured out 1 cup of each of the beans, added whey or lemon juice, and covered with warm water. I cooked the beans for 4 hours the next day. Then measured out 6 cups of the bean mixture for today's chili. The rest I put in the freezer for another time:)

About an hour before dinner slice the zucchini/squash and add to crock pot. Serve with tortilla chips or cornbread (I haven't made the cornbread, yet, but it's only 5pm so I still have time to decide if I want to make it or not).

Change of Plan... Fish Plaki

2009-11-22T19:51:00.000-08:00

Instead of doing Vegetarian Chili tonight, we had Fish Plaki and leftover rice from last night and peas. Vegetarian chili is all set to go, in the refrigerator. Tomorrow morning I will put it in the crockpot when we leave for school.

Fish Plaki
3 lb. fish (we used haddock)
salt and pepper
5 TBS. oil
1 1/2 cups chopped onions
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes
parsley
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/2 cup white wine (optional)

season fish with salt and pepper. Let stand. Saute onions in oil until soft; add garlic, tomatoes, parsley, and salt and pepper. Cook 10 minutes. Pour half tomato sauce in baking dish; place fish on top and cover with remaining sauce. pour wine over fish. Bake in ovenat 350 degrees for 45 minutes, basting often. Serve warm or cold. The tomato "sauce" is delish on the rice:)

This is our standard Greek style fish recipe. We all like it:)

Fish Plaki

Not cooking tonight...

2009-11-21T13:41:00.001-08:00

Happy Feast Day of the Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple! It is actually my uncle (Panayotis) and my aunt (Maria) nameday! Story about my uncle... my yiayia was pregnant with her fourth child. She had three boys (the eldest being my dad). There was a church dedicated to the Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple that she could see from her kitchen window. She prayed to the Theotokos that if she had a girl, she would forego the Greek tradition of naming the daughter after her mother and instead, name the baby girl "Panayota" for the Theotokos. She had a boy. And, as my yiayia (and many Greeks) are fond of saying, "Ti na kanoume" which means "what can you do" and named her son Panayotis. So his nameday is today.

Anyway- we are going to the monthly Hope and Joy (our 5 year old through 5th grade youth group) dinner/activity tonight before Vesper's. So they will be cooking up some spaghetti with marinara sauce and salad. I will bring my own gluten free noodles for my family and use their sauce.

Tomorrow's dinner (something to look forward to:)- Vegetarian Chili. Those from my parish have tasted this yummy lenten/gluten free (it has beer in it) chili before. I *might* make some GF cornbread but we shall see. Be on the lookout for the recipe(s) posted tomorrow!

Baja Fresh dinner at Home and vegetable broth recipe!

2009-11-20T18:46:00.001-08:00

One of our favorite meals is to do "Baja Fresh" beans and rice at home. So this isn't a new recipe for us, but it is one that we all like. I soaked pinto beans over the weekend and cooked them for four hours on Monday then froze them. Pulled out the frozen beans this morning and fried them up for dinner tonight.

Basic Beans
2 cups beans (black, pinto, kidney, white, etc.)
warm water
2 Tbs. whey or lemon juice
4 cloves garlic, mashed
salt and pepper

cover beans with warm water. Stir in whey or lemon juice and leave for 12-24 hours. Drain, rinse, and place in a large pot (or in the crock pot:) and add water to cover beans. Bring to a boil and skim off foam. Reduce heat and add garlic. Simmer for 4-8 hours (when using the crock pot I will put the beans in in the morning and let them cook for 10 hours). Add more water as necessary. Season to taste.

Refried Beans (Note: we do use oil during the fast for cooking)
4 cups basic beans (see above)- i've done this with black beans or pinto beans
3/4 cup oil (the Nourishing Traditions book says lard or duck fat but, hey, this is lenten:)

mash beans. melt lard (or pour oil into pan). add beans and cook, stirring constantly. I always add salt and pepper at the end. after eating these I will never buy refried beans in a can. These are so much more flavorful (and we never eat refried beans with lard or duck fat because this is one of our lenten dishes).

We eat this with Rice...
Soaked Brown Rice
2 cups brown rice
4 cups warm water
4 Tbs. whey or lemon juice
1 tsp. sea salt
2-4 Tbs. butter (we do use Earth Balance margarine)

Place rice, warm water, and 4 Tbs. whey or lemon juice in a pot. Let sit for 7 hours (I just let it sit from sometime in the morning until an hour before dinner time). Bring to boil (after sitting- not you, the rice), skim, reduce heat, stir in salt and butter, cover tightly and let cook approx. 45 minutes. I bet you could use some vegetable broth in place of part of the water (although it's really good rice without using veggie broth).

We serve the beans and rice with sliced tomatoes, salsa, guacamole, jalapeno peppers (DH likes the peppers- I don't), and corn tortillas.

Veggie Broth
12 cups water
a couple of onions coarsely chopped
a couple of carrots coarsely chopped
a couple stalks of celery coarsely chopped
some cloves of garlic peeled
any other veggies you might have on hand
salt and pepper

I put all of this in my crock pot and cook on the lowest setting for a long time (anywhere from 10-20 hours). strain it through flour sackcloth and store in the freezer.

Garlic Soup with Potatoes...

