The Joy of Nature

It's been lovely outside the past several days, and we've been making the most of it. I am fairly newly (8.5 weeks) pregnant with our second blessing, and the good weather has allowed me to sit outside and rest, camera in hand, as my almost three-year-old runs around discovering anew all the wonders God provides him in his own front yard every spring.

We've been planting flowers, and he's happy to dig into the dirt with a shovel and help me gently pat the earth down over the tender roots of the plants. My neighbor even let him help with her large garden, and he did a great job!






Our neighborhood, like many in our area, has been completely invaded by caterpillars this year. I've never seen so many! The kids are all having a blast, picking them up, letting them wiggle all over their hands and arms, and trying to keep them as "pets" in plastic containers with a few leaves and some holes for air. We adults had been talking fondly about the possiblity of so many butterflies later in the season, but a friend who is more educated about nature than I am informed me today that the fantastic, furry, yellow-and-black caterpillars that have suddenly appeared in every nook and cranny of our town will soon become plain old moths, and they'll destroy our trees if we're not careful. I love our beautiful Thundercloud plum tree, so I won't be as enthusiastic about the caterpillars hanging around here anymore. But I did get some great pictures of my son "discovering" a caterpillar:






It is so thrilling to watch his eyes widen with each new experience and to see the smile on his face when he digs into something new -- quite literally, in the case of gardening! Though parenting at this sometimes difficult age (he'll be three in June) presents many challenges, the rewards of watching one's child explore the world with such eagerness and innocence are more than worth the trouble.

Meatless Meals Week 3

Week 2 got buried in the mess that is daily life -- namely, my neighbor had to take her 4 month old to the emergency room and left her three year old with us. My son and her son had fish sticks, my husband and I had tortellini out of a bag that I would not make again and took no pictures of because it was not good and I wouldn't want to share that with others.

But last night, we ate well.



LEMON PEPPER GRILLED TROUT

Ingredients:
2 fish fillets (I used trout, you could use almost any white fish or even salmon)
1 lemon
Olive oil
Lemon Pepper
Parsley (fresh or dried)

Directions:
Preheat broiler at 500 degrees. Place fish on non-stick broiler pan or heat-resistant baking sheet flesh side up. Rub fillets with olive oil until just coated but not dripping. Slice one lemon crosswise into 1/2 inch slices. Place 4 slices on the pan alongside the fish. Squeeze the rest of the slices over the fish, letting the juice run, and discard. Sprinkle lemon pepper and parsley over the fish and lemon slices -- how much to put on varies with how much flavor you want.

Broil fish and lemon slices with oven door slightly ajar for 5-10 minutes or until fish is opaque and flakes easily with a fork. Place roasted lemon slices on top of fish and serve with couscous and green veggie of your choice.

Meatless Fridays, Week One

Here is what we had for dinner tonight:



And here is the recipe (the usual rules apply about this being a meal for a couple with one small child, adjust as necessary for larger families):

Garlic Herb Pasta with Summer Squash

Ingredients:

1 box Garlic Herb Fettucine
1 large or two smaller yellow summer squash and/or zucchini (both work equally well and taste great together), cut in half lengthwise and then into 1/2 inch slices crosswise
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Salt (to taste)
Black pepper (to taste)
About 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil (I eyeball this every single time, you just need enough to thorougly coat the pasta after it is cooked and drained.)
1/3 cup grated parmesan or parmigiano reggiano cheese (whichever you have on hand, I like the latter the best for taste, though)
More salt (to taste)
More pepper (to taste)

Directions:

Boil pasta as directed on the package. Meanwhile, in a large nonstick pan heat the 2 tbsp olive oil over medium heat until hot but not smoking. Season the squash with salt and pepper and add to pan. Saute the squash, stirring frequently and adding salt and pepper to taste, until done to your liking (I like it to be very soft and have brown "grill marks" on it, but you may like it less cooked).

When pasta is done, drain in colander. Toss cooked, drained pasta in a large bowl with the squash, olive oil, salt, pepper, and grated cheese until everything is nicely mixed. Serve with a little extra grated cheese for garnish, and a side salad or breadsticks.


Enjoy!

Carnival of Meatless Recipes

Ruth at Just Another Day In Paradise is hosting a Carnival of Meatless Recipes for Lent. Catholics over age 14 are required to abstain from meat on Fridays during Lent, though many devout Catholics choose to abstain for the entire 40-day season or on additional days of penance. "Meat" includes all warm-blooded animals -- fish doesn't count. That's why you see the traditional "Friday Fish Fry" so many places -- back when EVERY Friday was a day of abstinence from meat, Catholics would get together for their weekly fish dinner. I bet it was fun!

Anyway, in the spirit of the Lenten season, I have a few meatless recipes I'd love to share. All recipes, unless noted, are portioned for 2 adults with leftovers or a single small child's meal, but can be multiplied as necessary for larger families.

Here is the first of what will be a weekly topic during Lent -- tonight's meatless meal, in honor of Ash Wednesday:

"Got Ashes?"

