This is my tone down version of a cocktail drink I first saw prepared in Giada's Show on tv. I developed a fondness for it even with the decreased amount of bourbon in it as compared to the milk. Actually I increased the amount of milk per serving but you are imbibing the same amount of the liquor but in dilute form. I could see this served as punch at a party instead of eggnog. Just provide shot glasses not big glasses so your guests do not get grogged. It is addictive.
This is awesome. The cinnamon, ginger and carrot combination is dynamite. I ate some before the overnight sitting and it was still soooo good. I have made this without yogurt but when I did I used oat peach yogurt or plain yogurt. I used oat milk for the nondairy milk. I added more drops of maple syrup, cinnamon and ginger when needed.
Carrot Cake Overnight Oats
Ingredients:
1/2 cup oats
1 tablespoon chia seeds
1/2 medium size carrot, finely grated
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder
1/2 teaspoon ginger powder
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of sea salt
1/2 cup plant based milk
1 tablespoon nondairy yogurt (if using)
Instructions:
Combine all your ingredients in a large container or in a jar. Mix well to combine and refrigerate overnight. In my case I ate it right after mixing. You can add more shredded carrots and chopped nuts or granola on top if you have it.
Father Richard counts the German Jesuit Karl Rahner (1904–1984) as an influential theologian in his life. Here Rahner reflects on the Incarnation and the meaning of Christmas:
If in faith we say, “It is Christmas”—in faith that is determined, sober, and above all courageous—then we mean that an event came bursting into the world and into our life, an event that has changed all that we call the world and our life. . . .
Through this fact, that God has become human, time and human life are changed. Not to the extent that God has ceased to be Godself, the eternal Word of God, with all splendor and unimaginable bliss. But God has really become human. And now this world and its very destiny concern God. . . . Now God’s self [as Jesus] is on our very earth, where he is no better off than we and where he receives no special privileges, but our every fate: hunger, weariness, enmity, mortal terror and a wretched death. That the infinity of God should take upon itself human narrowness, that bliss should accept the mortal sorrow of the earth, that life should take on death—this is the most unlikely truth. But only this—the obscure light of faith—makes our nights bright, only this makes them holy.
God has come. God is there in the world. And therefore everything is different from what we imagine it to be. . . . When we say, “It is Christmas,” we mean that God has spoken into the world his last, his deepest, his most beautiful word in the incarnate Word. . . . And this word means: I love you, you, the world and human beings. [1]
Father Richard also celebrates the Incarnation as God’s positive and affirming “I Love You” to all creation:
What we are all searching for is Someone to surrender to, something we can prefer to life itself. Well, here is the wonderful surprise: God is the only one we can surrender to without losing ourselves. The irony is that we find ourselves, and now in a whole new and much larger field of meaning. An eternal promise came into the world at Christmas, “full of grace and of truth” (John 1:14). Jesus is the gift totally given, free for the taking, once and for all, to everybody and all of creation. This Cosmic Risen Christ really is like free wireless, and all we need to do is connect.
Henceforth humanity has the right to know that it is good to be human, good to live on this earth, good to have a body, because God in Jesus chose and said “yes” to this planet and this humanity. As we Franciscans have said, “Incarnation is already Redemption.” The problem is solved. Now go and utterly enjoy all remaining days. Not only is it “always Advent,” but every day can now be Christmas because the one we thought we were just waiting for has come once and for all.
Karl Rahner, The Eternal Year, trans. John Shea (Helicon Press: 1964), 21, 22. Note: minor edits made for inclusive language.
Adapted from Richard Rohr, Preparing for Christmas: Daily Meditations for Advent (Franciscan Media: 2008), 72–73.
Jill’s 5-minute Game Changer Cheese Sauce (nut-free, gluten-free) FULL RECIPE: 2 cups rolled oats 1/2 cup nutritional yeast flakes 1/4 cup cornstarch 2 teaspoons onion granules 2 teaspoons sea salt 1 12-oz. jar Roasted Red Bell Peppers in water 1 tablespoon lemon juice 1/4 teaspoon Pecan or Apple liquid smoke not used 4 cups warm water
Using a blender with the ability to cook food, blend on high for 5 minutes, or until sauce begins to thicken. (I can hear my Vitamix motor slow down and the sound deepens as the sauce hits the thick mark.) Once thickening has begun, stop the blender and quickly transfer to a large container that holds at least 6 cups. The cheese sauce will continue to thicken as it cools even slightly.
