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Sunday, September 27, 2026

Menu Plan: September 27 - October 3

Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they were defeated and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world -- he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. -- Revelation 12:7-9

Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle, be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him we humbly pray; and do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly host, by the power of God, cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits, who roam through the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.Sancte Michael Archangele, defende nos in praelio. Contra nequitiam et insidias diaboli esto praesidium. Imperet illi Deus, supplices deprecamur. Tuque princeps militiae caelestis, Satanam aliosque spiritus malignos, qui ad perditionem animarum pervagantur in mundo divina virtute in infernum detrude. Amen.
We will not be able to make our Michaelmas dragon this year, but I am encouraged that this feast falls on what was to be the first day of something for which we are praying sincerely. Saint Michael, pray for us, and defeat the efforts of the devil by the power of God. Likewise, we will not be able to do anything particularly special for the feast of Saint Jerome. We will ask his wisdom and prayers for all as well.

Rich and I had almost a week in Montana last week for a work conference of his. We were right on the river in Missoula, and it was beautiful and sunny during the day. It was a much needed time away, and after nearly 25 years in this industry, the dear friends we have made with his colleagues are such a comfort. We did all the rah rah, fun group things, but then left each night with the people we have known and who have known us for for 10 - 20+ years and got to really talk about our lives, work, families, children, joys and struggles. I was never a person to be close friends with co-workers, and neither is Rich really, but these people have both the distance in space and closeness in time necessary for us to nurture the kind of openness that was possible this week. That was a gift from God. It was also a reminder that we are not the only people being put through the wringer. As I went down the hall of the hotel the day before we left, I saw a woman from their staff in a hijab who looked Arab, so I took the chance and spoke to her in Arabic. That was a gift, as well. She was overjoyed to have someone who spoke Arabic and saw her and we had a lovely conversation, then after the day of work and festivities, she came and joined us for a walk on the river. That, too, was a blessing. We are still looking for the blessings, joy, and laughter in our unenviable position.

Because of our absence, even the lighter meals I planned for the kids to make and eat made quite a few leftovers, so we have two leftover days this week and some repeats on breakfasts that they ended up not eating, because they had so much other breakfast food left to eat. Our gleaning club is still keeping us in good stead, and our garden is in its swan song. We are definitely not in summer any more, though. Because of that, we are just eating whatever fruit and vegetables we have in our meals to use the good things we have. Not much preserving is being done just because of our miserable schedule, but we did dry some sweet peppers and roasted and canned some anaheim peppers for later. The mornings and evenings are so cold, though. Somehow dealing with everything and also being cold makes it worse, more insulting.

Our parish family is holding us up this week, next, and through October, and we definitely can tell that there are people all over praying for our whole family. Thank you. Please continue to pray, next week was supposed to be the beginning of the grueling hard work, but there has been another delay, which is a type of suffering, as well. I can't believe it will be almost a year when this is finally progressing.

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 @ 12:58 PM 0 comments

Tuesday, September 30, 2025

Menu Plan: September 28 - October 4

We arrived home late Monday night from the baptism trip, exhausted. It was a beautiful thing to be there with Dominic and Shawn and Winifred while she was welcomed and initiated into the household of God. Different work schedules meant that the whole family couldn't be there the whole weekend, but all the kids and their spouses and kids were able to be there Sunday, which was the best.

Since this is late, I'm just hoping it will help people in retrospect. Yasmina will be elsewhere Friday night, so we are taking that opportunity to eat shrimp, as it is not her favorite.

We have Jerome's name day this week, and we are seeking the prayers of both Saint Jerome and you, as we get ready for his next surgery. One of the plates in his jaw has sprung and it will need to be removed and replaced.

