I have embarked on a journey that is totally foreign to me- healthy eating!
Oh I tried to get a fruit and vegie in here and there, eat grains and cut back on fats. But in reality, what I ate was a far cry from healthy!
Last week, my pastor at church asked if anyone would be willing to do a corporate fast for 21 days. Thank the good Lord he didn’t mean a total fast- like water only!
What he proposed was the Daniel Fast- no meat, dairy, yeast products, sugars or alcohol. I’ll admit I was thinking twice- I mean no meat? No sugar? No cool, yummy glasses of milk? No cheese? No zucchini or banana bread?
What’s left?
Once I thought about it and looked at the Daniel Fast website, I realized there is a lot to eat- I was just a “spoiled brat” when it came to food.
I decided to give it a try!
Last weekend our church had a conference going on and I was working at it. One of the workers offered to prepare food at home to bring in for anyone on the fast.
The first day she brought in meatless chili that had 3 beans in it- kidney, pinto and black beans. It was delicious and honestly, if I didn’t know that it lacked meat I would not have noticed . She also made wild rice which she cooked in either almond or coconut milk (forgot which). That was delicious alone or mixed with the chili.
Our sound man’s wife made him Moosewood Moroccan Stew, which he was kind enough to share. Oh my gosh it was good!
So I’ve been fasting for 3 days and have had some great eats!
I was at church Saturday for the conference and had a black bean soup and wild rice.
All of this was rounded out with fruits and nuts in between meals. Breakfast both days were banana’s with walnuts and almonds, mixed with a little Almond/coconut milk.
I think I like that milk better than normal cows milk!
Last night I subjected the family to the 3 bean chili recipe- I added a bit of diced sweet potato and tofu. Delicious! I also made some wild rice to mix in if desired. We began the meal with a garden salad with almond slices and home-made oil and vinegar dressing.
They survived and admitted they could live without meat a few days a week, so I may institute that!
I found a great recipe on the Daniel fast page for Date Honey. So I made that last night. It’s very simple to make:
This morning I added some of the honey to my oatmeal, along with walnuts, almonds, flax seed and almond and coconut milk. Super yummy!
For snack I made home made tomato juice. I like it hot…both temperature wise and spice wise. I added a hot red pepper minus the seeds. It was too spicy H-O-T! I added a teaspoon of date honey and it made a fantastic drink.
I also had a banana which I scooped into organic peanut butter.
I have to say I have been super energetic- it’s 3:00 p.m. and I’m still going. usually by now I’m dragging and sometimes even take a nap for 20 minutes to an hour.
We had a super-spirit filled day at church yesterday and it’s been with me since….
I can’t wait to see what the next 17 days brings….but I know Thanksgiving dinner is going to taste twice as good as normal.
And I’ll be twice as thankful to eat meat!
