Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day!

It was one of those whirlwind weekends that go by way too quickly. Friday night we had a bonfire, one of my favorite types of gatherings. Saturday afternoon I had the great privilege of witnessing my brother propose to his now fiance. He did it in the church they go to which is on one of the islands here in Charleston. It was so wonderful and exciting, I still can’t believe he’s getting married. It’s crazy.

Saturday night we made dinner for one of my dear friends, Sarah, her sons and my family. We used a family recipe of Stephen’s for chicken parm and it was very good.

Sunday a couple of friends came over for our traditional arepa brunch and later Stephen and I went downtown and then to Mass in the evening.

I hope your weekend was fun/relaxing and that you have today off! If it were up to me, every weekend would be a three day weekend–but anyway here is this week’s five!

Chicken Parm

This is the recipe we used for chicken parm and it was so good. This isn’t a dish I’m very familiar with so I don’t have much to compare it to, but I can say that based on this recipe I am definitely a fan.

1/4 Panko bread crumbs
1/4 shreaded parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1 egg
1 chicken breast, boneless, skinless (or 1/2 per person)
Muenster cheese slices
White wine
Chicken broth

Mix Panko bread crumbs, shredded parmesan cheese and oregano–set aside.
Beat egg and set aside.
Cut chicken into strips. Dip the strips into the egg and then into the bread crumb/cheese/oregano mix. Cover as well as you can, you’ll have to press the mix into the chicken to get better coverage.
Place layer of chicken strips into a oven-friendly container. Add a layer of muenster cheese. Add additional layers of chicken and cheese until container is full. The topmost layer should be the cheese.
Pour 50/50 mix of wine and chicken broth, enough to barely cover the chicken.
Bake covered at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
All done!

Fasting

On kind of the other side of the spectrum from delicious recipes, something that’s come up a fair amount recently is the idea of fasting. It’s something that the Catholic church used to be more adamant about, but is not practiced as much anymore outside of Lent. I think the temptation is to see it as unnecessary or unhelpful to our everyday lives. But I think fasting is actually a super underrated way to help us grow, regardless of what it is in particular that we are struggling with. Often our vices have to do with putting ourselves–our desires, needs, inclinations–above others or above what could be a better alternative. Self-denial is extremely difficult, and not something that comes to us naturally–at least not to me. Fasting regularly, even if it’s a small sacrifice, can help us overcome our instinct for self-gratification and move toward a decision-making process that is ultimately much more satisfactory. I certainly don’t consider myself an expert in this arena, but I’m excited (maybe that’s a strong word) to see what fruit this practice brings about!

Decaffeinating

I have a hardcore caffeine addiction. Most of the time this doesn’t bother me, but recently I’ve found myself feeling really rundown if I don’t have at least 2-3 cups of coffee, which is a little alarming. So I’ve decided to switch to black tea after my first morning cup of joe which supposedly has significantly less caffeine. The first couple days I felt super off and it was not fun, but it’s gotten better. I’m hoping to eventually just have one cup of coffee in the morning and then decaf or just one cup of tea in the afternoon–but, baby steps.

Poor Jackself

Almost two years after ‘Goodbye Stranger’ came out, I still find myself listening to Alanna’s most recent album almost every week. Recently I’ve been really hung up on this song, which is actually music put to the words of a poem written by Gerard Manley Hopkins. The poem is truly beautiful, although I’m not 100% sure what he’s saying (poetry in general is still a struggle for me). The song is such a great rendition of the poem, I highly recommend checking it out–and reading the poem too!

MLK quote

Today of course we celebrate Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. who, in addition to the tremendous good he did in the civil rights movement, was also a very talented orator–many of his quotes are truly beautiful. This one I’m sharing is so true, and also relevant to the idea of personal growth/overcoming selfish tendencies.

“Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness. ”
Martin Luther King Jr.

That’s it for today, have a great week!