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Sunday, January 11, 2026

Menu Plan: Final Days of the Epiphany Octave Within the Nativity Season


Christ is illumined! Let us shine forth with Him!

It's the last three days of the Epiphany octave, and we are still in the Christmas season. We are still enjoying the Nativity and its celebration, though we are back to the normal pattern of fasting.

Dominic and Shawn left with Winnie yesterday morning, and we already miss them. We are hoping to take a trip to visit them in the spring. Shawn's mother and a couple of her brothers were here this weekend, and left today, so we are a little lonely now. It was wonderful to have all our kids and grandkids under our roof on Saturday. Though we didn't do our normal slate of sweets and treats, we have spread the Christmas joy around in the lovely foods we've been eating.

Part of what I did when I was in Saudi Arabia was ask my family how they made specific dishes, and record it for us and our children. I will be sharing some of those foods with you here, too. It was wonderful to get both the food stories and the family stories, which I have also recorded, for our family. I got to learn more family history, including the specifics of our ethnic background, including to which Saudi tribes our family belongs.

Our week is back to normal, mostly, though we are still easing into schoolwork. Next week, we will be back on schedule with that, and then in a couple weeks, we will start our homeschool co-op for winter. I'm still trying to catch up at home, and get into a normal sleep pattern. Please keep us in your prayers.

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.

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// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 5:17 PM 0 comments

Sunday, January 04, 2026

Menu Plan: Days 11 and 12 of the Nativity and the Epiphany Octave


Christ is illumined! Let us shine forth with Him!

We are finishing the feasting portion of our Christmas celebration this week. With everyone's exhaustion and schedules, we are not making King's Cake for Epiphany this year. However, since Dominic and Shawn are visiting us, and they are Old Calendar, we will do a little more Christmas celebrating with them. Because of that, we will also be keeping a lighter fast for Wednesdays and Fridays while they are here.

We have the feast of the Theophany and Epiphany this week. So, we are still celebrating, even though we are getting back to our normal fasting schedule. The Christmas season doesn't end until the final feast of the Nativity, which is the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Presentation of the Infant Jesus in the Temple. We keep our tree and decorations up through that feast, and still eat festive foods, though we slow down and ease back into normal eating during this time, so Lent doesn't hit us like a freight train. One of our kids had the idea to make star shaped French fries for the feast, so we are doing that.

Shawn's family (most of them) will be coming up this weekend, also, and we are excited to celebrate with them. May your feasting be joyous, and your New Year be full of health and love!

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.

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// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 2:11 PM 1 comments

Sunday, January 12, 2025

Menu Plan: Final Days of the Epiphany Octave


Christ is illumined! Let us shine forth with Him!

It's the last two days of the Epiphany octave, and we are still in the Christmas season. It's been a different Christmastide this year, with the new grandbaby and illness in the house. We are enjoying it, even if it is more subdued.

This week is pretty full, and after a busy weekend this weekend, too. There is a birthday party this Saturday and we are preparing for a baby shower. Plus normal life, schooling, catching up on some things that were not finished before Christmas, and so on.

I pray that your year is filled with blessings and that you can see God's hand in your life. In your generosity, please pray for ours.

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.

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// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 12:42 PM 0 comments

Sunday, January 05, 2025

Menu Plan: 12th Night and Theophany


Christ is illumined! Let us shine forth with Him!

Today is 12th Night - the last day of the Christmas feast. Normally, I would make a Twelfth Night cake, but we are still recovering from the past week and a half. It would have been a perfect time to make it, though, as whoever found the baby in the cake would be obligated to make it next year.

Our wonderful church family has been providing quite a lot of the church dinners, either by rounding out what we are bringing or providing the meal entirely. It is such a gift to us.

More of us have fallen ill, however, so things are still a bit out of whack here at home. Please pray for us to completely beat this cold. The good news is that, while it hits pretty hard, it seems to go through fairly quickly, too.

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.

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// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 11:42 AM 0 comments

Sunday, January 07, 2024

Menu Plan: Octave of Theophany


Christ is illumined! Let us shine forth with Him!

We have ended the Christmas feast and begun the feast of the Theophany and Epiphany. So, we are still celebrating, even though we are back on our normal fasting schedule. The Christmas season doesn't end until the final feast of the Nativity, which is the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Presentation of the Infant Jesus in the Temple. We keep our tree and decorations up through that feast, and still eat festive foods, though we slow down and ease back into normal eating during this time, so Lent doesn't hit us like a freight train.