Black Bean and Guacamole Burritos with Spanish Rice

Ingredients:

For the Beans:
1 Can Black Beans (preferably organic), drained of water
About 1/2 tsp Chipotle Tabasco sauce (optional)
Chili powder (to taste)

For the Guacamole:
1 large ripe avocado
2 tbsp prepared salsa (mild or medium)
Salt (to taste)
Juice of 1/4 lime

1/2 cup shredded Mexican or Colby Jack cheese (to garnish)
2 flour tortillas (whole wheat are best)

For the Spanish Rice:
1 cup rice, prepared according to instructions
1 tbsp chili powder (adjust as necessary for taste)
1/2 tsp onion powder
1 can of diced tomatoes, drained of juice
Salt or seasoned salt (to taste)

Instructions:

Prepare 1 cup of dried rice according to package instructions. This should take about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, mix the drained beans with about 1/2 tsp tabasco and a couple of shakes of chili powder (depending on how much kick you'd like the beans to have -- you can add more if you need to. Heat the beans over medium heat, stirring frequently, until hot but not boiling, then turn down the heat to low or med-low, stirring occasionally.

For the guacamole, scoop the flesh of the avocado into a bowl and add salsa, lime juice, and some salt to taste. Using a fork or potato masher, mix the contents of the bowl until blended but still lumpy.

By the time you finish these two tasks, the rice should be done. Over very low heat, stir in the canned tomatoes, chili powder, onion powder and salt and/or seasoned salt. Stir until well blended and remove from heat.

Place tortillas between two paper towels, folding the corners of the towels underneath the tortillas. Warm in microwave for 15-20 seconds. Assemble burritos by scooping beans into each tortilla followed by guacamole and shredded cheese. Serve alongside spanish rice.

Yummy!



This meal is a big favorite of our 2.5 year old. The portions listed above are just enough to feed my husband and me with a small portion left over for the kiddo, who is a light eater. We serve him just beans, rice, guacamole and cheese in a bowl with a spoon and a tortilla on the side, ripped up in little pieces for dipping. It's less messy that way, and what toddler doesn't enjoy dipping?

Large families will want to at least double this recipe.

Anatomy of a Playroom

Some of us at 4real are discussing how best to finish a basement, and the conversation has turned to organization and storage. Having just finished creating a playroom for my son out of half of our basement family room, I thought I would share the ways in which I chose to showcase and organize his multitude of toys and educational "thingies."

Here is an overall view of the play area:


In the lower right corner, you can see the sofa that divides the "bowling alley" (as I call the family room because it runs the entire width of our townhouse yet is probably less than 10 feet deep) in half with the white bookshelf backed up to it -- that's serving as the 4th "wall" of the play space. I took the picture standing in the TV watching area, which contains the couch, a coffee table and the TV unit (among other clutter I'm choosing not to show you at the moment).

Here is a closer look at the toy/book storage and reading area:


I found this great organizational shelving unit at Michael's Arts and Crafts for $49.99. A lot of my friends and acquaintances have similar shelves to organize kids' toys, but I like this one because it has book storage in the top, and we love books around this house!

The fish was a gift from my best friend's husband, an avid (and I mean AVID) fisherman. The painting is a rendering of the Ark by my 2 1/2 year old son. Tucked into the space beside the bookshelf is a collapsible play tunnel and two huge art and construction paper pads.

Here is the kitchen and art table area:


Here is a closer look at the art table area, which also contains a small home altar shelf with kid-friendly (read: wooden) rosaries and some favorite images of Our Lord and Our Lady:


And here is the shelf backed up to the sofa where we keep toys that are too big for the toy shelf, along with a small drawer unit for art supplies (excuse the mess on top of the bookshelf, the other half of this room is very much a work in progress and the mess is spilling over):


Hopefully this will help someone.

Elegant Simplicity: In which I show you the tidy parts of my bedroom, but not the pile of laundry over by the door.

A while back, I read an article by Elizabeth Foss on Marian loveliness, which was fabulous and led me in turn to her website and forums, which have given me an incredible education over the past month or so. The women who post on the 4Real forums are just wonderful, faithful examples of virtue and Marian Christianity, and my family has been blessed by my explorations there.

Anyway, many of the things I've read there have been catalysts for my overhauling my futile, ridiculous attempts at having a "show home" and instead focusing on having an inviting, obviously Catholic home, decorated with love and diligence and not necessarily oodles of cash.

Lately, there has been much talk of "Simple Elegance" in the home, and the ladies who blog came up with a Festival of Loveliness to share some of the things they've done to make a beautiful Catholic home a reality, no matter what the budget or skill level.

I had already been thinking of redecorating our bedroom because in the three years we've lived here, I have not yet found a decorating scheme I really like. I would buy (over and over again) whatever struck my fancy at the local shops, and try again and again to make it all work together. I must have wasted a thousand dollars on bedding sets, cheap wall art, fake flowers, and assorted trinkets to try to make our bedroom lovely. All I got for the money was a headache.

Inspired by the ladies at 4Real, I headed to the Catholic Shop. All I knew is that I wanted a statue of Mary. When I saw this one:

everything else fell into place. The serene, loving expression on her face and the sweet way she holds her Son represent everything I want my home and motherhood to be. I set her on my low dresser and she's the last thing I see before turning off the light and the first thing I see in the morning. What an inspiration!

