Advent Begins

The other day I stumbled onto a blog that was devoted to cooking or crafts for each of the Catholic Saint feast days, and I was inspired and entertained. This woman is a GENIUS ! Anyone who could turn Catholicism into something kid friendly is an incredibly talented person ! I kept reading  and got inspired to do something similar in our household during the season of Advent. We are a mixed faith household and there is a constant effort to create and include things from our diverse paths  without insulting the others. We both believe that the season of Advent is important to observe. Christmas should not be a month - there is a season of patience and anticipation before and then a lingering glow for a short time before we start anew. Most every symbol used in modern Christmas celebrations are of Pagan origin , so there is ample opportunity for both of our faith traditions. ( Did you know that there is no evidence of Jesus being born in December, but strong evidence that the event occurred in September ? December 25 th was chosen in an attempt to eradicate the observance of Saturnalia ). History aside, instead of feeling like someone is trying to block out your own faith tradition, I see all of this historical evidence as proof that people throughout the ages in all cultures have celebrated this time of year as extraordinary. Let  the celebration begin !

The Advent Calender Quilt I made many years ago- a tradition in our home !

Our Advent Calender was hung on the first, and I sat down to plan something I am calling the December Madness, which begins on Saturday. Why Saturday ? It's Bob's Birthday and I did not have all my ducks in a row to begin any sooner. Watch for daily details !

In the mean time, people still need to be fed and nourished. I am absolutely loving the  practice of soaking grains before cooking ! I think I have been looking for different dishes to play with this technique, as well as others of a more nourishing quality. The other night I served this stir fry  which features healthy veggies, soaked grains , better for  you kind of fat and plenty of protein.

Beef  and pepper stir fry on baby spinach and Soaked Rice 

1 tablespoon  coconut oil
1 pound steak sliced thin
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
1 onion, sliced thin
1 yellow bell pepper, sliced in strips
1 small red bell pepper sliced in strips
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1/4 teaspoon corn starch
4 ounces raw baby spinach, about 8 cups loosely packed
Soaked brown rice, cooked

In a wok or large skillet, heat the oil. Stir-fry the beef, garlic and ginger over high heat just until the steak is partially browned and some pink remains, maybe 30 seconds to a minute. Add the onions and peppers; stir-fry until tender-crisp about 1 minute or so. Stir in the soy sauce and oyster sauce. Dissolve the cornstarch in  a small amount of water and pour over the meat and vegetables then stir in well. Cook very briefly just until the sauce thickens and coats everything. Serve over the raw spinach and brown rice. and peppers.

I see, said the fuzzy eyed man

Nice sunny day yesterday. For us it was a day of back to school and one must do out of the ordinary errand because Bob had one last vacation day and we had access to the car. After all of the singing commitments of Holy Week, it's good for him to have a day to just breathe before jumping back into his official paying job.

Breakfast was overnight steel cut oats with a tropical fruit mix and strawberries. I LOVE overnight oats when we have to get moving faster in the morning ! To make them for 3 people I bring 4 cups of water and 3 T of any dried fruit to a boil. Once it boils remove from the heat and add 1 cup steel cut oats. Cover and in the morning bring it back to the flame and heat it for about 5 minutes. Fast, yummy and filling !

After breakfast we headed off to get vision exams for myself and my son. I knew I needed new glasses, Nick has never had a vision exam and up till recently has never shown any vision problems. He can see things at a far distance, but has begun to make some really silly errors when reading. Could it be clowning around or was there a real problem ? Not sure , so vision exam is a good way to find out. Turns out he is neither nearsighted or farsighted, but has inherited severe astigmatism from both his father and I and needed glasses. He also got the dilation drops , and the poor kid had a rather strange sensory day- never an easy thing for an autistic !
He had to wear sunglasses for a few hours after the exam. Our glasses would be ready that afternoon so we came home to eat lunch and do school.

Lunch was happily leftovers of the dishes I brought on Easter- Roast Veggie and pasta salad with a Balsamic dressing and Couscous with Dried Cranberries and Pecans

Couscous Salad with Dried Cranberries and Pecans Recipe


1 cup shelled pecans
1 1/2 cups whole wheat couscous
1 cup dried cranberries
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
2 cups boiling water
1 cup thawed frozen peas
3 scallions -- very thinly sliced
2 medium cucumbers -- peeled, seeded, and diced
1/4 cup shredded fresh basil
Lemon Dressing:
Zest of 1 lemon
1/3 cup lemon juice
3 garlic cloves -- minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup olive oil

Toast the pecans in a shallow pan in a preheated 350-degree F. oven until very fragrant, about
7 minutes. Set aside to cool.Place the couscous, cranberries, and turmeric in a large bowl. Pour
in the boiling water, stir, then cover the bowl with a large plate or foil. Let sit for 10 minutes.
Remove the cover, then fluff the couscous with a fork. Cover again and let sit 5 more minutes.
Stir in the pecans, peas, scallions, cucumbers, and basil.
Combine the dressing ingredients in a jar with a tight-fitting lid and shake vigorously.
Yield: 4 servings

For the pasta salad I made a box of whole wheat pasta and roasted a butternut squash, pound of asparagus, head of broccoli, head of cauliflower and 8 carrots cut into julienne strips at 375 for a half hour. Then I combined then and tossed with this

Balsamic Dressing

3/4 cup water
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
3 tsp capers
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp tarragon -- thyme, fresh basil, chopped parsley.

Shake and serve

Both were very good cold, and the next day ! We finished schoolwork ( which was shortened because of his eye dilation and inability to read close up for a few hours because of it) and then headed back up for our new glasses

Me- in frames that are more recent than 80's big hair bands( hubby in the background)
The visually improved Nick . Glasses are going to take a while to adjust to for him. New line of vision, new things on your face, learning how to deal with streaked lenses and more.

We did get out for a 45 minute walk in the midst of all of this back and forth. I credit Bob with giving us the prompting ! There are times that it is really helpful to have the in person support of another on the journey...who is not trying to keep a million details in mind at the moment !

Dinner was Roast vegetables and grilled steak salad. To make I cut up a bulb of fennel, a half a pound of mushrooms, a red onion, a zucchini, 4 Mexican orange sweet peppers and half a pound of asparagus spears and roasted them at 375 for 30 minutes. Meanwhile I grilled 3 sandwich steaks on my George Foreman Grill ( you could substitute chicken, fish or baked tofu here). Take 3 plates and lay our a mix of romaine and watercress( or any greens you like) top with roast veggies and one of the steaks , sliced. I like a drizzle of a honey mustard dressing here but it works with nothing at all or a balsamic dressing just as well.

A busy but healthy day !