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 @ 12:05 PM 0 comments

Sunday, September 29, 2024

Menu Plan: Michaelmas

Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they were defeated and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world -- he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. -- Revelation 12:7-9

Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle, be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him we humbly pray; and do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly host, by the power of God, cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits, who roam through the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.Sancte Michael Archangele, defende nos in praelio. Contra nequitiam et insidias diaboli esto praesidium. Imperet illi Deus, supplices deprecamur. Tuque princeps militiae caelestis, Satanam aliosque spiritus malignos, qui ad perditionem animarum pervagantur in mundo divina virtute in infernum detrude. Amen.
This week was our first full work of school and, unfortunately, we had a little sickness in the house. Nothing worse than a cold, but it does put a damper on things. We did get most of our peppers frozen that we wanted to freeze and we are trying to decide if we can eat all the rest in time, or just put a few more bags in the freezer (or dry some). This weekend was all about apples. We made applesauce, apple scrap vinegar, and apple pie filling, and we dried loads of apples. Normally I freeze the pie filling, but I am going to try a batch of it canned and see if we like the results. If so, we can free up some more freezer space and have more that is shelf stable and ready to go. So, there will be another apple pie this week. Oh, darn! If worse comes to worst, and we don't like having the apple pie filling pre-cooked as it would be in canning, I'm sure we can find a way to use it in a different way.

Speaking of weekends and freezers, we are going to have to postpone our goose butchering, it sounds like. We had hoped to do it yesterday, but there was a lot needing done in the garden, and a need for a larger scalder for the birds. So, they have a reprieve. And our neighbors don't.

Did I mention that I agreed to provide the falafel mix for next year's kebab fest? They talked about adding falafel to the menu and I said I would only be a party to it if they didn't use a mix. So, I said I'd be willing to mix it all up in advance, and other people could fry it. I will be experimenting this week (and over the next few months) to see if it can be frozen and thawed to make later, and if that is successful, if it can be frozen shaped and then fried from frozen.

We had so much going on with our weekend, and before church today, that we didn't get our Michaelmas dragon made, and we forgot to make waffles with blackberries instead of pancakes with raspberry syrup. So, we might have a belated bonfire and dragon this coming weekend. We will be celebrating Jerome's name day, 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 @ 8:18 AM 0 comments

Sunday, September 01, 2024

Menu Plan: September 1 - 7

We had the opportunity to worship with the Sudanese church to the south of us today. Their faith is so inspiring. They have literally been holding memorials all summer for their family members who have been killed for their faith in their home country, and are still full of joy and hope. I wish one day to have their faith.

We ease into school work in September, to take advantage of museums and events that are not as busy once "regular" school starts. So, we are doing some literature and grammar work, and a little bit of math. However, a couple of the kids are taking a biology class and a geometry class with a neat local professor and it is great. I'm really excited for them to have this opportunity, especially for the lab science.

Besides that, we are just reading, doing crafts, getting some organizing done, and enjoying the outdoors before it is too cold to do so. This week also holds an anniversary of ours. Rich and I became engaged on September 4, 28 years ago. It was literally our coming to agreement after about a month of consideration. Our how we met story sounds more romantic than it was, and our engagement story sounds much less romantic than it was.

We are still eating the fresh foods of the season and trying to hold on to as much of the beautiful weather as we can until the freezes hit. Pray for us.

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 @ 8:02 PM 0 comments

Sunday, August 25, 2024

Menu Plan: August 25 - 31


"Holy Spirit, inspire me. Love of God, consume me, on the true path, lead me. Mary, my Mother, look upon me, with Jesus, bless me. From all evil, from all illusion, from all danger, preserve me."

"Always remember to love your neighbor; always prefer the person who tries your patience, who tests your virtue, because with them you can always gain merit."

"The proud person is like a grain of wheat thrown into water: it swells, it gets big. Expose that grain to the fire: it dries up, it burns. The humble soul is like a grain of wheat thrown into the earth: it descends, it hides itself, it disappears, it dies; but to revive in heaven."

"It is sweet to think of Jesus; but it is sweeter to do His will."
~ Saint Mariam Baouardy (Mary of Jesus Crucified) ~

We have two birthdays this week: Mariam and Shawn. We won't have Shawn with us this week, and I suspect it will be a little more subdued than normal. Please offer all the prayers you can for her this week. Not only is it a birthday week, but it is a nameday week, as well. The feast of Saint Mariam Baouardy is also this week.

I'm not a superstitious person, generally speaking, though I do roll up my car windows to make sure it won't rain. However, that whole troubles come in threes thing has come twice, and now we have had three other challenges/difficulties, and at this point, I am hoping that is the third set of three, and that we will be set for a while.