2009-11-19T19:38:00.000-08:00

1/4 cup olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 small carrot chopped
1 stalk celery chopped
about 2 large russet potatoes peeped and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 large head garlic, minced (1 head of garlic, not 1 clove of garlic)
4 cups vegetable broth (I do make my own veggie broth and will post the recipe soon)
2 cups water
1/2 tsp. thyme
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper to taste

heat oil over medium heat. add the onion, carrot and celery and cook for 3 minutes. reduce heat to medium low and add potatoes and garlic. cook stirring often, for 15 minutes. add broth, water, thyme, bay leaf, salt, and pepper. bring to a boil over high heat. reduce heat, cover, and simmer until all ingredients are soft (about 30 minutes). remove from heat and remove bay leaf. transfer the soup to a food processor or to a blender. blend until smooth. return to pot and cook over low heat until heated through. serve hot.

OK. DH liked the taste of the soup, but would prefer that it was "chunkier" (like, instead of blending all the potatoes, leave some potatoes whole in the soup... same with the carrots). Next time I will use more potatoes and carrots and then leave some whole. I like the taste of the soup. All that garlic is amazing!

Polenta with Roasted Veggies

2009-11-18T18:41:00.000-08:00

1 small zucchini, diced
1 medium onion diced
1 baby eggplant trimmed and diced
4 cloves garlic minced
2 Tbs. olive oil
2 or 3 sprigs rosemary (I used oregano because we don't really like rosemary)
salt and pepper to taste
1 roll polenta (16 oz)- I made my own on the stove.
olive oil or cooking spray to coat polenta
1 14 oz can diced tomatoes

I didn't use eggplant but I did add in one summer squash, diced and some of the Trader Joe's frozen pepper mix (love that frozen pepper mix!).

Preheat oven to 500 degrees.
Combine zucchini, onion, eggplant, and garlic in bowl. Drizzle with olive oil to coat vegetables. Season with rosemary (or oregano:), salt, pepper and toss to combine. spread as an even layer on a 1/2 of a cookie sheet.

slice polenta (or in my case, cook polenta according to instructions) let "set" in pan and cut into small squares. Place on the other half of cookie sheet and drizzle with olive oil or spray with cooking spray and salt.

warm diced tomatoes in medium pan over medium heat. add roaste veggies and toss to coat. on a serving dish, layer polenta slices with roasted vegetables.

Ok. DH really liked this dish. I also added a splash of red wine to the diced tomatoes and some cinnamon (I always put cinnamon in tomato sauces). I liked it, too. I should have sliced the polenta smaller but I could also see doing this recipe and using GF spaghetti noodles instead of polenta (the roasted vegetables would be awesome in a spaghetti sauce).

Salmon with potatoes and salad...

2009-11-17T20:18:00.000-08:00

Tonight we had salmon. This is Big P's nouna's recipe. I guess we do use one "fake" food... we use Earth Balance margarine during the fasting times.

1 lb. Salmon
2 Tbs. butter (or margarine) melted
2 Tbs. white vinegar
2 Tbs. ketchup
1 Tbs. Worcestshire Sauce (we use wheat free soy sauce instead)

combine above ingredients, brush salmon with sauce, broil 6 in. from heat for 15 minutes or until finished.

Oven Potatoes
decide how many potatoes you will need to cook (this is something I throw together because it is basic so there is no measuring:)
Peel potatoes and cut into quarters (or smaller if you want them to cook faster).
dry peeled potatoes with a clean towel.
put in pan.
mix in 4 Tbs. olive oil, salt, and pepper.
Put in 400 degree oven for 30-40 minutes or until they are done to your liking:)

salad is just whatever you want salad to be... lettuce/spinach, tomatoes, cukes, carrots, peppers, but, no feta:(

Kidney Bean/Rice stew... And rules for soaking beans!

2009-11-17T15:50:00.000-08:00

2 Tbs. olive oil
1 medium onion chopped
2 stalks celery chopped
1 green pepper chopped (I used 1/4 bag of frozen Trader Joe's pepper mix)
3 cloves garlic minced
1 bay leaf
1 Tbs. cumin
salt and pepper
Jalapeno Pepper sauce (just shake some in)
2 cups red kidney beans drained
1 can diced tomatoes
2 cups veggie broth (I make my own- which is another post:)
2 cups water
1 1/2 cups brown rice (soaked)

heat oil in a deep pot. add onion, celery, peppers, garlic, bay leaf, cumin, salt and pepper. saute' veggies 5 minutes. Add hot pepper sauce, beans, tomatoes, broth, and water. bring to boil. add rice, reduce heat, cover, and simmer until rice is cooked.

OK- I follow lots of Nourishing Traditions cooking. So I do use dry beans. I start soaking my beans two days before making a dish. On Saturday I put two cups kidney beans in a glass bowl added 2 Tbs. whey or lemon juice (your choice) and boiling hot water to cover the beans. Let that sit until the morning you are going to make your soup. Drain, rinse and put in pot with 3 cloves crushed garlic. Boil and reduce to simmer (cover) for about 4 hours. Then strain and use two cups of these cooked beans for above recipe. Freeze the rest for a later date:) I am constantly soaking and/or cooking beans and freezing them during fasting periods that way I have lots of beans on hand (like right now I am soaking beans for our chili dinner on Sat. night and yesterday I soaked pinto beans for dinner on Friday night- the pinto beans are on the stove cooking with garlic and on Friday I will mash them for refried beans:) Once you get started soaking beans and cooking beans and freezing beans you will end up with a nice supply of beans to use during the fast!

Rice- soak rice in hot water and whey or lemon juice for 6 hours. Then add to recipe (no need to cook before adding).

Review- I liked this a lot. DH added more jalapeno sauce and red pepper flakes- he wanted it to be spicier.

