Monday, March 11, 2013

Spicing Up Married Life



Enjoying spaghetti alla
carbonara in Rome on our
honeymoon in 2009....
Before you get too excited, this is just a quick review of Fr. Leo Patalinghug's newest cookbook, "Spicing Up Married Life," which came out in 2012. Ladies, you know how the saying goes - a way to a man's heart is through his stomach... I'm not sure I would bet the farm on that, but a shared meal (and a tasty one at that) can open the door for greater intimacy.


I've mentioned before how hard it can sometimes be for Hubbers and I to connect during the week. With jobs, kids and life, we can often go days without an extensive adult conversation that doesn't focus on the kids' diapers, our to-do list, or our schedule for the week. It's not that we don't want to connect - it just simply happens that sometimes days can go by without us having an opportunity for intimate conversation and prayer, among other things. Heck, some days it's even hard to string together enough full words for one cohesive sentence when we are low on sleep and high on stress!

In Fr. Leo's book, you'll find not only delicious (and fairly simple) meal ideas, but also inspiration for conversation and prayer with your spouse. Fr. Leo's ministry, Grace Before Meals, centers on the premise that mealtime is a grace filled time to grow and connect - not only in the eating, but in the making. With topics such as competition, finance, communication, parenting and more, there is ample material to kickstart some great conversations coupled with suggestions for prayer to open our hearts to draw closer to God together as a family. I'm loving it so far - just check out my Pasta Carbonara (which is a slight deviation from Fr. Leo's recipe - his calls for rigatoni but all we had was spaghetti!)!




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