Fall weather is definitely here. Wind and rain, much cooler feeling air, and I even wore a sweater yesterday - with long wool socks. We still have temperatures in the 70s at the height of the day, but our evenings and mornings are feeling frigid. In a couple months, we will long for temperatures in the 40s, but for now, they feel quite cold. The air conditioning units are still in the windows, in a nod to a slight superstitious hope that I will keep the alleged heat spike predicted for the end of the week at bay, but our windows are almost all closed, and the fans have been off all this past week.

We have so many ducks and geese to butcher! We are still cooking mostly from our freezer, and cooking it down so we will have room for them. When it is cool enough, there will be a couple weekends of pretty significant poultry harvest. Our Gleaning Club and even our garden are keeping us well stocked in beautiful produce. Except for potatoes and onions, we haven't had to buy produce in a few weeks. We are using what is fresh and in season, and it is delightful. This is one of the bright lights in our challenging time.

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 @ 12:14 AM 0 comments

Sunday, November 19, 2023

Menu Plan: Thanksgiving Week

Today is the preview of the good will of God,
Of the preaching of the salvation of mankind.
The Virgin appears in the temple of God,
In anticipation proclaiming Christ to all.
Let us rejoice and sing to her: Rejoice,
O Divine Fulfillment of the Creator's dispensation.

The most pure Temple of the Savior;
The precious Chamber and Virgin;
The sacred Treasure of the glory of God,
Is presented today to the house of the Lord.
She brings with her the grace of the Spirit,
Therefore, the angels of God praise her:
"Truly this woman is the abode of heaven."

Thanksgiving is almost here, and we are hustling! There is so much to do, and we have had other deadlines going on in the background.

Mostly our meals this week have had to do with making room in our fridge and freezers. It is going to be a big gathering this year, and there will be tons of food. Because of Thanksgiving, most jurisdictions give a special dispensation not to keep the fast over this weekend. Since Advent doesn't begin in the West for two weeks, we also have more time to eat up pies!

Dominic is going to be home for Thanksgiving, and he is bringing his fiancée with him. We all knew and expected that he would ask her to marry him, but a little over a month ago, he talked to us about it, and a couple weeks ago, he asked her. We are so excited to be welcoming another daughter into our family. We have so much to be thankful for, not least of which is the bounty we have to share with others. I pray that you will see God's goodness in your life and praise Him.

There are many feasts this week, including the Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple, and Yasmina's name saint, Saint Catherine. We are blessed by our brothers and sisters who have gone before us to pray for us and the world. Where would we be without them? Glory to God in His saints!

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 @ 10:43 AM 0 comments

Sunday, November 20, 2022

Menu Plan: Christ the King and Thanksgiving Week!

Blessed feast! Today we remember that Christ is King as the Church year ends. It is another Western, relatively new, feast that we love. Even the older liturgical calendars emphasize His kingship on this day, so it is really a celebration of what was already remembered. It turns out this is the day to make your Christmas cake or pudding, too. Because the collect begins with "Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord," and continues with "that they plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works, may of thee be plenteously rewarded," it serves both as a spiritual reminder and a fun one for Christmas preparations. They are plenteously rewarded when Christmas Day comes and their cake or pudding is ready. So, I have three pounds of dried fruit and candied orange peel soaking in brandy to make our cake Tuesday.

This past week we realized that we needed to do more garbage management, to clear our fridge and use what we had to make room for all the Thanksgiving dishes. So, some meals planned last week were moved to after Advent, and we made other things to eat. We did make the pasta Trapanese, and it was so delicious! It will definitely be making its way into our Advent menus; probably more than once.

Jerome is almost to trying gluten and wheat, and we are excited that by the first week of January, it looks like he will have almost all the foods back that he has been without for nearly two years. Our list of no-nos is short: Lima beans and bananas. We are praying that gluten/wheat goes well, because he misses real bread and pastries.

Our Thanksgiving includes Amelia, Alexander and Autumn's neighbor, a couple from our church, and a family we love who are traveling to visit us. This means 22 pies this year, but I think I will make some of them on the mini-scale in ramekins. The hors-d'ouevres and bread stuffing are coming with guests, as well as Martinelli's. I'm not sure what else will be coming. The recipes from last week and this week will probably be shared next week. We are a bit more lax about the Advent fast over Thanksgiving, both as a special dispensation here in the US, and as an accommodation to our friends and family who are not keeping the fast with us. So next week will start with a non-fasting day, then move into the fast. Have a blessed Thanksgiving!