Day One Nativity Fast: Broccoli and Pasta

2009-11-17T15:44:00.000-08:00

I made this on Sunday night for dinner...
1 cup water
1 pound broccoli florets (I bought a bag of frozen chopped broccoli)
1/4 cup olive oil
5 cloves garlic minced
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 pound GF pasta (we like the Ancient Harvest brand of pasta) cooked
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste

bring 1 cup water to a boil and reduce heat to simmer. Add broccoli and steam 3-5 minutes. drain and set aside.

Heat olive oil and saute garlic and red pepper flakes for a few minutes. add broccoli and pasta, nutmeg, salt and pepper. toss together for a few minutes. serve.

OK- dh thought it needed more garlic. I thought I could add green peppers, zucchini, onions and maybe pine nuts. plus more garlic:) This would be a good side to fish.

Entering into the Nativity Fast...

2009-11-17T15:26:00.000-08:00

We have now entered into the Nativity Fast. On Sunday, I mistakenly asked my husband what are his favorite lenten recipes that I cook. He took a risk and told me that lately my fasting recipes have been really the same thing (lentil soup because it is so easy and everyone likes it- I guess everyone likes it when they are not eating it EVERY Wednesday and Friday).

So, in an effort to mix it up Orthodox style in our home- I pulled out three cookbooks; Complete Vegetarian, The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen, and Rachel Ray's Veggie Meals. Now, mind you, we are not only keeping away from all meat and dairy but we also are gluten free (DH has celiac's, Big P has just started a GF diet and I have been GF for almost two months- little p is GF by default). And we completely avoid soy products so you aren't going to find any fake meats or tofu hotdogs here.

I have written out our meals for the next 40 days (well, now it's more like 38 days because we started the fast on Sunday). I told a few friends that I was doing this and they suggested that I write about what we like, what we don't like, suggestions for newbies to fasting in the Orthodox Church (DH and I are both cradle Orthodox so we have been fasting off and on for most of our lives), etc.

So here it is... I will note when something was substituted to make it Gluten Free so you will have the option of either following the GF substitute or using, for example, regular pasta. Also, I will post whether or not we liked it, what I think I can do to improve it, etc. Also, note that our parish follows the "fish is ok on all days except Wed. and Fri. until Dec. 12 when we do not eat fish until Nativity" rule. So there will be some fish recipes in these first few weeks. And for those who do not know about the Orthodox fasting- we are allowed shellfish so it is not completely vegan.

Let us begin the journey to our Lord's birth! May it be blessed!

Innisbrook Wrapping Paper Fundraiser for Agia Sophia Academy!

2009-10-29T13:03:00.000-07:00

My school's annual fundraiser with Innisbrook has begun. Innisbrook Wraps has beautifully designed gift wrap printed on quality recycled paper, coordinating gift wrap accessories,gourmet foods and fine Helen Grace Chocolates that make great gifts, Time Inc. magazine subscriptions, and more. For every item that is purchased, Innisbrook donates up to 50% of the purchase price to my school. I also earn a prize credit for every item purchased except school supplies. The more prize credits I earn, the more prizes I win! Please consider visiting the Innisbrook website and making a purchase on my behalf. A link is included below. Our sale will be over soon, so don't wait. Place your order today. Thanks for your help!
Seller: PAVLOS
Seller ID# R473422E
School: AGIA SOPHIA ACADEMY
School Number: 112949
Click the link below to visit Innisbrook.com and they will recognize me and my school automatically.
http://www.innisbrook.com/index_students.cfm?id1=R473422E&id2=&id3=
If the above link does not work:
1. Click below
2. Enter the Seller ID# R473422E
www.innisbrook.com/id.cfm

Honoring a Saint: St. Nektarios in Our Lives

2009-10-28T17:11:00.001-07:00

(this is the article I wrote on St. Nektarios for our parish November monthly newsletter)

Apolytikion of St. Nektarios
The offspring of Selyvria and the guardian of Aegina, the true friend of virtue who didst appear in the last years, O Nektarios, we faithful honour thee as a godly servant of Christ, for thou pourest forth healings of every kind for those who piously cry out: Glory to Christ Who hath glorified thee. Glory to Him Who hath made thee wonderous. Glory to Him Who worketh healings for all through thee.

St. Nektarios was born in 1846 and reposed in 1920. St. Nektarios was a pious bishop of Alexandria, Egypt. Other clergy, jealous of Nektarios’ favor with the Patriarch, spread slanderous rumors about him, which caused him to be exiled from Egypt. He went to Greece but because of the rumors he had a difficult time finding work within the church. He settled in Athens, where, due to his popularity among the people, he eventually became the Dean of the Rizarios Ecclesiastical School. Later he founded a women’s monastery on the island of Aegina where he retired when his health failed. He reposed in 1920. St. Nektarios is commemorated on November 9th.

Rather than write an article about St. Nektarios’ life I am going to write about our own experience with this wonderful Saint. First, I would like to share St. Nektarios’ first miracle right after his repose. On November 9, 1920, St. Nektarios fell asleep in the Lord. “However, even in death St. Nektarios continues to perform miracles, the first of which occurred in the very hospital room in which he died. With the passing of St. Nektarios, a hospital nurse, assisted by a nun from the monastery, immediately began to change his clothes and threw his undershirt on the next bed. In this bed lay a paralytic, who once the undershirt landed upon him, was instantly healed and jumped out of bed praising God for his miraculous healing. This was the first of many miracles that St. Nektarios began to perform in death.” (http://www.fatheralexander.org/booklets/english/saint_nektarios_egina_e.htm)

There is a special place in our hearts for St. Nektarios. To pinpoint exactly when, where, and how St. Nektarios entered into our lives is difficult. I do know that it wasn’t just my family or Paul’s family that loves St. Nektarios; but both of our families have a devotion to this modern day Saint of the Last Days.

