Thursday, March 5, 2020

Lenten Theme of the Week: Gratitude, and the 1st of our meatless Friday recipes!

Well, we're well into the first full week of Lent, and I'm feeling super energized. :-0 This is not unusual for me for the first week of Lent, and it is the topic of my upcoming Catholic Mom piece for March. ;-) My piece addresses 4 ideas for managing to persevere all the way through Lent without getting overwhelmed, and one of the ideas is to not take too many devotions on all at once; you'll see that this is very ironic given the sheer volume of devotionals and other prayers that I have shared/am about to share with you all as my Official Lenten Plan for 2020. 😂

This week, my thoughts immediately turned to Lenten gratitude, and the reason for that is COMMUNITY! I feel so grateful to be journeying along this Lent with all of you.

*virtual hugs and hearts*

In the mail last week, I had a little package from our dear community member Melanie. And look what she sent me!

Give up Worry for Lent

She knows I've been going through a struggle with anxiety lately, saw this book at a conference she was attending, and bought it for me as a gift. I mean, wasn't that so sweet and awesome of her?! Thank you so much, Melanie!

I've also been talking with my sister quite a bit about Lenten devotionals, and she recommended this one to me that she learned about from Twitter:

Remember Your Death and accompanying Memento Mori journal
In the spirit of community, I bought a copy. ;-) I've been keeping this one on my nightstand for use just before bed, and really liking it! I love sharing things like this with others in our group. *heart* I am feeling so very grateful this Lent to have such meangingful and long lasting relationships!

*group hug*

So as you can see, I've added to my Lenten arsenal. I'm just doing what I can, taking it all in, and enjoying everything! If I don't get to every devotional every single day during Lent, that's ok. I'm doing my best and learning a lot, and that's what is important!

We're also going to start weekly meal planning and recipe talk here on the blog during Lent, and so I snapped a picture of our family menu for Lent, Week 1:


Lots of leftovers on tap for this week, because I cooked a lot last week. We take the kids out to a restaurant once every other week as a little family tradition on the weeks Anne and I don't have Girl Scouts, and this week is one of those. For meatless options, this Friday we're having Ceasar Salmon Wraps:


If you're a vegetarian or do not enjoy fish, you could swap out the salmon for roasted or marinated vegetables! I think bell peppers, tomatoes and avocado would work particularly well.

Each Thursday, I'll feature a free meatless recipe that we'll also be trying! If it involves fish (and it often will, we like seafood), I will suggest vegetarian alternatives. :)

Check out Catholic Mom's Meatless Friday archives here!

What are you choosing for your Friday meal this week? How is gratitude playing a part in your Lent? I'd love to hear from you!

6 comments:

  1. Fridays dinner is at the local parish for their Fish Fry. Thankfully they have a Grilled Cheese dinner for those who either are allergic (me) or are vegetarian.

    I would love to recommend another book for you for either Lent or throughout the year. It is titled "Living Memento Mori: My Journey through the Stations of the Cross" by Emily DeArdo. I have read it and loved it. It is a short book, but still gives a good reflection on Memento Mori and the Stations.

    Your Sister in Christ,
    Nikita

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    1. oh YUM, love parish fish fry! And it's ideal that they have other options for those who need them. :) Oh gosh, this book sounds awesome, I'm adding it to my Amazon wish list!

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  2. So glad you are doing fine during Lent. As far as giving up worry for Lent, that is easier said than done. As far as our meatless Fridays go, we are going to have oatmeal tomorrow with saltines and peanut butter[except Marion,she has asthma and peanuts are one of the things she is allergic to,fish,eggs and chocolate are the other ones]. Other Fridays we have pancakes, or tomato or vegetarian soup. Joan does not like the soups so she has a grilled cheese sandwich which we also eat,too. As you can tell we are all light eaters.
    Joan,Marion and Marilyn

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    1. Hi Marilyn and friends! I like your idea of breakfast options for dinner. I'm a huge fan of breakfast foods (we often have egg based fritattas and other egg dishes for dinner!) so this is a fantastic idea. Thank you so much!

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  3. You're welcome!

    I have the same Memento Mori book and that is the devotional I'm trying to read this Lent. I think I've missed more days than I've read so far but I keep trying. The days I have read it I have enjoyed it.

    That looks like a great meatless dinner. We did salmon and roasted vegetables last week. I think cheese tortellini are on the menu for tomorrow.

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    1. All we can do is our best, right? :) Any devotional reading and meditating is better than none at all! Oh yum, I love tortellini. I don't enjoy all pasta, but tortellini is definitely on the list of those that I'll come back to.

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