Lent Again

So here we are again, another season of Lent.  I don't know why but for some reason this has always been a meaningful time for Chris and I.  Honestly, I think it's because we both enjoy a good challenge and have both seen benefits in pushing ourselves into something new or pulling ourselves out of something old.  In the past we've often chosen the same Lent sacrifice. But not always. There were some years where I was pregnant and decided I was already sacrificing my body, my mind, and things I wanted to eat and drink.  You can call it a cop out but the "No Lenten Sacrifice" is usually indicative of I'm already maxed out and therefore am claiming sanity over sacrifice.  And I should probably specify that both Chris and I feel that Lent should be a sacrifice.  Something hard.  Something tempting.  Something that will truly make us better in the end having not had it.

But this year was a little different for us.  Rewind to a few posts ago and you'll remember me describing my new extremely limited, tricky diet.  No gluten.  No tomatoes.  No peppers.  No potatoes.  No eggplant.  No blueberries.  No paprika.  No chili powder. The list goes on.  So for me right now I am kind of treading water trying to feed myself the right things and keeping the wrong things out of me.  Well in the spirit of comradery and for better or worse, Chris has joined me for six weeks of no gluten, no nightshades. Is this a sacrifice for him? Yes.  For both beer and hot sauce are daily staples for him.  But what I love even more about it is having a husband who sacrifices his indulgences not only for the sake of observing Lent, but more so for the sake of supporting me and understanding what I am going through.

Not eating a certain food isn't hard.  Not eating several foods is very tricky. It takes a lot of planning and thoughtfulness and patience and bombed dinners. It makes eating out barely worth it.  True story:  Our family went out to eat last weekend.  The first restaurant was able to accommodate our diet, at the price of too many pretty pennies.  So we left.  The second restaurant was very accommodating, only it took three attempts at a steak to get it gluten free.  On the bright side, my dinner was free. One failed restaurant, three failed steaks.  Eating out really isn't much of a luxury for me at this point.

However the good news is I love to cook and love to experiment and luckily have a husband who never really complains about his dinner.  He will, on occasion, request more meat when it's been a little too long.  But I can put something totally whack and thoughtless in front of him and he'll eat it and only complain in his head.  Thank you for that.

So in celebration of Lent, but mostly of a supportive husband, here is a week of gluten free, mostly nightshade free, homemade meals.  Disclaimer:  We are leaving in three days to go to Mexico.  The staple of the Mexican diet is tomatoes and hot peppers.  Our travelling philosophy has always been...When in Rome. Therefore, upon vacationing, all bets are off.  He will be indulging in hot peppers and cerveza.  I will be indulging in pain pills because food hurts my body.

Here we go...

Supper #1  Tapas:  Apples, Olives, Cheese, Cumin grilled shrimp with prosciutto, Stuffed Portabellos with artichoke/crab goodness.  Failed attempt: The filling has mayo in it which contains paprika.  Luckily I didn't feel any adverse effects. 

 



Supper #2  No we did not just eat raspberry jello salad.  But really the other foods weren't nearly as pretty as this.  After a risky night of tapas, I needed to tap into my Menno roots and go straight for the jello salad, baked chicken, and green beans.  But really, I just needed some cooked chicken for the next night's meal...

 



Supper #3  Bang Bang Chicken:  Chicken and broccoli in a ginger, peanut sauce served on brown rice.  As I looked at all my meals for the week I realized that three of them came from my friend Jane's blog.  Thank you Jane for feeding us this week.

 



Supper #4  Kielbasa Alfredo with peas, portabellas, scallions, and gluten free rice noodles.  This recipe actually calls for red peppers as well and to be honest mushrooms and red peppers are one of nature's finest pairings.  I missed them.  But I shoved face regardless.

 



 

Supper #5  Baked Oatmeal with Apples, Baked Oatmeal with Blueberries....why?  Because the apple one is gluten free oats.  Additionally blueberries are high in alkaloids (which is the whole problem with nightshades) and therefore irritate already irritated body parts.  Also, Isis will only eat blueberry oatmeal.  Also, I felt like I was eating apple pie for supper and who doesn't feel good about that? I"ll tell you who...probably the guy who cooked my steak three times.

 

 

 

 

Dinner #6  Crustless spinach quiche and banana bread with almond flour....it's pretty isn't it?  The quiche was delicious (shout out to Kar on that one) and the bread was wiggity whack. The texture was fine.  The rest was indescribable.  I think we ate the entire loaf with the assistance of an entire stick of butter.

 

 

See, what an exciting adventure.  You never really know how long the food will take, what it will taste like, or who will eat it.  You never know who might say Mommy what is in this bread?!? Oh wait, I think we all know who that is.  I guess a little unknowing is all part of sacrifice.  Here's to stepping out of all things comfortable and predictable and easy.  And here's to doing it together.