Christ has Ascended! From Earth to Heaven! Alleluia!

We are in the time beween Ascension and Pentecost during which we wait with the Apostles for the descent of the Spirit and the birth of the Church. Some people count this as after the Paschal season, some count it as part of it. I tend to be on the side of those who include it, and consider Pentecost the new season. It seems fitting, as it is the second highest feast of the Church year, and bookends the season beginning with the highest feast of the Church year.

This week is also our week of reprieve. We have relatively few engagements, and Rich has Monday off for Memorial Day, so we are going to go a little easier and rest a bit, if we can. There is still school work to do, and we have a ton to do around the property, but if we don't get some rest, it will end badly. Especially as we have the airshow coming up in three weeks.

The homeschool dance went really well, and though I made half the food I normally do, there was still a ton left, so we ate a lot of it for leftovers Saturday and moved our planned meal to Sunday. The folks at church augmented it with some lovely side dishes, and made my load much lighter. Jerome's re-introduction of foods is going well. He is on lentils now, and seems to have no trouble with it. I am starting to believe that his triggers are environmental rather than food, but we press on and try anyway. He says that his skin felt the best when he was eating no sugar and grain, and has been self limiting his own sugar quite a bit. For our health and our budget's health, we are back to eating loads of beans and legumes and soup at least once a week. We are treating the Church rules on diet much more strictly, though still not perfectly strict, and trying to live within them to the best of our ability. We are seeing health in the spirit, in the body, and hoping this will help us keep up with the economic realities we are all facing.

• Sunday
  Breakfast: Irish Eggs Benedict with Corned Beef and Cabbage Hash, Fruit Plate, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Ham, Roasted Asparagus, Navy Beans, Herb Bread, Mandarin Oranges, Chocolate Velvet Cake with Pomegranate Ganache
• Monday
  Breakfast: Bacon and Eggs, Toast (Gluten-free for Jerome), Sliced Apples, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Grilled Lamb Chops, Grilled Asparagus, Rice, Salad, Chocolate Nutella Gelato
• Tuesday
  Breakfast: Slow Cooker Rice Pudding with Coconut Milk and Leftover Gatayif Filling, Canned Peach Halves, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: French Farmer's Soup, Crackers (Gluten-free for Jerome), Salad, Fruit and Cheese Plate
• Wednesday - Saint Justin Martyr
  Breakfast: "Scrambled" Chickpeas with Onion and Asparagus, Home Canned Pears, Tea with Honey
  Dinner: Asparagus Quiche, Salad, Fruit Plate
• Thursday
  Breakfast: Ful, Shatta, Olives, Toast (Gluten-free for Jerome), Canned Peach Halves, Tea with Honey
  Dinner: Chicken with Coconut-Lime Peanut Sauce, Jasmine Rice, Crème Brûlée
• Friday
  Breakfast: Black Bean and Sweet Potato Breakfast Tacos with Salsa, Grapefruit, Tea with Honey
  Dinner: Roasted Lemon Garlic Shrimp and Asparagus, Salad, Fruit
• Saturday
  Breakfast: Peanut Butter and Raspberry Peach Jam on Toast (Gluten-free for Jerome), Sliced Apples, Tea with Honey
  Dinner: Rogan Josh Turkey with Cauliflower and Root Vegetables, Roasted Asparagus, Ice Cream

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 on Saturday.

Labels: Ascension, Church Year, Faith and Morality, Family, Governor Inslee Needs a Frozen Fish to the Forehead, Homemaking, Menu Plans, Pascha, Prayer Requests, Tales from the Kitchen