Someone very close to us was taken in an ambulance to the emergency room with symptoms of a stroke. While waiting for the doctor, this person was anointed with oil from St. Nektarios and immediately, all the signs of the stroke disappeared. This person walked out of the hospital! This miracle touched our family very deeply.

A few months later, we found out that we were expecting our first child. During the first trimester of my pregnancy with Pavlos my parents went to Greece. While there, they made their first trip to Aegina to venerate the relics of St. Nektarios (knowing about the above miracle). My parents, knowing that I have chronic health problems and that pregnancy could potentially be very difficult for me, brought back some Holy Oil from the monastery. Paul anointed me every night during that pregnancy. And we prayed that, through the intercessions of St. Nektarios, God would protect me and our unborn child. The pregnancy progressed with none of the scary complications that the doctors said would happen. We did not know whether we were having a girl or a boy but we had decided to name our child some form of the name “Nektarios” to honor this saint and his having protected me and the baby. And then Pavlos was born and we named him Pavlos Nektarios (Pavlos after Paul’s father and Nektarios after our beloved St. Nektarios.

Most of you remember our second pregnancy with Petros Nektarios. Again, Paul anointed me daily and we decided, again, that if we were to become pregnant our child would have some form of the name “Nektarios”. I did eventually become pregnant with Petros but this time I developed some very scary complications. I ended up in the hospital for almost two months. Paul would come to the hospital to visit me and often anointed me with oil from St. Nektarios. Now we were praying that through the intercessions of St. Nektarios, the Lord would continue to protect me and our unborn child. Petros was born at 33 weeks during an emergency c-section. He spent the first month of his life in the NICU with an icon of the Theotokos and an icon of St. Nektarios. It was a difficult time and we are very thankful that through St. Nektarios, God strengthened us to be able to endure that trial.

And now we have two very beautiful, healthy boys. Through the intercessions of St. Nektarios, may the Lord have mercy on us and save us. Amen.

Win Flour...

2009-10-08T08:28:00.001-07:00

Enter to win King Arthur Flour over here. While we do not use a lot of flour in our home, this is an excellent brand and I can always use flour to make prosforo or artoklassia for church:)

An email from our church secretary...

2009-10-08T08:13:00.000-07:00

We are planning to go on Wednesday evening. The Icon came to Portland 5 or 6 years ago. A member of our parish called us a few hours before the service but there was really no way for us to get out to Mulino in time. God-willing, we will make it this year!!!

The miracle-working Kursk-Root Icon of the Mother of God will visit two parishes in Oregon this week. Both Fr. James and Fr. Sergei have sent invitations to the Orthodox faithful to come and venerate the icon and participate in the prayer services.

St. Martin the Merciful Russian Orthodox Church
Fr. James Baglien
925 NW Camellia Drive, Corvallis
Friday 10/9 at 7p.m., Moleiben & Akathist

Holy New Martyrs Russian Orthodox Church
Fr. Sergei Sveshnikov
13820 S. Union Hall Road, Mulino – approx. 15 minutes east of Oregon City
Wednesday 10/14 6:30p.m., Akathist

You can learn more about the Kursk Icon here.

And for news and pictures of the icon’s visit to Kursk on Sept. 27th go here.

what to do with the blog?

2009-10-05T08:14:00.000-07:00

My last post was July 27. uhm. well. OK. So I'm not sure what I am doing with this blog. And I am not sure why I can't seem to find time to post anything. Maybe it's because the old brain isn't able to think of anything to post that would be of interest to the entire world:)

Just letting you all know that I am here, I am alive, and I am still reading your blogs via bloglines. Take care and maybe I will think of something to post (I am supposed to write an article about St. Nektarios for our church bulletin so maybe I will post that here when it is finished).

Making new friends...

2009-07-27T10:19:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't blogged in over a month... I am too busy reading other blogs and commenting and then there's the whole vacation thing (Wyoming, camping, backpacking, camping again, etc.). I should not have any excuses:) There you go...

Anyway, I dropped Big P off at his first day of theater camp. It is from 9am to 3pm, everyday this week. Just like school. As we waited for all the children to sign in I noticed something that I have never seen in my eldest son- he was a bit nervous. And I realized that he has been sheltered and has never really had to make friends. He goes to school where we go to church so the children in his classes are mostly children he has known his entire life. And the new children or children from the other Orthodox communities just fit in so nicely with this established group. He has been going to Vacation Church School every year for the last three years but there are always his buds from school and/or Sunday school there, too. Swimming lessons are 1/2 hour and the teacher rotates through the children and we are never with the same kids twice (or we so far have never been with the same children twice). We were in soccer a few years ago but he was younger.

This is different. He wanted me to stay for a while until everything was settled (all the children in their groups). So I did- standing off to the side, holding onto little p who was ready to join in and wanted to stay. By the time I left (and seriously, it was only 10 minutes later so I wasn't there half the day or anything) Big P had made friends with some children in the "red" group (his group) and they were sitting together in a circle learning each other's names and playing games.

Is it a bad thing that he is so sheltered? I don't know.

2009-06-15T07:46:00.001-07:00

It's been a while...
Today is the first day of Summer Vacation. And the first day of the Apostle's Fast which is, on a personal note, very important to us:-)
We have lots of "plans" for the summer- hopefully lots of reading, lots of bike riding, and lots of fun around home (we do have one big trip planned and a few smaller camping trips as well).
That's about all. I miss my sister. And keep praying for my friend Maria!

