Feasts of St. Monica and St. Augustine

Tomorrow is the feast of St. Monica with the feast of her son, St. Augustine, following the day after. We aren't doing any formal geography this year, but a globe, some wall maps and Google Earth are going to help us explore the place of St. Monica's birth (Algeria) and the place she died (Ostia, Italy). I was looking for recipes that might be appropriate for celebrating St. Monica and her son when I came across this Algerian dish. It just so happened that last week, I decided to reintroduce a similar dish I hardly make any more because the children were never very fond of it. Now that they are older, I know I can coerce encourage them to give it a fair try. My recipe, bearing a striking resemblance to the Algerian version calls for zucchini, chicken, tomatoes and couscous but no chickpeas. I don't see why you couldn't add them if you wanted to.

Chicken and CousCous
2 pkg. boneless chicken thighs
2 zucchini, chopped into bite size pieces
1-2 cans Italian style tomatoes, undrained
olive oil
garlic salt and pepper
couscous (we love Near East Parmesan Couscous)

Season chicken thighs with garlic salt and pepper and brown in olive oil. Remove from pan. Saute zucchini in remaining oil and pan drippings. Add tomatoes (use two cans if you want more tomato in the tomato/zucchini ratio, I prefer more zucchini) and bring to a boil. Return chicken, cover and simmer until chicken is done. Serve over couscous.

As you can see, it isn't really a recipe, rather just a set of instructions. You can play with it and add seasonings that you know your family will like. Also, here is a coloring page I made for St. Monica and here is one for St. Augustine. Please feel free to use them with your family and/or friends.

Exemplary Mother of the great Augustine, you perseveringly pursued your wayward son not with wild threats but with prayerful cries to heaven. Intercede for all mothers in our day so that they may learn to draw their children to God. Teach them how to remain close to their children, even the prodigal sons and daughters who have sadly gone astray. Amen.

Picture credit: Monastery Icons