French Style Fish Fillets with Herbs

6:35 am Well, I didn’t make it in time to have breakfast at the table. Did I mention that I am not a morning person? I’m not going to be too hard on myself though because that would be counter productive right? I ate my cheese and toast in the car, but I said grace, which is a step up. I added cheese to the menu because I needed more to get me through until lunch. I do not get to choose when my luch break is, due to staff scheduling and the fact that children cannot take care of themselves. Another conundrum of the day is that it is teacher appreciation week, so the kids’ parents are bringing in chocolate galore and other amazing treats. Brother V.-A. suggests fruit for dessert, not a homemade marshmallow, chocolate chip, crispy, peanut butter bar!

12:15 pm Ok, I am officially over the soup. I will freeze the rest. Thankfully, today I also had some strawberries. I read my daily reflection at lunch instead of breakfast since reading while driving is definitely out. Today, Brother V.-A. quotes a beautiful prayer from Saint Gregory of Narek which I thought was worth sharing:

Creator of Light and fashioner of the night,

Thou, life in death, and light in darkness,

Hope unto those who wait,

And forbearance unto those that doubt;

Thou, who with skillful wisdom,

Turns the shadow of death into morning;

Thou unending dawn,

Thou sun without setting.

7:30 pm I made “French Style Fish Fillets with Herbs” from Brother V.-A.’s From a Monastery Kitchen, and asparagus for supper tonight. The recipe is simple: water, white wine, herbs, fish and butter. I added garlic and I used chives and thyme from my garden! It was especially good considering all the soup I’ve had recently. Matt ate with me this time and I read a nice grace by Saint Cyril of Alexandria, blessing especially those who have been kind to us. I bought wild pacific cod for the fish. My seafood guide lists pacific cod in the yellow “good alternatives” section. (the other two categories are “best chioces” and “avoid.”) The yellow category means that there are significant concerns about a species’ status, fishing methods and/or management. If you want to look at a great seafood guide go to:

http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/sfw_recommendations.aspx