Last week, we made adobo fish tacos with pineapple salsa, and they were spectacular. The recipe is from Patti Jinich, and I only changed one or two things. I didn't use oil when I pan grilled the pineapple, I tripled the fish and adobo recipe for us, and doubled the salsa, using serranos rather than jalapeños. A local grocery store makes fresh corn tortillas, so we used those and just steamed them to eat with the dinner. We would definitely make this again.

As I said last week, we are cooking more from our pantries and freezers again now, and we are eating more of a regular diet for us. Three of our kids are heading to a church winter camp over the next weekend, so we will only have five people to cook for at home, which will be challenging. I'm already thinking of how to scale back and it is super weird. I might be making a single recipe of food for our meals. Anyway, please pray for our family as we have people traveling and for our health that nobody would be knocked out with sickness as the bitter cold weather approaches. We are also supposed to see highs in the single digits and lows in the negatives this weekend. We need your prayers.

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.

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// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 8:41 AM 0 comments

Sunday, December 31, 2023

Menu Plan: Days 7 - 12 of the Nativity Feast and Theophany


Christ is Born! Glorify Him!

We have a whole other week of no fasting! It has been both a restful and celebratory time, which is just perfect.

Tonight is our 27th anniversary, and we get to celebrate with our church family and then with dancing. This Friday, we will have a 12th Night Christmas party for my knit night group. It is a good week. Next week we will be back to normal school schedules.

Once we are back in the New Year, we will also return to a little more frugal shopping, and use what we have in our freezers and pantries as much as possible. We are still making room for more butchering, and also preparing for a lovely trip for Dominic and Shawn's wedding. We are so excited to share in that with them. Our prayer for you in this New Year is that you find the joy and peace of Christ!

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.

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// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 4:13 AM 0 comments

Sunday, January 08, 2023

Menu Plan: January 8 - 14


Christ is illumined! Let us shine forth with Him!

We are now in the feast of the Epiphany (west) and Theophany (east). It is a feast of the Incarnation within the Nativity season. I didn't share the icon last week, but here it is for the third day of the Octave. I love the icon of Theophany. Christ is buried in the cave of water in His baptism, but is not immersed as it is Creation which is baptised by Him. The waters of the Jordan are turned back ("When the waters saw thee, O God, when the waters saw thee, they were afraid, yea, the deep trembled" ~ Psalm 77:16, "The sea looked and fled, Jordan turned back." ~ Psalm 114:3). All Creation is moved by His presence. Our readings this week reflect His revelation and manifestation to the world. All of those readings show the presence of the Trinity as well. I love how the Church teaches us about His life and Incarnation and our life and salvation because of that.

We were able to go to the blessing of the waters here at the lake, and celebrate the Theophany. It was a little shorter than normal, for some reasons of health in our priest's wife, but it was still beautiful and moving. Rich retrieved the cross from the water, but he didn't have to jump in to get it. Then, we had our knit night party, and really had a full house. There were bout 28 people in our little place. The food was fantastic, the company was delightful, and I think everyone had a good time.

We are back to our normal pattern of eating. Wednesdays and Fridays are abstinent days, but there aren't a lot of major feasts or fasts until Lent. We begin school work with a vengeance this week, but also the girls have a winter show coming up, which will keep us rather busy.

Dominic is settling in at his film program, and because of some connections in aviation, we were able to get passes so we could go through security and bid him farewell at the terminal when he flew out, like we used to do. Even though Alexander is married and moved out more than a year ago, this feels like the real first one out, because he is gone for so long without us seeing him. It will be six months before we see him, unless we can swing a visit between now and then, though even that would only be Rich and me. Pray for him and also for us. Alexander and Autumn wil be celebrating their first anniversary this weekend, and we are so happy for them. It has definitely been a momentous year.

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.

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// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 11:56 AM 0 comments

Sunday, January 01, 2023

Menu Plan: Eighth Day of Christmas through January 7


Christ is Born! Glorify Him!

We did get to have both the Christmas Eve and Christmas Day services, glory to God! They were beautiful, and we were overjoyed to share our Christmas with our church family. This week is another fast free week, so we are enjoying that, as well. Even though the feast of the Nativity ends this Friday, the season still goes on through February 2. This is the real Christmas season. Don't miss it! We just shook off the commercial part of it, as a priest friend of ours puts it.

