St. Patrick's Day

We will be feasting with friends this weekend, so I have not planned my usual Irish feast for the weekend. But, I wanted to encourage you to celebrate this holiday. If you Google Irish feast or St.Patrick's Day feast you will find many recipe options. In the past this has been a lot of fun for us. Have your older kids do the research on St. Patrick. There are a lot of interesting facts there. Let the little ones make big shamrocks as place mats. Label each leaf as either Father, Son or Holy Spirit. It is a good example of three in one. Be creative and have fun! Feel free to share your ideas and let us know how your feast turned out.

Idea Day

My husband and I have always felt a calling towards international missions. We have done several short term trips. For various reasons it has never worked out to do it full-time. Because of this calling we have a fascination with people from other nations. Sometimes I feel as though my children are not developing this fascination. I have decided a good way to help in this area would be to designate once a month international Sabbath feasting. I will pick a country and cook food from that region. We will learn together about their culture, their spiritual climate and other interesting things. We will make this a missions centered night. We will discuss ways to pray for this nation and point out the differences in the gods they may serve and the God we serve. If you have teenagers this would be a great opportunity to let them invite friends and their families. Get the kids involved. Give the older ones the responsibility of researching this country. If you have one that likes to cook, have them find the recipes. The little ones can help make center pieces that incorporate that country in some way. Be creative. I think this could be fun for the entire family. It will also be a good reminder that Christ's Church is made of all nationalities and we will all participate in the Lamb's High Feast one day. Please share your ideas.

Sick Children

Feasting did not happen this weekend. Jackson had a temp of 104 all weekend, therefore my time was spent holding and trying to rehydrate him. I HATE when the babies are sick. The older ones can at least tell me what hurts them. At 10 months all he could do was look at me with a little pathetic look on his face. Anyway, when I first started this blog it was to give ideas about feasting. I have decided to make Monday recipe day. Hopefully this will be helpful as you spend your week planning your feast. Wednesdays will be general ideas. Please share any recipes or ideas. I spend a lot of my time trying to find ways to feast on a budget. For that matter eating in general takes creative budgeting for most families. Therefore, my recipes will be for feasting and sometimes weeknight meals as well. This week I will share a couple of potato recipes. Potatoes can be dressed up to make a very elegant side dish to a feast. Our favorite is roasted potatoes. Cheesy mashed potatoes are good as well. Abondante Living has a Asiago Potato recipe posted that is great. Potatoes are probably one of the most inexpensive side dishes. Here are my recipes.

Roasted Potatoes

Cut red potatoes into cubes. Coat them in olive oil, salt, pepper and crushed rosemary. Spread them in one layer on a foil lined baking sheet. Bake at 400 for 45 minutes turning the potatoes every 15 minutes.

Cheesy Mashed Potatoes

5 large potatoes
6 oz sour cream
8 oz cream cheese
2T butter
2tsp onion salt
1/4 tsp pepper
Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350. Boil peeled potatoes until tender. Mash until smooth. Add remainder of ingredients except Parmesan cheese and beat until light and fluffy. Place in a well-buttered casserole and dot the top with butter. Sprinkle cheese over the top. Cover and bake about 1 hour or until it is heated through. This dish can be made up to 2 days ahead. Do not cook in oven until you are ready to serve it.