Quick Dinner Idea . . . Chicken Pesto

I got home late from appointments the other day but still had to get dinner on the table at a reasonable hour. So, being late, in the first place, I did not have time to stop by the grocery store. What to do in order to provide a meal for four, hungry people?

I checked the freezer and discovered four boneless chicken thighs. My mind started mulling over possibilities . . . I've found the best way to get started . . . is to start! I put a little olive oil in my trusty skillet, salt & peppered the chicken, and threw them in to sear on both sides. Since they were thin, even frozen, they cooked through quickly. I took them out of the pan, thinly sliced them, and put them back into the pan which I had not washed as I wanted to incorporate all the browned bits into my recipe in the making. I added a quarter cup of flour to the chicken pieces and heated it through to brown a bit and mix into the chicken. This will also prevent lumps forming. I added a can of chicken broth, 1/2 cup white wine, and cooked until the sauce started to thicken. That's when I remembered I had some pesto* in the freezer and added two tablespoons to the mix. I continued cooking it until it melted in, stirred in a half cup of freshly-grated Romano cheese and turn down to a simmer while I cooked a pound of pasta.

When the pasta was ready, I divided it among the plates, added the chicken sauce, and a small pinch of chili flakes, and a grinding of black pepper. My family said I had better remember how I made it as they wanted it again! I was pleased at getting a meal prepared with only four pieces of chicken.

*Pesto is Basil, cheese, and pine nuts ground together. You can usually find it in the refrigerated section of the store or, sometimes, in the pasta sauce section. I get mine from one of the warehouse stores. It is too much to use at once so I divide the jar up into ziplock snack bags and freeze them. That way, I have just the amount I need when I am trying to get inspired!

Beautifully stated . . .

For the truly faithful, no miracle is necessary. For those who doubt, no miracle is sufficient.

- Nancy Gibbs

The Wisdom of St. Theresa of Avila . . .

“The devil will try to upset you by accusing you of being unworthy of the blessings that you have received. Simply remain cheerful and do your best to ignore the devil's nagging. If need be even laugh at the absurdity of the situation. Satan, the epitome of sin itself, accuses you of unworthiness! When the devil reminds you of your past, remind him of his future!” ~St. Teresa of Avila

Where is the Pro-Choice in that?

Texas just passed a requirement that abortion clinics have to take and display to the expectant mother an ultrasound of their baby before proceding  with the abortion. Naturally, Planned Parenthood is filing a counter suit to remove this from the bill. You have to wonder why? Don't they claim they are there to help women during 'troubled' times? Why are they so against this supplement to their proposed 'care' of pregnant women? Why do they so fear the fact that a woman will hear a beating heart? Women have stated that if they had seen their baby via ultrasound, they would never have aborted the baby. Doesn't 'pro-choice' give the illusion that Planned Parenthood is anxious to support the choice of the mother? Obviously not as one official said that it confuses the issue of whether to abort or not. Oh, the fact that the mother might totally realize she is allowing a human life to be snuffed out is 'confusing the issue'? And, in refusing the abortion, there goes a hefty fee and, probably, federal funds. One of the Planned Parenthood people said that requiring the ultrasound is 'abhorrent'. Abhorrent to what? Abhorrent to their cash flow? Abhorrent to giving a woman a real choice? Abhorrent because it might turn a woman's heart and save a baby?

The Weight of a Mass . . .

Someone once shared with me their love of the story about the poor woman who bartered with the butcher for some meat in exchange for offering a Mass for him at her church. He laughed and said he would have to see that weighed up proper on his meat scale. She wrote down her promise of having a Mass said for him and set it on one side of the scale. He placed the pound of meat he promised her if it carried the same weight as the Mass she offered in exchange. Since most of you have probably heard this story, the scale immediately went all the way down . . . on the side of the slip of paper with the promised Mass. The weight of the Mass was 'heavier' than the butcher's piece of meat.

Interesting side note to this story. The person who told it to me later shared that she was very picky about when and where she went to Mass and, even more especially, who was celebrating the Mass. Needless to say, I didn't often see her at daily Mass. This has gone on for over ten years and I often wonder . . . Who are we, mere humans, to decide which Mass rates our attendance and which ones can we decide to avoid because they don't meet a personal criteria. If we truly believe in our Faith and the weight of a single Mass, wouldn't any Mass offered within the correct Rubrics be heavier than any materialistic thing or event? Wouldn't we be judging what only God can judge when we decide a Mass isn't worthy of our attendance?

It often makes me sad when it comes to mind. How does that provide an example to our children? If we pick and chose the Mass we will attend, our children might end up picking and chosing not to go at all . . . because we have minimized the majority of Masses in hopes of finding a perfect one each time. The heart of all Masses is perfect. The man made flaws and liberal antics don't take away from it. And doubting the validity of a Mass based on personal preference of the celebrant is surely a sin against God's Gift to us.

Over the years, we have run into some interesting celebrations of the Mass. Yes, my children have been exposed to these bumps in the liturgical road. It hasn't changed their mind about their Faith. It has given us a lot of good conversation starters and they have learned to overlook the 'stuff' and concentrate on what matters.

A Departure from Quilting . . .

I learned to crochet when I was about seven years old. In fact, I take the credit or discredit for the mini skirt! Why? I was learning while I crocheted a skirt for my doll. Being of an active nature, the newness of the skill soon faded yet I still had rounds and rounds to go in order to modestly cover my beloved doll. I got as far as an inch or two above her knee and before my mother could intervene, I declared the skirt done and snipped the yarn. The first mini skirt!

The pictures above are my crocheted granny squares of a more current generation! I've gotten almost 30 completed and just need another ten before I can start putting them together. Maturity and/or old age has taught me one thing . . . weave in the loose threads as I go along because I will be very glad of this fact when they are all done! Hey, this afghan is sort of like a quilt in that I'm putting together squares!

Progress?

Well, pictures don't always tell the whole story. A first glance would tell you that our little stray friend, Howl, is warming up to my daughter. Reality? She has a fistful of bacon bits which seem to help overcome fear in cats! Go figure on that, huh?