This week we are enjoying sweets and treats, but not just because of the holiday. Dominic will be heading to Tennessee this Friday morning (early, early, early), and we are trying to give him a send off with all the foods he loves. And, even though our Christmas feast is ending, for the Old Calendar folks, theirs begins Saturday.

Rich and I got to go to a fabulous party on our anniversary. One of the port tenants held a New Year's bash in a mostly hollowed out 747, complete with food, bar, band, DJ, and games. It was a lot of fun, and Alexander and Autumn were able to come with Amelia for part of it, too, since he works at one of the FBOs on the port. We will be ending this week with our annual Knit Night party, which will be loads of fun, and larger than most years. We have had several new folks join our knit night, and they will be coming with their families.

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.

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// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 10:59 AM 0 comments

Sunday, January 09, 2022

Menu Plan: End of the Epiphany Octave


Christ is illumined! Let us shine forth with Him!

We come to the end of the octave of the Epiphany this week, and then go on to Alexander's wedding. What a week! We are very excited and busy.

Please keep us all in your prayers for this very busy week and pray for Alexander and Autumn as they begin their lives together.

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.

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// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 6:35 AM 0 comments

Sunday, January 02, 2022

Menu Plan: 9th Day of Christmas through the Theophany, and Beyond


Christ is illumined! Let us shine forth with Him!

Though we are coming to the end of the holiday, we are enjoying celebrating the Christmas season to its end in February. Theophany is this week, and I am trying to get excited about going to the blessing of the water in the snow and ice and frigid single degree weather. It snowed some more this week. Not too much, but with our temperatures, it stays around for far too long. We hit -12˚F yesterday morning, and Rich had to spend more than four hours getting our pipes and pressure tank back to normal, even with heaters, lights and closed pumphouse doors. Living in a place that stays frigid through April has made me appreciate the snow even less than before. I used to find it pretty, at least, but now I see it and despair. But Christ is born, regardless, and I am keeping that in my mind.

We had so much leftover that some of last week's meals have carried overthrough this week. We return to our normal abstinent diet schedule on Friday, which will be a relief in some ways. It is a good thing to mark our time and even what goes in our mouths by the life of Christ. Jerome's introduction to milk is not going well, but it also coincides with our below zero temperatures and dry, winter weather, so we are not sure which is doing it to him. The humidity and temperatures are supposed to go up this week, so we will keep going with the introduction, and see if he improves. It would be sad for him no longer to be able to have milk, but it doesn't necessarily exclude cheese, since the proteins are used in a different way in them, so we will still try the cheese after this, even if he can't have milk. Please pray for him and for clarity on this issue.

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.

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// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 6:51 AM 0 comments

Sunday, January 10, 2021

Menu Plan: Last Four Days of the Octave of Epiphany


Christ is illumined! Let us shine forth with Him!

Glory to God in His Saints! My father was moved to a normal hospital ward! Thank you for your prayers.

Besides that, my brother and his wife safely delivered a son. We had some other good news this past week that hasn't quite been finalized, so I will share that when I can. I know it has been a topsy turvy week, but I am focusing on my family and friends right now to keep me a bit more stable. We are so deeply grateful to God for the extremely good, the very good, news we have had.

This next week was supposed to be our first full week of schooling, but the January exhaustion has hit us all, so we are spending some more time on just reading and math, and getting some organization done. It's not hard to catch up at home. This past year was rather hard on everyone, so we are being gentle with ourselves.

Since we did that inventory of our food and drink in the house, I am trying to be more mindful of eating what we have and only buying what we really need or to replace things we use. This month, through Ash Wednesday, my plan is to only buy paper/cleaning/pet supplies, milk and a few fresh things we need. So, our meals are utilizing our stores. We ran out of dried thyme, but the winter has been so mild here that our planted thyme is just overflowing all over the yard. We are trying to clear out our home of excess, so I am also going through my yarn stash and offering more for sale, giving some away to friends, and donating to the senior center in our town. It will feel so much better to have the space in our home and in our minds. We will tackle books, too! In any case, this will help us spend less, too, and we have been paying down debt lately, which feels great. I do the budgets, and it is a burden to me to always be keeping ten plate spinning and in the air, as well as having to be the one to say no. This will allow us to say yes to more. It is a time of easing burdens and increasing blessing here. I hope your new year is full of blessing.