Prayer Request...

2009-05-19T18:42:00.000-07:00

Christ is Risen!
My very good friend (who also happens to be my mom's best friend's daughter- translated= our mom's are best friends- they have known each other since before they met two Greeks) Maria was just diagnosed with breast cancer. Through the intercessions of St. Nektarios may the Lord watch over and project Maria. I, like my mom, am very sad. But I am boosted by Maria's optimism and I hope to do everything that I can to help her and her husband get through this trial! Please pray for her husband, family, and friends. I have nothing else to say because I am still trying to wrap my brain and heart around this. Thank you...

Oops, I did it again...

2009-05-15T09:57:00.000-07:00

Christos Anesti!!!
‘So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.' Matthew 6:34
Do you ever get yourself all worked up about something and then the next day, realize that you had literally miscalculated/crunched the numbers and that everything is really going to be ok? Happened to me yesterday and then I figured out how wrong I was about ten minutes ago. And now I am sharing this with you, my blogging friends.

Big P attends the local Orthodox school. Big P has some struggles with school. He is a smart child, has lots of extra energy, is ambidextrous (sp?), eyes do not track normally (but vision therapy has helped this immensely)- this description of Big P is to give you an idea of how important it is for him to stay in the small school setting of ASA. All that and he learns about our Orthodox Faith as well!

So, anyway, the financial aid letters went out yesterday. We are trying to enroll little p there as well, but he does not have the struggles that Big P has so his going to ASA next fall (as a 3 1/2 year old) was more of a bonus. For Big P, I see it as more of a necessity. I looked over the numbers we were given last night and fretted/cried to DH and even chatted with the Principal (we had a meeting last night for school things and I was so distraught/upset that I had to open my mouth and bring it up with her- thank God she is a wonderfully kind and caring person and loves Big P dearly). How are we going to pay for this? The number's do not make sense! Principal's advice- go home and sleep on it and we will talk about it more tomorrow (today). DH's advice- we will do what we have to do.

This morning (and I even called and told my mom about it all, too) I re-crunched the numbers and I somehow did not subtract one number from the other. I was off by a substantial amount. Glory to God! Because of my dorkiness/stupidity/jump to conclusion-ess personality I made a mistake. And it was all for nothing because Big P will stay at ASA. little p is another question. But he is only three- this is preschool (granted it is montessori and it is an amazing preschool but still, it is preschool). Big P is seven (Happy Birthday last Monday, Big P) and in "regular" school. Again, I say, Glory to God for my stupidity! What sweet relief!

2009-05-07T07:40:00.000-07:00

Christos Anesti!
I keep meaning to update the old blog but just haven't done it. We are super busy (and I thought Lent and Holy Week were busy:).
Today we are heading out to the monastery (no school today and tomorrow). Saturday is my father in law's 8 year memorial service and my pappous' 2 year memorial service. AND- Pavlos will be serving at Vesper's after the memorial as an altar boy for the first time! He is very excited!
Sunday is liturgy and then we are having Pavlos' 7th birthday party in the afternoon followed by a mother's day bbq at our home. My head is spinning just thinking about it all. Pavlos' birthday is really on Monday. Seven years ago, though, May 11 was on Saturday- the day before Mother's Day and Saturday of Bright Week. Like I say- Pavlos is my first Mother's day gift and the best Mother's day gift:)
I have pictures of our last few days with my sister to post, pictures from Pascha, a little video I took of Pavlos and Petros, and now, after this weekend, pics from the monastery and pics from his birthday party! Crazy? Ok. we have to get ready to leave. Wish us well!!!

2009-05-03T14:35:00.000-07:00

Happy Nameday, Mom!!!! (St. Suzanna- Myrrhbearing Women).

Crazy 8's Meme...

2009-04-30T18:12:00.000-07:00

Christos Anesti!
I was tagged by Sylvia for this meme. I haven't been blogging for awhile. School is keeping us busy! I do have some things I need to write up and will hopefully get to it soon:)

Here goes...

8 Things I am looking forward to:

1. Our Summer Trip to Wyoming and Yellowstone Park with Paul's family!!!
2. taking three classes to re-instate my Oregon teaching license (not yet, but sometime in the near future)
3. taking a trip to Russia to visit my sister and her family (someday, I hope)
4. Summer vacation!
5. Camping (first trip is Memorial Day weekend)
6. Going to the monastery next week with the boys (and a friend and her boys)
7. Baptism of our soon to be godson (have no idea when this is happening- but am looking forward to it)
8. Hoping to have lots of people over this summer- more bbq's, more hospitality:)

8 Things I did yesterday:

1. Made gouvroulakia (yum)
2. Went to school PTP board meeting (yes, I am on the parent teacher board)
3. Was part of in impropmtu procession through the house with the boys dressed up in their vestments and singing Christos Anesti at the top of our lungs (you know your Orthodox when...)
4. Did morning carpool duty
5. Laundry (that's everyday)
6. laid out my squares in my raised beds (we do the square foot gardening because we have a small yard)
7. good phone conversation with mom last night:)- Next time dad is at an AHEPA meeting, we should meet for dinner- just you and I- so you don't have to eat bad Thai food!
8. watched two more episodes of season 3 of Lost with DH

