MPM-Special food for special days

Good morning, dear friends,
Last week we celebrated two special days. The feast of the Announciation and Palm Sunday. Next Sunday it's Easter! Although we have a very sentimental and deeply religious time ahead of us with some very emotional services, readings, and hymns, we already begin to feel the air of delivery from the gloom of our sins, thanks to our Lord. 
This week is the last week of fasting before Easter.In all its wisdom, our church has thought of our human weaknesses. The Fathers of the first centuries of Christianity have taken into account the need of the soul to cleanse while the body cleanses. Fasting and prayer go hand in hand.
However, on these two days, we make an exception. We can eat fish.
Fish at this time of the year in our household as in many traditional households in Greece means cod. It comes salted from the North Sea. This one is from Iceland.

The cod filet must stay in the water overnight and then the water must be changed again, because the cod is too salty. That is how it is preserved.

Then, we mix flour with some beer and bread crumbs, we wrap chunks of the fish in it and fry it. Skordalia (aioli) is the best company to cod. First, we boil the potatoes. Then we peel them and process them as we would for a puree. We then make a fine paste of garlic, salt and vinegar, to taste. I use equal amounts of potatoes and garlic cloves. We then add the mashed potatoes, folding in slowly the olive oil. Tasting is required and quite enjoyable!

One of my favorite kitchen gadgets.

Helping hands are welcome. Great time for conversation, too.

Mixing the skordalia with the wooden pestle.

Almost ready. We may need some extra olive oil once served, to taste.

One can make a Greek salad to accompany it, but since we like to eat according to the season, lettuce with fresh onions and fennel is a great salad.

Now, for the rest of the week, as we shall be busy preparing for Easter,we shall stick to some familiar treats, seen here, but strictly without the cheesy options.

Yesterday, we also made Easter cookies. I was afraid I wasn't going to make them this year, as my mil's food processor broke down and we are not going to buy a new one soon. So, I decided to do everything by hand. Highly recommended, dear friends.

Finally, for this post, I have read this article over at our host's, Organizing Junkie. I have read two of Cathy Peel's books, The Family Manager and The Family Manager's Everyday Survival Guide. They were great and helped me enormously in getting started with the family life.I am not familiar with the newest book suggested at the website, but the 10 points picked are great.

I wish you all a holy week. 

Menu Plan Monday-Fasting weeks

As we approach the end of the Great Lent, I thought I'd give you an idea on what we eat during these days of fasting, which is roughly what we shall be eating in the next couple of weeks until Easter. There were days when we followed the Church's guidelines, and others when we did have cheese. So far we managed to keep off meat and fish.


*Breakfast:
Cereals, mostly oats and brans with soy milk.


*Snacks: 
Fruit, apples, bananas, freshly squeezed orange juice. Pasteli (this is our family favorite).

When in need of something more substantial, bread with money and tahini.


*Main course:

Spinach and rice with onion and either tomato sauce or served with lemon.

Spinach pie. That one was ready made and frozen.
Rice and pasta are always welcome, and there is so much to do with different sauces.

With mushrooms, garlic and parsley.

With peppers and garlic.


*Salad:

Cherry tomatoes. The kids love them and they are easy to wash and toss in a plate.

Mixed steamed greens. Served with olive oil and lemon juice, or with an olive oil and mustard sauce.

Horta are very much part od a traditional Greek diet. When i was a kid they were my favorite food. So easy to digest. In our Western societies we usually avoid bitter and thse leafy greens can be bitter, so that is an element worth considering. There is a recipe here and a very nice discription of their nutritional value here. 

Their juice, served with olive oil and lemon, makes adelicious entree.


Dinner:
As the weather is still cold, a soup is always welcoming.

This is small pasta with a sauce of onion and tomato, served with olives. Dairy-free.
And these are cheese filled tortellini.

And cheese and olive topped bread.

This is a trahana mix with dried vegetables.

And then there is ready made when we run late.

Dessert:
Spoon sweets are low in fat, and dairy-free.

This is quince, made by a customer and offered to us. (Thank you!)
As the green saying goes: There is plenty to eat without choosing meat! Don't you think it is worth the try?

With Thanks to Organizing Junkie for hosting!

