Nutrition on fasting days diet. What foods can you eat while fasting?
So, with the beginning of Lent, which begins on February 27, 2017, all our nutrition changes dramatically. Therefore, let's look at the menu for Great Lent by day for 40 days 2017 for the laity, so that it is easier for you to navigate and tune in to certain products for all days of fasting. By the way, do not be afraid, if during fasting you rationally and thoughtfully approach the problem of nutrition, then you will not have to be hungry. You can plan your meals in such a way that the food will not only be varied, but also satisfying, nutritious and tasty. And do not forget - food is only part of the fast, the main thing is to strengthen prayers, works of mercy, visit the temple and train in love for others, then food restrictions will benefit the soul and body.
Immediately a small clarification, the post actually lasts not 40, but 48 days (plus Holy Week).
During Lent 2017, the following foods are allowed to be eaten:
1. Cereal crispbread and black plain bread made from coarse rye flour.
2. Any cereals and cereals from them, boiled in water.
3. Summer preparations, namely salted, pickled and soaked vegetables and salads from them, jams, marmalades and jams.
4. Mushrooms cooked in all sorts of ways.
5. Beans, peas, beans and lentils - boiled.
6. Nuts, honey and dried fruits.
7. All vegetables, both fresh and boiled. Fruits and berries.
8. Seafood (squid, shrimp, mussels) and fish.
9. Tea, coffee, non-carbonated mineral water, herbal decoctions.
10. In between meals, you need to drink water - 2.5 liters of mineral water and always without gas. Food should be taken three times - 1. morning (breakfast), 2. afternoon (lunch), 3. evening (dinner). The size of each serving is 200 - 400 grams.
Look, it will be easier to make nutritional changes.
Beginning of Lent 2017 - the strictest first week(like the last one, Passionate).
02/27/2017, Monday - abstinence from food, only seagulls are allowed - chamomile, mint, St. John's wort.
02/28/2017, Tuesday - during the day it is allowed to eat 200 g of bread, a decoction of dried fruits, herbal tea and water.
03/01/2017, Wednesday: for the day - 250 g of bread and herbal tea.
03/02/2017, Thursday: fresh, unprocessed fruits and vegetables. Preferably - grapes, apples, nuts, greens.
03/03/2017, Friday: dried fruit decoction or tea throughout the day. Eating any food is prohibited.
03/04/2017, Saturday - 1. A glass of juice or tea.
2. Boiled vegetables - beets, carrots or potatoes, a glass of red, but only natural, wine.
3. Compote and lean cookies.
03/05/2017, Sunday - 1. Vinaigrette and coffee.
2. Lean any soup, potatoes with onions and mushrooms. Wine and compote.
3. Boiled cauliflower with apple and carrot, tea
You can bake it with borscht or soup, see the step by step recipe, it's very tasty. besides, they can be made sweet for tea.
The 2nd week of Lent in 2017 in nutrition may look like this:
03/06/207, Monday. 1. Oatmeal on the water, tea.
2. Vermicelli soup with carrots. Potato cutlets, fresh vegetables, jelly.
3. Apple and tea
03/07/2017, Tuesday. 1. Buckwheat on the water, coffee.
2. Shchi from sauerkraut (lean), noodles (pasta) with mushroom sauce, vegetable salad with fresh vegetable oil, compote.
3. Apples baked with honey and tea.
03/08/2017, Wednesday. 1. Rice porridge, coffee.
2. Soup - vegetable hodgepodge. Potatoes with mushroom sauce with onions, herbs and tomatoes. Fresh cabbage salad with apple, carrot and cucumber, with berry (grape) vinegar sauce and oil. Compote.
3. Tea with lemon and jam.
03/09/2017, Thursday. 1. Corn porridge, tea.
2. Lenten cabbage soup, vinaigrette, cranberry juice.
3. Mashed potatoes with zucchini. Salted or pickled vegetables. Tea, you can with lemon or apples.
03/10/2017, Friday. 1. Barley porridge, tea with jam (honey).
2. Lean pea soup, vegetable salad and apple compote.
3. Potato salad with mushrooms, tea.
03/11/2017, Saturday. 1. Vinaigrette with mushrooms, coffee.
2. Buckwheat soup, rice cakes, beet caviar, a glass of wine, pumpkin jelly.
3. meatless pasties, tea.
03/12/2017, Sunday. 1. Millet-pumpkin porridge, coffee.
