What's Cooking?

Well, technically today was the first day of the Nativity fast, and as usual, when a fast rolls around, I like to post a few meal ideas and recipes.

I remember well the sense of "what am I going to feed my family?????" panic that used to overwhelm me at the beginning of a fasting period. It also seems like I used to spend loads of money to transition from "regular" to "fasting". This is no longer quite so true.

Part of it may be because we have a member of our family who is on a dairy free (and gluten free) diet, so we have lots of non-dairy or ersatz dairy items in our fridge already. This makes the transition easier.

So, for all you curious (the non-curious can just find another blog, I suppose), here's what's in our fridge:

Almond Breeze Almond milk (unsweetened) and we keep this stuff around
Silk Lite Soy milk
Silk Chococlate Soy Milk (I can get my picky kids to drink this with marshmallows or on plain cereal like rice crispies).
Tofutti better than cream cheese
Tofutti better than sour cream (we keep the tofutti around, regardless).
Tofu
TVP
Boca Chicken patties
Fish Sticks
Canned Tuna
Canned black beans
tomato sauce
Vegan Cheese slices
shrimp ramen
lots of frozen and fresh veggies
apples, tangerines
hummus
crackers
pasta and sauce
canned tomato stuff (diced, sauce) for chili, soups, etc.
nut butters: peanut, soynut and almond (yay! allergies!)
variety of jellies
variety of breads, gluten free and regular. Ezekiel bread is WONDERFUL if you have need of more protein.
sprouts
garbanzo beans (canned)
black beans (canned)
dried lentils
Dolmades (normally we have a giant can of these in the fridge but we ran out. I need to find an Middle Eastern food store here in the Ville. Or get a bunch next time I'm in Lex.)
Falafel mix.
onions
potatoes
taramasolata (caviar spread, good on potatoes)
corn tortillas
refried beans (to make bean "quesedillas")
salsa
non-dairy creamer.

OK, that about sums it up. Mostly. As you can see, I'm not very much of an ascetic.

Today was leftover chili with spaghetti, veggies and hummus, and pie (Yes, Mrs Smith pies are dairy and meat free!). And for dinner it was leftover pie and tuna noodle casserole.

This year, I'm really working on not snacking and not taking seconds, which is also a part of the fasting and fits perfectly with the NoS stuff I've been reading about. Perhaps by the time I'm an old lady I won't be quite so carnal about all of this, and I will actually have learned to pray more, as well.

My favorite way to cook during a fast is to throw some soup in a pot, and have some bread on the side. And hope there's leftovers so I only have to cook something new once a day. In other words: I don't' wanna cook much. And I like the simplicity of not dealing with meat.

Comments

Monica said…
Your list looks very similar to mine, though I've never tried tofutti. Do you ever feel (as I do) a little ashamed at trying to eat "healthy" but keeping Shrimp Ramen stocked in the pantry?

By the way, the black font in more easy to read. (smile)
Alana said…
Usually the kids eat the Ramen. Me, I have too much guilt to eat Ramen more often than about twice a year.
Has said…
What is the worst bit about fasting, for you and for the kids?

And what does 'axios' mean?
Alana said…
Axios meanst "worthy", I think.

The worst part about fasting I think would vary from individual to individual. For me, I find I MUST be careful to eat low sugar and get plenty of protein. Ezekiel bread (which is a sprouted grain and legume bread) and nut butters are good for this. Whole grain pasta and legumes are also good. I have to focus on excellent nutrition and not just live on bread.

For my son, who has weird food issues, I worry about him getting enough nutrition since he won't eat anything.
Mimi said…
A jar of domades, what a great idea....

And, almond milk - I just use soy, I should look into that.
M. Akamau said…
I just love soups and breads around this time of year. Fasts are so meaningful and it's encouraging to see you taking this one so seriously. I'd like to read more about this particular fast (I've got to read the other post you've posted on this). This is such a great blog. I'm really trying to focus on the "No S" diet...it sounded great, and I often like to try new stuff like this. I even told my mother-in-law about it. I'm not much of a 'seconds' eater, but I can do 'death by a thousand cuts' through snacking. Your link to the post on 'No S' was particularly helpful. Keep doing what you do!