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. Linking to Menu Plan Monday

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// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 9:36 AM 0 comments

Sunday, January 03, 2021

Menu Plan: 10th - 12th Days of Christmas and Theophany


Christ is illumined! Let us shine forth with Him!

I love the icon of Theophany. Christ is buried in the cave of water in His baptism, but is not immersed as it is Creation which is baptised by Him. The waters of the Jordan are turned back ("When the waters saw thee, O God, when the waters saw thee, they were afraid, yea, the deep trembled" ~ Psalm 77:16, "The sea looked and fled, Jordan turned back." ~ Psalm 114:3). All Creation is moved by His presence. Our readings this week will reflect His revelation and manifestation to the world. All of those readings show the presence of the Trinity as well. It is such a moving and wondrous season in the Church Year.

Our feasting will end this week, but we will keep the festal season of the Nativity through the feast of the Purification on February 2. We keep our decorations up for the season, as well, and play Christmas music, still. Next week, school will begin again, but we are enjoying our break still. It is the end of the feast, but not the end of the Christmas season. Rather than beginning the day after Halloween, it begins late Christmas Eve, and goes through February 2. We have shaken off the commercial aspect and the secular misrepresentation of this miraculous feast of the Incarnation. Now, we can celebrate in earnest while the rest have abandoned its observance.

I thank you for your prayers for my father, and am glad to say that he is slowly improving. We are continuing in prayer for him and our family.


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. Linking to Menu Plan Monday

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// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 10:12 AM 0 comments

Sunday, January 08, 2017

Menu Plan: January 8 - 14


Christ is illumined!

This week we get back to school and real life. This is the third day of the Octave of Epiphany and soon we will be living our ordinary lives. If you come here looking for some meatless options, there will be some from this week on again. There are several repeats this week, just because we ended up shifting menus and meals around considerably last week. We had miserable snow from Saturday afternoon on, so we decided to miss our evening church, which meant I had to think of a dinner for the family. This may also shift this week's schedule as well. Which is unfortunate, since we have school for Alexander, and ballet, and driver's ed, and I don't want to go out of our house.

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.

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// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 6:04 PM 0 comments

Monday, January 02, 2017

Menu Plan: Eighth Day of Christmas through the Second Day of the Octave of Epiphany


Our week is almost bookended with two major feasts of the Nativity: The Feast of the Circumcision of Christ and the Feast of the Theophany, known as the Epiphany in the West. One, in which Jesus receives His name and is submitted by His Blessed mother and Saint Joseph to be under the Law. One, in which He is revealed to the world as God. I love how the readings for the Octave of Epiphany brings out all the ways His light is revealed, to His disciples in the Transfiguration, to the Magi who are shown signs to come seek and worship Him, to both Jews and Gentiles in His baptism, which also showed His deity and manifested the presence of all three Persons of the Trinity, to the steward at the wedding at Cana, when His mother's petition altered the timeline of His revelation to the world, and His first miracle was performed. Even though Christmas isn't the most significant feast of the Church year (it isn't even the second), I love how there are so many important feasts within it. And that is only considering the 12 days of the feast, and not the entirety of the season, which closes on the Feast of the Purification on February 2. I love how these feasts and practices teach the most important things to everyone, regardless of their intellectual capacity or age.

We ended last week with our anniversary, and though we had cancelled our more elaborate plans for our 20th wedding anniversary, I don't feel like we missed out on anything. Our favorite local restaurant, that specializes in mostly local and regional foods, seasonal menus, where every single item we have eaten, even things we don't normally like, has been exquisite, was having a fixed menu with wine pairings. I forgot to take pictures of everything until we were already on the fourth course, and I had eaten part of it. Rich had to keep me from going around to everyone else's table and photographing their food.


The menu for our evening. There was also a glass of champagne to begin the meal. Since they brought two, I drank Rich's.


I had a little bit of the grilled octopus and shrimp ceviche left (with even a tiny bit of the crab) and let the kids each have a taste of it the next day. They immediately wanted to go there to eat. Rich suggested that maybe we do a Mother's Day brunch there.

My grocery shopping this past week garnered some excellent deals. I was able to get French Compte cheese for less than $3.00 a pound, and some of the roasted onion and red pepper sausage we like for $0.99 a pound, as well as an excellent deal on Mandarin oranges. So, we are enjoying those quite a bit this week.

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.