2. Lenten borscht, potatoes stewed with mushrooms, wine, lemon juice.
3. Vegetable caviar, pea cutlets, tea.
3rd week of Lent 2017, menu for every day
03/13/2017, Monday. 1. Millet, tea with honey.
2. Beetroot with pearl barley, potato zrazy stuffed with onions and mushrooms, pea salad with pickles, wine, fruit, cranberry lemonade.
3. buckwheat pie, tea with honey.
03/14/2017, Tuesday. 1. Boiled potatoes with garlic, coffee.
2. Bean soup, pasta with mushroom sauce, cranberry juice.
3. , tea with honey.
03/15/2017, Wednesday. 1. Semolina porridge with strawberry jam, coffee.
2. Lenten hodgepodge, cauliflower casserole with peppers and tomatoes, coffee.
3. Fried squid with boiled potatoes, and tea.
03/16/2017, Thursday. 1. Oatmeal custard with fruit and tea.
2. Lenten cabbage soup, canned pickles with pearl barley, compote.
3. Vegetable ratatouille, tea.
03/17/2017, Friday. 1. Rice porridge, coffee.
2. Pea soup, boiled potatoes with brown mushroom sauce, rosehip compote.
3. Zucchini caviar with buckwheat, tea.
03/18/2017, Saturday. 1. Semolina porridge with raspberry jam.
2. Pumpkin soup, stuffed squid with rice, wine, cranberry juice.
3. Open lean apple pie, tea.
03/19/2017, Sunday. 1. Custard oatmeal with dried fruits, coffee.
2. Lenten borsch, pilaf with mushrooms, wine and compote.
3. Buckwheat with lecho, tea with honey.
4th week of Lent in 2017
03/20/2017, Monday. 1. Bean porridge, fruits, coffee.
2. Vegetable soup, lean pilaf, nuts, orange juice.
3. Braised cabbage, tea.
03/21/2017, Tuesday. 1. Barley porridge, coffee.
2. Soup with lentils, mashed peas with pickles, compote.
3. potatoes with garlic and mushroom caviar, tea
03/22/2017, Wednesday. 1. Lenten cabbage rolls, coffee
2. Mushroom pickle, cauliflower casserole, pineapple juice.
3. Nuts, fruits, tea
03/23/2017, Thursday. 1. Custard rice, coffee.
2. Bean soup, rice with mushroom sauce, cranberry juice.
3. Mashed potatoes with zucchini, tea.
03/24/2017 Friday. 1. Custard oatmeal, coffee
2. Pea soup, baked vegetables, compote.
3. Pumpkin salad with honey,
03/25/2017 Saturday. 1. Buckwheat, coffee.
2. Shchi on sauerkraut, squid baked with carrots and onions, compote
3. Potato cutlets, tea.
03/26/2017 Sunday. 1. Baked apples with honey, coffee.
2. Lean borscht, fried potatoes with boiled fish, fruit drink
3. Barley with tomatoes, nuts, or.
5th week of fasting, menu
03/27/2017, Monday. 1. Vinaigrette, coffee.
2. Lentil soup, pasta with mushroom sauce, squash caviar, compote.
3. Boiled potatoes with sauerkraut, tea.
03/28/2017, Tuesday. 1. Oatmeal, coffee.
2. Vermicelli soup with mushrooms, boiled fish with rice, berry jelly.
3. beets with prunes and tea.
03/29/2017, Wednesday. 1. Barley, coffee
2. Shea lean, vegetables, compote.
3. Apples baked with honey, tea.
03/30/2017, Thursday. 1. Braised cabbage with carrots and herbs, coffee.
2. pea soup, baked vegetables, fried fish in lemon sauce, compote.
