Empty Nest in the Midwest

How do you stay active after your children have left the nest?

Parish Life

First Communion – 1975

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The second graders at our parish were supposed to receive the Lord in Holy Communion for the first time back in April. But due to the pandemic it was delayed. Their day finally came yesterday. They had to split it into two different masses to allow for social distancing. And only parents and siblings could accompany them. But even though it was different, it was still beautiful. My prayer for them is that they always feel this close to Jesus and that they spread His love all over the world during their lives.

So in their honor, here is my first communion picture from 1975. I am in the first row, all the way on the left.

Cooking for a Crowd – Beef Stroganoff

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Yesterday we cooked and served a meal at FOCUS, an Orthodox organization which provides a Sunday supper to those in need in our community. We had to provide 150 servings. Cooking for a crowd is always a challenge but somehow we always manage. This time we served beef stroganoff, salad, bread, and desserts.

We made the beef stroganoff in our own parish kitchen since it is larger than the kitchen at the church where we serve the meal. We started cooking at noon and were ready on time at 3pm to pack up and take the meal to the basement of the Orthodox church.

Fr. Patrick always does an orientation before we start serving. One of the things he reminded us of this time is that program is a ministry to us, so we can meet and serve Jesus by interacting with those on the margins. We are grateful for this opportunity. There is really only one place in the gospel where Jesus clearly states the difference between those who go to heaven and those who do not:

Then the King will say to those on his right hand, Come, you whom my Father has blessed, take for your heritage the kingdom prepared for you since the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave me drink; I was a stranger and you made me welcome; naked and you clothed me, sick and you visited me, in prison and you came to see me.

Matthew 25:34-36

And even more that that, this program puts my heart back the way it should be. It removes that smallness of thinking which makes me think I have earned what is mine and I deserve more than others. And I get to do this with family and friends whose company I enjoy. It reminds me that everything I have in this life is a gift and there is joy in sharing it.

So here is the recipe. We served this with a salad made from 6 5lb bags of salad mix (yes 30 lbs) , a food service sized tub of creamy garlic dressing, grated cheese, and croutons. (We accidentally bought little individual bags of croutons instead of the big bag we could dump in the salad. Oops!) We also served sliced bread. And some of our parishioners provided desserts for us to take also, in fact so many that there were leftovers which FOCUS froze for later.

Beef Stroganoff for a Crowd

  • 40 pounds ground beef or stew beef cut into bite sized pieces 
  • Kosher salt and black pepper, to taste
  • 5 teaspoons garlic powder
  • 20 bay leaves
  • 5 cups butter
  • 5 lbs onions (we used a food service bag of pre-cut onions)
  • 5 lbs mushrooms, sliced
  • 2 ½  cups red wine
  • 5 cups  all purpose flour
  • 40 cups beef broth (320 oz)
  • ¾ cup Worcestershire sauce
  • 120 cups dried egg noodles
  • 14 cups sour cream
  • Dried parsley, to top
  • 15 cups grated Italian cheese blend
  1. Toss the meat with the salt, pepper, garlic powder, bay leaves, and Worcestershire. Divide between 6 to 8 shallow oven pans.
  2. Bake meat in convection oven at 300 degrees for 1 hour or until tender. Stir frequently. Add liquid if it starts to dry out.
  3. Melt 1 cup of the butter in a large pan and reduce heat to medium. Add the onions and cook until the onions are soft and nearly caramelized, about 20 minutes. Add in the mushrooms, and saute until the mushrooms are soft and slightly browned and the onions have caramelized, about 5 more minutes.
  4. Deglaze the pan with the red wine, being sure to scrape up all of the browned bits. Add 3 cups of the butter and melt. Sprinkle with the flour and stir to combine. Gradually stir in the beef broth sauce and bring to a low simmer. Mix the onions and mushrooms in and let simmer until the sauce has thickened, about 8 minutes.
  5. Cook the the egg noodles in batches for about 3 minutes less than the package directions recommend. They will be firm and undercooked. Drain and divide between 4 deep pans. Immediately add some of the remaining butter, mushroom onion sauce, sour cream, and meat. Stir to coat. Do not let the egg noodles sit uncoated or they will become sticky.
  6. Top with dried parsley. Keep warm in a 350 degree oven. (After everything was ready, we put the food in insulated carriers and drove to the church where we were serving and put it in the ovens there.)
  7. Before serving, stir in some of the cheese blend.

Freezer Meals – Bubble Up Pepperoni Pizza

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A group of us got together last night and assembled more meals for our Freezer Meal Outreach, for parishioners to pick up and give to family and friends who need a little care. This is a new recipe we are adding to our rotation. We try to keep some “kid-friendly” meals in the freezer for recipients who have small children.

Bubble Up Pepperoni Pizza Freezer Meal Recipe

Makes about 8 small pans – about 2 or 3 servings per pan

Ingredients:

  • 8 small disposable pans with lids (something like these)
  • 6oz package pepperoni
  • 2 package Pillsbury frozen biscuits (20 biscuits per package)
  • 60 oz pizza sauce
  • 8 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Preparation:

  1. Let biscuits thaw slightly and cut into 6 pieces each.
  2. Mix together biscuits, pizza sauce, and 4 cups of cheese.
  3. Spray the pans with cooking oil.
  4. Divide biscuit mixture between pans.
  5. Top with pizza sauce and cheese.
  6. Layer pepperoni on top.

