Riverwest Food Pantry

"For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in."  ~Matthew 25:35

"Statistics are human beings with the tears wiped off."  ~Paul Brodeur 

"To ensure that no one lacks bread, water, clothing, housing, work, health we need to recognize each other as children of the heavenly Father and so as brothers to each other, and conduct ourselves accordingly."  ~Pope Francis

Chef Paul, Sous Chef John, First Cook Mary

For the past eight months, my family and I have been spending the first Saturday mornings of the month volunteering at our parish's Riverwest Food Pantry.  It has been a beautiful opportunity for Paul and I to teach our children the importance of giving the gift of our time and love to others, as well as an opportunity to begin to build relationships with the poor in our community and to come to learn that despite any differences we might have, we really have a great deal in common with those who struggle with poverty, as we are all God's beloved children.

The Riverwest Food Pantry, under the direction of Vincent Noth, has been looking to expand its services beyond the simple distribution of food, and has developed a Health and Wellness Committee led by volunteer Jean De Vita.  One of the goals that the Health and Wellness Committee hopes to achieve is to teach the clients who regularly use the food pantry how to prepare healthy, low cost meals at home. Since my husband, Paul, and I, both have backgrounds in the food and nutrition industry, Paul as a chef, and myself as a dietetic technician working as a nutritionist for the WIC (Women, Infants and Children) Program, we were eager to help in this regard.

Last Saturday, the Riverwest Food Pantry held its first-ever food demonstration.  Paul, myself, and most of our five children, prepared a vegetarian chili recipe that was high in protein, yet low in calories, fat and sodium.  Paul offered a quick demonstration on preparing the chili and explained its versatility in regards to adding or eliminating ingredients or using it for other menu items such as a tortilla filling or a stuffed pepper ingredient. We offered chili samples to all of the food pantry clients and Vincent had copies of the recipe prepared for the clients to take home with them.  In addition, many of the recipe ingredients could be found at the food pantry so that the clients could more easily prepare the recipe for themselves in the upcoming week if they so desired.

My family and I had so much fun working together to serve our brothers and sisters in Christ in this very simple and easy endeavor, and we look forward to offering many more nutritious food demonstrations in the future.  I ask you to please support the Riverwest Food Pantry, or your own local food pantry, with your prayers, your gifts of food, time and service, and your financial donations, not only during this upcoming sacrificial season of Lent, but always.

Please visit the Riverwest Food Pantry website here to learn more.

Chef Paul's Vegetarian Chili-12 servings 
(a great meatless entree for Ash Wednesday!)

1 15oz can Kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 15 oz can Black beans, drained and rinsed

1 15 oz can Pinto beans, drained and rinsed

1 15 oz can Garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

1 cup frozen corn

1 green bell pepper, diced

1 red or white onion, diced

½ cup diced celery

1 T. minced garlic or ½  tsp. garlic powder

1 28 oz can diced tomatoes

1 12 oz can tomato paste

1 cup water

1 T. chili powder

¼ tsp. cayenne pepper

Optional:  ½ cup sliced fresh mushrooms

Combine all ingredients.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until all flavors are blended and vegetables are soft, stirring occasionally.

Yield:  12 servings 1-1/2 cup each

Nutrition Information per serving:  200 calories, 2 g fat, 95 mg sodium, 20 g carbohydrate, 5 g fiber, 6 g protein

Note:  1 pkg. chili seasoning can replace the chili powder and cayenne but keep in mind that the sodium content will increase. And all beans can be substituted-for example-use four cans kidney beans or 2 cans black beans and 2 cans garbanzo beans, etc.

Take Only Your Walking Stick

"He told them to take nothing for their journey except a walking stick--no food, no traveler's bag, no money." ~Mark 6:8


St. Francis de Sales Seminary has a wonderful new vocations director, Fr. Luke Strand, (pictured next to Bishop Hying) and he is just full of energy and fabulous ideas!  He has begun a new initiative called Mission Milwaukee which is a young adult outreach of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, a project for the New Evangelization.  Every Tuesday night a group of about 40 young men gather at St. Robert's Parish in Shorewood for dinner and fellowship and a group of women gather at the Newman Center at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee for dinner and fellowship, as well.  Then they all join each other for a holy hour and benediction followed by Mass.  At the end of the evening, the men return to St. Robert's Parish for night prayer.

As part of Mission Milwaukee, Fr. Luke has also organized a walking pilgrimage from St. Francis de Sales Seminary to the Basilica of Mary, Help of Christians at Holy Hill.  The pilgrimage covers about 50 miles on foot and is expected to last four days from start to finish.  My son John is taking part in this pilgrimage.  He is on the front right-hand side in the above picture.

