Prayer Meeting at Sue’s (Wilkins Prayer Group)

CSJA Associates in the Monroeville area have three prayer groups that meet once a month that they could join. They are: Paula's Prayer Group, the St. Bernadette Convent Prayer Group, and the Wilkins Prayer Group that meets at Sue's house.

I have been giving you handouts from the first two groups in the past and this time I am sharing these ones conscientiously prepared for us by Natalie during our meeting yesterday at Sue's house. Sue and her husband John have generously opened their house and hearts to us for these monthly meetings these past few years.

We started with a prayer shown below which especially is uplifting during times when we have to deal with challenging unexpected circumstances in our lives.

Natalie also shared an inspiring article on Holy Doubt with a focus on St. Mother Teresa and her struggle with it. This piece came from the Maryknoll magazine.

The next handout shown below was taken from the following book by Richard Rohr and deals on how our responses to the outer world become our reality.

We also listened to the readings of the lyrics of two songs below. I happened to find the YouTube video of Kathy Sherman's song which I am sharing with you.

We ended with the following prayer from a Meditation book.

Let us pray for one another. God is good and merciful. He or She always takes care of us.

Thanks for responding to the invitation to be one with one another as we  read and contemplate the thoughts in these handouts. Have a good day.

Thanks Natalie and Sue.

My Proactive Pittsburgh

Take a bow. From smog
filled skies and murky rivers
a masterpiece now.

Seeking God

To seek God is not
to know about him but to
know him. Thus love him.


Note: Inspired by Dom Bede Griffiths ' reflections.

Stronger

Never know our strengths
till we rise tho' slowly from
our weakest moments.

Slow Cooker Chicken Satay

I recently watched a movie on TV, Yours, Mine and Ours, that featured a story of two families that combined to form a 19 member one by marriage.  In one scene the parents were in a hurry to go to a party and the mom granted permission to one of the older children to have friends over. Well the parents did not know it was going to be a wild huge party. The younger kids of the bunch stayed in a room with huge bins of popcorn, chocolate  candies and other goodies provided by the older siblings to keep them away from the party. At the end of the party, one of the younger kids is shown near comatose saying dreamily the word chocolate.

I do have problems sometimes figuring what to give my grandchildren to eat when they visit. They can be very picky and unpredictable at times. I am sometimes tempted to just give them chocolate which I am sure they will eat. One weekend, to my surprise they ate a dish for dinner that I served them with gusto. It was chicken satay. Could it be the peanut butter in the dish? Or they were just hungry from playing in the sandbox? Who knows but this chicken recipe is a keeper. Easy and delicious. And you know already it is kid friendly.

Slow Cooker Chicken Satay

Adapted from this site

• 1 lb chicken breast
• 1 clove garlic, smashed
• 1 1/2 tbsp peanut butter
• 1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1/2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1/2 tbsp sweet chili sauce
• 1 tsp garlic chili paste
• 1/2 cup coconut milk from can
• 1 tbsp cornstarch in 1\2 cup water
• 1 cup baby carrots

Place all the ingredients in the slow cooker.  Cook for 3 hours at high setting or 6 hours at low.  I cooked mine in an Aroma Brand rice cooker/slow cooker for 2 hours at slow cooker setting.

Serve with rice and steamed vegetables.

Open Up

Do not be contained.
Like wheat open up and share
yourself to others.

Thirst For Inner Peace Quenched

By stopping to drink
from the fountain of strength that's
always within you.

Note: Photo taken at the St. Peter's Square during Pope Francis' blessing from the window of his papal apartment at noon, Sunday, August 5, 2018.

Paula’s Prayer Meeting August 9, 2018

Sr. Paula  prepared the wonderful handout that is shown above for our prayer meeting on August 9, 2018.   She played the song "As Long As I Am In the World" by Kathy Sherman, CSJ to go with the theme during our meditation. Click on the YouTube video below to listen to this song as you reflect on the message of the handout.

She also read a poem which is very similar to the one below.  It is about sharing our light to the world. She also reminded us to not forget the two words in the phrase "love others as yourself".

The Lamp Post – https://joysofjoel.wordpress.com/

Keep the faith
and make it stronger

Not by just keeping it inside
or holding on to it

Truly when it is shared
that you see and feel the light.

And when you see the rays
that reached beyond yourself

You’ll be awed
for it doesn’t only light your path

But also gives meaning
to the purpose of your being

We are all one
regardless where we come from

Where we’ll be going
and how we’ll be leaving.

Slow Cooker Fried Chicken

Can you really prepare fried chicken in the slow cooker, I had always wondered? Will I be happy with the result?  I researched the internet of ways to do it and settled on following  the one on this site. I did some tweaking as usual and here is the recipe.

The verdict: the result is very close to oven baked chicken that has been breaded. I did not use butter to drizzle over the top before cooking that would have made the coating crisper. It still tasted good, thanks to the seasoned salt that was sprinkled on top before cooking. I looked at the ingredients of this type of salt and I did not see MSG listed as one of them to my relief.

My husband gave this two thumb up. So there you are. You can indeed prepare fried chicken in the slow cooker and be happy with the result.

Slow Cooker Fried Chicken

Adapted from this site.

