In Praise Of The Humble Chef Boyardee Pizza Maker Kit

Pica's Pizzeria, 1940s. Frank Pica, Sr. outside his pizzeria in Philadelphia. Credits

When the Son of God came into the world... 

he gave power to become children of God (Jn 1:2). 

This spirit of childhood consists of simplicity, docility, purity, 

and contempt for worldly riches and grandeur.

                 - ST. JOHN BAPTIST DE LA SALLE

This is a public service announcement. I had never heard of the Chef Boyardee Pizza kit until a few months ago. After reading the reviews on Amazon, I've learned that it has a cult following from people who have eaten it since the 70s. I think this pizza is a hidden gem for homebodies and simple eaters. I was so surprised to learn that Chef Boyardee was actually a real person and a famous Italian chef. But what really shocked me is that the five dollar, dusty, red box of Traditional Chef Boyardee Pizza kit was truly delicious! You can find it on the bottom shelf in the section with the pizza sauce and packaged Boboli type pizza crusts. I've seen it at Food Lion, Walmart, IGA, and even Amazon (way too expensive.)

WARNING: Please note that

1. This kit IS NOT VEGAN. The traditional crust mix and sauce both contain dairy. 

2. I do not have sophisticated tastes. My 10 rating is probably your 6.  I think this pizza is better than any frozen pizza and much cheaper. It is more like a school lunch room pizza with a biscuit type crust that browns well. I would rather have it than a pizza from Little Caesars.   

The best part about this pizza mix is that it comes together very easily and is fool proof. It is cheaper and easier to store than boxes of frozen pizza. The pizza kit makes two pizzas. It is shelf stable. As long as you have Kraft Mozzarella cheese (the suggested brand to use) and some veggies (canned mushrooms, black olives, green peppers, and onions) you can have a hot delicious pizza at home in less than an hour. For people who live out in the country who don't want to drive to town or pay for pizza delivery, Chef Boyardee is the answer. I really hope you buy a box with a two liter of root beer and stick it in your pantry. Next time you want to have a pizza night, it's right there.

Here are some tips on how Mr. Peasant prepares the pizza. He dusts the dough and rolling pin with extra flour. He rolls out the crust thin on a greased pan. He puts on extra sauce. The biscuit crust absorbs a lot of the sauce. He spreads the sauce and the cheese right to the edges creating delicious browned edges. He sprinkles a layer of bottom cheese. Then he puts on the toppings and sprinkles more cheese on top. We have the oven set for 390 degrees, and it cooks brown and bubbly in 17 minutes. He also cuts the pizza party style into squares. 

I had no idea this pizza kit even existed, and I just had to share! God bless you and thanks for reading.

Mrs. Peasant's Spooktactular Halloween

Unknown French Master: Allegory of the Vanity of Earthly Things 1630

Tempus Fugit, Memento Mori

Time Flies, Remember Death

It's officially October. I am so excited to share our simple Halloween plans. I use the Fly Lady holiday planner (see page 9) to help me plan for each holiday. I try to keep our traditions super easy. Here are our Halloween must haves. 

 1. TREATS

Since Mr. Peasant is plant based, we don't eat a lot of regular candy. I am making rice crispy treats with Dandie vegan marshmallows, and this vegan peanut butter cups recipe which tastes exactly like a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. I didn't use the coconut oil and just froze them. 

Used a Dayquil cup to cut the rolled out peanut butter mixture into circles.

I just spread the chocolate on one side and then kept them in the freezer.

2. DECORATIONS

I use a capsule style decorating philosophy. I use items that are easy to put up, easy to take down, easy to store, and extra happy. Our decorations total 15 items, and they can fit into a shoe box. I also have three pumpkins wrapped in grocery bags. It only took me 5 minutes to decorate for Halloween. Here are our minimal Halloween decorations. I think the mantel is bursting with joy. 

Halloween Capsule Decorations. Only 15 items but big impact.

Mantel before decorations. 

I use a thrift store polyester curtain that I cut into a mantle scarf and doilies

Topped the lace runner with a plaid scarf. Halloween decor up in 5 mins.

3. THINGS TO DO/ THINGS TO WATCH

We will be watching spooky movies on the four Friday nights in October. 

--Ghostbusters 1 and 2. 

--The Batman Animated TV Series ( a few episodes each Friday). 

We always watch the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown Special on Halloween night.

Here are some of my favorite spooky movie suggestions and links to the most terrifying radio episodes I've ever heard. (Perfect to listen to in bed with the lights off. If you dare!)

👻👻👻 SCARIEST TRUE STORY RADIO SHOWS 

Woman dies and goes to hell

Exorcist Priest Malachi Martin

Bob Cranmer's Haunted House

🎃🎃🎃 MY FAVORITE SPOOKY MOVIES

Something Wicked This Way Comes

Coraline

The Haunted (The true story of a Catholic family in a demon possessed house) 

Garfield's Halloween Adventure

Return to Oz 

Unico In the Island of Magic 1983

4. NEW TRADITIONS YOU MAY LIKE TO TRY

--For a fun Halloween night dinner, I bought a box of vegan corn dogs on sale.  

--I want to try a new chili recipe. This one is a copy cat recipe from The Natures Table Restaurant in the mall food court. Do you remember that place in the 90s? This one is a Cincinnati Style Chili with chocolate in it. I'll put all the ingredients on a Halloween grocery shopping list. 

