Mommy TG’s 4-Week Cycle Menu Plan for Lent

Today marks the start of the Lent season as we celebrate Ash Wednesday. I will not attempt to explain Lent here in this post. But for those who would like better understand it, here is a video shared by some of my friends in Facebook that tries to explain what Lent is in a few minutes. My objective for writing this post today is to give Catholics some ideas or options on what to serve during the Fridays of the Lent. I have revised my original Four-Week Menu Plan to help other homemakers out there in their menu planning this season of Lent. You may want to follow it day by day. You may just pick out a week plan or two. Or you can just get ideas for simple meatless dishes you can serve during days of abstinence.

Some of the reasons that I chose these dishes are: 1) I’m breastfeeding my newborn baby; 2) these are easy to prepare dishes that I can teach my maids to prepare; 3) I have a toddler who is a picky and slow eater; and last but not least, they are easy on the pocket.

So here is my revised menu plan for Lent. Today, being Ash Wednesday, we are having Ginisang Mongo with Alugbati. Since today is a day of abstinence, we are not putting pork in our mongo like we usually do. You may opt to put fried fish flakes or use a different leafy vegetable instead of alugbati if you prefer.

Week 1

Monday – Ginataang Sitaw at Kalabasa with Pork and Malunggay
Tuesday – Chop Suey with quail eggs (My eldest son loves quail eggs!)
Wednesday – Ginisang Mongo with Pork and Alugbati
Thursday – Chicken Pochero
Friday – Sweet and Sour Tilapia
Saturday – Pork Adobo and itlog na maalat with tomatoes
Sunday – Chicken and Macaroni Soup

 

 

Week 2

Monday – Picadillo
Tuesday – Tinolang Manok with Malunggay
Wednesday – Pinakbet (We cook this minus the bagoong or shrimp paste because I don’t eat bagoong while breastfeeding.)
Thursday – Almondigas
Friday – Sinigang na Bangus or Salmon Heads
Saturday – Beef Stir-fry with Veggies (Broccoli, Bell Pepper, Corn and Green Peas)
Sunday – Chicken Sotanghon Soup

 

 

Week 3

Monday – Nilagang Baboy
Tuesday – Fried Chicken and Coleslaw
Wednesday – Beef Steak and Togue Gisado
Thursday – Chicken Curry
Friday – Daing na Bangus and Enseladang Talong
Saturday – Ginisang Ampalaya
Sunday – Sausage and Shell Pasta Soup

Week 4

Monday – Sinigang na Baboy
Tuesday – Relyenong Bangus and Pumpkin and Carrot Soup
Wednesday – Chicken Liver and Gizzards with Pineapple
Thursday – Lumpiang Shanghai and Chunky Potato and Bacon Soup
Friday – Crusted Tilapia Fillet and Mango or Pineapple Salsa
Saturday – Pasta Dish (I cook a pasta dish at least once a month because my son, Yanthy, loves pasta and to celebrate my newborn’s birth day every month during his first year of life.)
Sunday – Nilagang Baka

Here are some breakfast ideas for the Fridays of Lent.

 Tortang Talong and steamed rice
 Fried Danggit and Spanish omelette with Garlic Rice
 Champorado
 Ginisang Tuna Flakes with Tomatoes
 Paksiw na Dilis
 Oatmeal
 Cereals and Low Fat Milk
 Potato and Chesse Omelette
 Cheese and Spinach Quesadilla
 Spanish Sardines with toasted bread or rice

There goes my revised four-week cycle menu plan for Lent! Hope it helps you and your families make sure that you observe days of abstinence during the entire season. God bless!