Food From The Garden

"That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither- whatever they do prospers." Psalm 1:3 A snippet from today's responsorial psalm both describes a person who puts their trust in the Lord and also reminded me of my Instagram post from January 28th, 2020, where I posted a picture of a three-ingredient fruit salad I had after work before heading to my yoga class that evening, paired with my go-to peanut butter cookies and cold pressed juice and coconut milk. The fruit salad was actually not a planned recipe! I was about to go out of town and was trying to clean out the perishable items so nothing would spoil in my absence, and among them were honeydew melon, blueberries, and a clementine, so I made them into a fruit salad. Jesus compares himself to a vine in the Gospel according to John. He says "I am the vine and you are the branches. Whoever remains in me, and I in him, will bear much fruit. A...

One thing Lent and the rest of the liturgical year have in common is that we pray and read the scriptures (or at least we should be doing so). One thing that sets Lenten prayer and scripture reading apart from that of the rest of the year is that my church will put anyone interested in small groups that meet weekly to do it, and the Lenten small groups are really good because you get to make friends and have fun while praying and learning together because it takes a lot of discipline to do it on your own and while it's wonderful and necessary to undertake independent efforts to grow in faith, God meant for us to have a community in the church to encourage and form one another in the Spirit. Lenten small groups help accomplish just that. One thing my church is doing differently this year with Lenten small groups is that a lot of them are meeting on Friday nights at the church and the Hospitality committee is hosting complimentary soup and salad suppers beforehand. I asked our pastor...

Today I'm going to show the world that snacking vegan doesn't have to be that difficult. My mom came to me with an interesting request: a friend of hers is considering going vegan and asked her to have me devise a list of vegan snacks. She's not necessarily looking for healthy options; just stuff she can buy at the store so she can snack vegan. Stuff that most people (at least in the US) would likely be familiar with. I'm sure some of these items will blow your mind. When I first went vegan, I was just as surprised about the things that ARE vegan as I was about the things that AREN'T. I have for the most part phased out these items in part because I have since stopped eating gluten (except to receive the Eucharist), but mostly because I'm eating healthier in general and have simply made a habit of not eating a lot of processed foods. So the items on this list will be things that most of my American viewers are probably familiar with. I know that in some countrie...

Occasionally, I'll buy or be gifted some new products to try, and a big source of said products I try are airplane snacks. I know a few flight attendants, and I also know a few people who travel a lot because of their jobs but don't work for an airline. American Airlines is through the roof when it comes to both healthy and not so healthy vegan snack options, and the options, especially in first class but probably also in main cabin, rotate seasonally and are ever changing. My travelling friends and family bring home some of those items for me to try and see what I think of them. Some I have liked and some I haven't. One of the products I've been introduced to this way is Seneca Apple Chips, original flavor. I wouldn't rank them quite at the top but I would absolutely not rank them at the bottom either. This post will cover my thoughts regarding the taste, nutritional profile, and what I'd be inclined to do with them. What I like about them Not greasy or me...

Hi all! I wanted to pop on here real quick to announce my 40 days of Meatless series that I have coming up in a few short weeks (if that!). Let me preface with some background for you. Each year in observance of Lent, Catholics are encouraged to give something up and/or pick something worthwhile to pursue to be of service to God's people. Whichever you choose, the point is to draw the person closer to Christ. I'm one of those people who opts to choose something TO do during Lent because it has been my personal experience that doing so is more effective in drawing myself closer to Christ than choosing something to NOT do, which is the whole point of any Lenten practices, and also because more of God's creation benefits from going that route. Whatever you choose will likely benefit you somehow even though that's not the point. To elaborate, if you give up your favorite TV show for Lent, that's one less thing taking you away from the items on your to do list and may sh...