Just call me Rachel Ray...

So, the Lenten season is upon us. And like many Catholics, I may not go to church regularly, but dangit, when there is a chance to punish myself for 40 days I all of a sudden become a devout Catholic again. Guilt and punishment seem to take over our lives at every given chance--we need to sacrifice for the good of others and repent when we do things for ourselves...or something along those lines. I find it interesting that when I was going to Mass every week I wasn't as strict with lent. I would usually give something up, like soda (Mountain Dew in particular) but wouldn't follow the no meat on Fridays. OR, I would strictly follow no meat on Fridays but not bother giving something up. Then, I moved out on my own and sort of fell out of the habit (no nun pun intended) of attending mass. Yet, the guilt got to me and I would give things up for lent that would make me go crazy.






My first year of college, I went to church on Ash Wednesday and gave up soda which was much more difficult than giving up Mountain Dew. When you live in the dorms and eat at a cafeteria every day, soda is the drink of choice...especially for someone who never drank coffee for their caffeine fix but rather got it through a lovely refreshing cola. The following year I had moved into the beginning stages of being a coffee drinker and still relied heavily on soda for caffeine so logically, I rid myself of caffeine for 40 days. The next year I pulled a big stunt and gave up caffeine and alcohol...and let's not do the math to figure out how old I was that year and inquire as to why I would be giving up alcohol. Anyhow, it was cleansing even though I ended up breaking lent about a week before Easter (which seems to be a theme with me). Then I spent the Lenten season in Wales where it would be unheard of to give up alcohol and Lord knows I wasn't as dependent on caffeine since I pretty much just slept all day (who needs classes when you're living in a foreign country?). So that year I gave up potato chips, or crisps in the UK. Then there was last year and I once again sacrificed sweet succulent alcohol for 40 days (or realistically 33 days because a week before Easter, I was boozin it up again....it's the thought that counts though, right?)

Now that I'm over my drinking problem [kidding, I still have it , err, I mean, it was never a problem] I decided that it was time to change it up with the sacrificial rituals. So this year, ahem...drumroll please, I have decided to give up dining out. This means no fast food drive thru on my way home from work, ordering pizza on the weekend, going out to dinner with friends during the week, no forgetting my lunch and going to the food court on campus, NONE OF THAT! I have two main reasons for doing this: 1) Eating out is spendy and it's pointless to spend money when I can, after all, cook for myself; and 2) It's pointless to be going to the gym and eating good all week just to blow it on a calorie packed fried chicken sandwich or greasy slice of pizza. I'm hoping my pocketbook will expand and my waistline will slim over these next 40 days. This may sound easy but now I have to think of new culinary adventures to keep things interesting during this challenge because let's face it, as fun as a grilled chicken breast with asparagus is, it's not gonna taste quite so great after eating it for every meal. So here I go, embarking on being my own personal chef and attempting to make healthy meals that actually TASTE good!


I'll take any suggestions for recipes, especially if they can be multi-purpose, i.e. dinner one night and a wrap for lunch the next day. Here's to the next 40 days!