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// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 10:56 PM 0 comments

Sunday, January 10, 2016

Menu Plan: Fifth Day of the Epiphany Octave - January 16


School officially starts for us this week. Alexander has been in class for a week, and the girls have been back at ballet for a week, but this is our time to get serious about things at home. It's also the week our co-op starts, and I am not as prepared as I ought to be for that. So, you can guess what I'll be finishing up this week as well.

Sir Francis Bacon was dispatched the day after my last menu post was published. We're hoping to get the call that he is ready to be picked up for our freezer this week or next. Rich and the boys have been cutting down dead trees/wood, and burning brush in our garden area, to help prepare for the spring. I'm still sitting indoors hoping for the snow to melt. And for no more to fall. And for the weather to warm up. I will readily admit that I am a wimp, when it comes to cold weather, but I cannot wait for our six months of misery to be over. Maybe we could only have four months this year?

In any case, with Frank being made ready for our freezer, and a quarter grass fed beef that we bought recently, we're trying to eat out of our freezers and pantry more right now. On top of that, there was the expense of Frank and our remodel (which, of course, became more extensive) and Alexander's additional tuition at the college. The great thing about the program is that the taxpayers pay for his credits (up to 15) in their entirety (we figure it's only programs like these that give us any chance of getting anything out of our tax dollars toward the schools). We have to pay for text books, lab fees, tools (of which there are many), and class fees. We also have to pay for any credits over 15. Since his program is pretty intense, this means we are paying a significant chunk each term, as he's taking between five and seven credits over the maximum paid each session. If he were a regular student, there would be a price break at this point, but since he is a high school student using this program, there isn't. And since he isn't an adult, or a regular college student, there aren't many (any?) grants/scholarships he can take advantage of right now. Though, next year, he will be eligible for one sponsored by our neighborhood, to which we really hope he applies. My computer is also outdated and trying to die on me. I've been saving everything as quickly and often as I can, so if it crashes, we won't lose work, records, photos, etc. But, that means we'll be in the market for a computer as soon as the remodel and butchering bills are paid. The upshot is that since we took a grand time over Christmas to enjoy quite a lot out of the ordinary for us, we are tightening our belts right now. So, we're eating a lot more from home, and out of what we already have. Our meals will be somewhat less exciting, but they will still taste good and fill everyone.

Speaking of. . . I finally made that beet gratin. I liked it quite a bit, Alexander liked it, Elijah, Amira, and Mariam were okay with it, Dominic tolerated it, and Rich, Jerome, and Yasmina really didn't care for it. They ate it, but I don't see that showing up on our menu much in the future. When Alexander asked how he liked it, Rich said that he really enjoyed the kale salad. Since Rich and I are trying not to spend anything that is not absolutely necessary, he didn't complain, though, all the ingredients were already in our fridge/freezer/pantry. We're still buying milk, diapers and such, but we have a ton of vegetables and fruit in our fridge and freezer already, dry beans, canned goods, potatoes and onions, and loads of meat. It's going to be things like fresh fruit and cheese that we'll be missing the most, but we have some in the fridge and freezer right now, and it's only for the rest of the month. We still won't be doing a ton of eating out or buying extravagantly for quite a while, but this should give us a reset of sorts. I asked if I should skip the monthly moms' night out I go to, since it is at a local bistro, and Rich said he thought that fell under the necessary expenses, so I could get a break and some time with my women friends. I have a $5.00 off card, too, so at least that reduces the cost.

In the meantime, please be praying for our family. Rich cut himself on something small that he doesn't even remember, but it ended up with a hot, red line running up his arm, and a shot of antibiotics. I have, likewise, had a matching shot of steroids, because of the skin problems I'm having, and it didn't even seem to improve as much as the dermatologist said it would. Our Lenten fast this year is going to be a little closer to the early Church's standard, though we'll still eat fish, just because I'll be eliminating dairy, eggs, pinto beans, green beans, kidney beans, broccoli and pineapple from my diet, as a result of some reactions my body has had. It will be easier to shift our joint meals to exclude those, so there will still be dairy and eggs for the kids, for breakfasts and lunches, since it's easier for me just to eat something else at those meals, but dinners won't include them. So, that will be interesting. Since Lent is coming up sooner than we think, I figured it was a good time to start the process. I'm going to ask my doctor here to see if we can test for environmental allergies, since the worst of my skin eruptions, and the shift from the milder form of irritation I was dealing with before, came right after we began the remodel. I'm actually hoping for some mold allergies or something like that, because I really don't want to give up food I love. Kidney beans are easy enough to avoid, because I don't love them, anyway, but I like the other foods and don't want to miss out on them. My doctor is fairly convinced that my reactivity to food is secondary to some other trigger, as I've never had food allergy issues before. She also thinks that if we clear up some of the problems I'm dealing with now, we can try to get to the root and reverse those reactions. Either way, it is a pain, but at least holds some hope. On top of that, we have some minor, but not tiny, issues, of lost items that have sentimental and monetary value. We're asking Saint Phanourios to assist us, and ask your prayers as well. I even have the ingredients here to make a Saint Phanourios cake.