The Acathist-Oh Champion General

Hello dear friends,
As I cannot be at the service of the Acathist tonight, I am posting here the best known hymn of the service. It is a glorious hymn, used in times of strain but also of thankfulness.

O Champion General,
I your City now inscribe to you
Triumphant anthems as the tokens of my gratitude,
Being rescued from the terrors, O Theotokos.
 Inasmuch as you have power unassailable,
From all kinds of perils free me so that unto you I may cry aloud:
Rejoice, O unwedded Bride

Κοντάκιον τοῦ Ἀκαθίστου Ὕμνου. 

Ἦχος πλ. δ´. Αὐτόμελον.

"Τῇ ὑπερμάχῳ στρατηγῷ τὰ νικητήρια,

Ὡς λυτρωθεῖσα τῶν δεινῶν εὐχαριστήρια,

Ἀναγράφω σοι ἡ Πόλις σου Θεοτόκε.

Ἀλλ᾿ ὡς ἔχουσα τὸ κράτος ἀπροσμάχητον,

Ἐκ παντοίων με κινδύνων ἐλευθέρωσον,

Ἵνα κράζω σοι· Χαῖρε, Νύμφη ἀνύμφευτε."

The "Ti ypermaho" hymn (above) is part of the service of THE AKATHIST HYMN, one of the most well-loved services of devotion in the Orthodox Church. The hymn was first sung after the city of Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire was saved from an attack by the Avars. While the Emperor and his army were away, the people, led by the Patriarch, carried the icon of Panagia of Blahernae around and then spent all night standing in the Church; the Emperial army arrived on time, and they were vistorious, and thus, the Akathist Hymn was named.
Actually the word "akathistos" literally means "not sitting," i.e., standing; normally all participants stand while it is being prayed. The hymn is comprised of 24 stanzas, alternating long and short. Each short stanza (kontakion) ends with the singing of "Alleluia." Each longer stanza (ikos) ends with the refrain: "Rejoice, O Bride Unwedded."

The majority of the hymn is made up of praises directed to the Mother of God, always beginning with the salutation of the Archangel Gabriel: "Rejoice." In each of them, one after the other, all the events related to our Lord's incarnation pass before us for our contemplation. The Archangel Gabriel ( in Ikos 1) marvels at the Divine self-emptying and the renewal of creation which will occur when Christ comes to dwell in the Virgin's womb. The unborn John the Baptist (Ikos 3) prophetically rejoices. The shepherds (Ikos 4) recognize Christ as a blameless Lamb, and rejoice that in the Virgin "the things of earth join chorus with the heavens." The pagan Magi, (Kontakion 5) following the light of the star, praise Her for revealing the light of the world.
As the hymn progresses, various individuals and groups encounter Christ and His Mother. Each has his own need; each his own desire or expectation, and each finds his or her own particular spiritual need satisfied and fulfilled in Our Lord and in the Mother of God. So too, each generation of Orthodox, and each particular person who has prayed the Akathist, has found in this hymn an inspired means of expressing gratitude and praise to the Mother of God for what she has accomplished for their salvation.

May God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit with the prayers of people's champion, Virgin Mary, send us all good health, an alert mind and a loving heart, and may we all rejoice in the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Non-meat and delicious

I have been taking photos of our meals every day this past week. My intention is to show you that it is possible to eat decently and sometimes gourmet, without eating meat, and even without eating cheese. But that will have to wait until I do a decent post.

Today I found this recipe which promises to be delicious, and I want to record it for posterity and share it with you. Here it goes:

Ingredients:

Serves 4


2 jalapenos, finely chopped, seeds removed for less heat (1/4 cup)

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice (about 1 lime)

4 kiwi fruits, peeled and diced (1 1/2 cups)

Coarse salt

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

20 large U.S.-farmed shrimp, peeled and deveined (about 1 pound)

2 tablespoons safflower oil

Directions

1.Stir jalapeno and lime juice together. Add kiwi, 1/4 teaspoon salt (or to taste), and cilantro. Stir to combine.

2.Season shrimp with 1/2 teaspoon salt. Heat oil in a large skillet over high until shimmering. Add shrimp in a single layer and cook without turning until underside is pink, about 3 minutes. Turn and cook until opaque throughout, 2 minutes more. Remove from pan and serve immediately with kiwi-lime relish.

Bon Appetit!

(Recipe and photo via Whole Living)