Becoming Catholic / FAITH / IN MY KITCHEN

Family-friendly meal ideas for Lent

The Lenten season began last week. This is actually one of my favorite seasons on the church calendar. It’s a chance to scale back and simplify, a time to purposefully push away some distractions and quiet my life a bit as we head towards Easter Sunday. For our family, this is an especially exciting season, full of anticipation since we will officially join the Catholic church during the Easter Vigil, after beginning the process in September, and after almost five years of thought, prayer and study about making this big decision. Our girls will be baptized, and we will get to take our first Eucharist together as a family.

Part of the Lent season is also abstaining from eating meat on Fridays. I love this description of why from LIFETEEN:

Abstinence from meat is more than just “going without” during Lent or just a reminder that Christ offered His flesh for us on the cross. Abstinence is a form of prayer, a discipline. When we abstain from meat, we focus on Christ and on our souls, rather than on self and on our bodies. It is faith in action, placing our attention on Jesus and offering Him ‘our flesh’ as a sacrifice (Romans 12:1-2), a vessel through which He can and does work.

Fridays are also the nights we have our Seminarian over for dinner. So this means that bowls of cereal are out for Friday dinners. (Kidding, sort of.)

A great round-up of #meatless meal ideas for Lent that family (and kids!) will love.

I am, however, trying to be a little more organized with my meal preparation during Lent. And since my family has recently announced to me that they are already burned out on both salmon and quiche, it’s taking a little more work to put together meals since my standby’s are overdone. (But seriously, have you tried Salmon with cabbage and kale? It will change your life.)

I’ve been gathering a “recipe box” of ideas on Pinterest and thought I’d share them here with you in hopes that they might be a helpful resource. Even if you’re not taking part in Lent, they are simply a great collection of meatless meals for your family. This past Friday, we had blackened fish tacos with avocado-cilantro sauce. It was delicious and loved by everyone at the table, even little Birdy.

So click over below to see some of the recipes I’ve been collecting. I’ll continue to add to it as the season goes on. I hope it’s a great resource for you and your family.

xo.m.

Follow Molly Balint’s board meal ideas for lent on Pinterest.

images (top to bottom, left to right): roasted garlic + cauliflower pasta with walnuts || fish taco bowls || spinach and mushroom quesadillas with avocado and pepperjack || parmesan and ranch roasted cauliflower || blackened fish tacos with cilantro-avocado sauce || veggie frittata



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