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 @ 1:45 PM 0 comments

Sunday, September 25, 2022

Menu Plan: September 25 - October 1

I cannot believe that we are already approaching October and it is officially fall! Last weekend, we had our first morning approaching freezing, it was 34˚F. This month has gone by so quickly. We are getting ready to start official school work for the year, and to ramp up in our other activities. Next week would have ended our family birthday season, but now that we have added Autumn and she and Alexander are expecting their new little one's arrival at the end of October or beginning of November, we are going to have one more birthday before the year is finished.

Jerome had a little scare with the bananas, but it seems to be settling down, and we think it might have had to do with either the plants or climate near his grandmother's house (he and Elijah and Rich went down there to help her out a bit last week), or the chemicals he was using while sanding, sealing and painting a fence. He seems to be doing well now. Since they were gone for part of last week, I rearranged our meal plan to include things that either Rich didn't care for or that Jerome couldn't have, since it was just us girls and Dominic at home. We had a blast. The girls really wanted to watch a chick flick and do facials and hair and nails, but ballet and life schedules and some exhaustion shut that down, so we are going to try again soon. Rich said he would take the boys somewhere so we could do it.

The blackberry sweetrolls we made for Mariam were fantastic. I should have made the cream cheese a little less sweet, but nobody complained about that. They were super simple to make, too. I just used my cinnamon roll dough with vanilla and loganberry liqueur in place of the almond extract, spread it with a cup of seedless blackberry jam, baked as normal and made the cream cheese frosting with vanilla and a little loganberry liqueur. They were so good!

We had so many leftovers this week, that we still have some that were either put in the fridge or freezer, so we are pulling them out in different ways this week. Harvest was also delayed by our weird spring and summer, like I said before, so we have a ton of fresh produce that needs to be eaten before it becomes either chicken feed or compost. If we manage it well this week, it will be fine, though. We have the feasts of Saint Michael and Jerome this week, so some fun family traditions, as well as Jerome's name day to celebrate.

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.

Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they were defeated and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world -- he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. -- Revelation 12:7-9

Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle, be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him we humbly pray; and do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly host, by the power of God, cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits, who roam through the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.Sancte Michael Archangele, defende nos in praelio. Contra nequitiam et insidias diaboli esto praesidium. Imperet illi Deus, supplices deprecamur. Tuque princeps militiae caelestis, Satanam aliosque spiritus malignos, qui ad perditionem animarum pervagantur in mundo divina virtute in infernum detrude. Amen.

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// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 2:30 PM 0 comments

Monday, July 31, 2017

Menu Plan July 30 - August 5

Menu Plan Monday

In case you haven't read my update, please accept my apologies about the way the blog looks. I'm working on migrating all my hosted photos so I can go through and change all the links so there are no longer spam notices and broken image links all over the blog

I'm almost finished with my sample and pattern for the magazine, and then I have a few last minute edits on the pattern I received from my tech editor this month before I can get it out to my preview knitters. There is a shawl I am close to finishing, that I'd love to have ready at the end of this month. Then, I need to help Dominic get ready for his college entrance exams so he can do his AA here while he finishes high school, like Alexander has. It's a busy time for us, and Rich is also doing his own studies and work that is taking his own time now, plus Amira's recovery. We could use your prayers. Thank you for your continued support.

We're still using up the zucchini, and found that they work nicely in my scalloped potato recipe. Also, we now have tons of red potatoes from our gleaning club. We are so grateful for this group. We can serve our community and feed our family and friends.

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 @ 12:22 PM 0 comments

Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Menu Plan: Fourth Week of Advent


This has been a rather hectic and disorganized Advent, it seems. Alexander has been working quite a bit with a Christmas season job, and we're still taking girls to ballet for one more day. My days have been truncated with ferrying people about and doing extra errands. But it has been a good season, and it is winding down as we approach the feast of the Nativity. After that, Rich and I celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary, which is pretty exciting.