Dinner - sweet rice with fruits, tea
03/31/2017, Friday. 1. Oatmeal with jam, tea
2. Lenten borscht, boiled potatoes with herring and onions, rosehip jelly.
3.Vermicelli with mushroom caviar, tea
04/01/2017, Saturday. 1. Seafood, tea
2. Lenten hodgepodge, wine, raspberry juice.
3. Buckwheat with canned eggplant snack, tea
04/02/2017, Sunday. 1. Porridge with pumpkin, coffee
2. Shchi on sour sauerkraut, boiled fish and chips, wine, coffee
Dinner - baked vegetables, tea
6th week of Lent 2017
04/03/2017, Monday. 1. Custard oatmeal with berries, coffee
2. Light soup with peas and corn, tomatoes with garlic and nuts, vermicelli, compote
3. Buckwheat with mushroom sauce, tea
04/04/2017, Tuesday. 1. lean vegetable pizza, with spicy tomato sauce, coffee
2. lean borscht, boiled squid, rice, juice
3. zucchini with boiled potatoes, tea
04/05/2017, Wednesday. 1. Semolina, coffee
2. Potato soup, raw vegetables, tea
3. Carrot cutlets with garlic and onions, tea
04/06/2017, Thursday. 1.beet cutlets, coffee
2. Lunch - lean cabbage soup, herring with vinaigrette, compote
3. Baked pepper stuffed with carrots and garlic, tea
04/07/2017, Friday. 1. Seafood, coffee
2. Vegetable soup, fried fish, rice, compote.
3. Beans baked with carrots and onions, tea
04/08/2017, Saturday. 1. Custard oatmeal with berries, coffee.
2. Buckwheat puree soup, boiled fish and potatoes, mushroom caviar, wine, compote
3. Saute eggplant with rice, tea
04/09/2017, Sunday. 1. Barley porridge, coffee
2. Mushroom puree soup, baked vegetables, boiled fish, wine, juice.
3. Roast mushrooms with potatoes, tea
Last, Holy Week of Great Lent, coming in 2017
04/10/2017, Monday, hungry day, you can have bread, water.
04/11/2017, Tuesday. 1. Rice, coffee.
2. Cabbage cutlets, juice.
3. Baked apple, tea.
04/12/2017, Wednesday, 1. Fresh vegetables, coffee.
2. Cabbage salad with carrots and apples, coffee.
3. Fruit.
04/13/2017, Thursday. 1. Corn tea
2. Shchi with green peas, vinaigrette, herring, compote
3. Baked squid with carrots in Korean. Tea.
We bake Easter, paint eggs!
Take a look - simple and delicious.
04/14/2017, Friday. Hungry day, herbal gulls, water, bread are allowed.
04/15/2017, Saturday - we do not eat until the first star.
We have provided you with an approximate menu for Lent in 2017, and you can see for yourself, you can replace some products with similar ones, the main thing is to follow the rules for every day. And do not forget to do good deeds, help the poor, show love for your neighbors, attend worship services and pray for everyone. Give the money you save on food to the poor.
April 16, 2017 - Great Easter, congratulations to everyone, you have withstood the fast, cleansed your soul and body before the Lord, and you can safely break your fast!
Great Lent 2018, food calendar by day
Unlike the Dormition and Nativity Lent, the Great Lent is not in specific numbers, but mobile. In 2018, it starts on February 19th and ends on Saturday, April 7th. And on April 8, 2018, the main holiday of Orthodox Christians is already coming - the Bright Resurrection of Christ - Easter.
Lent is the longest - it lasts 48 days. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself was tempted by the devil in the wilderness for 40 days and did not eat anything during those days. Thus He began the work of our salvation. Therefore, Great Lent in Orthodoxy is established in honor of the Lord Himself, and the last week of fasting - Passion Week - in honor of the memory of the last days of the earthly life of Jesus Christ, His suffering and death.
The most important purpose of fasting is spiritual development. Therefore, those people who reduce fasting only to the observance of certain dietary rules are very mistaken. Food restrictions are needed in order to learn how to control and restrain your desires, to understand true needs (in fact, you can do without much that we are very used to). In many cases, we are like little children - we are used to being guided only by our “I want”. Fasting builds willpower. After all, if we cannot organize ourselves and our lives in small things, then we will not be able to achieve results in something larger and more important. Therefore, food fasting is the first step towards spiritual growth.
How strictly should you fast?
Lent is the strictest of all four multi-day fasts. In many printed calendars and in the calendar of nutrition by days, which we will give below, data are indicated based on the church charter. With the exception of a few days, the schedule is as follows: from Monday to Friday inclusive - dry food, on Saturday and Sunday - lean food with vegetable oil.
Dry eating is one of the strict degrees of fasting (after all, there is also complete abstinence from food). The following products are allowed by the church charter: water, bread, salt, honey, herbs, as well as raw, dried, soaked or pickled vegetables. Further, depending on the severity of the charter - permission only for soaking food of plant origin or still for heat treatment by boiling / baking, but without flavorings. All of the above - without the use of vegetable oil. Currently, dry eating is most often understood as herbal infusions, cold drinks, juices, bread, raw and soaked fruits, raw and baked vegetables (of course, without vegetable oil).
