DIY Bread

🥖 DIY Bread 🍞

Hello everyone! 

I hope you are holding up and keeping safe! A lot of people have been turning to baking and cooking since they have been staying home. 

Below are recipes of both sweet and savoury breads for you to try out! The ingredients are listed, too, so you can quickly check if you have them in your pantry.

As always, best of luck. And stay strong!

DIY Easy 4 Ingredient Homemade Bread

flour

salt

dry yeast

water

DIY Chocolate Filled Sweet Buns

milk

dry yeast

sugar

eggs 

flour

salt

butter

chocolate

DIY No-Knead Dutch Oven Bread

all-purpose flour

salt

dry yeast

water

DIY No-Yeast Flatbread

flour

onion powder

salt

baking powder

water

honey

vegetable oil

DIY Easiest Banana Bread

margarine

caster sugar

egg

two bananas

flour

baking powder

salt

DIY Stay Home Soft Pretzels

water

dry yeast

sugar

olive oil

flour

kosher salt

Vegetable oil

baking soda

DIY Pineapple Buns (Bolo Bao)

butter

whole milk

egg yolk

vanilla extract

sugar

all-purpose flour

baking powder

baking soda

salt

DIY Vegan Naan

 non-dairy milk

sugar

dry yeast (1 packet)

white vinegar

canola or vegetable oil

salt

all-purpose flour

vegan butter, for grilling

DIY Easy Breakfast Bread Rolls

all-purpose flour

dry yeast 

water

fine sea salt

honey

cornstarch

sesame, sunflower, pumpkin, flax or poppy seeds, optional

DIY Easy Homemade Cornbread

all-purpose flour

granulated sugar

corn meal

baking powder

salt

whole milk (or buttermilk*)

eggs

vegetable oil

butter

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sew-much-to-do: a visual collection of sewing tutorials/patterns, knitting, diy, crafts, recipes, etc.

Need help finding tutorials? Send me a request!

I feel a call to a religion I have ties to, but which also is hostile to me and others like me. I understand that I have space to hold opposing beliefs, and I’m actively attracted to most of its other elements, but I feel conflicted. I offer the damp taste of uncertainty, the chill of silver, and (un)holy repetitions whispered by a lead tongue

I AM A FAN OF GODS BUT AM A LOT LESS OF A FAN OF PRIESTS 

YOUR FAITH IS BETWEEN YOU AND YOUR GOD NOBODY ELSE 

you weren’t a “well behaved” child you had anxiety and were terrified of conflict

Ideas for Lent

100 Things to Do for Lent  (printable list) You probably know that the three pillars of Lent are prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Did you know that you’re supposed to do all three? Did you know that you can do more than one thing in each category? - Meg Hunter-Kilmer

My favorite thing to do for Lent - Daily intercession for others Write the name of one family member, friend, coworker, neighbor, acquaintance, or someone I’m not too fond of on one of the 40 days of Lent. When that day arrives, I offer my prayers and petitions, frustrations, joys, and sufferings for the person’s intentions. - Katie Warner

66 Things to Give Up or Take Up for Lent (Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced) Through my various Lenten fails over the years, I’ve learned a different way of approaching Lent….We make it a time, not of suffering (necessarily) but rather of increased focus on God and others and decreased focus on self and personal comfort. - Catholic All Year

8 Reasons to Turn Out the Lights During Lent   The impact it had on our lives was more powerful than I could have imagined. - Jennifer Fulwiler

The 5-Minute Sacrifice for Lent   Instead of giving up one impossibly difficult thing for 40 days, I give up myriads of small things every day, for 5 minutes at a time.

The 7 Penitential Psalms to be prayed during Lent

Pray the Litany of Humility

Pray “Universal Prayer” in Slow Motion Meditate on particular line for each of 40 days. I have often thought that the second greatest prayer ever written is the Universal Prayer attributed to Pope Clement XI. - Msgr. Charles Pope 

Common Reasons for Failure in Lent:

Expectations and reality: You will struggle – expect it and you won’t be as frustrated when you do.

Lack of firm commitments: When you struggle, don’t give up – get up and work on it again.

Lack of clear commitments: Our Lenten commitments should be clear. That means that if we succeed or fail we know it and thus there is no ambiguity.

