So we have only been in the Easter season for a few weeks. The Season of Lent. Some people give up stuff. Other people try to add something to their lives to improve it. During the Lent season you are also not supposed to eat meat on Fridays.

So that is why a lot of times you will see restaurants with their promotion of all the fish specials they have on their menu. Fish is allowed. You obviously can't have beef, chicken or pork....but fish is allowed.

So you plan your menus accordingly. You think about all the meatless options you can have. Whether you choose meals with beans or just pasta....or you can opt for salmon, talapia, catfish, shrimp or some other seafood base item.

I got to thinking the other day how excited I was that I can add to my revolving menu. I remembered about the Impossible Whopper. Yes! No meat in that. Oh and I love them. They really do taste like a Whopper. I thought yes, this is happening.

credit : Melissa Bartlett, TSM
credit : Melissa Bartlett, TSM
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credit: Melissa Bartlett, TSM
credit: Melissa Bartlett, TSM
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Apparently I wasn't the only Catholic that had this exact same idea. I ran across an article from a TV station in Chicago, my hometown, and it answered this exact question. Would eating an Impossible Whopper be considered cheating?

Here is what the answer turns out to be: According to WKBN:

As Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent for more than two million Catholics in Chicago, there are new questions about an old tradition: does plant-based “meat” count as meat?

“The impossible burger, as far as I understand, and most of these fake meat things are made out of plant, so there shouldn’t be any problem. They’ll feel like they’re cheating, but they’re not,” said Andrew Winkle, a butcher at Paulina Meat Market.

According to the Archdiocese of Chicago, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ official definition of meat does not include plant-based products, but says instead, “meat comes only from animals such as chickens, cows, sheep or pigs — all of which live on land.”

So I can go ahead and eat my Impossible Whopper without any of the Catholic guilt. Even the Catholic church says it's OK. So I know what will be on my menu a lot on Friday's from now until Easter.

 

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