The weather here has been pretty miserably cold, enough snow to be a nuisance, and enough respite to trick you into thinking it will be better, then dumping more snow or freezing rain or sleet so you have to start over again. Since I am not a fan of winter, anyway, this hasn't been nice for me. We've been below zero pretty regularly, and colder than Siberia, yet again, as it seems fairly common of our winters.

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 @ 1:06 AM 0 comments

Monday, November 21, 2016

Menu Plan: Thanksgiving Week!


Thanksgiving week is here again! I'm not doing quite as much as I normally do, and our friends are bringing more. Since it is the first weekend of Nutcracker performances, too, we are busier than ever this week. Yasmina's name day is Friday, and I'm trying to think of something to do to mark the day, since it will be otherwise taken up with dress rehearsal.

We are on our final week of feasting before Advent, too, so we're living it up.

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 @ 11:45 AM 0 comments

Tuesday, September 06, 2016

Menu Along: I Tried Not to Do This


I had the opportunity to get a lot more knitting and crocheting done this past couple weeks. Rich had a conference in Montana, and aside from the long drive there and back, while he was busy with meetings and workshops and class sessions, I had a lovely hotel room in which to watch food tv and work on projects. And an even lovelier outdoors to sit and knit. I finally finished the knitting on the ballerina top, made quite a bit of progress on Nejat's blanket, and finished another mitt. I still have to weave in ends and block, and I still don't like the top that well. Once I've gotten all the finishing done, I'll try it on and see if it seems any better to me. My plan at the moment is still to send it off to someone else so I don't have to look at it any more.

Since we were on the road, I checked to see if there were any yarn shops around so I could get souvenirs. We stayed at a resort, and there wasn't anything there, but on our last day of the trip, we hit two yarn shops in Bozeman. They were very different from each other, but both had lovely yarn. I have to admit that I found the Yarn Scout more friendly and welcoming, though it was neat to find bison fiber and yarn at Stix. I completely spaced that I have a good friend who spins, so I didn't pick up any fiber for her, which I wish I had.


At Yarn Scout, I found some HiKoo SimpliCria, which I've been wanting to try for myself, and when I said that, the shop owner told me she had just opened the box of new colors and asked if I wanted to look through them. We all know the answer to that, and though there were a couple colors that interested me, I settled on this orchid, and bought a whole bag. Rich talked me into it. I tried to tell myself that getting four to six skeins would be enough, and he said that I might as well get it all, and save us all the sadness and trouble of me wishing I'd bought the rest after we'd returned home. It is chained and composed of baby alpaca like Rowan's discontinued Lima, but it comes at a lower per yard cost and is softer, in my opinion. I have enough to make a short sleeved sweater, which will be perfect for fall and early spring, or under a coat in the winter. It's a little too warm a fiber to make a long sleeved sweater out of, I think, as in sweater weather, I spend as much time indoors as possible.


There was also the mug above. I have been wanting one of those for a while, and they are for sale on etsy, but since it is hand made pottery, it is pricey, and with shipping, I'd held back. There was no shipping to pay in the store, and there is no sales tax in Montana, either, so Rich told me I'd better pick it up, and then helped me find the best blue there.

Since I like to get souvenir yarn that has a tie to the place we visit, I looked for special colorways, or locally dyed or raised or spun yarns. At Yarn Scout, I found some locally raised and spun yarn, I picked up a generous hank of charcoal alpaca, and several dyed for the shop colors. At Stix, there was the bison fiber and yarn. I bought a skein of a bison and merino blend to make a hat or something small like that, as well as the gradient from a local yarn company, Western Sky Knits. I can't tell what exact colorway it is, as it was unmarked. It was so lovely, though, that I had to pick it up. I can see a triangular or semi-circular shawl coming from this yarn.

Rich and I read one more section of Theology of the Body in Simple Language before we left on our trip. I finished two books The Suspicion at Sanditon, and Mudhouse Sabbath. I don't know if it is because _Sanditon_ wasn't complete, but somehow the tone of this mystery seemed more jarring than her others. It read more modern than Regency. Her other novels seemed to keep the tension between not sounding stilted and affected and not sounding out of period better. I noticed the modernity in this one, while the others were smoother, so I was constantly aware that I was a modern person reading people who didn't quite sound like they ought. The story itself was fun and enjoyable. Also, it turns out that I have read _Mudhouse Sabbath_ before. I had just forgotten. I think Lauren Winner might find a lot of what she missed of orthopraxy in Orthodox Christianity, or at least Eastern Catholicism.