Lack of accountability and Community: Those with accountability partners to pray and encourage them will be far more successful than those who work on these disciplines alone. We should also take our failures to confession for forgiveness and strength to continue to fight.

Hello! I was wondering if you know an edition of the Bible that is annotated/ contains discussions of the context of the different books and chapters or a supplement that does the same? Something that would have explanations for the different symbols, the references the different NT books make to OT books and such. We studied the Bible this way in literature class and I miss it as I've honestly learnt more about the Bible in literature class than in religious studies. Thank you!

Hiya, sorry for the delay in responding! It’s super hard to read the Bible without good commentary explaining the context, so good on you for seeking that out. 

The study Bible I recommend most strongly for the “average person” (aka, you’re not a religious studies major or seminarian) is the Common English Study Bible. 

All my other study Bibles are made more for seminarians and thus the language is a little more “jargony” and made for a higher reading level, while this study Bible does its best to be accessible to people of all education levels. 

The CEB translation was created by a collaboration of several denominations, so that’s also cool!

Some stuff it contains along with book introductions, outlines, and footnotes:

Over 200 illustrations, maps, and charts

Lots of cross references (e.g. it’ll tell you if another part of the Bible sounds real similar to the part you’re reading)

Some pages have lil green squares that define words, explore theological themes, examine problematic passages, etc. For example, there’s a section on “Family conflict in Genesis” and another on “God’s Kingdom.”

Near the end there are some easy-to-read essays on “The Authority of Scripture,” “The Bible’s Unity,” “How We Got the Bible,” and “Guidelines for Reading the Bible” – these essays are such a great place for the average Bible reader to start considering questions of “inerrancy” and “inspiration,” cultural context and canon. 

Finally, select concordance at the back that lets you search for a topic, name, or theme

The study Bible I personally use most often is the New Interpreter’s Study Bible, just because it’s the one my seminary classes required. 

It’s got similar content to the CEB study Bible but written in less accessible language – if you’re interested, I think you’d still get a lot of use out of it, but might have to google stuff if a footnote throws words like “soteriology” and “theodicy” and “eschatology” at you and you don’t know wtf they’re talking about. 

The same goes for the Catholic Study Bible, second edition – 

of these three options, it has the most commentary and tons of essays on who wrote the biblical books and when and why and all that stuff, but the language is super duper scholarly. 

So if that’s not your style, don’t get this one; if it is your style and you wanna just have a whole avalanche of commentary, then do get this one!

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So yeah, if nothing else, get yourself a study Bible like one of the three I describe above. They can be pricy, which is why I linked to them on amazon – I know amazon is Evil and Bad but dang are Bibles expensive, and so getting a used copy is many people’s only option. 

But if you do have enough money or access to a library with good Bible books, you can also consider the following resources…

If there is a specific book of the Bible you really wanna dig into, commentaries are great! 

A standard commentary will provide cultural context for the biblical book and tell you what scholars know about who wrote it and when and why; it’ll explain symbols and delve into theology and how the book is applied today…The issue is, commentaries are usually expensive.  

If you live in a large-ish city, it’s very possible that there’s a seminary somewhere near you where you can explore commentaries to your heart’s content! You can probably enlist a librarian’s help in finding just what you’re looking for, too. 

Two series of commentaries that I recommend are Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching (mostly accessible language but still uses some jargon you might have to look up) and the Anchor Bible series (an older series so more scholarly and occasionally sorta outdated but still pretty good). 

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Now let’s talk about some free resources you might find useful, because golly do I wish biblical materials were all free so everyone could access them…

Working Preacher is a site that a lot of progressive-leaning pastors reference when crafting weekly sermons. It’s not gonna give you a super detailed account of the cultural context of a Bible chapter or too much about who wrote it, but if you want to reflect on applications for today, this is a great place to start! There’s a scripture index so you can look up whatever book and chapter you’re interested in and see if anyone’s written a little article about it. 

So I don’t personally agree with all the theology shared in the Lumina Bible, but it’s a great resource for the average Bible reader who doesn’t know Hebrew or Greek to get some help figuring out what the original language said. There’s often a lot of good cultural context stuff too! So yeah, that’s my recommendation for an online Bible with quality footnotes.