8 Things I wish I could do:
1. speak a foreign language fluently
2. visit my sister in Russia
3. knit and/or crochet. I'm not picky, would just like to learn one of these skills
4. exercise consistently
5. manage my time more wisely (ie- don't get sucked into facebook:)
6. I like my little house- but I would love to live closer to school/church (and have my parent's also move closer, too- but I don't think either of these will happen in the near future- just a hope/wish)
7. Trust in God for all things (be able to not stress and just trust that all things happen for a reason)
8. This is a big one- I have always wanted to go to the Holy Land and to St. Catherine's on Mt. Sinai. Don't know if/when this will ever happen, but would love to someday be able to go.
9. Yes, I'm adding a number 9- go back down to Project Mexico for a visit (that's where DH and I met and we haven't been back since we moved to Portland 8 years ago)- maybe someday do mission work again?!?!?! See number 7:)

8 Shows I Watch- OK, like other people, we rent all our TV/movies (through Netflix and the library) and rarely turn on the regular TV (except for things like last night we did watch the Blazer game). I have decided that that doesn't make us any more righteous or pious, it just means that we don't like commercials and we are picky about what we watch (and we like to watch what we want when we want to (and we are not going to get cable or a DVR or tivo)
1. Lost (we are currently in the middle of season 3- don't tell me anything about this show).
2. 24 (we are waiting for season 7 to come out on DVD and then will rent it from the library or something) so we are not currently watching it, but maybe will get to it over the summer
3. Star Trek Enterprise- DH loves Star Trek. We are in the middle of Season 2.
4. Oh, and DH has discovered a new show he likes (we have watched a few episodes on Hulu.com- Legond of the Seeker or something like that.
5. Veggie Tales
6. Masterpiece Theater- or any adaptation of a period novel into a miniseries- I loved Bleak House.

8 Tags. You're it!

1. My sister, Katherine
2. My mom, Susan
3. Maria in Crete
4. My sister in law, Hannah
5. My koumbara
7. My goddaughter, Christy (if she has time)
8. If you are reading this considered yourself tagged:) (I can't remember who all has been tagged for this meme)

You know it's spring when...

2009-04-06T09:43:00.000-07:00

Yesterday evening,
sitting on the deck in my parent's backyard,
having a nice chat with my sister,
drinking decaf coffee (because we just like the taste of coffee),
watching the children run around the yard-
getting into all sorts of mischief,
driving home with the boys freshly bathed and I notice...
I have two moquito bites.
It must be Spring:)

great post..

2009-04-04T08:05:00.000-07:00

my sister has a great post. check it out.

Now that we are reaching the end of Lent...

2009-04-01T19:12:00.000-07:00

I thought I would post my Vegan Brownie recipe. This is the recipe that when DH first tried them, he then banned me from ever making them during a fasting period again because they are just that good. Now that he is Gluten Free, well, he just doesn't get any:) (actually, I made these for a presanctified liturgy dinner and subbed all purpose gluten free flour whenever it calls for flour and they turned out pretty good... they sunk a bit in the middle and were extremely moist, but those aren't bad things).

Vegan Brownies
Ingredients
1/3 c. flour
1 c. water
½ c. margarine
2/3 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
2 c. white sugar
1 tsp vanilla

2 c. flour
2 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp. salt
12 oz. chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease 9x13 pan.

2. In a small saucepan, combine 1/3 c. flour and water. Stirring constantly, cook over medium heat until thick. Pour into mixing bowl and set aside to cool.

3. Melt margarine in saucepan. Add cocoa. Mix until smooth and set aside to cool.

4.Beat sugar and vanilla into cooled flour mixture. Stir in cocoa mixture until well blended.

5.Add remaining ingredients (chocolate chips last) and spread evenly into pan.

6.Bake 20-25 minutes.

Spring weather...

2009-03-12T13:00:00.000-07:00

Today is so beautiful! little p and I planted some bulbs and then cleaned out our outside closet (off of our back porch- I use it as a dry goods pantry). Now it's time for some lunch!

2009-03-10T18:10:00.000-07:00

First day subbing- the specialist that comes into the class to help the student's with learning difficulties ended up sending one of the students to security (that's what they call it- security). And, I guess that was the straw that broke the camel's back because he ended up suspended. I actually was helping other student's when the "incident" happened and didn't see it. Other than that, pretty typical middle school "we have a sub" behavior. Nothing I couldn't handle:) Thanks for your prayers and well wishes. I have a wonderful group of internet friends (some I know in real life and some I hope to meet in the future)!

Say a little prayer for me...

2009-03-09T19:08:00.000-07:00

tomorrow. At some point in my life I acquired a master's degree in education and am licensed to teach middle school and high school social studies. I am no longer babysitting so have decided to dust off the old chalk and eraser and will be heading out tomorrow for my first sub job in a few years! Hopefully I want to take the necessary classes to re-instate my teaching license (I have a sub license) and someday teach...

beautiful boy...

2009-03-05T11:20:00.001-08:00

Happy Birthday! I am on facebook and uploaded a bunch of birthday photos yesterday. Thought I would share one of them with you!

Positive Peer Pressure...

2009-03-04T16:28:00.000-08:00

Conversation with Big P on the drive home from school...

Mommy, Noah makes his own lunch for school. When we get home can I make my own lunch, too?

Uhm, sure. The whole lunch?

Yes, the whole lunch. You just cut the crust off the bread, I will do the rest.

Ok then.

And he did... make his whole lunch. And I cut off the crust of his bread (he has helped me in the past, this time he did it all).

Lenten Recipe Archives

2009-03-02T09:20:00.000-08:00

http://cblankens.blogspot.com/2004/11/tried-and-true-lenten-recipes.html
http://cblankens.blogspot.com/2005/03/new-lenten-recipes.html

these are lenten recipes i have posted in the past. please feel free to use them, publish them, whatever. anything to help us not focus so much on food during lent:)

oh, and monica is having a bean soup recipe party here.