This monastic rule has such a name because it fully refers to the monastic practice of Palestine. Lay people are not required to adhere to it. Usually in the world choose one of two options:
- More strict:
- Monday of the first week (February 19, 2018) and Great Five, i.e. Friday of Holy Week (April 6, 2018) - total abstinence from food
- Monday, Wednesday, Friday - dry food
- Tuesday, Thursday - hot food without oil
- Saturday, Sunday - hot food with butter
- Less strict:
- Monday of the first week and Great Friday (Friday of Holy Week) - dry food or food without oil
- all other days of fasting - any food of plant origin with vegetable oil
Each layman can choose for himself the measure of fasting individually, but it is better to consult with the priest. Great post 2018, food calendar by day.
The monastic charter is recommended (and then at will) to be observed by those people who already have experience of many days of fasting. If you want to try fasting for the first time or have never held Great Lent in its entirety, then start simply by eliminating all meat products. If you feel strong in yourself, then exclude all products of animal origin (milk, kefir, cottage cheese, cheese, eggs, etc.), but leave all types of heat treatment of food and vegetable oil. You should not immediately, without preparing, take on the feat of dry eating.
As for the two most strict days of Great Lent - Monday of the first week (February 19, 2018) and Friday of Holy Week (April 6, 2018) - where complete abstinence from food is prescribed by the monastic charter, then here you should be even more careful. For people with chronic diseases (not only the gastrointestinal tract, but also any others), daily fasting is contraindicated. And exposing one's health (and, as a result, life) to danger is not blessed by the Church. Remember that everything must be approached with reason.
Since Great Lent is strict, they do not eat fish during it, with the exception of two holidays - Palm Sunday (April 1, 2018) and the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (April 7). But since this year the feast of the Annunciation falls on the Passion Saturday before Pascha, fish is not allowed by the monastic charter. However, in honor of the holiday, quite a bit of wine is allowed. Thus, the only day on which you can eat fish during this Great Lent is Palm Sunday, April 1, 2018. And on Lazarus Saturday (March 31, 2018) fish caviar is allowed.
So, Great Lent 2018 begins on February 19, see the nutrition calendar by day below. But once again we emphasize that it is not at all necessary for the laity to adhere to the strict monastic rules. It is better to determine the measure of fasting by consulting with the priest from the parish church.
Menu for fasting before Easter 2018 by day
It is recommended to completely refrain from eating any food. However, this is a requirement of the monastic charter. The laity can fast according to their ability. For example, to endure dry eating on the first day of fasting - to eat products of plant origin (vegetables, fruits) without dressing with vegetable oil. And, of course, in limited quantities.
On Monday of the first week of Great Lent in the evening, the first part of the Great Canon of Andrew of Crete is read in the church, so it is advisable to be in the church at this time. If this is not possible, you can read the same part of the canon at home. The Great Canon of Andrew of Crete is often published separately in a small pamphlet. It can be purchased at any church shop, store with spiritual literature, or you can find the text of the canon on the Internet (it is advisable to use a trusted source) and print it.
According to the monastery charter, dry eating is prescribed on this day. That is, all fruits (as well as dried fruits, nuts) and vegetables can be eaten raw, sour, baked, thermally processed, but without seasonings. Salt is allowed. You can also eat lean bakery products without vegetable oil in the composition.
Despite the fact that now is not the season for vegetables grown in our strip, in stores you can buy products from greenhouses or brought from other countries. You can eat raw not only the usual tomatoes, cucumbers, white cabbage, radishes, carrots, garlic, onions. But also zucchini, bell peppers, beets, broccoli, cauliflower. In addition to the fact that many raw vegetables contain more vitamins, they also taste more interesting, although not very familiar to us.
At Great Compline in the church on Tuesday of the first week of Great Lent, the second part of the Great Canon of Andrew of Crete is read. As on Monday, it is better to go to the temple at this time for conciliar prayer. And if this is not possible, then pray at home.
On Wednesday, the monastic charter again prescribes dry eating - that is, bread products, raw or soaked fruits, as well as raw, pickled or baked vegetables (with salt, but without seasonings, vegetable oil).
On this day, the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is served, and the third part of the Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete is read.
Dry eating (fruits, vegetables, bread).
On this day, at Great Compline, the fourth part of the Great Canon of Andrew of Crete is read in the church.
On Friday of the first week of Great Lent, dry eating is also prescribed by the monastic charter.
The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is served, and the prayer canon of St. Theodore Tiron and blessed with kolivo (sochivo).
For the first time in the first week, on Saturday, food with vegetable oil is allowed by the monastery charter. And, of course, here the menu is already becoming much wider. A hearty solution would be fried potatoes, any vegetable salad with butter dressing, mushroom or vegetable soup with carrot and onion frying.
