What to Eat for Lent (and more importantly: what NOT to eat)
When sorting through some piles the other day looking for meatless meal ideas for Lent, I found an old recipe card that was DISTURBING. It was a list of Lenten meal ideas that included things like:
- Wendy's baked potato bar
- Taco Bell bean burritos
- Burger King burgers without the meat
FOR REAL YOU GUYS!
Over on the other side of the same card were ideas for what to make at home…
- Veggie sandwich with low-fat dressing
- Whole wheat bagels with low-fat cream cheese
- Fat free soup with low-fat crackers
Thank God I eventually found out the truth about real food and healthy fats before it was too late! How sad, though, that I bought the whole mainstream line of thinking about fats without even stopping to think if it made any sense. I wasn't a label reader then and just didn't know. I suppose we all have to give ourselves a break, now that we know better, we can do better, but wow.
If you're wondering what to eat for Lent, at least now you know what to avoid for sure!
Click here for some MUCH better-for-you ideas for meatless meals.
Any skeletons in your closet that you care to share, you know, to make me feel a little better?!
- For more help, get my book here: Real Food for Rookies — or get the whole first chapter here.
jmr says
I laugh every time you write a post mentioning the things you used to eat because they are the exact same things I used to eat and thought were perfectly healthy for me.
Jennifer says
For sure! We actually were invited to lunch at my husband’s aunt’s house today, as his cousin’s family was visiting out of state. There, on the counter next to the rolls…a familiar (but now dreaded) sight: Country Crock. Can’t even begin to guess how many of those I bought before discovering the truth about food. And I remember when I had my epiphany and decided to start by ridding our house of anything with HFCS, hydrogenated oils or MSG in it, I essentially emptied the freezer, refrigerator and pantry. In fact, my epiphany was SO strong, I could not bring myself to give any of it away to others who would have been happy to have it. I probably threw away $800 in food! I’m still trying to come to terms with whether that was the right thing to do?
My husband’s favorite ‘comfort food’ dish was “Taco Mac” – browned ground beef (97% fat free, of course) with a packet of Old El Paso taco seasoning (yikes); following the directions on the box, make two boxes of Kraft Velveeta Shells & Cheese (so NOT cheese!), then mix in the taco-seasoned meat. Serve in a giant pile on a plate and cover with lettuce, diced tomatoes, shredded cheese (fat-free, pre-shredded with the sawdust mixed in), and fat-free sour cream. No wonder we always felt so sick! He’s delighted that I’ve put together a whole-foods version of this favorite dish, and it is super-yummy. I still feel a slight urge to gag every time I see a box of Velveeta.
(PS – Kelly – could you please e-mail me directly? I’m hoping to track down a local food-buying club/co-op in the Lansing area for my husband’s cousin’s family, and figured you might have some leads about what’s available in that area. THANKS!)
Marilyn says
Jennifer, I agree with you. I throw some expensive stuff away. I cannot give it away either! Maybe we can think of it as money blowing away. After all, it is not food we are throwing away…or we would eat it! 🙂 Some things I wouldn’t even give to my chickens. After all, we would end up eating it.
Lisa says
Oh, I cringe all the time when I think of what we used to eat and what I used to feed to my kids, all the while thinking I was really serving them healthy stuff! Thankfully, my mom always used butter (along with Pillsbury biscuits in a can and Banquet fried chicken lol!) and passed the butter tradition on to me. Somehow, we always knew margarine was fake!
MrsD says
Oh yeah! Velveeta cheese, soup packets, instant cheesecake in a box, food coloring!!! Ah! It’s amazing our bodies can handle so much junk for so long.
One of the last brilliant things I did was go on a doctor diet program where all I had was 500 calories a day in the form of NASTY chocolate protein shakes. Completely ruined my metabolism as you can imagine. Thank goodness I came to my senses!!! I would definitely recommend Kelly’s Real Food for Rookies class. It’s one of the first things I did and I stumbled upon it by accident. Lucky me! It is a great starting point when everything is so overwhelming in the beginning. Without it, I honestly didn’t even know where to start.