My church is fasting...

[KalenaPlants]

Hello All!

This month, my church is fasting and praying as we do each January. We;re only eating veggies, fruit, and Ezekiel brand bread products. Now, I'm an omnivore at heart...so I need help. Do any of you have some good soup, salad, fruit, snack, whatever recipes that I can use during this fast that won't have me bored? Oh...did I mention we can't eat cheese? It's for the Lord...I have to keep reminding myself. So, any suggestions will help tremendously. Thanks!!

[Garden Green]

I'm no stranger to fasts and you have much more room for munchin down than I have had in the past with fasting but to help ya out here are a couple of things I could see you doing.

I would also take a handful of cherry tomatoes cut in half about half a egg plant cut to about the same size as the tomatoes (this is where I'd normally tell you to add some crumbled feta). Roast it on a cookie sheet in the oven at 200 for about 25 minutes or so and toss that into 1 cup of penne. You can add all kinds of stuff to this, olives, spinach, herbs. Don't forget the salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil and serve. You'll have to play with portions because I don't usually do a lot of measuring, I just kinda throw it all in there and adjust as I go.

Fruit pizza. Use cinnamon graham crackers or regular as your crust, top with vanilla whipped cream (if you're allowed dairy at all, if not, skip it), and pile on the slices of kiwi, sliced strawberries and blueberries with whipped cream between each to keep them stable. Sprinkle with regular sugar or a flavored one like vanilla or maybe lavender if you prefer a stronger flavor.

A nice snack is apples and walnuts coated with cinnamon sugar. Or dipped in plain yogurt (or flavored, I'm partial to flavored myself). Good stuff there.

You can make a vegetable soup from whatever vegetables you have. I like to make a base from either tomatoes or vegetable broth. If you go with the tomato, for however many cans of tomato sauce you use, add 3/4 of the same can of water. Add the vegetables to this, season to taste and cook until the vegetables are at the desired consistency. I like my potatoes soft, but my carrots with more substance, so I add the potatoes first and let them cook for a little longer than the carrots. If you like a thick soup, add some tomato paste at the end and heat until it is at the desired thickness.

If you choose broth, I'd just add the veggies in to cook at a steady boil until the veggies are where you want them. You can add rice or noodles to either one. I'm a fan of barley in my tomato based soup, follow the directions on the package to make sure that is cooked completely.

Stir fry asparagus in olive oil with garlic and pepper flakes.

Take whole cherry tomatoes, drizzle with olive oil and pan fry until they begin to burst. Season with garlic and basil. You can add this to penne or as a topping to garlic bread.

Pesto is a good thing. 2 cups of fresh basil, 1/2 olive oil, 1/3 cup pine nuts, 2 or 3 good sized garlic cloves, salt and pepper to taste (and skip the cheese). You can use this on pasta or dip your pan fried tomatoes in there.

10 ounces of fresh spinach and a quart of sliced strawberries, drizzled with 1/2 cup of olive oil. You can add sesame seeds, poppy seeds, pine nuts or whatever nut you prefer (toasted almonds come to mind) to this or maybe all of them. Salt and pepper to taste. Add some fresh lemon or lime basil leaves in there for a nice contrast. Romaine would be good in there, too.

Chop red grapes and pears and add to salad greens with red romaine lettuce. You can top this with a nice raspberry vinaigrette or just a drizzling of olive oil.

I hope this helps keep you from being too bored. I know some of it might be a little vague, but I'm a little whipped and haven't searched through any recipes. Just stuff we like to eat when we're not in too much of a mood to destroy the kitchen.

[gardengirl72]

great ideas. Did you know you can also make pesto with other herbs besides basil. Try Arugula or parsley instead of or with basil. If you make pasta with your pesto add the pesto as soon as you cook the pasta while its hot. It is creamy and delicious. I live on pesto as soon as my basil starts coming in.

You mentioned using cherry tomatoes. I suggest mixing it up with yellow pear as well. My lateset favorite tomatoes are grape tomatoes. They can be smaller than cherry and more oblong. They taste great.

[MoniDew]

I am not entirely certain what you are "fasting" here? Is it just meat and dairy? I would suggest that you not indulge in heavy fats during this time as well. Limiting fats allows the body to cleanse itself better.

When you cook meats or starches, you get a residue that builds up on the surfaces of the digestive organs. (Carmelization of cooked starches/sugars, coagulation of cooked proteins, etc) The same goes for cooked fats. When the digestive organs are coated with a layer of plaque, they cannot absorb nutrients as well. Cleasing the plaque with high-fiber, high-water content, high-mineral content fruits and vegetables helps remove this build-up and allows the organs to operate much more efficiently.

Flaxseed oil and olive oil should be fine and fats from avocado and coconut as well. I think the nuts and seed should be limited to around a handful a day (in your pesto is fine) and they should be raw, not roasted/salted.

[KalenaPlants]

These are all great suggestions..I am really craving some form of protein besides plant-based right now lol

We're fasting from all flesh, dairy, leaven breads, and any and all processed foods. Essentially, just fruit and veggies.

However, we're in the middle of January now so I can see the light (no pun intended). I'm going to make pesto-covered chicken wings for the SuperBowl in honor of you, Patti! Thank you all very much for the suggestions and support!