40 Days of Veggies

Ash Wednesday. Day one of Lent, a season for repentance, reflection, and - some would say - self deprivation in observance of the end of Jesus Christ's Life on Earth. He was challenged, tried, betrayed, and ultimately killed by those who had once worshipped him.

Many people take Lent as an opportunity to give something up, following the old tradition of throwing all the fat out of the house on what has become known as Fat Tuesday. Additionally, Fridays are usually days with no meat, or perhaps just fish. I have not always observed these traditions, and when I have it's been with mixed success. I'm not one for a month of somberness, so I often take Lent as an opportunity to do something to live my life in a healthier way, rather than as a time to focus solely on our lives as sinners.

Anyhoo...This year, the Beez have decided together to turn Lenten traditions on their head, giving up meat every day except Friday. (Typically, observers use Fridays as a day to give up meat, unless it's fish.) So yesterday, for Fat Tuesday, we did not eat donuts. Instead, we enjoyed a lovely quiche made with some pretty awesome prosciutto. We'll eat the leftovers on Friday this week.


Going vegetarian is not so hard for lunch. (Keep in mind that we are not giving up dairy in this experiment - one step at a time.) I had some leftover veggie minestrone from this weekend's adventures, so I had that with some Greek Yogurt. No problem - a pretty typical lunch for me. Dinner, on the other hand, presented our first challenge. Knowing that this new endeavor would require some planning, we had a pantry creation in mind - black bean and corn quesadillas. Easy, right? Not so much when your toddler has a meltdown and demands pancakes.

So, pancakes it was. No veggies on the plate, but also no meat. The meal was topped off with some lovely local maple syrup (or dip, as the Bean calls it) from MacNeal Orchards.

Hey, it's a start, right?  It'll only get better from here...