On the First Day of Great Lent

Here we are, the first day of Great Lent! No joke, it feels like just yesterday I was baking kulichi and now we are on the path to Pascha once more in what feels like no time at all.

I love Great Lent more and more each year.

This year I decided to meal plan for Great Lent in a new way. I took a calendar for each month of Great Lent, beginning with the end of February and into April, and tried to roughly plan out lunch and dinner for each day. Before you think that this sounds totally crazy, I will explain - I have kept things very simple. I decided to make lunch a soup each day. My husband tends to get very bored eating the same soup too often in a row, so I maxed it out at 3 days in a row for one soup. I am freezing whatever leftovers there are so that we can repeat them a little bit later in Great Lent without having to make a new batch of soup.

This week, my husband is not eating oil products, so that simplified our menu a great deal. I made my grandmother's Normandy Vegetable Soup and am sharing the recipe below. To go along with our soup I made an Artisan loaf of bread this morning which is already half gone. If needed I will make a new loaf tomorrow (I'll probably have to do that).

Later this week, I'll be making an oil-free bean soup which is a first time recipe for me. If it is any good, I'll share it later on. Tomorrow I also plan to make lentil chili, a new-to-me recipe as well. Will share if it is worth it or not.

In the meantime, here is the Normandy Vegetable Soup recipe.

Normandy Vegetable Soup

2 lb. bag of frozen Normandy vegetable blend
2 potatoes, peeled and diced
1 parsnip, peeled and diced

Pour all the vegetables together into a large soup pot. Cover with JUST ENOUGH water to cover. (I almost always pour more water than necessary and end up annoyed with myself later). Boil. Let this boil until all the vegetables are soft. Add in spices as you wish. Usually I add in paprika, garlic powder, and enough salt - can always add more later. Once the vegetables are soft, take a hand/immersion blender and puree the entire soup. It should be pretty thick still. Add in any creamer of your choice - almond, rice, soy milk, or non-dairy coffee creamer. Just enough to make it to the consistency of your desire. Serve with croutons if desired.

Note: You can also use vegetable broth if you'd like for the veggies. I tend to always use water because I make it on the days my husband is not eating oil products. You can make this non-fasting easily as well and use half and half to thicken the soup instead, and use chicken broth of course!

On Motherhood

Motherhood is a great many things, and as all mamas know, sometimes it's just plain hard.

These last few days haven't been easy - my older kids have been overtired and crabby, and the baby has been going through a wonder week, making her more fussy than usual as well. Some days are just about survival - leaving all the housework and other type of 'work' for just making sure that you don't lose your cool and make sure you just meet the kids' needs. So, all week I've been in survival mode (not to mention eating many chocolate chip cookies) :-).

A few things to share today.

Speaking of survival mode... Today, the baby screamed all morning long. She'd fall asleep, I'd put her down, she'd wake up and scream again...etc. It was a long morning. Finally, she fell asleep for good and I fed the two older kids lunch and got them upstairs, in "bed." (I say in "bed" because my older son doesn't actually sleep these days but instead wreaks havoc in his room. It's better this way than for him to stay downstairs though, because then, I'd lose my sanity...just need that quiet few minutes to have a cup of tea in peace). So I got the kids in bed, and looked around at my messy kitchen wondering what the heck I'm going to eat for lunch. Just then, I saw someone come to the door. It was a fellow mom from church and she brought me a HUGE pot of Russian kasha with fried onions and mushrooms, just the way I love to eat it. I was so happy I could cry. I shoved 3 bowls into my mouth followed by a cup of tea and 2 chocolate chip cookies.
The point is...if you know a Mama who you know has a newborn and probably a crazy day every day, bring her a meal and she will really, really appreciate it and love you forever!!! I can't wait to repay her in some way or just do this for another Mama when I feel up to it.

Next. I have found an incredible Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe for Lent. It is so good. I can't stop eating these (which probably means I shouldn't make another batch, haha!) For all you chocolate lovers... Here's the link.