On this day, the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom.
On this day, too, fasting is weaker than on the first five days of the first week - food with vegetable oil is allowed. From vegetables, mushrooms, legumes, you can cook a variety of side dishes, second and first courses. There are also many more options for baking with vegetable oil than without it. We have selected for you a few recipes that are located after the above nutrition calendar by day in Lent 2018.
In church tradition, Sunday is often referred to as a week. So, February 25 is the first week of Great Lent, which is called the Triumph of Orthodoxy.
According to the monastic charter - dry eating. Recall that this means eating plant foods without oil.
Dry eating (fruits, vegetables, bread). To make the vegetables more juicy, or so that there is no urgent need to dress the salad, you can use the juice of the vegetables themselves directly. For example, salt chopped cabbage or grated carrots and mash well with your hands for at least three minutes. Then just let it sit for 10 minutes.
Eating lean food without oil (vegetables, fruits, bread). Do not ignore honey during fasting, including on days of dry eating - it is allowed by the church charter, and serves as a good support for immunity.
On this day, the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is served in the church.
The monastic charter is dry food (vegetables, fruits, bakery products). You can make bean or pea puree without using vegetable oil. To do this, soak (if required) peas / beans for several hours, then boil. Drain the water into a separate bowl, and grind the finished beans or peas with a blender. If desired, add drained water. This puree can be eaten cold.
Bread, fruits, vegetables without vegetable oil are allowed at the meal. Let's look at several options for the bases for lean dishes on dry days: pumpkin with honey; pumpkin with apple; baked potatoes and beets; beans with potatoes; cabbage with prunes; radish with garlic; prunes with walnuts; potatoes with pickles, etc.
This Friday
On the Sabbath day, the monastic charter allows eating food with vegetable oil. You can sauté and fry vegetables, and cook a lot of dishes based on them - vegetable stew, mashed potatoes, lean soup or cabbage soup, stuffing for pies or dumplings.
On this day, the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom. And another important point is the first parental Saturday of Great Lent. To commemorate the dead on this day, it is good not only to pray at home for all deceased relatives and loved ones, but also to order a memorial service in the church, preferably being present at it. If possible, you can visit the cemetery.
Allowed food using vegetable oil. As an option, you can make lean cabbage rolls, any porridge with vegetable or mushroom frying, vegetable cutlets, potato meatballs, potato and carrot pancakes, bake pancakes or wrap any vegetable / mushroom filling in thin pita bread. From the first courses you can cook beetroot soup, potato soup, soup with vermicelli or dumplings.
This Sunday the Liturgy of St. Basil the Great.
Dry eating - bread, vegetables, fruits - all without the use of vegetable oil. Vegetables can be eaten separately or you can make a salad, but season not with oil, but with something else - lemon juice, soy sauce, some juicy fruit with a not very sharp taste.
According to the monastic charter - dry eating. Alternatively, you can make any pate without adding oil. It is convenient to prepare it in a chopper - a blender bowl. As a basis, you can take pitted olives, any raw or baked vegetables without oil.
Allowed the use of bread, fruits and vegetables without the use of oil. An example of an excellent vitamin salad is to grate a green radish, sprinkle with lemon juice, add cranberries, mix.
On Wednesday, the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is served.
8 March 2018, Thursday
Dry eating (fruits, vegetables, bread products). With such a measure of fasting, canned peas and corn help out well. I added them to the same boiled potatoes and fresh onions - already a salad! Or you can just serve it with baked potatoes.
The monastic charter provides for dry eating. An option for a healthy and satisfying snack is to combine grated raw carrots with crushed nuts, sprinkle a little with apple cider vinegar.
On this day, the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is performed in churches.
On this day, any lean food with vegetable oil is allowed.
March 10, 2018 is the second parental Saturday of Great Lent. On this day, if possible, it is better to attend a church service, order a memorial service for the deceased relatives, and also pray at home. You can visit the cemetery.
This Saturday the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom.
The monastic charter on this day prescribes food with vegetable oil.
This week (Sunday) of Great Lent is the Adoration of the Cross. The Liturgy of St. Basil the Great, in the morning, after the great doxology, the Cross is carried out and worshiped.
According to the monastic charter - dry eating. Of course, in this winter-spring period, in the absence of fresh berries (however, greenhouse strawberries are now sold in some supermarkets all year round), frozen berries can be used for eating and cooking.
In the church on this day, at the 1st hour, the worship of the Cross is performed.