I asked Mary (the real Mary, not the statue, obviously) to pray for me and help me make my home worthy of her Son since we so dearly want Him to be present here. I suddenly started coming up with ideas that made sense, and finding bargains right and left on things that would transform our room into a true haven of rest for my husband and me.

Here are some pictures .... first up, the whole room (well, as much as will fit in the viewfinder of my camera -- my dresser with the Mary statue, an artistic photo of my wedding bouquet and an Italian vase is out of view as I stood right next to it, up against the wall, to take this photo):

Note the white matelasse bedding - this was on clearance at Pottery Barn Outlet during the tax-free weekend. What a steal. It may seem stupid to have all white bedding when we own a salt-and-pepper tabby cat and are blessed with an often-sticky two-year-old, until you remember the secret weapon for white laundry: bleach. You can ALWAYS get whites back to white. Not so with other colors. Long live white! Also, it's kind of nice to know the second the bedding is dirty -- our previous bedding allowed the cat hair and assorted smudges to sort of blend in, which is gross, when you really think about it.

(The pictures above the bed are of ornate doorways in Europe. I like to have pictures of doorways in my house because it psychologically makes my townhouse, which only has windows at the front and back, seem more open.)

Next up, the reading corner:

This is a theoretical reading corner. No one has ever actually read here. The chair alternately holds clean laundry and/or the cat. Reading is really done in our bed.

This is my nightstand. Note the books, which are not anywhere near the faux "reading" corner. I read a lot of books. There is a stack of another five books on the floor, not shown here. The flowers are fake, which puts the "simple" in Simple Elegance because I kill real plants. The mirrored case holds my rosary. The clock, while adorable, is a cheapie $8 Timex from K-mart. Though it looks like it should ring like an old fashioned alarm clock, it has an annoying electronic beep for an alarm. Just below the open shelf are two drawers which hold more books and magazines (of course), as well as my thermometer, a notepad and a pen for NFP purposes.

Here is another view of my nightstand:

I highly recommend the handy 6-outlet adapter you see in the background there. I can have the reading lamp, baby monitor, laptop computer AND cell phone charger all plugged in at once. Oh, joy!

Here, you can see my husband's night stand:


Same deal - books (like mine, mostly faith-related), pictures of family, and he also has the CD player, which I use to play either books-on-CD or soft, spiritual music depending on whether I'm relaxing or working in there.

Here is the top of my husband's dresser, which is one of the most special spots in the house for me:


I don't know if you can see in the small picture, but there are pictures of both sweet and important moments in our family -- our wedding day, the day of my baptism, my husband's first father's day, some very cute pictures of our son -- and then two other very important family members in the form of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. I keep my nicest perfumes off to the side, and in the center of it all is a beautiful Crucifix that I found after I had already bought the Mary statue, and when I got it home realized they are complementary to each other, from the same line (Roman, Inc.).


I like how realistic it is, without being too graphic (i.e. bloody). I like to pray in front of it and it helps me to truly see Jesus as man, especially when I turn every once in a while to face the similarly realistic statue of His mother holding Him as a babe-in-arms. Those two inexpensive little pieces of art have done much for my prayer life in the past month or so.

So there you have it. My bedroom. I have tried to make it a sanctuary, and I feel like I've done a good job. The entire room is focused on family and faith and tranquility. The colors were chosen to be soothing and seasonless, so that they'll feel just as inviting mid-summer as in the dead of winter. The fabrics on the bed are high quality to the point where every night when I get into my bed, I think, "This is what heaven must feel like," followed by "Wow, heaven will be BETTER than this. Amazing." (The sheets that will make you meditate on heaven, incidentally, are Pure Beech sateen, $80 for a Queen set at Bed Bath and Beyond. My husband usually balks at those kinds of prices, but when he touched these, he told me to go buy two more sets. They are incredible.) Most of all, I've tried to make the room reflect us, and it does that. My husband would hate anything too overtly feminine or floral, so this works for us. He loves it as much as I do.

Aedes de Philothea

I have to confess -- I borrowed the idea from Aedes de Venustas. I know it's horrible Latin, but it sounds much prettier than "Domus Philothea," which as far as this Latin non-speaker can tell, would have been more correct. In any case, I'm claiming artistic license.

What does it mean? Roughly, "House of a soul in love with God." This could mean my body or my actual house, and this blog will cover both. Boring as that sounds, I hope it will be useful to someone (namely me) to chronicle and catalog my efforts to bring order to my life and home as a twenty-five year old Catholic wife and mother of a two year old.

I'll be sharing all the little things I do day by day to turn my house (and my own self) from a den of chaos, clutter and dirty laundry into a serene, ordered and holy environment in which my husband and I can find solace and in which our son and any other children God chooses to bless us with can grow in health and peace.

Those who visit Aedes de Philothea will find prayers, links to resources, examples of how I use those resources, photos, calendars, shopping lists, recipes and all manner of random thoughts on creating a sense of holy calm and order in one's self and in one's home.

Welcome!