Happy Shrove Tuesday, dear blog friends and family!
Did you know that Shrove Tuesday is also called Mardi Gras?
And Mardi Gras is french for FAT TUESDAY???? I love learning new things. I always thought Mardi Gras was just a big party down in New Orleans (well it is) but it also refers to the practice of the last night of eating rich, fatty foods before the ritual fasting of the Lenten season, which begins on Ash Wednesday.
And that’s tomorrow. So today is Fat Tuesday or celebration day and in many parts of the world it’s also Shrove Tuesday.
Now here is something I also did not know, The expression “Shrove Tuesday” comes from the word shrive, which means to absolve. Shrove Tuesday is observed by many Christians, including Anglicans, Lutherans, Methodists and Roman Catholics, who make a special point of self examination, of considering what wrongs they need to repent, and what amendments of life or area of spiritual growth they especially need to ask God’s help in dealing with.
It’s funny but when I was a child and attending church regularly,…and even as an adult? I don’t REALLY remember much ado in our Anglican derived services about Shrove Tuesdays and we certainly didn’t eat pancakes in celebration of such a day.
In my memory anyway….where are my sisters for their recollection?
Also, I have never been into gorging myself in anticipation of a great fast…but you know I really like the idea of the whole absolution thing….and preparing for a new season.
Something speaks to my deepest core about letting go….sometimes I feel it’s what my life’s journey is all about.
So today, my family and I are starting a new tradition and are celebrating Shrove Tuesday. We are feasting and celebrating and for dinner? Pancakes of course.
We are a big pancake family anyway. Every single Sunday since our children were tiny, my husband David gets up early, lets me sleep in, (do I love this man!!!) and makes our ever growing crew pancakes. He could now be blindfolded in the kitchen on Sunday morning and pull together a whopping plate of PERFECT, light and fluffy pancakes. Did I mention they are also golden brown?
NO matter how much I practice making pancakes they never turn out like his….mind you, he doesn’t leave the pan for a moment. He hovers over his griddle like the pancakes are his precious offspring. When I make them, they are not golden…more like dark brown!!! of course when I’m making them, I’m flying around, throwing a load of laundry in, unloading the dishwasher, and yeah…maybe treating them like my precious offspring. I’m always multi tasking to stay on top of everything and while I’m trying to attend to my pancakes, I’m usually making something to go with them at the same time….like a bowl of fruit salad and so yeah, they don’t turn out as great as his. (thankfully, our kids are beautifully GOLDEN!)
But anyway, I GOT SIDETRACKED….and that is why my pancakes don’t turn out like his!
We often eat pancakes during the week as well; if we are out and busy in the afternoons with music, dance, sports, or the other multiple activities our kids participate in. I will come home with a car load of hungry kids and unless I have made a casserole or a pot of soup or a big salad, all made, sitting in the fridge, the cry goes out for pancakes…..and while sometimes I do make them, we wait for Dad to come home, pull on his apron, and whip them up for us. A bonus for the kids AND me.
(who doesn’t like a night off from cooking?….and I’m happy to do the clean up!)
This morning as David was heading out the door he said, “we are on for pancakes right?” and as we were all hustling to get dressed and ready for the day, we gave all gave him the resounding thumbs up!!!
Yeah!
After the kids were all off to school….and even our oldest son is out of the house today as he’s working all week at the Science Centre….another YEAH!
I came home and was inspired to actually make myself more than my green drink and an apple.
Yep! that’s me most mornings…..BUT
This morning, I decided to try out a really cool, never thought about before, pancakes recipe that I stumbled over this weekend. I found a cool channel on Youtube, “Minimalist Mama of 10,” when I was googling large families, and minimalism. I know such a contradiction of terms but being on this road-less traveled, I’m constantly on the look out for my people. Yes, I know, I know, I live with “my” people but in many ways not really. While yes, they are living with me and I birthed 8 of them, they don’t all endorse my beliefs and philosophies….it’s more like they humour me.
A lot!
Thankfully….
They have come along on the backyard chicken road with me ’cause I think they were getting sick and tired of me spending all my time mooning over chicken coop plans on the internet and always having my nose in a book on chicken care.
They finally said, okay to chickens in our backyard. It felt like forever too. Have you ever wanted something so bad you could taste it but other people got in the way of your dream?
The cool thing is now our little ones have feathered pets and the big ones are loving our omega rich, organic eggs they get to eat….and they know the chickens are treated REALLY well! And then there is my veggie garden. Who doesn’t mind getting all that fresh produce from the garden, and the green smoothies and juices that I make for them, ’cause, yes, they all like being healthy and fit. But boy they scatter like the wind, when I start talking about double digging our garden, or turning over the compost bins. Well, except the little ones who are always in for playing in the dirt….maybe little people are MY PEOPLE!
For the most part they all agree in our constant move towards living a minimalist life and they all agree that they love the feeling they get after their bedroom has been combed through and organized. Almost as if a breath of fresh air has been whooshed into their space.
And it has.
Don’t you love new energy?
They also know deep down that the steps we are taking to walk a lighter path on the earth and help to heal our planet does make a difference. If we all join in we can clean up our home and keep it healthy. We are after all…..ALL family, living in the same house/planet.
And so today, we will enjoy a big plate of pancakes and think about all the experiences we have had this past winter, and tomorrow, we will start to cleanse, and fast, taking time to reflect and be conscious as we prepare for a new season of wonder and growth, TRUSTING IN THE MAGIC OF NEW BEGINNINGS.