The Bible Project is such a cool resource, with timelines and posters and videos for each book of the Bible that offer a really easy to understand, well-organized overview of that book. I don’t personally agree with all their theology either, but if I want to jog my memory about what a certain book of the Bible is about and the context surrounding it – when it was written and why, what the main themes are, etc. – I hop on over to YouTube and watch the Bible Project’s short video on that book. So helpful, and entertaining too. 

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I hope this helps; let me know if you have questions!

Does anyone else have a study Bible or other good resources they’d recommend for anon?

Quarantine Cooking

Stuck at home and in need of simple meals that require little effort and few ingredients? Hopefully you’ve stocked up on some basics. Here are some of my personal favorites.

Tamagohan - Egg rice. In Japan, they crack a raw egg over freshly steamed rice and mix it together. In the U.S., you might be better served to use a fried or soft-boiled egg. Or, in a pinch, make scrambled eggs and mix them into a bowl of rice like I do. Top it with whatever you like and boom. It’s a meal.

Colcannon - Cabbage and potatoes. Peel and boil some potatoes, then mash them with butter and sour cream. Boil chopped green cabbage until just tender, and drain. Mix the two together and add salt, pepper, and crumbled bacon to taste. Keeps well, reheats beautifully, sticks to your ribs. A big scoop of this can be a side dish or a meal by itself. Seven or eight potatoes and half a small head of green cabbage makes enough for several days.

Homemade Chili - Ground beef, peppers, beans, canned tomatoes. Brown the beef and drain most of the fat. Mix with chopped peppers, beans, canned tomatoes, and whatever spices you like. I suggest cumin, chili powder, garlic, and onion powder at the very least. If you like onions, add diced onions to bulk up and flavor the mix. I also use pasta sauce in mine, but if that’s at a premium in your house, save it for the pasta. Simmer it all together for at least two hours in the biggest pot you have, then serve. A big pot of chili will last for several meals and can easily be stretched for as many people as need feeding.

Roasted Veggies - Line a baking tray with foil. Toss vegetables with a light coating of olive oil plus salt and pepper and whatever other spices are appropriate for your chosen food. Lay everything out on the tray in a single layer. Bake until fork-tender and lightly crisped on the edges. Cooking times will vary, check Google for specifics. My personal faves are asparagus and brussels sprouts, but this also works with carrots, parsnips, turnips, and potatoes.

Sausage Mushroom Pasta - Kielbasa, button mushrooms, noodles. Fry sliced kielbasa and lightly pan-sear some mushrooms in the same pan, seasoning with pepper and basil. Mix together and serve over whatever noodles you like. You can also add spinach for extra vitamins or to stretch the dish. This can also be altered for whatever protein you have on hand besides fish.

Poppy Seed Chicken - Chicken, cream soup, sour cream, poppy seeds, buttery crackers. Cook bite-sized pieces of chicken in a pan, with white wine, minced garlic, and lemon juice if you have it. Add to a ceramic baking dish, including the cooking juices. Mix in a can of cream soup (chicken, mushroom, celery, or broccoli work best), a big scoop of sour cream, and a heaping spoonful of blue poppy seeds. Top with crumbled crackers (like Ritz or Town House) and sprinkle with a little bit of melted butter. Bake at 325F for about 30min until the crackers are slightly browned. Keeps well, reheats well, easy to stretch with the addition of vegetables or by serving it over rice.

Sesame Ginger Chicken - Chicken, sesame seeds, ginger, garlic, orange juice. Coat the bottom of a big frying pan with cooking oil. Toss in some sesame seeds and wait until they crackle. Cook bite-sized slices of chicken with ginger and garlic, tossing with more sesame seeds. Mix in a spoonful of orange marmalade if you have it. When the chicken is just about done, add a cup of orange juice to the pan and reduce the heat to a simmer. Allow the sauce to thicken, then serve over rice.

Additional Pro-Tip: If you’re able to shop for groceries or have them delivered, make sure you plan your shopping. Make a two-week meal plan and try to keep the ingredients as simple as you can. Overlap where you can and cook so that you have leftovers where possible. Have a backup or two in case the store is out of something. This will help you reduce costs and give you a schedule to stick to so you know what you’ll be preparing each night.

Good luck, everyone!