How to Avoid Eating Meat on Fridays During Lent

Giving up meat on Fridays and Ash Wednesday during Lent has been a Catholic tradition my whole life. I am unsure if this tradition applies to any other religion, but if it does apply to your religion, this article should help you, too! Over the years, I've met more and more people who seem to have trouble giving up meat just for one day a week. It's not that these people never eat meat-free meals; it seems to be more that they can't come up with ideas because of the pressure that is put on you not to eat meat. I haven't eaten meat since 1999, so I guess I don't see why it's so hard! Below I have shared my ideas and my methods for avoiding eating meat during Lent if you are having a hard time with it.

Make a Plan
If you tend to forget it is Lent and tend to accidentally eat meat, you have to learn to plan ahead, especially if you have a whole family you want to participate in the tradition. First off, when Lent is approaching, make a list of meal ideas (or just choose my ideas from below!) Tell your family that for the Fridays during Lent you will only be eating meals off of that list. If you want to make it more fun for your kids, perhaps let them come up with their own meat-free lunch and dinner ideas! Make it a challenge and let each family member choose what you will eat one Friday during Lent. Write the final choices on the calendar so that you have no way of forgetting.

You will also want to plan what you eat on Thursday. One thing a lot of people tend to do is make a roast or other meat meal on Thursday, then on Friday they make the excuse that they HAVE to eat the left-overs otherwise they will go bad and they don't want to waste the food. To me, you have to plan better so that doesn't happen. Make Thursday a night for light dinners such as sandwiches, take out, or anything else that won't leave leftovers. That way your family has no excuse to eat meat on that day.

Also, if your kids have a cafeteria, make it a point not to give them money on Fridays during Lent. Instead, give them a meat-free pre-planned lunch so they have no other choice. I went to school so I know many kids broke the tradition once they got there because they knew their parents would never know. Now that you've got your plan of action, how do you know what meals to pick? A lot of people end up eating very unhealthy on these Fridays because they can't seem to think of any healthy meals. I hope the following helps ease some of your stress!

Eating Out
Going to a restaurant is actually the easiest way to get a healthy meal during lent, but you have to be careful with this. If you are the type to get tempted by a big steak passing you by, then stay away from any restaurant that serves this type of food. Otherwise, you can go almost anywhere to eat a meat free meal. I always plan to eat out at least a few Fridays during Lent just to get some good fish!

-Fish restaurants such as Long John Silvers, Red Lobster and the like jump out as obvious options. At these places you can have tons of seafood choices and usually there's not many other options to tempt you into eating meat.

**And don't forget about the Fish Fry that a lot of churches have! The price is just right for the whole family.

-Italian restaurants are a great choice if you love good pasta! Just make sure everyone orders pasta and seafood only. Pizza is a good choice too if you are looking to indulge.

-Mexican restaurants have a lot of bean and cheese or cheese only options.

-Chinese restaurants can help you get your veggies and still fill you up!

-Chain restaurants like Applebees, TGIFridays, and Chili's always have at least a few seafood or pasta options.

Eating In
The trouble I've noticed most people have is with eating in, or making lunches for their kids. They seem to lose all creativity during Lent and meat keeps popping into their brain as the only option. Below I have listed tons of meal ideas based on things I eat on a regular basis. Most are healthy, and some or for when you want to indulge a bit. Regardless, I hope this list shows you just how many meat-free options you have.

-Sandwiches: Grilled Cheese, Egg Salad, Tuna Salad, Tuna Melts, Peanut Butter and Jelly, Eggs and Cheese. I bet you never realized there were so many meat-free sandwich options out there!

-Pasta: with Cheese, Marinara, or Alfredo, or all of the above! Pasta is one of the easiest meat-free options for me.

-Fish: Make salmon or tuna steaks and serve with rice and veggies, or if you'd rather just buy some breaded fish and fries! It's a good way to get some protein on your meat-free days.

-Stir Fry: Make a stir fry with tons of veggies! Carrots, celery, red peppers, green peppers, broccoli, anything you want. Use the stir fry seasoning packets in the Asian section of your grocery store. Serve over rice and you'll be happy your family is getting tons of veggies.

-Pizza or Pizza Bagels: Looking for something a little more fun? Make or buy a pizza with no pepperoni of course. Pizza bagels are my favorite and you only need three ingredients: Bagels, Pizza Sauce, and Shredded Cheese.

-Salads: Make large veggie filled salads! If you need a little more you can add shredded cheese and hard boiled eggs. Just make sure you don't accidentally pour on bacon bits!

-Eggs: Make breakfast for dinner! Scrambled, omelets, or make them into sandwiches. Either way, eggs are a great filling meat-free meal. Other breakfast for dinner options include pancakes, waffles, bagels and cream cheese, or even a bowl of cereal.

-Soup: On those colder days I like to grab some broccoli cheese soup, or lentil, cream of potato, or just plain veggie soup. Chicken soup is not the only option.

-Vegetarian: Venture into the vegetarian isle of your grocery store. Brands like Morningstar, Yves and Boca offer meat-free items that taste sort of like meat. It might not taste exactly the same but I love to use the meat-free ground beef to make tacos, chili, and more. You'll get your protein for sure.

-Finally, make anything Meat-Free by removing the meat! A lot of people tell me they can't have this or that because it has meat in it, but most of the time the meat is not required to make the meal. The pizza example above shows that you can have pizza without meat! You can have an omelet without meat! You can have almost anything without meat.

Final Tips
Don't spend every Friday starving or snacking on chips and cookies just because you think there are no other options. You probably go plenty of days throughout the year without eating meat and you don't even realize it! If this tradition really is important to you then you have to make time for it and plan for it. This tradition is all about making the effort and paying attention to what you eat on Fridays. Don't be the person making the excuses, be the person setting the example. Don't even try to tell me that you don't think it's healthy not to eat meat for one day because of protein... blah blah blah. There are plenty of protein filled foods out there besides meat.

Finally, don't be the person complaining ALL DAY on Friday about how hard it is to not eat meat! You should instead look at it as a challenge, and every Friday that you make it through without eating any meat you should feel proud. If you are showing this attitude then your kids will pick up on it and they will also feel proud that they can have self-control and sacrifice their meat intake for just one day a week. Good luck keeping your Lent traditions!!