Again, for the second week in a row, we were busy on Friday night and ate in a restaurant. This is not normal for us, but with Christmas preparations and celebrations, we have been running a lot of errands.
This week I didn’t eat anything that would make my tummy hurt like last week. I also didn’t finish this meal, so I have leftovers for today. I started off with about half of a garden salad and Italian dressing. Then I had a little less than half of this:
It’s capellini (angel hair) pasta with vegetables: broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, peas, zucchini, and yellow squash. It has a buttery garlic sauce. This is a dish that would be super easy to make at home – I’ve made it before. It tastes better at Villa Nova Ristorante, though, and besides, I couldn’t get Brett to eat it. I learned from my mom only to serve one meal at a time.
Meals like this sometimes make me wonder if I’m really doing penance by giving up meat on Fridays. In this case, however, I can say that I really was because we had wanted to go to another restaurant, a place we’d never been before, and because their vegetarian/seafood menu was quite lacking, we settled for our old standby, a place that has wonderful food and great prices, but which we patronize about 10 times a year.
The bishops have allowed us to substitute a suitable penance rather than abstaining from meat on all Fridays except those of Lent. Because I am invited to a work party next Friday (at the home of my bishop), and because my parents are having our family get-together that same day, I will be substituting an alternate penance next Friday, rather than abstaining from meat. I am giving up all social media (unless you count e-mail, cell phone use, and texting if someone texts me as social media) for the entire day next Friday.
I hope to make several posts between today and Friday, however, you will not see me blogging, tweeting, pinning, Facebook-ing, Instagram-ing, or participating in forums online next Friday. I think it will be harder than giving up meat for a day, but it’s only a small thing to do for the one who gave his life for me.
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