It's Back: Meatless Fridays

Lent kicked off today. I'm Catholic so it's kind of a big deal around here. There are several things that come along with Lent and aside from the ashes that have taken up residence on my forehead today, one of these involves days of not eating meat. For instance, today was one of those days and from here on out every Friday until Easter will also be one of those days.

To most Catholics this is not an issue because they just go eat fish instead. Not this Catholic and not my sister either. We don't eat fish. When you take out meat and fish, you become very vegetarian…let's just say there is a reason I am not a vegetarian in the first place. I eat veggies but I don't like enough of them to go somewhere and have the vegetarian dish be calling my name.

Therefore, in case you are like me, or you just want to make fun of my taste in food, I am going to provide you with a list I have been working on for years of my most popular food options that don't involve meat:

Item: Broccoli Cheese Soup
My Favorite Location:

Reason: I discovered this by accident. An accident/nightmare called last June I had just moved to Houston, started a new job and was so incredibly sick with a cold/cough/sore throat combo that under normal circumstances, I would have been home in bed. Unfortunately it was the first days of a new job so not only could I not stay home in bed, even if I could, I did not have a bed to stay in because we were in the process of moving. The only place I could find that I felt like I could order food while half-functioning was Jason's Deli. It was like comfort place, comfort food but little did I know that I was going to discover the best soup of my life….and proceed to eat it nonstop for a week.

Item: Grilled Cheese, Cheese Sticks, Ice Cream (not all at once)
My Favorite Location: 

Reason: In college we had a Sonic practically right around the corner from our sorority house. For two years, Lent would come and go and Fridays would come and go. When you are in the sorority house, your meals are sort of at the mercy of the kitchen staff which is normally fine, except during Lent. I quickly discovered Sonic is a majorly overlooked resource for meatless meals that don't involve fish. It also came in handy when I gave up chocolate since their vanilla ice cream dish is not to be overlooked.

Item: Cheese pizza
My Favorite Location: This one I can't answer because it just depends.

• Depends on the Friday.
• Depends on if we are eating at home in which case it is always DiGiorno. 
• Depends on if we want to go to a local place or be lame and go to our favorite chain restaurant CPK.
• Depends on if we are just "feeling crazy" and want to order Papa Johns. 

Item: Peanut butter

My Favorite Location: The pantry

Reason: After 29 years I can say Peanut Butter has never once failed me. The possibilities are endless but I stick to a peanut butter sandwich or peanut butter between two saltine crackers which is a meal unlike anything you've ever tasted. When everything else has failed you and it's a Friday, eat peanut butter. This is applicable regardless of Lent. 

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In case you are having issues with creativity around"no-meat" food options or aren't a fish person, this list is for you.  And you can definitely buy all of these food items at other places and you may prefer other places…speaking of since I live nowhere near a Sonic anymore, any suggestions for my grilled cheese or cheese stick options? 

Disclaimer: This list is also for Kristina who I can already tell is going to drive me crazy for the next 40 days asking for options of what she should eat on Fridays. She's already hit me up twice today. Every time she asks I can now tell her to go look at the list I made on my blog.