Next...Someone posted this on Facebook today and it is SO appropriate for the morning I had today, but it's also great for all moms to read....For every mom who feels envious of another mom's "season in life" right now. Don't be envious, and here's why!

Lastly...I've been struggling to come up with a daily routine for a while now, since the 3rd baby was born. I'm always too tired at the end of the day to work on my routine and I realized the other day that I'm probably just trying too hard. By the time I ever get to write down a perfect routine in a perfect spreadsheet format, my kids will probably all be in college.

So, I've started doing something a bit different and less complicated. I happen to have a great planner (an Erin Condren planner - check her out if you need one!) and I have not used it since the start of the year. Finally I have picked it up again and wrote down all the important appointments and dates we have going on for the next few weeks. Now, I also started sitting down with my nightly cup of tea and planning out my next day (kind of like what I did when I was teaching). It's really important for kids to have structure to their day, and I have been feeling guilty that I am not giving them any activities to do and am always just telling them to "play." My older son is 3 now and I have read and also have noticed that at 3, kids really need help coming up with what to do instead of just throwing them in their playroom telling them to 'play.' He's a  really smart kid  and if he isn't given a task to do, he starts acting rambunctious (climbing on furniture and jumping down, spilling water into drawers, trying to fix things in the house...). But I can't blame him, because he's just being a boy and he needs to feel occupied at all times. So in my planner, I've started jotting down activities for the next day. If I need help coming up with an activity, I look through several books on toddler activities, or on Pinterest. Some things are really simple though, like writing a birthday card for an aunt or uncle, playing hide-and-seek, things like that. It's hard in the moment sometimes to come up with a plan of what to do, and writing things down the night in advance has really helped me a lot this week. It's one simple way to make an already crazy day just a bit less chaotic.

In addition to writing down what I want to do with the kids, I've written down a few things I would like to accomplish that day, too. In between each activity with the kids, I try (if the baby allows) to get in 15 minutes here and there to work on one of my tasks. This makes things a bit less crazy, again. By the way - the timer can really be your best friend. I love to set my timer and pick a chore to do and work on it for just the time I've set on my timer. You'd be surprised what you can accomplish in just 15 or 20 minutes! I started doing this for almost everything - for reading my books, for cleaning, for hobbies, etc, because otherwise, it just feels like there's just not enough time for anything during the day.

Today's quote: "If you want to bring someone onto the right path, to teach and advise him, then you must humble yourself first and talk to the person with a lot of love. He will accept your advice, for he will feel that it is given with love. But when you want to have your way at all costs, then you will achieve nothing. That is how resistance builds up in the child." -Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica

A Lenten Recipe

It's been quiet around here (other than the normal, every day chaos, that is) this week, which is usual for the first week of Great Lent. Tonight, I'm sharing a quick, easy, oil-free Lenten recipe, perfect for even the strictest of fasting days (and really yummy, too!) This one is kid-friendly because it's creamy and the kids can't see what went into the soup ;-).

Lenten Creamy Vegetable Soup

Ingredients:
1 bag of Normandy OR California blend vegetables (from the frozen aisle of the supermarket)
4 potatoes, peeled and cut into circles

Throw all the above vegetables into a pot and cover with water - just enough to cover the veggies. Bring to a boil and let it simmer until the vegetables are really soft. Add in salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, and if you have, Vegeta (a European spice that we have around here). Using an immersion blender, puree the soup until creamy. If the soup is too thick, add water until you reach the desired consistency. (When it is not Lent, add in some half-n-half, yum!)

Basically, you can throw in whatever else you'd like to the mix, but this combo is the favorite around here.
Enjoy!

Preparing for Great Lent

Growing up, I really dreaded the period of Great Lent because it seemed to drag on forever. Life always seemed to be "on hold" during this serious time, plus, I always felt extra tired from the fasting menu and I just couldn't wait for Pascha to come. In the last decade or so however, I have grown to love and even look forward to this period. I now get excited to put aside worldly cares, read spiritual books and prepare not only physically and mentally for Pascha, but most importantly, spiritually. Preparing as much as possible, in the proper way, makes Holy Week, Pascha, and Bright Week so much more meaningful.