Allow it to cool before you begin schmearing it all over yourself.
or
Queso Sauce 2: (Based on The Jaroudi Family Recipe for Taquitos with Queso Sauce)
2 cups cooked Yukon gold potatoes (with skins on)
1 roasted red bell pepper
1 tbsp white miso
¼ cup raw cashews
½ cup water
1 tbsp nutritional yeast
1/2 cup salsa
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a 9x13 casserole dish add in potatoes, beans, chopped peppers, onions and spinach and cauliflower walnut meat or similar add ins if using.
In a high-speed blender add all of the Queso sauce ingredients and blend until smooth.
Pour sauce over casserole mixture and incorporate well. Cover casserole with tinfoil and bake for 45 minutes.
Remove the tinfoil and bake for an additional 20 minutes more.
When one is tired or just does not want complicated long recipes, this is a go to basic bbq sauce to put on vegetables or meat substitute you have on hand. It has the umami to give your palate a lift. The two sources of such flavor are hoisin sauce and catsup. It is up to you to enhance it with garlic or onion powders and heat from sriracha or hot sauce for example if you are into that.
The two main ingredients are preferred to be mixed in 1:1 ratio but I have lowered one over the other when I need to. One such situation was when my husband was wary about his rising blood pressure and had to lower his salt intake. I then decreased the amount of hoisin sauce. If I have a guest who is watching his or her blood sugar I then would lower the catsup. One can also prepare the catsup by simply mixing tomato paste with water and maple or date syrup to taste. You also avoid the corn syrup in catsup as a result. Another alternative is to prepare your hoisin sauce yourself using the recipe I give below and alter both soy sauce and sugar to your taste and needs.
Since this is a “I am too tired recipe”, I usually have resorted to store bought hoisin sauce and catsup from my fridge. The combination is magical. Every time my picky taster, my husband, devours what I prepare with this sauce. Try it.
Two Ingredient Sauce for Everything
Ingredients:
1/4 cup catsup or 1 tbsp tomato paste plus water and maple syrup to taste. (note hoisin is sweet already)
1/4 cup or less store bought hoisin or home made hoisin.( recipe below. adjust salt.and sugar)
drop of sriracha or hot sauce
Instructions
Mix all ingredients in a bowl
Add to vegetables or meat substitutes such as tofu or vegan meatballs.
Homemade Hoisin Sauce
(From CDKitchen)
(Makes 1/2 cup)
4 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons peanut butter or black bean paste
1 tablespoon honey or molasses or brown sugar
2 teaspoons white vinegar
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1-2 teaspoons sesame oil
5-20 drops chinese hot sauce, habenero or jalepeno
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
Whisk all the ingredients together. At first it does not appear to be mixing together, Keep at it and whisk a bit longer.
Filipinos love to eat eggs, rice and meat for breakfast. For the meat part, it could be longaniza (sweet or vinegary sausage) or tocino (sweet pork or chicken) among other favorites. The Asian Store I go to sometimes runs out of them. I decided to make my own tocino by using ginger ale zero as the ingredient that will impart sweetness and soy sauce to give the characteristic saltiness. I just added garlic powder, salt and pepper as the other ingredients. The carbon dioxide in the ginger ale helps tenderize the chicken aside from being the source of sweetness but in a bind you can use sugar and water.
Here is my recipe. It is quick with no marination period. Braising the chicken with the sauce does that job. Enjoy.
Easy Chicken Tocino
2- 3 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs
salt and pepper
1 cup from 1 can ginger ale zero or seven-up or sprite (I used ginger ale zero)
2-4 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp garlic powder
2-4 tsp vegetable oil
Place the chicken pieces in a non-stick saute pan. Add salt and pepper on both sides of the chicken
Add 1 cup of the soda of your choice into the pan
Add the soy sauce and garlic powder to the mixture and mix.
Allow mixture to boil.at medium heat until the chicken is cooked and the liquid mostly evaporates.
You can add a little oil in the pan and grill the chicken on both sides.
Serve with rice, tomato slices and cucumber. Enjoy.
The eulogy I delivered November 15, 2021 during the service for my nephew Charlton or Chichos Lucas. I added the link to the songs.