Dry eating (vegetables, fruits, bread). On such days, you can experiment with different fruits. For example, to make a rather exotic mango and avocado caviar by breaking them with a blender and seasoning with salt and lemon juice. Such a dish can be eaten without everything or spread on bread, rolls, loaves or cookies.
Again, the monastic charter suggests dry eating. Another dish that is not quite familiar to us is a salad of sauerkraut, finely chopped (or grated) apple, grapes cut in half and celery sprigs.
This Wednesday, at the 1st hour, the veneration of the Cross is performed. The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is served.
The use of bakery products, fruits and vegetables without the use of vegetable oil. A hearty and affordable version of a salad that will help out in any conditions - cut the baked or boiled potatoes and pickles into small cubes, chop the onion (if desired, you can pre-dip in boiling water), any greens, mix everything and season with lemon juice.
In the event that a polyeleos is celebrated in honor of the “Reigning” Icon of the Mother of God, the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is served.
Dry eating (bread, vegetables, fruits). Fast days without eating vegetable oil are a good reason to eat more greens - lettuce, dill, parsley, cilantro, arugula, sorrel, celery, green onions.
The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is served, the Cross is venerated.
The monastic charter allows food with vegetable oil.
March 17, 2018 is the third parental Saturday of Great Lent. You can bake lenten buns or pies and distribute as a memorial for your deceased relatives to neighbors, friends or parishioners of the nearest church. It is also good to give alms with a request to pray for your deceased relatives.
Food with vegetable oil is allowed. Many underestimate the importance of mushrooms during fasting. They are rich in vegetable protein, which to some extent replaces the animal during fasting. From mushrooms you can cook caviar, stew, dumplings, soups, salad, mushroom goulash. Even just fry with potatoes and onions - it will turn out simple, satisfying and tasty.
On this day, the Liturgy of St. Basil the Great.
The monastic charter prescribes dry eating on this day - vegetables, fruits, bread. On such days, you can cook a delicious vitamin compote. To preserve the maximum of useful properties, you need to thoroughly rinse dried fruits (any that are available and that you like) with lukewarm water. Then pour them with purified cold water and leave overnight. In the morning, put everything together on a small fire and bring to a boil, covered with a lid. When it boils, add sugar (or you can do without it, if you don’t like sweets very much, or strictly observe fasting) and turn it off immediately. Leave alone for a few hours. Compote will infuse and will be very tasty.
Dry eating - fruits, vegetables, bread without vegetable oil.
This year, the service in honor of the 40 Martyrs of Sebastia, which is usually performed in numbers, on March 22, is postponed to this day. However, in 2018, the 22nd falls on Thursday of the fifth week of Great Lent, when the Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete is read.
The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is celebrated.
On this Wednesday, according to the monastery charter, eating food with oil is allowed, which means that you can safely fry vegetables and mushrooms to make stews, salads, soups or fillings for pies, lean chebureks (kutabs).
The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is served.
This week on Thursday it is allowed to eat food using vegetable oil.
Thursday of the Great Canon - everywhere at Matins in churches the Great Canon of Andrew of Crete and the life of St. Mary of Egypt are read. The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is served. Recall that the service in honor of the 40 Martyrs of Sebaste this year has been postponed to Tuesday, March 20.
The monastic charter provides for dry eating on this day - all fruits, vegetables, bakery products, but without the use of vegetable oil. On such days, you can experiment with various healthy desserts. For example, combine finely grated raw pumpkin with coarsely grated apple (or chopped orange pulp). Season with honey and, if desired, spices (cinnamon, cardamom, etc.)
On this day, the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is celebrated in the church. Either at the evening service on this day, or at the morning Saturday, an akathist to the Most Holy Theotokos is sung.
On Saturday, food with vegetable oil is allowed. Why not make some lean sauce like mayonnaise? Many of these recipes require sunflower oil, and they have a short shelf life due to the lack of preservatives in them. It will be great to cook such a sauce for yourself and your family just in time for Saturday-Sunday.
The Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom. If the Akathist to the Most Holy Theotokos was not sung the day before, then it is sung at Matins.
Sunday meal involves eating food with vegetable oil. If you have a blender, for a change, you can make puree soup or cream soup, based on pumpkin, potatoes, broccoli, beans, etc.
On this day, the Liturgy of St. Basil the Great.
The monastic charter provides for dry eating on this day. For a change, you can cook lean chips, such as beetroot. To do this, peel the beets, cut them into thin slices. Place them on a baking sheet lined with foil or parchment paper. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes at 180 degrees. Salt on top if desired. If you are not fasting so strictly, you can sprinkle the baked slices with any vegetable oil.
