Potatoes Au Gratin

Potatoes Au Gratin

Ingredients:
8 potatoes, peeled and sliced
1 onion, sliced
salt and pepper
6 T butter
6 T flour
1 tsp. salt
4 c. milk
3 c. Colby Jack cheese
butter

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butter a 9x13 casserole dish.

In a saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in flour and salt and whisk constantly for one minute. Stir in the milk. Cook until mixture has thickened. Add in cheese and stir until all of the cheese has melted.

Layer half of the potatoes in the casserole dish. Layer onion slices on top of the potatoes. Top with remaining potatoes. Pour cheese sauce over the top.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 1 1/2 hours. About half way through, remove foil and top with cheese.

We served the potatoes with Train Wreck Pork Chops and buttered carrots, and sweet tea, of course. ;)

Pax Christi,

Homemade Pizza Dough

After my post on baking for the freezer, I had quite a few requests for my pizza dough recipe. So, after much delay, here it is!

Ingredients:

1 c. warm water
1 tsp salt
3 c. flour
1 tbsp yeast

Directions:

I prepare the dough just as I would for making bread. I use my kitchen aid mixer for the kneading. Let the dough rise, and then roll it out into shape, then let rise again for about 25 minutes.

Once the dough has risen the second time, I do a prebake at 375 degrees for 7-10 minutes. Once cooled, wrap for the freezer. I used two layers of plastic wrap and a layer of aluminum foil.

When ready to use, simply pull from the freezer, cover with toppings, and bake for 20 minutes.

For this pizza I made a pizza sauce with diced tomatoes, garlic and Italian seasonings. I topped it with colby jack cheese and squash and zucchini that we had in the freezer from last year's garden. It was fantastic!

Homemade pizza is quickly becoming a Friday night tradition in our home. We abstain from eating meat on Fridays, so I've been looking for yummy, and simple, meatless meals.

Blessings,

 

Homemade Pretzels and Cheese Sauce

Jacob and I thought it would be great fun to make soft pretzels! We always enjoy working together in the kitchen, and soft pretzels are a delicious treat...so it was a win-win!

 Pretzels

 Ingredients:
1 1/4 c. warm water
1 tsp. yeast
1/4 c. brown sugar
3 1/2-4 c. flour

1/2 c. baking soda
3 c. hot water

coarse kosher salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Dissolve the yeast in warm water. Add in the brown sugar and flour and mix well. Let rise till doubled in size.

Roll out dough into ropes. To shape into pretzels, I took the ends and twisted them together.

Add baking soda to hot water. Dip pretzels into this mixture. Then sprinkle with kosher salt.

Bake for 7-8 minutes.

Cheese Sauce

Ingredients:
2 T butter
2 T flour
1 tsp. salt
1 c. milk
1 c. shredded cheese (I use colby jack or cheddar)
1 tsp. prepared mustard
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper (optional, but we like a little kick)

Directions:
In a medium saucepan, melt butter. Mix in flour and salt. Stir continuously until simmering. Slowly pour in milk. Continue stirring over medium heat until thickened. Stir in cheese and mustard. Continue stirring until all of the cheese has melted. Serve warm.

We will definitely be making these again soon!

In Jesu et Maria,

      

Corpus Christi

The Feast of Corpus Christi is a Solemnity celebrating the Real Presence in the Eucharist, and the body and blood of Jesus Christ. After Mass there is a procession of the Blessed Sacrament. The point of the 
procession is taking Jesus Christ out of the Church and to the people. 

I love these ways of a practical, literal showing of our faith... 

The Flower Carpets. The boys were amazed with their beauty!

 Thank you God, for the gift of Your Son. And for the gift of holy Communion. May we never take forgranted Your love for us!

In the Love of Christ,

Making a Monstrance

We love celebrating major Feast Days with a craft project, or special recipe. It helps to reinforce the reason we are celebrating, and builds a love of our faith in the youngest of hearts.

For the Feast of Corpus Christi, we made a monstrance. We took paper doilies and painted them with gold paint pens. We cut the base of the monstrance out of gold paper. For the Blessed Sacrament, we took white craft foam and cut a circle, then used the gold paint pen to draw on a cross. We used rhinestone stickers to decorate the monstrance.

Joseph was very careful with his paint pen. He wanted his monstrance to be perfect.

The boys chose James' finished monstrance to be on display in the dining room for our Feast Day supper. He was so pleased!

We also made a "Happy Feast Day!" banner to hang in the dining room. I look forward to using it for many Feast Days to come!

Love in Christ,
 

Parish Carnival

Mass followed by face painting, pony rides, games, and a bounce house! Could we have asked for a more wonderful day?!

I wasn't sure if my little two would actually ride the ponies, but, much to my surprise, they loved it!

The boys loved having their faces painted. Jacob was a puppy, Joshua a bear (of course), Joseph a monkey, and James a tiger. And next year John David will join in the fun...I wonder what animal he'll choose?

What a fun time together!

In Christo Rege et Maria Regina,

Trinity Sunday

In honor of Trinity Sunday, we decided to make a Trinity Triangle. The boys love making crafts of treats, or doing other hands on activities that encourage their faith!

We used red for the Holy Spirit, Blue for the Father, and Yellow for the Son. On one side of the craft stick we wrote the Names in English and on the other we wrote in Latin. The boys have been learning the Signum Crucis (Sign of the Cross) in Latin, so they were quite excited to include it in their craft!

To God be the Glory!,