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The Seasoned Franciscan

Welcome to The Seasoned Franciscan. Sisters and their partners in mission — including affiliates, prayer partners and staff — share these recipes hoping to provide you with new ways of looking at the food around you. Being mindful of the food we eat is integral to making lasting changes throughout the world. These recipes and their stories will connect to the Laudato Si’ principles and FSPA’s Provocative Movements. Beyond promoting simple living and healthy eating, they will help us participate in joyful cooking and other sustainable practices that help heal all of Creation.

New recipes are shared on a regular basis and can be submitted to the FSPA Eco Pact Team at ecopact@fspa.org.

Meat and Bulgur Sloppy Joe's

Meat and Bulgur Sloppy Joe's

“Meat and Bulgur Sloppy Joes” is an easy version of this famous sandwich. The recipe is followed by some facts about bulgur and its Middle Eastern origins and some history of the iconic Sloppy Joe.

Quinoa Atamalada or “Tamale – like" Quinoa

Quinoa Atamalada or “Tamale – like" Quinoa

Quinoa (keen' wah) is a grain native to the Americas along with wild rice, amaranth, corn and mesquite. These grains have ancient histories and provide important vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and plant protein. Try quinoa in this "tamale-like" Peruvian recipe for "Quinoa Altamalada."

Japanese Pancakes - Okonomiyaki

Japanese Pancakes - Okonomiyaki

Meredeth Hink shares a recipe, saying, it "should be appropriate for this time of year. I have been making these pancakes for my family since I was in high school. They are easy to make and a great way to use up leftover vegetables, especially cabbage/coleslaw mix." Discover Japan's strong values of culture, health and the environment in the way many cities do school lunch.

Maple Amaranth Cornbread

Maple Amaranth Cornbread

This delicious recipe for Maple Amaranth Cornbread is shared by Meg Paulino who has been part of maple syrup production on Saint Joseph Ridge.The recipe was posted by the Ho-Chunk Nation's Division of Health as a Harvest of the Month. For Indigenous people, both maple syrup and amaranth have many uses and sacred connections to their food sovereignty, culture and spirituality.

Basic Bread Recipe

Basic Bread Recipe

Christians celebrate 50 days of Easter, giving us time to consciously engage in Resurrection transformation: to be of service, forgive, prayerfully plant seeds, surrender to joy, bake bread. Use this Basic Bread Recipe to bake bread, "transformational food!" Also included: a reflection inspired by baker theologian Peter Reinhart called From Wheat to Eat.

Red Lentil Tacos

Red Lentil Tacos

Another ethnic meatless recipe, Red Lentil Tacos are spiced with delicious taco seasonings for a healthy alternative to ground meat. It can be whipped up with only a few simple ingredients in just 20 minutes. Read on for more meatless recipes from Earthbeat, the Sisters of Mercy and the Meatless Mondays campaign and their planet health reasons to limit meat consumption.

Canned Fish for Light Meals and Snacks

Canned Fish for Light Meals and Snacks

A partner-in-mission suggested that Seasoned Franciscan feature meatless meals with sardines. So, this post, Canned Fish for Light Meals and Snacks suggests ways to use sardines and other canned fish. They may be a pantry staple for you or a new food to try! Read on for "fishy" facts you might find interesting regarding the environment, health and doing penance.

Enchilada Casserole

Enchilada Casserole

An easy meatless Enchilada Casserole with a side of refried beans, offers protein and veggies! This recipe uses convenient, nutritious vegetables frozen at their flavor peak! I discovered veggies and fruits grown locally in my grocer's organic freezer section! Look where you shop!

Hmong Egg Rolls

Hmong Egg Rolls

Egg rolls are a celebration food! When the Hmong Community Center has an egg roll sale in La Crosse there is often a line out the door! Yee Xiong, virtual worker at St. Rose Convent, used to make this recipe on special occasions at the Villa to entice Sisters and staff to the Terrace for an event! She will tell you that they are served at important family occasions in Hmong culture. Needless to say, they are made with love and care!

Easy Vegetable Frittata

Easy Vegetable Frittata

Frittata is good for breakfast, lunch or dinner and a great way to use whatever veggies you have on hand or leftover pasta. It’s easier than quiche, but may take practice to get it set how you like it! What meatless dishes come to you from your food heritage? We’ll be sharing some this Lent!

Bran "Penitential" Biscuits

Bran "Penitential" Biscuits

Saint Rose Convent Nurse Zona Kern writes, “Over the years many sisters have mentioned that "penitential biscuits" were being served to them on occasion. (Apparently, it used to be on Good Friday.) This year one of the sisters brought a biscuit to the nurses to try and it was very good. The recipe is attributed to Sister Marcella Marie Dreikosen.

Monastery Lentil Soup from "Diet for a Small Planet"

Monastery Lentil Soup from "Diet for a Small Planet"

With Lent approaching, this recipe from Jean Feeney for "Monastery Lentil Soup" uses a versatile plant protein and great pantry staple.  She got it from "Diet for a Small Planet" by Francis Moore Lappe published over 50 years ago.  Make it for Lent.  Meet another author named Marion Nestle who writes about how to vote with our fork and our votes to help our small and warmer planet today!

Vicki Lopez-Kaley – I am an affiliate with FSPA and a member of the Eco Pact Team. For me, the kitchen and garden are about slowing down and being creative. Sharing stories and connecting with others and the Earth through food can bring great meaning and pleasure.

Cassi Creason – I am a WisCorps-AmeriCorps member in service with FSPA as a sustainability assistant. I am passionate about the interconnections among food, culture and environmental and social justice issues! I hope to demonstrate how mindful and joyful cooking can help heal our global community.

The FSPA Eco Pact Team – We are a cooperative group of sisters, affiliates and partners in mission focused on making an impact on integral ecology through the lens of Laudato Si’. Since beginning our mission in the summer of 2021, Eco Pact has brought forward many changes, including initiating effective recycling practices at St. Rose Convent. Connect with us at ecopact@fspa.org.

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