Below, I include our daily Bible readings which we use to read through the entire Bible each year. 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).

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.

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// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 6:04 PM 2 comments

Monday, January 04, 2016

Menu Plan: Day 10 of Christmas through the Fourth Day of the Octave of Epiphany


Christ is Born! Glorify Him!

I didn't mean to take that long of a break between posting. However, I had a huge, miserable outbreak on my hand again. Please keep praying. Snow and ice kept us busy, we had to drive to Spokane to get me to a doctor so I could be referred to a decent dermatologist (I will see one this week), and that doesn't take into account preparations for the Nativity Feast, and a semi-impromptu family trip. We had already planned to take an anniversary trip, but instead of leaving the kids at home with friends to look after them, we planned a trip to their godparents, and visited with them, and other friends and family, then left the kids there so Rich and I could get away, came back for a couple days and headed home. We're on our 20th year of marriage now, which is a pretty respectable start.

We're still feasting, but Friday this week will bring us back to our normal pattern of abstinence in our diet. Our meals this week are kind of catch as catch can, though, as we are in the middle of phase two of our remodel and a third of our house doesn't have electricity while part of the house is being worked on, and there is stuff scattered everywhere from that room. Fortunately, the kitchen still has power, and the heat in our bedroom does, but none of the outlets are on in our room, so we are going to bed by candlelight. In the meantime, the weather, and then a family emergency at the butcher's, delayed Sir Francis Bacon's demise. He had his death sentence commuted three times. However, that meant that we were still feeding him in below zero weather, and trying to keep water to him as it froze into a giant block of ice pretty much instantly and the temperatures haven't gotten above freezing in almost two weeks. He's supposed to get it tomorrow, and we will have hams, pork shoulder roasts and cubes, bacon, cheek meat, and see if we can get the tail to roast. All the rest of the meat will be turned into ground pork, and we'll have them grind the fat for us to render into lard. Normally, this isn't how we'd handle a pig, but he was intact, since he had herniated and we didn't want to kill him in the castration, so we don't want to have to worry about a too strong flavor in the meat.

So, life isn't quite normal yet. And I wasn't able to make our 12 days of cookies like I normally do for Christmas. Actually, we haven't made any cookies. I'll see if the kids want to do that this week. Alexander returned to classes today, and we will begin school work at home next week. Normally, I start right after Epiphany, but with it being a Wednesday, and us just returning this past weekend, and the remodel going on, and the chaos we're dealing with right now, I decided that the one day of school work we'd miss this week was not that important to me. The girls begin ballet again this week, too, and we need to get Jerome started practicing for baseball with a friend who plays on a high school team, as this is the first year he actually has to try out to play.

Oh, and I can't wait for the snow to go away, but it doesn't look like it will happen until March. We don't usually get a ton of snow, but this year we've gotten at least 10 inches in the past month, and even a little bit doesn't go away here, because we live in a miserably cold place during the winter. Four seasons, they said. You'll get snow each year, they said. I hate winter. And snow and I are on a trial separation now. I never loved snow, anyway, but I liked how pretty it was, and it was fun to play a little in it with the kids. But that was when we'd get no more than a couple/few inches and it would go away after a week, at most. Now, it is as though the White Witch rules our town for six months out of the year. I don't need all four seasons, thank you very much. On the west side, we had four months of spring, three and a half months of summer, four months of fall, and about two weeks of winter. That was perfect.

Below, I include our daily Bible readings which we use to read through the entire Bible each year. 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).

Since I haven't posted since the third Sunday of Advent, I'll include all the readings I didn't post, if you want to try to catch up with us. To be honest, if we miss a day or 12, we just start at the readings for the day we are on, as we know we can hit it again the following year. However, if you want to do it in 12 months, there is a way to do it. I suppose you could skip the Psalm and Proverbs readings, as those are the second time around, and that would help you double/triple up readings to get them all in this week.