In my experience, Great Lent takes on a whole new meaning for mothers. Gone (temporarily) is the chance to stand in church on the first week, listen attentively to the Great Canon, and let the feeling of serious prayer soak in. Children tugging at a Mama's skirt, asking if the service is over yet, racing through the church or squabbling with a sibling - dealing with each of these situations becomes the mother's prayer year-round, but especially during Great Lent, when temptations seem to be at their highest. It can sometimes seem pointless to even be at the services because our children are distracting others (and us) from prayer, embarrassing us, and making it impossible for us Mamas to get anything out of the service. It is a frustrating and trying service each time. But really, we can and should take this opportunity to challenge ourselves and not to let our babies get to us. Instead, we should let them guide us and help us become just a little tiny bit better during this holy period. If we can cross ourselves each time we're having a difficult moment, God will help us get through each temptation and show our kids what the proper Lenten attitude should be.

Having said that, this is the first year that my husband and I are going to be responsible in preparing two toddlers for Pascha. The little one is just two months old so she is going to be a little young to do anything other than be present at services. I have been thinking of age-appropriate ways to help an almost-2 year old and a 3-year old participate in the fast and prepare for the Feast of Feasts. I'm not very experienced at this yet, but I have managed to come up with a few little ideas, many of which I have seen from other mothers and am adapting to my own style.

Here's what I'm planning on doing this year with the kids:

1) Make a Paschal countdown. I will take a basket and fill it with  46 plastic eggs (40 days of Lent + 6 days of Holy Week), and each morning after prayer, I will have the kids remove one egg from the basket. The emptier our basket gets, the closer we'll be to Pascha. (Originally I planned that we'd add a labelled egg each day to the basket, but then I realized it might be difficult to explain to the kids how to know that Pascha is approaching. They're still too little for a "count-up.")

2) I have selected one Paschal song (new to me as well!) that I will work on teaching the older two kids. On Pascha, we can hopefully perform it to family and friends (maybe even to the Bishop if they are brave enough). I'm also going to teach Lazar (hopefully) a poem about Pascha. In addition, I would like to teach them the Russian and Serbian melodies of Hristos Voskrese (this should not be too hard because singing comes easy to these two).

3) Lately with my pregnancy and now a newborn in the house, the kids have been watching more tv than I ever hoped they'd watch (only an hour a day, but still too much for my liking). Even though they do not quite understand what it means to "fast" yet, I would feel better cutting down their tv time to perhaps just weekends, if possible.

Things I'd like to do personally:

1) Read, read and read (spiritual reading, that is). I have been reading more than usual lately thanks to my nursing sessions which require me to sit in one spot and not get up...but still, there are the distractions of a cellphone, tv, etc and I would like to cut all of that out and use my nursing sessions strictly for reading. I'd like to ideally get in some extra reading time at night when the kids are asleep as well.

2) Go to confession and Communion each weekend. (Self-explanatory).

3) Take on a new, non-screen-related hobby. I'm choosing sewing! I've had a machine for over a year now, and have yet to use it simply due to fear of failure. I really need a good old-fashioned niche, and hopefully sewing can fill that void for me. (plus, what could be more fun than being able to sew new things for my babies?)

4) CLEAN our house!!! I'm going to deep-clean the house as best I can, taking on one room at a time. With 3 little ones under foot, it isn't going to be an easy task but I am hoping to create small windows of time each morning and evening for this job. One thing this includes me doing is going through all our clothes and getting rid of what we do not need. We have way too much of everything!

5) Cut out secular music and TV for the period of Lent. (This is something I have always done and really enjoy, actually.)

Today's Quote: "Are you fighting against your passions? Fight, fight, and be good soldiers of Christ! Do not give in to evil and do not be carried away by the weakness of the flesh. During the time of temptation, flee to the Physician, crying out with the Holy Church, our mother: 'O God, number me with the thief, the harlot, and the publican (i.e. with the repentant), and save me!'" -St. Anatoly of Optina