This year, Lent is throwing Catholics for a loop since it began on Valentine’s Day and ends with Easter on April Fool’s Day. Jesus has risen! No he hasn’t! Yes, He has! No he hasn’t! Just wanted to see how many of you would show up for the 6:00a.m. Easter mass! April Fool’s! I can just hear the church homily now on Easter morning. Ha, ha.
Anyway, for me, it never fails; all of a sudden we’re not to eat meat on Ash Wednesday or the Fridays during Lent and what do I have a craving for? I mean a craving like I’ve been out snowshoeing or skiing all day and if a steak or lamb chop fell from the sky, smack dab in the middle of my path, I’d be way more pumped than freaked out. It isn’t a bit unusual during outdoor winter activities for me to voice how much I’m craving a burger, steak or lamb chop. In the past, I’ve joked that the season of Lent brings out the scavenger in me, as in, “Hey kids. When I slow down, open the door and lean out to scoop up that (insert deceased animal) for me!”
On Valentine’s Day/Ash Wednesday, I had planned on making yam and black bean tacos. I’ve made this before and it so tasty! My sister, Neeka, passed on this easy recipe to me over the weekend and it’s very similar to how I made my yam and black bean meal but instead of tacos, I bought tortillas and we had these as quesadillas. Corn tortillas for Mister and Little Red (gluten intolerant) fluffy flour tortillas for Little Lady, Little Man and myself.
There are some things that I tweaked due to time (Wednesdays are busy evenings for us).
Instead of steaming the four yams, I just chopped them up into small pieces, cooked them on a low heat with a little olive oil while I chopped up a small onion, drained and rinsed the one can of black beans.
Only garlic salt and a little olive oil were added to season the veggies and beans.
Once the contents of the pan were all tender and I’d heated the tortillas in the oven, I scooped generous proportions on a tortilla for each person, followed by grated Parmesan cheese, then the other tortilla was placed on top to complete the quesadilla. Each quesadilla was popped into the microwave for around 20-25 seconds to melt the cheese some, pulled out, followed with a dollop of sour cream and/or salsa on top of each quesadilla. Holy cow. These were so GOOD! I prefer the quesadilla over the taco. This is a tasty and filling meal that will be frequently made in my home for the entire year, not just during the meat deprivation Fridays of Lent. Ha.
For the thoughtful and meaningful part of Lent, I came across this yesterday on Facebook.
I think it’s wonderful not only for Lent and not only for Catholics. It’s basically the Golden Rule but I like that it’s broken down because I find it easier to hold oneself accountable. Our world can definitely stand to have more love and kindness. As I told my Kindergarteners when I taught, spread love, not germs!
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