Also posting to Keep Calm and Craft On and Yarn Fanatic.


This week began with a teen movie night at our house. We returned from our trip Saturday night, and the kids helped us get everything ready for their party. Rich and the boys turned the back yard into a movie viewing area, with a bigger television and the dvd player out there, hooked up to the big stereo speakers. They strung up lights on the back porch, around the disco ball (what? You don't have one hanging outside your house?), and in the maple tree. They set up chairs, a section of the kids' couch, a mat with a mattress on it and a couple tables for the food and drink. We watched the new Jungle Book, or rather, they did, and Rich and I saw part of it as we went back and forth between the party and our younger kids, who were inside watching a cartoon movie. Including our oldest four, we had 20 teens/pre-teens at the house, and we still had two pizzas left over when it was all said and done. After the movie, Alexander put on a play list of music for everyone to dance, and Rich set up a fire pit, and all had a great time. Since it was Sunday evening, we had the holiday on Monday to rest a bit after our late night.

This was kind of our kick off for school. Amira's name day was on Monday, and we had our neighbors over to grill our goodbye to summer. Today, we began school in earnest, and it went pretty well. Ballet started up again this week, so we're back to weird dinner times and shuffling menus until we figure out a plan that works for all of us. Because of the new dance schedule, Rich is going to be in charge of the making, or at least starting, of dinners on most Fridays, so I'm trying to make those easier meals, with recipes linked here for him.

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 @ 10:23 PM 4 comments

Sunday, February 21, 2016

Menu Plan: Second Sunday of Lent


We went a little crazy on our produce co-op order this week. We always try to get more vegetation during Lent, anyway, and this is the tail end of the citrus season, so we picked up extras. That meant that we spent more than we normally would, by almost double, but for our $191.50, we received three organic boxes, four add on boxes, a 25 pound box of organic Roma tomatoes, a 38 pound box of Pink Lady apples from our own state, and a 36 pound box of Minneola tangelos, plus two jicama and two cucumbers that we picked up as a thank you for helping at the co-op site. There were 6 pounds of fingerling potatoes, 3 pounds of green beans, 3 romanesco cauliflower, 3 bunches of lacinato kale, 15 baby bok choi, 3 heads of Boston lettuce, 3 bunches of rainbow carrots (we gave the tops to our chickens and turkeys), 6 zucchini, 9 avocados, 6 large leeks, 4 orange bell peppers, 2 bunches of celery, 4 bunches of scallions, 2 pounds of snap peas, 4 large portabella mushroom caps, 8 yellow onions, 8 russet potatoes, 8 Anaheim peppers, 2 bunches parsley, 2 bunches cilantro, 2 bunches of Thai basil, 4 bulbs garlic, 2 knobs of ginger, 2 bunches of rosemary, 2 bags of dried chiles de arbol, 2 bags of bay leaves, 4 limes, 4 lemons, 18 oranges, 15 tangerines, 3 giant mangoes, 2 jicama, and 2 cucumbers, plus the 25 pounds of tomatoes, 38 pounds of apples, and 36 pounds of Minneolas. That is a great deal for our area, especially in the winter. We even came home with a bunch of scraps and dinged items for our poultry to turn into eggs for the family. In any case, we're using the more delicate produce this week and spreading out the more sturdy items over the next two weeks.

If you, like me, are avoiding dairy and eggs, these menus are easily adaptable to that. Our shared meals during the week are either vegan or fish/shellfish meals and if there is anything that requires dairy or egg, it is separate for those who are eating them. Breakfasts are mostly being made separately, and if I add anything to my coffee, it is coconut milk. I generally drink my coffee black, but there are days that I reheat it (I know, but it's part of how I keep it from going to waste - that, and freezing it in cubes), and when I do, I add milk or cream, so I'm using coconut milk for that now.

