Tekakwitha Dinner

 The meal to celebrate Tekakwitha included home made pumpkin bread and fresh figs.  The corn was part of our meal and the bread and figs were dessert.  The pumpkin bread was a new recipe and the children loved it!  It was okay by itself, but with the figs it was fantastic.  We have figs growing in our yard so we picked about 2 cups worth. All I did to the figs was cut them half, add some water and a cinnamon stick and simmer them for about an hour.  I added 2 teaspoons of honey at the end - just to make the liquid a little more syrupy.  I also added some cardamom - so good.  The pumpkin bread recipe follows.  I know some people have problems with artificial sweeteners and we do too, we use Splenda in baked goods because there are so many other carbohydrates coming from flour and such - sugar would just add too many for our family.  We have learned to pick and choose.  Our children will never know anything but a life with Type 1 diabetes so thankfully they are just excited to get any kind of baked good or treat.

Pumpkin Bread

1 cup Splenda ( we actually use Great Value brand)

1/2 cup applesauce

1 cup pumpkin

2 eggs

1/3 cup water

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

1 1/4 cup white flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup pecan halves

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. gloves

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350.  Mix all dry ingredients in bowl.  Mix all wet ingredients in separate bowl.

Combine ingredients and add raisins and pecans.  Mix just until combined.  Bake in loaf pan - I spray mine with nonstick spray.  Bake about 1 hour or until knife inserted in middle comes out clean.  We cut the loaf into 12 servings.

Each serving has approximately 145 calories

4.4 grams of fat

26 Carbohydrates

2.6 grams of fiber

4.2 grams of protein

The figs we didn't count because our daughter doesn't seem to be impacted by them and the serving on each piece of bread was a total of two figs with a little of the syrup.  Hope you try these recipes and enjoy!

Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha pray for us

Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha

Today is the feast day of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha.  The children did some activity pages and we read a story about her in school.  Tonight for part of our dinner we are having grilled corn and some pumpkin bread with fresh figs.  I was intrigued by the Milk Cake recipe a lot of people seem to be doing - but it has way too many carbohydrates for our family (our eldest has Type 1 diabetes and we are all for one and one for all).  We are excited to celebrate the life of this brave young woman.  I am attempting a new pumpkin bread recipe, so hopefully I'll be able to post a picture and the successful recipe.

Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha Pray for Us

Milk and Honey

We had great plans for a fancy Italian meal ( I wrote about the Alfredo plan the other day), the only aspect that survived was the Milk and Honey cocktail.  We decided, at the last minute, to have a more monastic meal - eating in silence while one of us read stories about St. Benedict and readings from The Rule.  My children could not have been better behaved - they stayed silent through the whole meal, our son actually ate all his food (quite an accomplishment for him)!  It was interesting to watch their reactions while my husband read about what should happen to children that misbehave - I remember something about a strike from the rod or severe fasting - the children heard every word. :)
We had toasted bread with cheese, fresh oranges, and salad.  A menu more fitting the monastic life.  The Milk and Honey was a great addition to the meal and everyone loved it! 

Milk and Honey
1/4 cup milk
1 ounce Benedictine Liqueur
1 orange slice
Dash of cinnamon

I sliced the orange and place it in the glass first, followed by the Benedictine and then the milk.  Sprinkle a dash of cinnamon on top to finish.  The children loved their version - the same recipe, just no Benedictine.

St. Benedict Pray for Us

St. Benedict

Monday, July 11th, we celebrate the feast of St. Benedict.  We have some plans to celebrate this special day for our family.  Dinner will be homemade Fettuccine Alfredo - since St. Benedict was from Italy and the kids and the husband love Alfredo sauce.  What they don't realize is the sauce will be made from silken tofu, that's right -tofu! At our house we lighten up and healthify just about everything I make.  We also have some special Benedictine liqueur the grown-ups will mix with milk and add an orange slice and some cinnamon for a cocktail.  I'm not sure if we will drink that warm or not, haven't decided yet.  I'll post some pictures and the successful Alfredo recipe after we celebrate.