Dry eating (bread, vegetables, fruits). As an option - a simple and very healthy salad that does not require any dressing (however, you can lightly sprinkle with lemon juice). Combine washed and dried arugula leaves, pomegranate seeds and pine nuts together.
Fruits, vegetables, bakery products without oil. An option for lunch is a very simple salad without dressing, but at the same time juicy. It will require only two ingredients - sauerkraut and baked in the oven (1.5 hours at a temperature of 200 degrees) beets, grated on a coarse grater. Even without oil, it's not dry at all.
The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is served.
Dry eating - bread, vegetables, fruits without the use of vegetable oil. Perhaps the easiest and most satisfying thing to cook is to bake potatoes in the oven without using oil. Either whole (if the tubers are small) and “in uniforms”, or cut in half. Recall that according to the monastic charter, salt is allowed.
Again dry eating - eating bread, fruits and vegetables. Try a very simple and unusual salad with just two ingredients - pomegranate seeds and onion rings. Onion rings (if the head is small; if it is larger, then cut the onion into halves or quarters of rings) just finely chop and that's it! If desired, you can scald with boiling water, and then sprinkle with lemon juice.
On this day, the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is served.
This day is festive - Lazarus Saturday. It is allowed to eat fish caviar. For those who accept this product, there is usually no difficulty in using it. Caviar is good just on fresh bread or vice versa - on toasted toast.
But we offer to diversify the diet on this holiday. For example, bake lean pancakes according to any recipe, let them cool, put caviar on them, roll them up and cut each of them diagonally in half. The look of the dish will be very elegant!
You can make sandwiches - apply a thin layer of mayonnaise on bread, place a circle of fresh cucumber on top, and put a spoonful of caviar on it, decorating with greens.
On Lazarus Saturday, the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom. At the all-night vigil (on Saturday evening) the consecration of the vay is performed.
This week (Sunday) is called flower-bearing. Among the people, the feast of the Lord's Entry into Jerusalem, which is always celebrated exactly one week before Easter, is called Palm Sunday. In honor of the holiday, eating fish is allowed. Here there is room for imagination not only in terms of choosing the type of fish, but also the way it is cooked - fried, smoked, baked, salted, canned, etc. When hot, there are a lot of variations - you can simply fry with onions and spices or fry in flour and spices breading. Bake on a vegetable pillow or with herbs and lemon/orange slices. Can be stuffed with rice and vegetables.
On this day, the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom.
According to the monastery charter - dry eating (bread, vegetables, fruits). As a breakfast or vice versa, a light dinner, you can make fruit puree. The main thing is to have a blender on hand. It remains only to thoroughly wash all available fruits, peel them from the skin and seeds (if necessary), cut into arbitrary pieces and send to a blender. Carrots go well with any fruit. Keep this in mind, because it contains a lot of vitamins that are so needed in spring and even more so in fasting!
On Great Monday, the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is served.
On Good Tuesday, the monastic charter also prescribes dry eating (baked goods, vegetables, fruits). One of the most satisfying and healthy dishes is beet caviar. Bake beets in the oven without anything (without oil, spices) for 1.5 hours at a temperature of 180-200 degrees, using foil or a baking sleeve. Then scroll through a meat grinder or grind with a blender. Then add, if desired, either crushed walnuts with garlic, or prunes also scrolled through a meat grinder.
On this day, the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is served.
Again fruits, vegetables, bread without the use of vegetable oil. As we know, cold boiled vegetables without oil are allowed on days of dry eating. An excellent option for this case is broccoli. It is necessary to run it into boiling salted water and boil from the moment of repeated boiling for 7-10 minutes. Throw away in a colander. Pour in lemon juice.
On Great Wednesday, the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is served.
Dry eating (fruits, vegetables, bread). The monastic charter allows cold drinks on days of dry eating. Therefore, you can make delicious homemade lemonade. To do this, you need to thoroughly wash two lemons with warm water, squeeze the juice out of them. And finely chop the zest (without a white bitter layer). Dissolve sugar in cold boiled water. Then pour in the lemon juice and let the zest in. Cover tightly and refrigerate until completely chilled. Strain before serving.
April 5 - Great Thursday. Remembrance of the Last Supper. In the evening, Great Heel Matins is served with the reading of the 12 Gospels of the Holy Passion of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Liturgy of St. Basil the Great.
Good Friday is called Great Heel - this is the most severe day because of the Remembrance of the Holy Saving Passion of the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, the monastic charter prescribes complete abstinence from food.