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 @ 5:35 PM 0 comments

Monday, November 23, 2015

Menu Plan: Thanksgiving Week


We are not having any school this week, with the exception of Alexander who has two days of it at the college, so all we are doing is preparing for Thanksgiving. This year, we are sort of hosting. We are doing most of the cooking, and our friends are providing a house that is both larger and cleaner than ours. Another family, and perhaps another friend, will be joining us there. One nice thing about this is that I am not in a frenzy of house cleaning. Also, the other families are providing the hors-d'ouevres, some of the side dishes, and the drinks. And, they are taking care of the dishes! One family was asking what to bring and I suggested that if they preferred a sweeter cranberry sauce to my sharp/spicy relish, that they could bring that, but I don't know if they will. I also don't know if anyone has decided to make dressing/stuffing yet, so it's not on our menu plan. I decided to drop those, since they are the least favorite Thanksgiving dishes of our family. Everyone likes them, but not as much as they like the other things, so we always have quite a bit of it left over. Rich asked if I was interested in still making the wild rice dressing, but as it required my buying wild rice at a somewhat expensive price for something that might leave us with more leftovers than not, I decided against it. If I find some wild rice in the house, I might make a small amount for him this weekend, since he really does like it. I figure the mashed potatoes and turnips will provide enough of a starchy base for our casserole with what we have left over of those, and if not, I'll make some plain rice to add to the mix. I'm cheating a little with my one pie per person ratio this year. I'm making about 13 mini pies for most of the kids to meet the head count. That still means 11 full or larger size pies. And the kids will be able to have slices of the other pies, too, but this way, I won't break my record. It will be 24 pies plus Alexander's gingerbread and our friend's ice cream, so that's 26 desserts for 23 - 24 people. I can live with that.

Yasmina's name day is this week, but I'm not sure how we will mark it. Rich wants to make it to the Thanksgiving mass at church this week, but that is also still up in the air, as it depends on how much we have accomplished in the kitchen. Actually, I may suggest that he take some of the younger kids, or all of the kids, so either I can have real help in the kitchen, or no distractions. Anyway, we have a couple repeats this week, but mostly my goal is to cook just enough so we eat it all and don't take up any more space in the fridge than necessary, now that we are down to one fridge. Lunches are all leftovers this week - clear it out!

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 @ 11:59 PM 0 comments

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Menu Plan: September 27 - October 3


Though there are some repeats this week, we are trying to get better at following the plan, which really means that nothing else can break or go wrong in our home and work and family. We'll see how that works. This is the first year we won't be doing our serpent for St. Michael's**, because our schedule has been so crazy, and I just can't figure out how to fit it in, and we won't have our bonfire, either. Instead, we ate waffles and blackberry syrup for our dinner in honor of one of our favorite saints. On the plus side, I'm hoping that there will be no emergency room trips this year. Jerome's name day is this week, as well, which we always have fun with at home.

Our garden is still plugging away and Sir Francis Bacon, or Frank, is eating up a storm. We are working at putting the garden to bed, then letting him root around all over it and growing some cover crops, or just covering it all with grass clippings, leaves, wood shavings, and compost to start getting ready for next year's garden. This is Alexander's second week at the college, which is pretty cool, and our second week with the homeschool co-op. This new school schedule along with our intense ballet schedule is a bit of a bear. And then, I've been doing a ton of submissions, as well. I'm only planning one or two of them this month, maybe re-submitting some proposals that were rejected for previous magazines to see if they'll fit better in this round.

We helped our friends pack up their moving van and they have left. It's been a sad time for us, even though we are thrilled they have a great job to go to, because it is so far away. However, I found out that a train trip to visit them would cost two or three thousand dollars less than driving and hotels would. It would take the same amount of time, but we wouldn't have to drive or put the wear and tear on our van. We may look deeper into this.

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).

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.

**Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they were defeated and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world -- he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. -- Revelation 12:7-9

Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle, be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him we humbly pray; and do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly host, by the power of God, cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits, who roam through the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.Sancte Michael Archangele, defende nos in praelio. Contra nequitiam et insidias diaboli esto praesidium. Imperet illi Deus, supplices deprecamur. Tuque princeps militiae caelestis, Satanam aliosque spiritus malignos, qui ad perditionem animarum pervagantur in mundo divina virtute in infernum detrude. Amen.