Truth be told, when oldest daughter left to start teaching in Victoria at the end of January, I have started to de-clutter drawer by drawer, closet by closet. I didn’t wait for spring but that is an inner drive of mine to always be moving the energy in our home. Slowly, I’m letting go of what doesn’t serve our family any longer and giving it to others who may be in need. It feels good and with each space that gets cleared, new energy rushes in to give me even more energy to do the things I love.
Spend time with my people! in my house and outside of it….and you are included in that part because taking time to write my posts and connecting with you is important to me.
My greatest wish is that something I write will inspire you and help you on your path.
As the season of Lent is almost upon us, it’s a time to make a clean sweep and banish everything that is not working or assisting us and creating space for the experiences and life we desire.
I hope you join me in trying these pancakes this morning. Thanks Darci, my new Youtube friend, from the “Minimalist Mama of 10,” while our family doesn’t have any digestive issues with grains, (that we know of) it’s always nice to have a new pancake recipe for our family to try.
Here’s the recipe I got from Darci and her Youtube channel:
Minimalist Mama of 10’s…..Grain-less Pancakes
Simple ingredients
2 eggs
1 banana
Coconut oil or butter to spread on cooktop
Directions
1. Blend eggs and banana until frothy
2. Pour batter onto hot cooktop…..(brush on some coconut oil or butter on the griddle first)
3. Flip and when both sides are cooked….serve with syrup and fruit
This recipe was enough for two people
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| Okay, and while this first batch of mine was not golden, it was absolutely delish…loved the fruit and greek yogurt too!….now I have energy to do some fun stuff today….happy Shrove Tuesday! |
Enjoy!!!
And if you need some inspiration to start banishing what isn’t working in your life and creating new energy and space for what you desire, check out this great book that I’ve been reading…or re-reading as is the case here.
The author Denny Sargent doesn’t miss a beat and covers each aspect of our lives when he wrote, “Clean Sweep.” He gets us to analyze each aspect of our life:
Body/Environment
Heart/Emotions
Mind/thoughts
Spiritual/Supernatural
As we look at each category, we can decide what we need to let go and what we want more of and slowly, with new daily practices we can create the life we want. I like starting with the body and our environment because when you start eating healthier, by cutting out sugars and processed foods, it will give you the energy to tackle your environment next. And when you have an environment that you love to be in, you have more energy to bring those you love closer.
This season of Lent….
Look at your living space, decide which items you want to surround yourself with. What do you love…what brings you joy? Everything else goes. In one of Darci’s (Minimalist Mama of 10) she talks about having a dream to move into a small log cabin somewhere rural. Now I can agree….only not on the cabin….I hate to dust….but a tiny house is something on my list…hopefully in the woods…but hey, we have a big family, so sometimes dreams have to wait, but we do what we can with what we have. And that is to be grateful, to live in a state of joy and in AWE for all that surrounds us.
Okay…here’s the book that I’ve been reading and maybe you will find it useful on your path.
And now a link to the YouTube video where Darci, “Minimalist Mama of 10” and her family makes the above pancakes….check her out, ’cause she is so funny and her family are lovely and inspiring.
If you can’t see the above, click on this hyper link to Darci’s video making grain less pancakes…love it!
It’s later…..after dinner and here are a few of our Shrove Tuesday pictures from our pancake dinner…..
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| My husband David making his golden pancakes….and yes, this is as big as he smiles | ….note how light it is at 5:30! |
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| While David was making his classic pancakes….I was trying my hand at Banana chocolate chip pancakes |
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| The griddle pan for our newish stove works great!!!…so now we can have two griddles going for our big family |
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| Guess which pancakes are mine?….yep…theo ones on the right….David’s are the golden ones on the left! Both were yummy though |
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| The little girls still sit at their little table next to us….soon we are going to have to build a bigger table!…or kids are going to have to move out |
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| About to say Grace…..From left to right..Harrison, Clark, David, Grace, and Will…I sit next to the little girls when I’m not behind the camera saying cheese |
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| Will thought this Shrove Pancake dinner was the BEST ever…of course whipping cream and fruit doesn’t hurt! |
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| Clark spent his day bringing in a new dinosaur exhibit to our Science Centre but he was happy to come home to pancakes, fruit and eggs |
David’s classic pancake recipe for 8 people
Ingredients
2-1/2 cups of flour
1 tbsp of sugar
Pinch of salt
6 tsp of baking powder
2-1/2 cups of milk
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
6 tbsp of vegetable oil
Combine the dry ingredients first in a large bowl. Set aside. In a medium bowl, beat the eggs, slowly adding the milk, vanilla and vegetable oil. Slowly add the wet ingredients to dry but don’t over mix, just mix ’til lumpy is what David says.
Put large spoonfuls on hot griddle and cook until golden brown. Serve hot with maple syrup…fruit and whipping cream…or Greek yogurt is you have it…yum!
My banana chocolate chip recipe was from the internet. I found it off the site….”Crazy for Crust,”web site….the pictures are amazing…so much better than mine but the recipe was a 5/5! Check it out!
Just thought I would include a cool song I found today that goes great while cooking up dinner.. on Fat Tuesday. (Mardi Gras in New Orleans/Professor Longhair)
Before I wave a final goodbye, this post is dedicated to my beautiful mom, Ethel May, who passed away 5 years ago today. As Darci says, “See you on the flip side!” Love you always!
Thank you for visiting today…..
Until we meet again, may you be well, happy and peaceful.
Blessings from Hope