So Not a Vegetarian

Linking up today with Beth Anne's Best and Tales from Astoria to blather on and on, and without much claim at originality, about cooking sin carne for Lent. I just can't resist a good Link Up Fiesta.

A leeeetle, teeny part of me wants to be just say, "Go to your parish fish fry. Support your Knights of Columbus (or whomever)!" and leave it at that. Part of that would be good and right and true. And it is what we've mostly been doing this Lent. But I also know that that's not a solution for everyone for a variety of reasons.

So . . . away I blather!

I am so not a vegetarian. I enjoy meat. I do. Even so, we try to avoid meat once a week, even when it's not Lent. This is particularly challenging in our house for a couple of reasons besides liking meat. First, I am seriously (and I do mean seriously, but thankfully not anaphylactically seriously) allergic to eggs. That means no quiche or omelets or simple scrambled eggs (unless Charles makes them for himself, which only happens on rare occasion). It also means saying no to lots of baked-by-others goods. Second, Charles isn't a big fan of creamy, cheesey, gooey (what I would consider yummy) things. No mac & cheese or risotto or cheese enchiladas in this house.

To top it all off, I'm just starting to toy around with cooking fish. If you want seafood recipes I'm not your go-to girl.

That means we rely on three things: pizza (need I really explain more?), pasta (I plant to post my favorite, if not particularly original, recipe next week), and soup.

Last year and the year we were engaged, we enjoyed simple soup suppers for Lent. Just soup and bread/rolls/whatever. The soups were homemade*, the bread was not. Were it not for our fish fry attendance, it would be our plan again this year. so I present to you (if you've actually made it this far), my Lenten soup schedule:

Ash Wednesday: Vegetable soup in the Crock Pot
1st Friday: Butternut Squash soup
2nd Friday: Vegetarian Tortilla soup
3rd Friday: Tomato soup
4th Friday: Vegetarian minestrone soup
**5th Friday: Veggie chowder (Recipe found via Pinterest...all others from my head/reading several recipes/throwing stuff together.)
6th Friday: Potato soup
Good Friday: Veg soup in the Crock Pot again (It just hits the spot and is ready to go when we get home from Mass/Liturgy and such without being a huge "large meal.")

I hope to incorporate soups in my meal plans the next few weeks of Lent anyway, as I've slacked off this week and last. I also plan to incorporate some new bread recipes to go with them, so that's always fun!

*I generally use water/vegetable broth/tomato products instead of chicken stock during Lent.

**No, I couldn't make this for Charles, but I have made it for lunches and it is yummy, so you should make some, too.

"I'm so hungry, I could eat my shoe." 'Cause every post needs a picture, and I can't find any of my soup pics.