• 8 chicken legs or 3 six oz skinless, boneless chicken breasts
• 1 egg
• 1\4 cup milk with 1 tsp vinegar or buttermilk
• 1/2 cup flour
• 3/4 cup Panko bread crumbs
• 1/2 tsp each black pepper, coriander, cumin, garlic powder, salt
• Seasoned salt to taste

Spray the crockpot bowl with cooking spray. 

Whisk the egg and milk in a shallow bowl. In another shallow container mix the flour and spices except seasoned salt and in another place the Panko crumbs.

Dip the chicken pieces one at a time in the egg milk mixture, then the flour spice mixture, then the egg mixture again Then dredge the chicken in Panko crumbs.

Place the chicken in the slow cooker  side by side and  sprinkle with seasoned salt to taste.

Slow cook for three to four hours at high setting. I used a Crock Pot brand slow cooker  casserole.

Maddie's Milestone Cakes, It's All About the Memories

Maddie has just turned five this July. To recall every year of her life so far, I have used in this blog post the cakes that were created to mark the milestones. After all, it is all about the memories.

The Reveal
It was during the Christmas holidays in 2012 when we got a call from my daughter, Wendy, that they were expecting a baby. I screamed with joy of course. They decided not to open the letter from the doctor as to the gender of the baby and instead turned in the envelope with the reveal to Oakmont Bakery. The color inside the cake would indicate whether it was a boy or girl. During the small reveal party I noticed that only my other daughter, Bettina, and I were screaming with joy when the icing between the layers was pink. My son in law, Matt, his brother and his father were quiet. Were they disappointed it was not a boy that could join them when they scream over hockey games on TV? My daughter's mother in law told me they'll get over it. Note her family has been an all boy affair with her having only two sons while mine was all girls with only two daughters.

The Baby Shower
The cake was created by a friend from the  fitness club, Curves, I belonged to. It had buttercream icing  and topped with a baby carriage. Beautiful! Bettina and I made souvenir paper baby shoes by hand even when I could hardly sit because of a recent knee surgery.

First Birthday
Maddie was lovable. Still had a healthy appetite and was chubby. For her birthday, I made pistachio cupcakes using  polka dotted pink cupcake paper holders I bought from Tuesday Morning. I was a fan at that time of both cupcakes and Tuesday Morning where I bought stuff to decorate  the remodeled first floor of our house. I delivered the cupcakes to their house and they made the number one figure with the cupcakes.

Second Birthday
I was told not to bring cupcakes to her daycare to celebrate her birthday since the icing could be messy. I decided to make a butterscotch chip cookie cake  instead. For the theme, I imitated the cake made by Giant Eagle for the party held earlier that weekend at her house and also used the decorations, Elmo and his gang.

When I got to the daycare, they woke Maddie up from her nap. She did not understand why I was there  and was still recovering from her deep nap. She could not wait to  eat the cookie cake and was also pointing to the door indicating she wanted to go home. Well she had to wait for her classmates to wake up, go to the bathroom and sing and eat the cookie cake with her before I took her home. She enjoyed the butterscotch chip cookie cake and ate it with gusto.

Third Birthday
This was the year of the pig for Maddie, the adorable Peppa Pig, which I made the theme of the cake. She had been watching Peppa Pig videos on YouTube and was enamored by this adorable character. I used the tiny plastic figurines of her little Peppa Pig and his family to decorate the cake. Maddie was very excited to blow the candles and relished the singing by her classmates and the whole hoopla. She finally got what it was all about and showed  her delight openly and unabashedly.

Fourth Birthday
When I arrived, Maddie was beaming but subdued, starting to show a little bit of shyness. This time I used Paw Patrol characters to top the cake. Her brother, Luca, who loves Paw Patrol too, was able to join us. Maddie's classmates were  chattery at this age and excited to recognize the characters on the cake.

Fifth Birthday
I had to decide what theme to use for the cake. As usual, I liked using little toys she played with to decorate the cake. Her Aunt Bettina loves buying her so called LOL Surprise toys. They come in round containers with dolls and accessories you detach from its walls and be surprised since they do not reveal what they will be on the wrapping. Thank God Maddie's collection of LOL dolls and accessories were stored in one bin or they would have been difficult to find among her other toys since they were so teeny weeny. I did have to dress some of the dolls to grace the cake because Maddie loved to dress and undress them. During the party, her girl classmates enthusiastically talked about their own LOL dolls and one even had one with her, a testament on how popular they are.

Maddie was beaming from ear to ear from the time she saw me waiting for them to go through their bathroom break to the time she blew the candles on her cake. She was not as talkative as her classmates though. She was able to blow all the candles by herself without any help though it took time. Yes my little Maddie is five and a big little girl ready for kindergarten. Her brother, Luca, joined us but reluctantly. Will I be starting this cookie cake tradition with him? Time will tell. He is one dimensional and just loves to play with one thing, little cars with moving wheels. That will make decorating the cake easy or maybe not.

Life goes on and children particularly grow fast. I find it pays to keep the memories of how they look and what they love to do and play with every year. I also love recalling how they react to the celebration every year and observe changes. I find the milestone cookie cakes I have done every year help keep these  details alive. I  actually had warm feelings as I reminisced as I was writing this blog post. Priceless! I am grateful. And one more thing, a food for thought below.

On. Holy Ground

On Holy Ground. Feel
the past, hope for the future,
give thanks for present.