Buddy's Favorite Seafood Dinner

I had scallops in the freezer.  I had never before even eaten scallops - ever.  I had, therefore, never cooked them either.  I had them in my freezer for awhile.  They intimidated me, to be honest....  One night, I was feeling particularly creative, so after assessing the contents of fridge and pantry, I had an idea....

All I can say is that everyone had seconds, would have had thirds if gluttony was in vogue ;)

Buddy, aka Mr Picky, said he wants this for his birthday dinner.  THAT makes a mom feel good....

Best thing about it, it was S-I-M-P-L-E, and yet with the right sides, elegant enough to serve guests....

All I did was to make rice - 3 cups uncooked.  While cooking it, I added a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes, about 2 pinches (maybe 10-15 threads) of saffron, and about 1/4 c fresh chives (might not add them until AFTER cooking next time, the color will look better then)

While the rice was cooking, I just put the scallops (thawed and rinsed) in a deep skillet with about 2T butter.  As the scallops cooked, they release water...  Once they looked cooked (more white, not opaque-think like cooking fish), I drained a lot of the water and put in just a tad of butter and browned them just a little (careful not to go too long, or they start to stick to the pan and not come out so pretty)

To serve:

Put rice in bowl on bottom.
Cover rice with FRESHLY grated romano cheese
Top with scaallops
Add another layer of FRESHLY grated romano cheese

Serve with asparagus or artichoke for a meal that is truly inspired!

Obedience Salad - and Ranch Dip

Right now we are living in a small hotel room while we await, with eager anticipation, the completion of our new domicile - that makes setting up the food to look pretty enough to photograph rather difficult...  So...

Ranch Dressing/Dip

1 c Mayo (REAL mayo, not the fake stuff!)
1/2 c sour cream (for a thinner, dressing-type consistency, use buttermilk)
1/2 t each: dried Chives, dried parsley, and dried dillweed
1/4 t each: garlic powder, onion podwer

Mix ingredients.  The longer they are chilled before serving, the more the flavors meld.

Obedience Salad

This salad is phenominal!!  There is something with the sunflower seed/cheddar combo, and the pretzel/ranch combo that is just a dance of pleasure on the tastebuds!

I do not really specify amounts for salads, generally.  The more salad you want to make, add more lettuce.  The flavors will work together in almost any amounts...

Romaine lettuce
Extra sharp cheddar cheese (shredded or VERY small cubes)
craisins
sunflower seeds
protein (I usually use chicken breast)
Ranch dressing
Combine ingredients and eat.

If you are NOT eating gluten free- get pretzels - the thicker stick/log ones, and break them apart for croutons.  Trust me - it makes the salad.....   I REALLY need to find a gluten free equivalent.

Why I Love Confession

I love Confession.  Let me say that again, I LOVE CONFESSION!!!!

It isn't the act of telling all my faults to someone, like there is some intangible 'thing' in just talking about how sinful I am.  It is the knowledge that my sins are truly and completely forgiven, by Christ through His minister in apostolic succession.  And, most of all - It is the GRACE!  The beautiful, wonderful, immeasurable GRACE that God gives us through the Sacrament of Penance.  I am addicted to it.  When I get it, I feel amazing and I know it and I want to keep it and always feel like that.  When I lose it, (because hey, I am a sinful human with a willing spirit and a (very) weak flesh and mind)  I feel down and angry and prone to self-pity and irrationally negative emotions.  YUCK!

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

1496 The spiritual effects of the sacrament of Penance are:
- reconciliation with God by which the penitent recovers grace;
- reconciliation with the Church;
- remission of the eternal punishment incurred by mortal sins;
- remission, at least in part, of temporal punishments resulting from sin;
- peace and serenity of conscience, and spiritual consolation;
- an increase of spiritual strength for the Christian battle.

THIS is why I LOVE the Sacrament.  I went to Confession this past weekend.  Got the ick out, and feel SO MUCH BETTER.  Since then, I have been to Mass and received Christ - body, blood, soul and divinity - in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist.  

Now I am ready for whatever lies ahead.  Here go I by the Grace of God.

40 Days, Social Justice and Creamy Tomato Basil Soup

Well, Lent is upon us.  I am , perhaps for the first time in forever, feeling like I may be ready, sort of, for it.  