Forgiveness and the Begnning of Lent...

2009-03-02T08:20:00.000-08:00

Kali Sarakosti!

Please forgive me; may God forgive all of us!

Have a blessed Lent! (I have nothing interesting or exciting to post, sorry). I do have a number of old posts of Lenten recipes that at some point I will highlight in a new post. Can't get to it right now... have a hungry three year old waiting for breakfast (don't you know we are supposed to be fasting HAHAHA).

Happy Birthday, little p!

2009-02-20T12:01:00.001-08:00

Happy Birthday, little p! You are 3 today! You had a rather abnormal entry into the world but since then, have been a joy to our lives:) even when you are throwing a tantrum you are still a joy and a miracle for us. May God grant you many years!!!

Jedi Battle gone Awry...

2009-02-06T09:19:00.000-08:00

Big P has been running a fever since Monday evening (it is now Friday morning). No other symptoms and he has been, for the most part, just a little less exuberant than normal. He is eating, drinking, etc. normally.

Anyway, on Wednesday evening, after dinner, I was downstairs cleaning up the kitchen. Paul was upstairs with the boys. They were engaged in some intense Jedi lightsaber training. Paul goes to the bathroom to put on a bathrobe to make himself more of a Jedi (I guess- I don't know much about such things) and all of a sudden little p is screaming. Paul runs in and finds his lip split and he is bleeding profusely. We all pile into the old mini van and head to urgency care. When we are finally seen by a dr. he tells us we need to go to the Emergency Room as they will probably want to sedate little p to do the stitches since he is a squirmy almost three year old and his lip injury repair will need to be precise.

Off we go to the ER. By 10pm (Big P is about due for a next dose of tylenol) we are not in a room and little p is running around the ER as if nothing had happened. I call mom and dad and the come by the hospital and take me and Big P home. I could not sleep so watched episodes from season 1 of Lost until Paul returned, at 1am, with little p who immediately said, "I missed you mommy!" They did not sedate him (almost, though, because I guess he was hysterical in the middle of the stitching). We did not get a before picture but here is an after picture. And a picture of me with my younglings!

Note: I like the picture of little p- we had just finished saying prayers so it was taken by candlelight and you can see, in the background (and a little blurry) our icon corner with lit candles.

Facebook 25 Random things about me...

2009-02-04T12:47:00.000-08:00

I cut and pasted the 25 random things about me from Facebook (yes, I have a Facebook account and spend way too much time on it:)

1. I have been deported from a communist country.
2. I love love love to read. and I am always reading something.
3. Currently, I am trying to read the Bible in a year, following the Orthodox books (apocrypha).
4. I love that my children have book lamps attached to their bunkbed so that they can read before going to bed, too (which they do- and they turn off the lamps at a reasonable time).
5. I do not have a spleen- it was removed soon after giving birth to my second son.
6. When they removed my spleen, I was told that it is very rare but some people have a second spleen. Turns out I am one of those people. They removed the second spleen, too.
7. My favorite color is green. My favorite smells are green (fresh cut lawn, cucumbers, pears, green peppers, etc.). I think this must mean something but I am not sure what...
8. I have the greatest family ever. That includes extended family and inlaws. I love my husband's side of the family, too- they are good people.
9. I have seen National Lampoon's Vacation too many times to count. We recorded it from TV years ago, totally edited. But last night is the first time I have seen it unedited. I think it is funnier without the swear words, personally.
10. My faith is very important to me. It took me a while to find it (even though I am cradle Orthodox and have never left the Church) but it has sustained me through the good and the not so good.
11. I love politics and having a good political discussion BUT as I grow older I tend to stay away from these types of discussions. I find that politics has become a private matter for me.
12. I love to listen to music and I love to listen to it really loud. My children also love music and listen to it loud, too.
13. I am becoming a homebody. And I love it!
14. I can put my whole fist in my mouth.
15. I enjoy the outdoors- camping, hiking, etc. but I do not like sitting in the sun. In fact, I missed the rain when I was living in San Diego!
16. I talk way too much. I am working on changing this.
17. My nose is crooked from a biking accident when I was young.
18. I really want to learn to knit and or crochet.
19. I am not at all artistic. I am also not into decorating. I am finally, 3 1/2 years after moving into our home, putting things on the walls and doing bits of decorating.
20. I hate mushrooms.
21. I want to go to the Holy Land someday.
22. I can be very emotional
23. I am almost always optimistic.
24. My sons are named Pavlos Nektarios and Petros Nektarios for Sts. Peter, Paul, and Nektarios. Pavlos is named for his grandfather, Fr. Paul (but we use the Greek form of the name) and Petros is named for my dad. Nektarios is for St. Nektarios because we love him!
25. I love to dance, especially Greek dance. My husband hates to dance.

Blogger Giveaway...

2009-01-28T19:49:00.000-08:00

Sylvia is having a giveaway of this lovely Icon bracelet. I have seen these in our bookstore at church. Maybe someday I will have a giveaway, but I am not sure what I would give away:) Need to think about that one!

Just do nothing...

2009-01-22T14:06:00.000-08:00

"Christopher Robin says that he likes that too, but his favourite thing of all is to do Nothing. Pooh ponders that for a bit, and then asks Christopher Robin how you actually do Nothing. Christopher Robin explains that Nothing is what happens when people ask you what you're going to do, and you say "Oh, nothing", and then you go and do it, and Pooh says "Oh, I see". And Christopher Robin further explains that it just means walking along and listening to things you can't hear, and not bothering."

Big P and I have been reading a bit of Pooh lately (the original books). And this about sums up today.

