Suffering With Joy

God’s Bounty and Blessing

June 11, 2010

Tomato plants in the Earthbox. Little tomatoes growing already.

“Bless us O Lord, and these, Thy gifts, which we have received from Thy bounty, through Christ our Lord.  Amen.”

Spring sprang into summer almost overnight in southwest Missouri.  We are experiencing August heat and humidity in June which is causing fruits, flowers and veggies to leap out of the ground (and the Earthboxes®) and produce prodigiously.

This week we started harvesting zucchini and sharing with the neighbors, and I invented a quick dish good for any day of the week, but especially for Fridays because there’s no meat in it.

As I inspected all the vegetables I saw that the tomatoes are forming nicely and God blessed us with a volunteer cherry tomato plant that grew from one of last year’s. Asparagus beans are climbing the fence and budding with pretty blue-purple flowers.  Six of the nine planted are looking very good.  Yellow squash is coming along and the cantaloupe are dawdling but healthy.  We will be at war with the Japanese beetles any day now, though.

Seeing the garden doing so well made me think of the grace before meals we prayed growing up and still pray today.  It’s such an easy way to remind ourselves that it is God’s bounty in all things that makes our lives possible.

Of course, we must remember to thank God for His blessings after our meals, too.

“We give Thee thanks, O Almighty God, for these Thy benefits, Who lives and reigns, world without end. Amen. May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.”

Recipe: Zucchini Italian

One of our zucchini plants in the ground. We have two in an Earthbox. Leaves are about 10 inches across.

1 or 2  8-10 inch long zucchini, depending on your family size

Home made or store bought Italian sauce, gluten free

1 tbs. butter

Italian seasoning

Parmesan cheese

Shredded Italian 5 cheese

Turn on the broiler.  Cut the ends off the zucchini and slice it into 1/8 inch slices.  Melt butter in your cooking dish (I use ceramic dishes I bought a couple of years ago from Dr. Mercola) and sprinkle a little Italian seasoning in it, or use fresh herbs from your garden.  Sauté the zucchini in the butter and herbs over medium heat on the stove until it starts getting a little tender.  Spoon the Italian sauce on the zucchini and spread it fairly thin.  Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top and then sprinkle shredded Italian 5 cheese thinly over the whole dish.  Pop it under the broiler for about 2-3 minutes until the cheese is lightly browned.

It takes about 10 minutes max to put all this together and get it out of the oven ready to serve. This makes a good side dish or a good main dish.  If you’re making it a main dish, be sure to fix enough zucchini as the recipe above is intended for two.

Tip for making your own Italian sauce: put a little burgundy or merlot wine in it for a gourmet flavor.

Tags: wellness

1 Comment to God’s Bounty and Blessing

1. 

   I am a huge zucchini fan, I’ve eaten it twice already this week! Your recipe sounds delicious.
Mary Nicewarner on June 16th, 2010

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