Mini Meatloafs
Still, when I saw Charlotte’s 3rd Pinning It Down post this afternoon, I decided not to let another week go by without joining in the fun. Since I needed to come up with something for dinner anyway, had a couple pounds of ground beef defrosted in the fridge, and had just pinned a recipe for Mini Meatloafs from My Blessed Life, I decided to give it a shot.
Actually, I decided to have Captain give it a shot, while I held the baby and snapped a few (blurry) pictures to share with you all! 😉
He was more than happy to learn how to make another recipe and did a great job! In fact, when he was finished he went on to make a batch of Outrageous Bar Cookies, which are almost ready to eat. I am so, so thankful for my big helpers!
Delicious Mini Meatloaf Recipe
1 egg
1/2 c. milk
1 c. cheese
1/2 c. oats
1/2 t. dried oregano
1/2 t. onion powder
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1 t. salt
1 lb. ground beef
ketchup, mustard, raw sugar {or brown sugar}
Before you get started, preheat the oven to 350 and lightly spray a muffin pan.
In a large bowl, combine egg, milk, cheese, oats, oregano, onion powder, garlic and salt. Add ground beef and mix well. {Take off your rings and mix with your fingers.}
Evenly divide the meat mixture in muffin pan. This recipe makes approximately 10 mini meatloaves. In a small bowl, mix ketchup, a tad of mustard and a teaspoon of sugar. Evenly divide the glaze over each mini meatloaf.
Bake, uncovered for 45 minutes or until meat is done.
My picture doesn’t look as good as the original picture, but the recipe was a hit with my whole family, even our pickiest eaters.
Our Little Man’s Baby Shower
Yesterday afternoon a couple of my super creative friends gave us the cutest baby shower ever to welcome our “Little Man!” It was actually a double shower for Amy and I, but Amy wasn’t able to make it due to some of her family being sick. (We missed you Amy!!!)
Our Baptized Baby and a Beautiful Baptismal Blanket
After our little man’s baptism this past Friday, I snapped a few pictures of him on his beautiful baptismal blanket, a gift from his Godparents. I realized prior to the baptism, that I didn’t really have any close up pictures of the baptismal outfit, which was also worn by two of his older brothers. I don’t generally like the little “suit” outfits for boys, but I think this one is darling!
And isn’t the blanket perfect?! I think I have a new favorite baptism gift for Godchildren! Even though the blankets had been on back order, it arrived just in time for the baptism, thanks to Catholic Embroidery who embroidered it as soon as the blankets were back in stop and shipped it express mail. (Thank you Mary!) The blanket is embroidered with the Ave Maria Symbol in dark blue and the baby’s name and baptismal date in green. (I really had no idea that I had chosen the colors of his Godfather’s favorite football team! lol!) It turned out so pretty!
Can you believe that Bud is a month old already?! This past month has gone by so fast!
{this moment} :: At the End of Their Special Day!
{pretty, happy, funny, real}
Preparing for Mass
It was a real blessing for Captain to serve Mass for his Godfather, especially since it may be his last trip to visit us before he enters a cloistered monastery in March! Please keep Father in your prayers.
“My First Holy Communion” Party Favors
In addition to the Baptism Favors, I also made First Holy Communion Lollipop Favors for the Cake Reception following the girls’ First Holy Communion and the baby’s Baptism. For these I used the Girl Communion Candy Mold (a boy version is also available), along with Lollipop sticks, white and pink candy melts.
You can see an example of how the multi-colored candies are made in this post. I poured the melted white chocolate into the center of the mold first, let it harden in the fridge, and then finished the lollipops by filling the mold the rest of the way with the pink candy and adding the lollipop stick. It would have been helpful to have more than one mold, but since I really couldn’t make very many at a time (due to a little one who loves to be held) I made them four at a time over a three day period as I had little bits of free time.
I packaged the candy shells in Clear Treat Bags, tying them with Pink Curling Ribbon. I made similar tags to the Baptism favors, some reading “My First Holy Communion…Deo Gratias!” and some that were customized with “God Bless (Child’s Name)”at the top, and the date of the First Holy Communion on the bottom. I just used scissors to cut the circles, which really didn’t take long, but I would love to purchase a 2″ circle punch for the future. I cut the 2 1/2” scalloped backgrounds using my Cricut, Winter Woodland Cartridge, and gold card stock.
Here is the link to my document for the “My First Holy Communion” tags, which I printed out onto white card stock, in case anyone would like to use them in the future:
I was planning on making a couple dozen Cross Lollipops as well, but ended up running out of time even thought they are quicker to make and also take less of the melted candy. These would be a great option if you need a lot of favors.
