7 Weeks of Meatless Fridays

Lent begins this week. Mardi Gras is Tuesday (ummm... does that seem redundant to anyone else?), Feb 24th. Ash Wednesday is Feb 25th. This year, the 40 days of lent include 7 Fridays:

Friday, Feb 27
Friday, Mar 6
Friday, Mar 13
Friday, Mar 20
Friday, Mar 27
Friday, Apr 3
Friday, Apr 10

As a Catholic family, we observe meatless Fridays (and Ash Wednesday). This will be Einstein's first year joining us - his little brothers are still too young to understand. HandyMan and I both feel Einstein is old enough to grasp the idea of sacrifice, even on this very small scale.

So, if you follow me on twitter, you know that I have been assembling some meatless Friday recipes from some amazing bloggers. Don't worry - none of these are my recipes! I wouldn't do that to you!

For the 40 days of lent I will be posting one of my faves each Monday with links to their photos and instructions. That will give you plenty of time to get the necessary ingredients. So if your family observes meatless Fridays and the McFish sandwhich isn't going to cut it for you, tune in each Monday. There will be a button for you to grab so you can participate in 7 Weeks of Meatless Fridays and post your favorite Lent-friendly recipes.

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Without further ado, here is the recipe I have chosen for week 1.



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The credit for this recipe goes to Modish Plum. What's awesomely awesome-alicious about Jeana's blog is not only does she have delish-looking recipes, she has well-photographed, step-by-step instructions and a gorgeous new blog design (nope, I wasn't her designer!).

Italian Stuffed Shells



What you need:
1 box jumbo pasta shells
1 large container of whole ricotta cheese
1 heaping cup shredded parmesan cheese (plus another small handful)
1 egg
2 egg yolks
1 heaping tbsp chopped fresh basil
2 heaping tbsp chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 (smallest) box of frozen chopped spinach - optional
1 tbsp minced garlic
few shakes of dried minced onions
1 heaping tsp red pepper flakes
1 1/2 jars of spaghetti sauce
shredded mozzarella cheese

Now head on over to the gorgeous Modish Plum for instructions.

Thanks, Jeane, for allowing me to use your recipe. Modish Plum is my new blog crush!

If you're participating in 7 Meatless Fridays, please leave a comment here so we can all find you. YOUR recipe and blog may be featured.

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**Update!: dates are now corrected. Thanks, D!**