Dec. 20: Jeremiah 23-26, Psalms 114, Proverbs 24:35–39, Hebrews 12:28-13:25
Dec. 21: Jeremiah 27-28, Psalms 115-116, Proverbs 25:1–5, James 1
Dec. 22: Jeremiah 29-31, Psalms 117:1–16, Proverbs 25:6–11, James 2
Dec. 23: Jeremiah 32-35, Psalms 117:17–29, Proverbs 25:12–16, James 3
Dec. 24: Jeremiah 36-38, Psalms 118:1–16, Proverbs 25:17–21, James 4
Dec. 25: Jeremiah 39-41, Psalms 118:17–32, Proverbs 25:22–26, James 5
Dec. 26: Jeremiah 42-44, Psalms 118:33–48, Proverbs 25:27–31, 1 Peter 1
Dec. 27: Jeremiah 45-48, Psalms 118:49–64, Proverbs 26:1–5, 1 Peter 2
Dec. 28: Jeremiah 49-52, Psalms 118:65–80, Proverbs 26:6–9, 1 Peter 3
Dec. 29: Baruch 1-2, Psalms 118:81–96, Proverbs 26:10–13, 1 Peter 4
Dec. 30: Baruch 3-5, Psalms 118:97–112, Proverbs 26:14–17, 1 Peter 5
Dec. 31: Epistle of Jeremiah, Psalms 118:113–128, Proverbs 26:18–23, 2 Peter 1
Jan. 1: Lamentations 1, Psalms 118:129–144, Proverbs 26:24–29, 2 Peter 2
Jan. 2: Lamentations 2, Psalms 118:145–160, Proverbs 27:1–5, 2 Peter 3

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.


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// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 9:43 PM 0 comments

Sunday, January 08, 2012

Menu Plan: January 8 - January 14

Christ is illumined! Let us shine forth with Him!

It is the octave of Epiphany and we are heading back into our school term. I'm fairly proud of how much we've accomplished in this first week of the year and hope we can keep plugging away. So, we're back into our regular schedule, with school, meals, extra-curricular activities and such. In a couple weeks I will, yet again, be teaching two classes at our homeschool co-op. One of them is fairly straightforward with some set assignments and materials and the other is, essentially, a knitting clinic. It's fun teaching these, but the preparations are sometimes tough.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.

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// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 4:34 PM 0 comments

Sunday, January 01, 2012

Menu Plan: January 1 - January 7


Christ is born! Glorify Him! We are in the eighth through the 12th day of Christmas this week and will be wrapping up with Epiphany. We are still feasting and celebrating.

Since we had so much food leftover from meals, some of our dinners are being repeated this week. Our anniversary was quiet and nice. We visited with our neighbors, delivered gifts and had a gorgeous dinner together. We changed it a little based on what we had at home. We had our crab linguine with the lemon cream sauce as planned, but served sauteed shredded brussels sprouts with them instead of the green beans. We also served cherry ice cream and chocolate wafer cookies, since we still had so much dessert left and didn't want to make more. We had a nice night together, kissed at midnight and went to bed.

So, since this is another week of feasting, we will see if we can get through all the meals as planned or if we end up moving some to next week.

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.

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// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 8:56 PM 0 comments

Sunday, January 02, 2011

Menu Plan: Days 9 - 12 of Christmas, Epiphany and Beyond

This is the last week of the Christmas season. The twelve days of Christmas end on Thursday, with Epiphany and the liturgical season of Christmas finishes on Sunday. So, you still have time to get me a present.

Just kidding. It does mean that we only have one meat fast day this week. And I will be continuing with my 12 Days of Cookies.

Our anniversary was wonderful, and low key and quiet. I nailed the crab pasta, though, and the garlic shrimp was pretty darned good, too. I may post a recipe for the crab pasta. It is definitely a special occasion dish, unless you live where you can catch Dungeness easily. I still can't cook for two people, either. I made enough for four people. I actually had to stop myself from making more.

Also, the Chex mix coated chicken fingers were a huge hit with the family. There will be no more Chex mix in our house until Thanksgiving, though, because otherwise I eat it all. Or most of it.

For our anniversary, we bought an 11 passenger van. We now have room for two more children!

So, here is our first menu plan of the New Year: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.

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// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 8:59 PM 0 comments

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