Good evening or good morning
.. I am Lourdes or Ondes or Lulu Lucas Herold.
Chot
is my brother and Chichos is my nephew.I am representing the Lucas clan which includes my sister Josefina or
Bebeng or ate, my brother Benjie, our youngest sibling Menchie and my late
brother Anton. ‘We and our families convey our condolences and love to Erica,
Zander, Molly, Sam, Minnie, Minette and their families.And especially our beloved brother Chot.
I
learned a lot on what Chichos was like all grown up when he attended the Lucas
clan zoom meetings last year.He
attended the children’s cooking classes with molly and zander and the 9 day
novena for pinky , the late wife of my brother Benjie .
I
saw him blossomed to this caring, sensitive, assertive, cheerleader and
motivator. qualities that he manifested
in the videos of these meetings. Esp day 2 of the novena for pinky.I promised Chot I will keep this eulogy to three minutes so I will spare you of stories related to the videos.Instead allow me to use three songs which I
will relate to the life and death of our beloved Chichos.
The
first song is A Million Dreams from the movie the Greatest Showman.The poster of Hugh Jackman actually reminds
me of Chichos who is a showman himself.Wasn’t
he?
I am
pretty sure Chichos spent sleepless nights lying in bed dreaming a million
things as the lyrics say.But chichos was
a doer and fulfilled most of them.But
best of all he continued to dream.
The
second song is The Dance by Garth brooks.I thought at first it was a break up song of two people whose relationship
had gone awry.It turned out Garth and
his producer decided to present it in the video as a homage to those famous
people who died young and at times tragically.Chichos has now joined their ranks.
The lyrics
of this song beautifully explore the significance of not knowing how our
choices will end. Because if we did, we might not take chances and miss the
pain and miss importantly the dance.But
our beloved Chichos did not miss the dance. He bravely danced.
We
are free to interpret songs.And that is
what I am going to do with the third song, Rainbow Connection by Kermit theFrogA Peruvian proverb says in death there is a
convergence of heaven and earth.When
somebody dies we feel the presence of God more strongly.
As
we see a rainbow, my hope is we see that behind it is the other side where
chichos is now.When my mother died I
found comfort in the words that my friend wrote in the card she sent me. "As people of faith we know we shall see our
loved ones again".See you chichos on the
other side of the rainbow.We love you.
Caution Addictive. Try it to believe. This was inspired by a vegan dish I ate during the food truck event organized by the Divine Mercy Academy in Monroeville Pa. The delicious dish was prepared by Veggies N'at that specializes in vegan soul food. It is a catering and food order company in Pittsburgh. (see their version below).
This is a close version and just as alluring. The buffalo chickpeas can be placed over nothing or mac and cheese or chili. You can adjust the heat level and other flavors. I love adding sun dried tomatoes for added texture and flavor.
I prepared it two ways, raw or cooked. As far as taste is concerned the easy raw approach is sufficient. The color is anemic but still addictive. (see photo below)
To approximate the color of the Veggies N'at version of the dish I resorted to a second mode wherein I heated the mixture of ingredients and then added tapioca starch as thickener. I prefer to add the chopped sun dried tomatoes at this point.
Buffalo Chickpeas with Sun Dried Tomatoes Over Mac and Cheese
Inspired by what I ate prepared by Veggies N'at at a food truck event
Ingredients
1 can chickpeas
1-2 tbsp each hot sauce and sriracha
1 2 tbsp vegan mayo or vegan yogurt
1 tsp maple syrup optional
2-3 pieces Sun dried tomatoes, chopped
1 tsp tapioca or corn starch (if using cooked version)
Mix all ingredients from chickpeas to sun dried tomatoes and place over prepared mac and cheese.
Cooked version
Place chickpeas, hot sauce, sriracha, vegan mayo or yogurt, maple syrup if using in a small saucepan and mix. Heat mixture in saucepan to a gentle boil with stirring then add tapioca starch suspended in 2 tbsp water and mix with stirring up to desired thickness. Remove from heat and add the sun dried tomatoes if using. Serve over prepared mac and cheese.
One of my favorite memories from my childhood occurred by the so called tocador or dresser beside my bed in our house in Malabon. This furniture was designed to fit the corner of the bedroom I shared with my sister. It featured a huge square mirror measuring around four feet by four feet. with a table and escaparate or curio cabinet on the right and drawers on the left. A small bench was also furnished for it.