The pilgrimage began with Mass at 7:30 AM on Thursday, July 18th and then proceeded to Bishop Hying's office at the Cousin's Center for a blessing.  The morning of the first day included stops at several churches along the way until they arrived at St. Anthony's Parish on Mitchell St. for morning prayer.  The next stop was Marquette University Campus with a visit to the St. Joan of Arc Chapel.  Since the Marquette Campus is only two blocks away from my office, I invited the group to stop at my office for lunch.

It was near 12:45 PM when the travelers arrived at the WIC Clinic, an environment that is primarily made up of women and children, but which was now graced with the presence of nine wonderful young men who were grateful to come in out of the damp mist and humidity to relax with a hearty lunch.  I decided to incorporate this meal into the cooking challenge that my friend Christi and I are working on this summer. You may recall that Christi and I have agreed to invite priests and seminarians to our homes to prepare Italian meals for them using recipes found in From A Rectory Kitchen which was written by Fr. Matthew Mauriello and Franca Bosio Bertoli. You can read my previous post on this subject here and can order your own copy of the cookbook here.


I couldn't find any sandwich recipes in the cookbook, or any other entrees that would be easy for me to prepare at home and then take to work with me in the morning, so I made an Italian sub sandwich from a recipe I found online.  I prepared the Insalata Caprese (Caprese Salad) from the cookbook but used grape tomatoes and fresh mozzarella balls, thinking it might be easier to eat on the way, instead of the sliced tomatoes and cheese as called for in the recipe.  The meal was rounded out with garlic Sun Chips and fresh grapes, lemonade and water.  For dessert I prepared the Biscotti Zia Giuseppina (Aunt Josephine's Cookies) recipe and chose the option of scooping balls of dough instead of forming logs of biscotti.  When preparing the cookies I found that I was out of vanilla extract at home so I substituted lemon extract.  The recipe had called for lemon juice in the frosting but I replaced that with water to keep the cookies from being too tart. (The recipe is below.)

Domenick, one of the seminarians, commented that the Calabrese Salad reminded him of the time that he spent studying in Rome, and another young man, Joe, mentioned that the cookies brought back fond memories for him of an old family recipe that he used to love.  The lunchtime conversation consisted of highlights from the morning walk and comments about how alive the Catholic Church is in the Milwaukee community.

I  asked Fr. Luke if he would bless my office before they left and he gladly obliged.  He offered a prayer asking for God's holiness to shower down upon me and all of the clients that I serve and asking that the devil  be cast out forever in this now sacred space leaving me in a work environment filled only with the aura of God's holy presence.

After Fr. Luke and the seminarians and discerners were well fed and rested they resumed their journey.  As they walked along the busy downtown Wisconsin Avenue, they handed out peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to some homeless people and made their way to the Schoenstatt Shrine on 50th and Wisconsin Ave. for afternoon prayer.  They had hoped to reach Christ King Parish in Wauwatosa around dinner time and then arrive at their first overnight destination, St. Mary's Visitation Parish in Elm Grove by nightfall.

Tomorrow morning the pilgrimage will continue as the men walk toward St. Charles Parish in Hartland where Fr. Luke's brother, Fr. Jacob Strand, is working this summer, and then they will spend the night there.  The final destination, The Basilica of St. Mary, Help of Christians at Holy Hill is in sight for Saturday.  Please hold these pilgrims in your prayers as they journey to spread the Gospel message throughout the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.


 

 Biscotti Zia Giuseppina 

Ingredients:

1 C. shortening
1-1/4 c. sugar
6 eggs
2 T. vanilla extract
3 cups flour
2 T. baking powder

Mix shortening and sugar until creamy.  Add eggs and extract and mix well.  In a separate bowl, mix flour and baking powder together.  Gradually add to the egg mixture, incorporating well.  Place on two lightly greased cookie sheets with a spoon, forming a total of four logs.  Bake in a preheated, 350 degree oven for 20 minutes.  Cool for 5 minutes, slice diagonally, place on cookie sheets and return to oven until both sides are lightly toasted.  You can also cool the baked logs completely, thena spread the lemon icing, found below, on them, and slice.  Do not return them to the oven to toast.

Note:  For individual cookies, this batter can also be placed by the tablespoon on the cookie sheets before baking.  Then, after they are baked and cooled, they can be iced with the following:

Lemon Icing:

Using 1-1/2 cups confectionary sugar:  for each 1/2 cup of sugar, mix in 2 tsp. fresh lemon juice.  You can also substitute Anisette in place of the lemon juice.  Mix to a smooth but not runny consistency.  Add more sugar or more juice a bit at a time if needed to get a spreadable consistency.  You can decorate with colored sugar or rainbow sprinkles.

Serves 12 or more.