Directions (Written on lids)

  • Thaw in refrigerator overnight.
  • Preheat oven to 375.
  • Bake uncovered for 35 minutes or until biscuits are cooked through.

Scout Sunday

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This past Sunday we had our annual Scout Sunday Mass at our parish. Since I am the Cubmaster now, I had the pleasure of handing out awards! We had five Wolf Cub Scouts earn their Light of Christ emblems and five Webelos earn their Parvuli Dei (Children of God) emblems.

Back in December we had an Our Lady of Guadalupe party and all of the Cub Scouts but one were there. So almost everyone earned a St. Juan Diego patch. I handed these out before mass so they could wear them.

We processed in with our flags and some of the older Cub Scouts got to do the readings from scripture. Our little Lions and Tigers got to help the ushers pass the baskets for the collection. They were so excited to get to do something but they took their jobs very seriously and did it with great enthusiasm. Some parishioners were passed the basket more than once.

Of course having that many youngsters sit together in church can result in some fidgeting and talking. But then it came time to sing the Alleluia before the gospel was read and I heard the most beautiful chorus of voices from our little Lions who were sitting right behind me. Positively angelic!

People were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them, and when the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. Jesus, however, called the children to himself and said, “Let the children come to me and do not prevent them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Amen, I say to you, whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it.”

Luke 18:15-17

Biscuits and Gravy: Comfort Food for Breakfast

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I made some biscuits and gravy this morning for breakfast. We went to early mass because I was scheduled to give a little pulpit talk about our upcoming retreat. And that really had my adrenaline going. So when we got home and The Husband asked if I would make biscuits and gravy, I was happy to dish up a little comfort food for breakfast. The recipe for the gravy is below. (I just used frozen biscuits this time.)

I am not a comfortable public speaker. I don’t really mind doing it, but it really gets me revved up. I could have benefited from a couple laps around the church to take my energy level down. There is something about having everyone’s eyeballs on me that really gets my energy level over the top crazy. And then tamping that down to do the talk is hard. The Husband was sitting on one side of me at church and a dear friend on the other, and two other sweet ladies who are on the retreat team were behind us. So I had a great “emotional support team”. 🙂 And my friend sitting next to me even reached out and held my hand at one point. But of course, the little talk was at the end of mass, so by time it came around I felt like I could have jumped up to the ceiling of the church!

But the talk went fine and the parishioners were very sweet afterwards. They said I looked very calm. When I told The Husband this, he said “They must not have been looking at your feet.” I was a wiggly ADHD mess! But I have learned not to be afraid to let people see me as I am. Plenty of people have seen the real me and still seem to like me. This is what I have learned as I have grown older. I am not defective. We are all unique and there is just something beautiful when people let you be yourself.

But back to the biscuits and gravy. This is a favorite in my house. And if we are out somewhere for breakfast, the family will not order biscuits and gravy. They have tried a few times and always say “It is not as good as mom’s.” Now there’s an affirmation to make me feel good to be me!

Biscuits and Gravy Recipe

  • 1 lb breakfast sausage
  • 1/3 cup flour
  • 3 cups milk
  • 1/2 tsp pepper or to taste (we like ours on the spicy side)
  • 1/4 tsp dried sage
  • 2 tsp dried minced onion
  • hot biscuits
  1. Cook the sausage in a large saucepan.
  2. Add the flour and stir in.
  3. Add the milk and turn the heat to medium high.
  4. Add the pepper, sage, and minced onion.
  5. Cook until the gravy starts to boil and thicken
  6. Serve over biscuits. Season with salt and pepper if necessary

Freezer Meals Recipe: Meatloaf

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I was asked for some of our recipes for our freezer meals outreach, so here is one we made this last cook night. It is a favorite and we make this at least every two months because it gets grabbed out of the freezer pretty quickly.

Usually we say each pan is about 3 servings. If we are sending the meal to a larger family, we send two pans. We also keep some steam-in-bag vegetables and some frozen rolls in the freezer. So I usually send some of those with the meatloaf to make a complete meal. And, sometimes we even have frozen cookie dough which I will also send, especially if the recipients of the meal have kids.

Freezer Meatloaf Recipe

Ingredients

  • 6 small disposable pans with lids (something like these)
  • 6 lbs. lean ground beef
  • 2 cup finely diced onion
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 1/2 cup bread crumbs
  • 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 1/2 tablespoon salt
  • 2 teaspoon pepper
  • 2 teaspoon dried thyme or other seasoning
  • about 2 cup ketchup

Preparation

  1. Prepare the pans with cooking spray.
  2. Gently mix ingredients except ketchup in a large bowl. Just be careful not to over-mix, or the meat will be tough.
  3. Shape beef mixture into 6 loaves and place in the prepared pans. Leave a little space around the sides of the pan.
  4. Spread a thin layer of ketchup over the top of each meatloaf.
  5. Write directions (below) on the lids. Place lids on pans and seal.
  6. Freeze immediately

Directions (Written on lids)

  • Thaw in refrigerator overnight.
  • Remove cover and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until cooked through. (Increase the baking time if the meat is still partially frozen)
  • Slice and serve.