We have a week and a half before Lent begins, and we're gearing up for a pretty rough one, in terms of meal planning. Because of the health issues I've had over the past year, and with the results from a food allergy test, we are going to be eating on a pretty strict diet for our shared meals, to save me the trouble of making numerous meals. We'll do our normal Lenten observance as a family, which is mitigated by our having young children and so on, but while the kids will have dairy and egg available to them for breakfasts and lunches, we won't when it comes to dinners. We will still be eating fish and shellfish occasionally, and have oil and wine available to us, so it is still not the strictest rule, but we are going from doing this twice a week during Lent to the whole time. Please pray for us as we go through this. We truly believe that God will use this as a good time of growth and strengthening for us, but planning for it is pretty daunting for me.

Back to the present, though. There is one repeat that I can think of this week. We ended up with a breakfast for dinner one night last week when our schedules were shifted because of some things at Rich's work. Tuesday is the Feast of the Purification and Presentation, it is the final day in the Christmas season. It is also known as Candlemas, as it is the day that the candles for the year are blessed, because of the procession of light that happens to mark the Light of the World being brought to the Temple and being made known to God's people. We are in the middle of taking down all of our Christmas decorations and we plan to have a candlelit dinner with our Advent wreath, our Christ candle, and all the kids' candles lit at the table, and a Christmas cake for dessert.

This week has our last set of readings for going through the Bible in a year. Next week will have the last reading of the year. If you wish to do them again this year, the dates remain the same for the readings (that means you either have a free day or a catch up day on February 29). We read through all of the Old Testament and New Testament, reading the Psalms and Proverbs twice. Remember that the Psalms are according to eastern numbering in our daily Bible reading, also I Kings is the original designation, it is I Samuel in western Bibles (II Kings is II Samuel in the west, III Kings is I Kings, and IV Kings is II Kings, I Ezra is also called I Esdras in other translations, II Ezra is often translated as Ezra or II Esdras, though this is complicated by it sometimes being I Esdras being Ezra in modern language and II Esdras being Nehemiah, and in that case, there is a III Esdras, it really depends on which translation you read - Jeremiah in the Septuagint translation of the OT is numbered significantly differently, as well, so you may want to look up a comparison of the Hebrew and Septuagint numbering).

• Sunday Daniel 11:29- Bel and the Dragon 42, Psalms 150-151, Proverbs 31:26–30, Revelation 22
  Breakfast: Fried Eggs, Toast, Bananas, Coffee
  Dinner: Pizza Bites with Marinara Dipping Sauce, Roasted Asparagus, Ice Cream
• Monday
  Breakfast: Scrambled Eggs, Toast, Coffee
  Dinner: Chile Roasted Pork Loin, Roasted Acorn Squash Wedges
• Tuesday -Feast of the Purification
  Breakfast: Sausage and Egg Breakfast Casserole, Bananas, Coffee
  Dinner: Homemade Hamburger Helper, Baked Potatoes, Glazed Lemon Cake (leaving out the blueberries and dusting with shredded coconut)
• Wednesday
  Breakfast: Toast with Labneh, Za'atar, and Olive Oil, Spiced Tea with Honey
  Dinner: Vegetable Fried Rice, Frozen Fruit Salad
• Thursday
  Breakfast: Oatmeal with Quick Berry and Lemon Compote, Coffee
  Dinner: Grilled Ham and Cheese Sandwiches, Vegetable Sticks
• Friday -Feast of Saint Agatha
  Breakfast: Cranberry Pumpkin Muffins, Hard Boiled Eggs, Coffee
  Dinner: Nutball Soup with Fried Tortilla Strips
• Saturday
  Breakfast: Pancakes and Maple Syrup, Bacon, Milk & Coffee
  Dinner: Souvlaki, Grilled Vegetable Skewers, Simple Rice Pilaf

What is on your menu this week? If you want a recipe, ask and I will provide it as soon as I can. If there are any starred recipes, I will follow up separately with a weekly recipe round up.

Labels: Christmas, Church Year, Family, Homemaking, Menu Plans, Purification, Tales from the Kitchen