Presently, and due to the circumstance of a loss of income last year, we are living in the basement of friends of ours.  Saints, really.  If you asked me, they shouldn't have to give up anything for Lent, they already gave up 1/3 of their home......    

I am giving up "moving pictures for pleasure" this Lent.  No streaming video, no movies, no TV shows.  I am not quitting school-related video, like watching logic, or Princess's math videos if I need to see how something is explained to help her understand - but you get the picture....

I am also giving up all forms of carbonated beverage, and having soup only for dinner (Lent has become 40 days of soup for our family)

My ruminations for Ash Wednesday:  

I have a cousin who is extraordinarily active in 'social justice'.  She is very deeply concerned about the perceived 'overpopulation' of Planet Earth and about human trafficking.    We were at a hotel after celebrating my nephew's Baptism and on our way up to our room so Princess could suit up and go swimming.  As the elevator doors closed,  there was a family that was running to get in, and just when it was too late, I noticed them and tried to get the doors to open.  When I said that I felt bad because had I noticed sooner, we had a chance to hold the door.  My cousin, rather meanly, laughed and said "O, who cares!  They didn't need to be in OUR elevator.  They should have waited anyway.  You shouldn't care about them - I don't!"  

How do we, as Catholics, as people, as those who are made "in the image and likeness of God" treat those people that God puts in our daily lives?  Are we crusaders for the Pro-Life cause, and neglecting those people God Wills us to help at other times?  Do we see EVERY SINGLE PERSON that we interact with - directly AND indirectly, as an opportunity, given us by God, to minister to Christ Himself and an opportunity for the sanctification of our souls?  Even the Ancient Greeks were hospitable to all who came into their lives (well, the educated ones, anyway) because they never knew when it was a god or goddess in human form.  We are told that "And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’ "  (Mt 25:40)   If Christ is our King, then should we not be at least as good as those educated Greek statesmen - pagans though they were?  If Christ is our King, we truly do to Him what we do to others.  So - that guy that cut you off in traffic - that was Christ.  Did you react with anger and flip Him off?  That homeless guy you tried not to look directly at - that was Christ.  Did you, at the very least, say a prayer for Him?  Did you do more?  That annoying child/adult you *have to* deal with on a regular basis - that is Christ.  How do you treat Him?  Do you talk about Him, and His annoying habits to others?  Do you get irrationally angry when they spill their Kool-Aid in the car (oh, wait, that’s me...)

Take a minute to decide how you want to treat Christ this Lent, and look for Him in unexpected people that Providence puts into your life.  

Disclaimer - Human trafficking is a very valid issue that more people should be aware of and upset about (when I was researching it, I found out that even in our own country, about 15,000 women and children are trafficked each year - not all from urban areas, and not all in 'hill people' scenarios, but from everywhere) (one informative article can be found here.

But....  overpopulation is a made-up problem - just ask France!

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Today’s soup recipe:

Accidentally Awesome Creamy Tomato Basil Soup

3 28oz. cans crushed tomatoes

1/2 cup butter (yes, an entire stick)

1/2 cup half and half

basil, fresh if you like, dried if that’s what you have - I use about 1.5 - 2 Tbsp in my recipe

Combine all ingredients, heat through, stirring regularly. and serve.  You can throw the ingredients in a crockpot on low and cook ALL DAY if you need to.  

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Updated: Accidentally Awesomer Tomato Basil Soup

4 cans 28 oz crushed tomatoes (I like to use Wegmans brand - I buy about 30 cans when they are $0.79/can)
2 sticks butter
happy palmful of dried basil (use GOOD quality dried herb, like Penzey's) OR a lot of chopped fresh basil (I know, exact, right....)

Combine, heat through, stirring occasionally.  If you are going to put it in the crockpot for an all day thing, melt the butter and stir it in.  If you don't, when you first see it, it'll look REALLY weird because the butter is less dense than the tomato soup and will "sit" on top of the tomatoes.  Nothing some decent stirring cannot fix, but really, I am all about making task AND pretty food.  ;-)

I accidentally left out the cream once and we find we like it better this way.  Plus, it's inexpensive.  AND - I made this at a friend's house to take to my eldest's youth group at Church and they LOVED it - always a plus when you get that validation from those not in your own family!