--Create a prayer plan. As a Catholic, Halloween will always be the eve of All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day. I like to remember our loved ones throughout October. I write a list of relatives and friends that have passed, so we can offer up our nightly rosaries for them throughout the month of October. 

5. THINGS THAT YOUR FAMILY DOESN'T LIKE TO DO. (It is better to know now and be able to discuss it than to suffer and everyone be miserable.)

We decided last year to stop handing out candy after the third small child fell on our property. The parents were not watching them, and they ran across our sloped front lawn. The last little girl couldn't have been more than 4 and faceplanted in the grass. We decided it wasn't fun anymore. We put the pumpkins on the mantel and enjoy a cozy Halloween indoors now. 

I hope this post inspires you to take a few moments to quickly jot down your simple plan for October. Thank you so much for stopping by and God bless you!

And when this mortal hath put on immortality, 

then shall come to pass the saying that is written: 

Death is swallowed up in victory.

O death, where is thy victory? 

O death, where is thy sting?

 Now the sting of death is sin: 

and the power of sin is the law.

But thanks be to God, who hath given us the victory 

through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast and unmoveable; 

always abounding in the work of the Lord, 

knowing that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

1 CORINTHIANS 15:54  DRA

Memento Mori still life with musical instruments, books, sheet music, skeleton, skull and armour
Carstian Luyckx 1650

Mr. Peasant On The Franciscan Spirit Of Voluntary Poverty

Francis of Assisi, 1590. Annibale Carracci 

My dear and beloved Brother, the treasure of blessed poverty is so very precious and divine that we are not worthy to possess it in our vile bodies. For poverty is that heavenly virtue by which all earthy and transitory things are trodden under foot, and by which every obstacle is removed from the soul so that it may freely enter into union with the eternal Lord God. It is also the virtue which makes the soul, while still here on earth, converse with the angels in Heaven. It is she who accompanied Christ on the Cross, was buried with Christ in the Tomb, and with Christ was raised and ascended into Heaven, for even in this life she gives to souls who love her the ability to fly to Heaven, and she alone guards the armor of true humility and charity.

SAINT FRANCIS OF ASSISI

I do not know the number of Franciscan religious orders in the Roman Catholic Church. Though they all agree on the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, the differences are in the particulars. How poor should one be? Can you own books or a second pair of sandals?

I care more about the spirit of poverty than any hard definition of what that should look like. For me, voluntary poverty means dispensing with unnecessary things and worldly vanities. It means holding my possessions with a loose grasp. It means knowing the truth that money doesn't buy happiness.

I was already on the journey towards minimalism and simple living before my conversion to Catholicism. After my conversion, I embraced the Franciscan mindset. This may be because of Mother Angelica and Padre Pio. I am very attracted to the humility and simplicity of the Franciscan orders. This is the tau cross I wear daily:

The cross reminds me to be humble, modest, and non-materialistic in my life. Before I buy anything, I ask myself if it is necessary. This practice means I buy very little. I use the acronym FCST (forecast) to clarify what I think is necessary:

F-Food

C-Clothing

S-Shelter

T-Transportation

Beyond these four things, I need very little. Then, I distinguish between present needs and future needs. I save for future needs. If you live this way, you will find yourself deprived of nothing needful while saving a lot of money in the process. It also allows you to be generous and charitable to the truly needy.

For everyone else in the world, they live in pursuit of the 2 P's--Pleasures and Possessions. They believe in error that these things bring happiness. Consequently, they spend to the limit. They can't save money because it makes their hands itch. Unspent money represents an opportunity cost where they left happiness on the table. Their greatest fear is that someone else will spend that money and gain the happiness that rightfully belongs to them. The result is that these people have neither money for their needs nor happiness.

Voluntary poverty helps you escape this sick and self-destructive mindset. You hold material things in their proper place. People who know me laugh at my peculiar habits, and I laugh, too. I remember sending a picture to my friends, but they couldn't stop laughing at my flip phone that was caught in the reflection of the rear view mirror on the passenger side of the car. I don't need a smartphone, so I don't own one. They "need" these smartphones that virtually no one needed before 2007. The irony is that most people have no clue that I still use a flip phone.

Most "needs" come from some need for compliance with the herd. Voluntary poverty liberates me from these false needs. I have never kept up with the Joneses, and the Jones family has never envied the Peasants. They look at us with a mix of disbelief and horror. Because we are not spendy, they imagine us as miserable people.

Ludovico Carracci: The Vision of Saint Francis of Assisi. 1583

True happiness comes from knowing God and living by His commandments. I think of Saint Francis as a supremely happy man. When I meet Franciscans, they strike me as happy people. Look to the examples of Mother Angelica and Padre Pio. Those were happy folks.

I see the worldly folks as supremely unhappy. This is especially true when they can't pay their bills. In pursuing their wants, they cannot even meet their needs. God has provided, and they have squandered.

I tell Mrs. Peasant that my gift from God has not been a material thing but my indifference to material things. There will always be a material dimension and considerations for life in this world, but it should never come at the expense of the spiritual dimension and considerations. One day, I will be deprived of everything I own when I go to my particular judgment. I pray that I am rich in the spiritual sense when that day comes.

Thank you for reading! Saint Francis, pray for us. 

Anton van Dyck - Saint Francis of Assisi in Ecstasy, 1627.