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// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 11:12 PM 0 comments

Monday, August 31, 2015

Menu Plan: August 30 - September 5


Fair is over, we have Alexander all registered and filed, and there are no birthdays this week. I have three swatches and/or prototypes for design proposals finished, have one started, and three more to do before the month is out, with only one proposal written. So, this week should be a little less stressful for me. We do still have the bathroom remodel going, but I think everything we need is already gotten and progress is steady so that we might have a finished bathroom this weekend.

We did not have the birthday cake I planned last week, because Mariam asked for a fruit "cake" like you see on Pinterest. Well, our stores that always have watermelon didn't, and she asked me after the farmers' market had passed. There were only tiny cantaloupe at the store, too. However, there were the first fall pomegranates, some raspberries, star fruit and kiwi, and we had blueberries we had picked, frozen. I bought some raspberry sorbet, too. So, Rich made this out of the fruit, while I made dinner:


I think it turned out pretty spectacularly. He filled the cantaloupe with the sorbet, which was a nice touch. I still can't believe that she actually refused chocolate cake in favor of this. But it was lovely and delicious. Jerome had asked for a dinosaur cake, and it had to be postponed because of our fair schedule, so we made it this past weekend. I made the cake, Dominic made the frosting, Rich and Jerome dyed the frosting and decorated the cake. I think it turned out pretty well.


The tree was Jerome's idea and work, and the placement of the dinosaurs was all his. I made them scrub the dinosaurs and then sterilize them in the dish washer before I let them put them on the cake.


Anyway, we have a few repeats this week. The kids are sleeping over at friends a lot this week, which means our dinner table is always missing someone, but we're trying to squeeze in all the last bits of fun before we all have to put our noses to the grindstones again. Amira's name day is Saturday, but I still haven't figured out what we'll do in honor of that.

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).

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 @ 11:59 PM 0 comments

Monday, August 24, 2015

Menu Plan: August 23 - 29


This is another busy week, but it's at least slowing down a little. Mariam's birthday is this week, and her name day is this week. We are down to one bathroom while we fix the drywall and sink and toilet in our upstairs bathroom. Which means we are using the boys' gross bathroom downstairs. I sent them in with scrub brushes and disinfectant after I had to use it once.

We have a couple repeats this week, but I expected that. We had so much leftover from our fair food that we brought some with us on the first day for our lunch and only bought dinner and snacks/treats there. Since Rich worked the fair booth every day but the first, and I worked every day but the first two, we are both recovering a bit, too.

As usual, fall began today. It always comes the Monday following fair week. We get two or three weeks of fall and then winter starts. That's kind of depressing. Rich is coming up with ways to extend our garden, because we are getting late snap peas and all sorts of lovely things and we'd like to keep harvesting as long as we can.

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).

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 @ 10:18 PM 2 comments

Monday, August 10, 2015

Menu Plan: August 9 - 15


Last week was a little hectic with lots of activities, and this week is a lot hectic preparing for the fair. I promise I will post those recipes, but it's getting crazy around here. We do have a repeat of a meal, because we had to move some things around. However, we are beginning to be able to use produce from our garden, and our neighbors have supplied us with lots of fish that we are taking advantage of this week.

A major feast is this week, the one which we truly thought of when we were naming Mariam, before we knew of Saint Mariam Baouardy. We also have a dance scheduled this week, and a birthday to prepare for next week. I'm trying to do all our major errands this week, too, to free up our schedules next week so we don't have anything but fair and Jerome's birthday to deal with in our days.

In other news, I am in denial that school begins in a month. Which is hard, because Alexander registers for college courses this week. I finished off his transcript, and was pleasantly surprised to see how broad and well rounded his education has been. It was good to take a step back and see the big picture that way. We're so excited for him, because this is an opportunity to graduate from Trinity Academy here at home and also have an Associate's Degree and FAA certification, all with no student loans, and with the potential to begin an entry level job in his field of choice at a pay rate that is higher than most college graduates'. He has made excellent choices for his education and career path. We are praying for his success and transition to manhood right now.

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).

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: , , , , , , , ,


// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 11:01 AM 0 comments

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