I wasn’t sure how I was going to display the lollipops, and started looking for a styrofoam block. I wasn’t able to find anything, and wasn’t about to spend $8-10 dollars for one from Walmart, so I ended up cutting down a shoebox (from a cute pair of new boots), to make it shallower, wrapped it in gold wrapping paper, and then punched holes in the top with a hammer and nail. The lollipops didn’t stand up completely straight, but I thought it worked well enough, especially since it didn’t require purchasing any more supplies. 🙂
“My Baptism” :: Scallop Shell Baptism Favors and Printable Tag
In addition to making the Baby’s Baptism Cross for on top of the cake, I also decided to make some Baptism Favors for the reception following our baby’s baptism. These were also inspired by Cupcake’s Baptism Reception. The challenge was finding white candy melts, since the local store was completely sold out of them after Christmas and New Years, and I had used my stash for our Gingerbread Fun on New Year’s Eve. I was finally able to get to Michaels, when I went to town to order the cakes, and then started making a few candies at a time, when I had free hands. Thankfully they are quick and easy to make, and between Sunday-Wednesday I had found the time to make about 50 Baptism and First Holy Communion favors. (This ended up being not nearly enough, but I had no idea we would have nearly 100 guests on a Friday morning! Who says there isn’t enough interest for the Extraordinary Form of the Mass in our area?!)
There are a number of candy molds to choose from, but like Charlotte I decided to go with the Seashell Chocolate Mold, since it is the symbol of Baptism.
“Scallop shell: the sea shell, especially the scallop shell, is the symbol of Baptism, and is found frequently on Baptismal fonts. The dish used by priests to pour water over the heads of catechumens in Baptism is often scallop-shaped. The scallop, too, is a symbol for the Apostle James the Greater.”
Charlotte made her shells a beautiful pink and white swirl. They just didn’t look right with blue and white, and I wanted to make them as quickly a possible, so I decided to make ours solid white.
I packaged the candy shells in Clear Treat Bags, tying them with White Curling Ribbon. I then made my own tags for the favors.
I decided to create some tags that read “My Baptism…Deo Gratias!” and some that were customized with “God Bless (Baby’s Name)”at the top, and the Date of Baptism on the bottom. Here is the link to my document for the “My Baptism” tags, which I printed out onto white card stock, in case anyone would like to use them in the future. These could also be used for cupcake toppers.
I just used scissors to cut the circles, which really didn’t take long, but I would love to purchase a 2″ circle punch for the future. I cut the 2 1/2″ scalloped backgrounds using my Cricut, Winter Woodland Cartridge, and silver card stock.
I placed the favors in one of our Easter Baskets, placing the Joseph’s Studio Baptism Wall Cross I found for the baby at our local Catholic Book store next to the basket. I was very pleased with the results!
Baptism and First Holy Communion Cakes
For the girls’ First Communion Cake I ordered Costco’s Chocolate Cake with chocolate mousse and iced with white buttercream. Since I wanted to make a white Bread of Life Cake Topper, using my Communion Candy Mold
I thought this would be a fun opportunity to have a couple link-ups over at Catholic Cuisine for Baptism Cakes and First Holy Communion Cakes. If you have made one in the past, be sure to head on over to share the link!
One More Year
The Churching of Women
The woman will make arrangements with her priest (ideally, the priest should know the women of his parish and make the offer to her). At the appointed time, she will kneel in the Narthex, holding a lighted candle. The priest, wearing a white stole, will bless her with holy water, and say:
V. Our help is in the Name of the Lord.
R. Who made Heaven and Earth.
ANT. She shall receive.
Psalm 23 1
The Earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof; the world, and all they that dwell therein. For He hath founded it upon the seas; and hath prepared it upon the rivers. Who shall ascend into the mountain of the Lord: or who shall stand in His holy place? The innocent in hands and clean of heart, who hath not taken his soul in vain, nor sworn deceitfully to his neighbor. He shall receive a blessing from the Lord, and mercy from God his Savior. This is the generation of them that seek Him, of them that seek the face of the God of Jacob. Lift up your gates, O ye princes, and be ye lifted up, O eternal gates: and the King of glory shall enter in. Who is this King of glory? the Lord Who is strong and mighty: the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your gates, O ye princes, and be ye lifted up, O eternal gates: and the King of glory shall enter in. Who is this King of glory? the Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory.
Glory be to the Father.
ANT. She shall receive a blessing from the Lord, and mercy from God her Savior: for this is the generation of them that seek the Lord.
The priest places the end of his stole in the woman’s hand and leads her into the church while saying:
Enter into the temple of God, adore the Son of the blessed Virgin Mary, who gave you fruitfullness of offspring.
Outside the sanctuary, the mother kneels before the Altar and prays, thanking God for her child.
Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. (Now the Our Father is said silently)
V. And lead us not into temptation.
R. But deliver us from evil.
V. Save your handmaid, Lord.
R. Who hopes in Thee, my God.
V. Send her help, Lord, from the sanctuary.
R. And defend her out of Sion.
V. Let not the enemy prevail against her.
R. Nor the son of iniquity approach to hurt her.
V. O Lord, hear my prayer.
R. And let my cry come to Thee.
V. The Lord be with you.
R. And with thy spirit.
V. Let us pray.
Almighty, everlasting God, through the delivery of the blessed Virgin Mary, Thou hast turned into joy the pains of the faithful in childbirth; look mercifully upon this Thy handmaid, coming in gladness to Thy temple to offer up her thanks: and grant that after this life, by the merits and intercession of the same blessed Mary, she may merit to arrive, together with her offspring, at the joys of everlasting happiness. Through Christ our Lord.
R. Amen.
The priest sprinkles the mother with holy water in the shape of a Cross.
The peace and blessing of God almighty, the Father + and the Son and the Holy Spirit, descend upon you and remain forever.
R. Amen.
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