I slept relatively early then in my twenties since I was tired from the traffic I had to contend with to and from work. I slept definitely earlier than my late brother, Anton, who used to come late from his class and later from his first job. Almost all the occupants in the house were asleep when he came home and he wanted to relax a bit before he watched television. What he did was, sit in front of the dresser and talked to me while I was asleep. I might have opened one eye to acknowledge his presence but I usually did not talk to him. Sometimes he just sat there. He used to kid about how I love to sleep and how. One time I brought home a photo of me sleeping while I was on vacation in Baguio with friends from the University of the Phil graduate school. He said that photo was so me.
I also woke up late on days when my niece Jona and nephew Ditos, kids of my sister Bebeng, arrived at our house with their mother who worked at our gas station. They yearned for a playmate to play house with them and they would find me still in bed. I remember them feeding me with their pretend food while I continue to sleep.
There is a saying that those who wait also serve. I am changing that to those who sleep also serve. With my presence though asleep kept my late brother company and provided him a welcome when he came to a very quiet house when he came home. I also served as a live though immobile, life size Barbie doll to my niece and nephew.
Your image of God creates you. This is why it is important that we see God as loving and benevolent and why good theology still matters.
Monday
Heaven is not about belonging to the right group or following the correct rituals. It’s about having the right attitude toward existence.
Tuesday
In the first five centuries of Christianity, many of the church fathers believed in universal salvation. It seems we were much more hopeful at the beginning that the Gospel really was universally good news!
Wednesday
The New Testament includes a hope-filled vision of the whole universe pervaded with divine promise. —Elizabeth Johnson
Thursday
God is alive. God is love. Love is pulling us on to do new things and we need to trust the power of God in our lives to do new things. —Ilia Delio
Friday
Maybe it’s not that there are two places beyond the door of death, heaven and hell. Sometimes I wonder if hell is just what heaven feels like for those who haven’t learned in this life what this life is intended to teach. —Brian McLaren
A Joyful Mind
St. Catherine of Siena purportedly said, “It’s heaven all the way to heaven,” and I’ve come to believe that “it’s hell all the way to hell” if we choose to make it so. If we can’t experience God and love and happiness and everything that matters today, in whatever moment we find ourselves in, we probably won’t experience it tomorrow either. It isn’t a matter of being “saved,” although that can be an ecstatic experience that gets us started. Rather, it’s a matter of getting in touch with the grace-filled reality that is always available to us. I appreciate how Carlton Pearson puts it:
Getting born again is something we need to do daily as we discover more of our own souls with each new life encounter. For the true Christian, evangelizing should begin with oneself, being born again with each new day, conveying the message of hope, and re-creating this world as a place of love, compassion, preservation of beauty, respect for nature, and peace—peace and love above all else. [1]
I invite you to practice finding your way to “heaven” by engaging this day with a joyful mind. What might a joyful mind be? In my book The Naked Now, I offer some suggestions:
When your mind does not need to be right.
When you no longer need to compare yourself with others.
When your mind can be creative, but without needing anyone to know.
When you can live in contentment with whatever the moment offers.
When your mind does not need to be in charge but can serve the moment with gracious and affirming information.
When your mind follows the intelligent lead of your heart.
When your mind is curious and interested, not suspicious and interrogating.
When your mind does not “brood over injuries.”
When your mind does not need the future to be better than today.
When your mind can accept yourself as you are, warts and all.
When your mind does not divide and always condemn one side or group.
When your mind can critique and also detach from critique.
When your mind can wait, listen, and learn.
When your mind can live satisfied without resolution or closure.
When your mind can forgive and actually “forget.”
When your mind doesn’t need to complain or worry to get motivated.
When your mind can find God in all things.
[1] Carlton Pearson, The Gospel of Inclusion: Reaching Beyond Religious Fundamentalism to the True Love of God and Self (Atria Books: 2006), 260.
Adapted from Richard Rohr, The Naked Now: Learning to See as the Mystics See (Crossroad Publishing: 2009), 178–180.
4. prayer
Celtic Blessing (An ancient prayer for happiness and joy) May flowers always line your path and sunshine light your day. May songbirds serenade you every step along the way. May a rainbow run beside you in a sky that's always blue. And may happiness fill your heart each day your whole life through.