I could have gone to Costco to return something that broke (a Leapfrog toy).

I could have gone to Fred Meyer to buy a birthday present for the weekend.

I could have gone to Trader Joe's to re-stock our wine supply.

I could have gone to my mom's to pick up maternity clothes to give to three pregnant women in our parish (mom is at work, so I would have just picked up the bags).

I could have gone to the library to return some books; not close to being due, just return them because they are taking up space on my counter.

I could have gone to Goodwill and drop off a box of misc. items that we no longer need.

I could have done all these things or just some of these things. Instead, I did none of these things.

I did not exactly do nothing (hard to to nothing when you have an almost three year old). Instead, I played a few rounds of our new favorite card game with little p (*Hisss).

Instead, I ordered some picture to be picked up from Costco tomorrow.

Instead, I searched and found a wedding picture of ours that is in a Waterford Frame to put in my new hutch.

Instead, I watched little p build Lego skyscrapers to make his own city.

Instead, I made us lunch.

Instead, I did a little workout DVD.

Instead, I made a CD of favorite U2 songs for our koumbaro (I have been wanting to make him this CD for a year now) and packaged it up ready to mail.

Instead, I got around to re-addressing a few Christmas cards that were returned.

Instead, I did those little things around the house (the great thing is that dinner is leftover from Tuesday night so I do not even have to cook) that just do not ever get done while at the same time playing and reading and chatting with my little p.

All in all, a good day (although I have to go to a meeting tonight which isn't horrible, it would have just been nice to not have to leave the house today:)

*Hisss- the snake making game. It says on the box for 4 and over but little p can easily play this game. In fact, he plays it by himself, oh, wait, not by himself, but with doggie (his favorite stuffed animal). We all enjoy this game (unlike Candyland where I try to sneak cards in so that the game will finish sooner... shhh, don't tell anyone). Go buy it for your favorite 2 almost 3 year old!

sleep, glorious sleep...

2009-01-13T12:45:00.000-08:00

is something that I lack today. I was very tired last night; even went to bed early. Could not fall asleep. Read. Could not fall asleep. Read some more. 2:30am finally able to turn off the light and fall asleep only to be awakened by Paul's alarm clock at 4:40am (why, oh why)- he doesn't wake up at 4:40- not sure why it was set to that time. Fall back to sleep around 5:30 to wake up to the real alarm clock at 6:30.
Me: Please, will you get Big P up and feed him breakfast and then wake me when you leave at 7:15am? Please let me sleep for another 45 minutes?

Of course, Paul agreed. I tried going back to sleep after Big P left for school (I am no longer doing the AM carpool so little p gets to sleep in) but I could not fall back to sleep. I am dragging today. And Fr. is coming to do our house blessing at 2pm and then at 3pm off to do the PM carpool. Thank goodness there is nothing planned for tonight!

Hope your night went a little better than mine (my only consolation is that my sister was probably awake during those hours too, but she has a new baby).

Read the Orhtodox Bible in a year...and a new blog.

2009-01-02T09:34:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I'm not one to make resolutions. Never have been. I have some ideas in my head of things I would like to do to show my family that I love them and to reconnect with lost friends. One goal that is really set in stone is to read the Bible in a year. Many years ago a priest gave to me a spreadsheet of all the readings in the Bible divided up by date. Each day is about 10 minutes of reading. I have started a blog that is the readings (just cutting and pasting off of a Bible site). So, come read along with me! Please forgive me if I do not keep this resolution, but I am really, really going to try (and maybe blogging it will give me some accountability:)

My sister in law has started a blog, here's the link.

2008-12-29T15:38:00.001-08:00

The last few weeks slideshow...

2008-12-29T15:05:00.000-08:00

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words. Here are a few pictures that are better written then any words I could use of our last few snowed in weeks.

2008-12-19T07:18:00.002-08:00

Welcome Baby Natalya! Born at 12:30am 6lbs 1 oz. We are almost Birthday buddies!

Prayers...

2008-12-18T16:28:00.000-08:00

Please pray for Katherine (my sister) and baby Natalya. They are heading to the hospital right now. Will keep you updated as to when the newest member of our family is born!

Sometimes you get what you ask for... in weird ways

2008-12-11T12:14:00.000-08:00

You know how last week I wrote that I wanted to shampoo my carpets? Well, yesterday I had to pick up Big P from school because he was not feeling well. He came home and took a nap (a rare thing in his life). After his nap he seemed to be fine. So I pulled out the carpet shampooer to do the living room before we set up the tree (which I wanted to do last night and we did do it). little p comes running downstairs and says, "pablos (how he says it) threw up". I run upstairs and Big P is on the futon couch, with vomit all over him, the couch, the blankets, pillows- you get the picture. and little p threw up in the middle of the floor! So I rush the boys into the bathroom, give them a shower to clean them up and then tackle the extra room. little p is not sick, but Big P is still sick and I have had to not only shampoo the living room carpet (what I wanted to do) but the boys bedroom carpet, the extra room carpet and DH said this morning why don't you get that spot that is on our bedroom carpet while you are at it?!!? So, all of my carpets are clean, a number of our blankets are clean, the futon cover is clean. Definitely be careful of publicly stating what you would like to do... you might just get to do it but in a weird, roundabout way! Hope your day is not so cleaning involved as mine has been (but we do have our tree up and after I eat lunch I am going to put up the rest of our decorations- although all of our outdoor lights have died! I may just have to buy some of those new fangled LED lights:) And at least I have some great Christmas music via www.pandora.com to listen to while I do all these things.