Liturgy is not served on this day. Vespers is performed, at the end of which the Holy Shroud is taken out of the altar.
April 7 - the twelfth (one of the 12 most important holidays in Orthodoxy after Easter) holiday in numbers - the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Usually on this day you can eat fish. However, in 2018, this holiday falls on Great Saturday, and therefore fish and oil (vegetable oil) are not allowed according to the monastery charter. However, you are allowed to sip some wine.
On this day, the Liturgy of St. Basil the Great.
Bright Resurrection of Christ - Easter. Of course, there is no fasting on this day, everything is allowed to eat. But if you've been fasting, be careful with fatty foods. Also limit yourself in the amount of food.
Recipes for Lent or menu for Lent before Easter 2018
Bean salad on dry days
Ingredients:
- canned beans (red or white) - 1 can
- canned corn - 1 can
- croutons (dried black bread with garlic) - to taste
- avocado - 1 piece
Cooking:
Combine canned beans and corn together. Grate avocado - it will act as a salad dressing. Add croutons just before serving. To stir thoroughly.
Cabbage and cranberry salad on dry days
Ingredients:
- white cabbage - ¼ of a small head
- soaked cranberries or lingonberries - 2 tbsp.
- vinegar 6% - 1 tbsp.
- salt, sugar - to taste
Cooking:
Since the salad does not include dressing with vegetable oil during dry eating, it is better to choose a more juicy cabbage, with fleshy leaves. Finely chop it up. Season with salt and add a little sugar if desired. It is good to mash the cabbage with your hands. Sprinkle with vinegar (apple, raspberry or table). Add soaked berries.
Vegetable salad with prunes on dry days
Ingredients:
- white cabbage - 150 g
- carrots - 1-2 pieces
- prunes - 100 g
- salt, sugar - to taste
- lemon juice - to taste
Cooking:
Chop the cabbage, grate the carrots, put together, sprinkle with salt and sugar, mash with your hands for a couple of minutes, leave for 10 minutes. Cut the prunes into long strips (if it is dry, then soak it first). Add to vegetables. Season with lemon juice, mix.
Granola for dry days
Ingredients (proportions can be taken to taste):
- cereals
- nuts (several types possible)
- dried fruits (any)
- linseeds
- sesame
Cooking:
Chop the nuts with a knife. Toast the nuts and oatmeal in a dry frying pan. Cut dried apricots and prunes with a knife. Combine everything together, add sesame seeds, flaxseeds, liquid honey (if candied, then dissolve it in a water bath or minimal heat). Thoroughly mix the mass. Line the mold with foil. Lay out the mass, tamp well. Place in refrigerator for at least 2 hours. Then cut into random pieces.
Healthy dessert in a pumpkin pot
Ingredients:
- pumpkin - 1 piece (diameter and height about 15 cm)
- apples - 3-4 pieces
- raisins - 50 g
- prunes - 100g
- semolina - 3 tbsp.
- cornmeal - 3 tbsp
- sugar - 3 tbsp.
- vanilla - to taste
- water for cooking
Cooking:
Rinse raisins and prunes well. Cut apples into slices. Combine apples, dried fruits, semolina, cornmeal, sugar and vanilla together. Mix. Cut off top of pumpkin, remove seeds. Stuff pumpkin with prepared stuffing. Place the pumpkin in a pot of water to create the effect of a steam bath. Cover with foil, bake in the oven at 180 degrees for about two hours.
Ingredients:
- beets - 500 g
- walnuts - 1.5 cups
- vinegar - 1 tbsp.
- pomegranate juice - 30 ml
- onion - 1-2 heads
- garlic - 2-3 cloves
- cilantro - 0.5 bunch
- dill - 0.5 bunch
- parsley - 0.5 bunch
- red ground pepper - 0.5-1 tsp
- suneli hops - 1 tsp
- coriander - 0.5 tsp
- pomegranate seeds for decoration
Cooking:
Bake beets in the oven (1.5 hours at 200 degrees) or boil until tender. Scroll through a meat grinder with a large grate. For dressing, onions, garlic and nuts (pre-calcined in a pan or in the oven) scroll through the fine nozzle of the meat grinder. Combine with finely chopped herbs and spices. Season with vinegar (rice, balsamic, raspberry, apple), salt, mix thoroughly. Combine the beets with dressing, form balls (you can give an oval shape). Sprinkle with pomegranate seeds.
Champignons stuffed with onions
Ingredients:
- medium sized mushrooms - 5 pieces
- red onion (can also be regular) - 1 small head
- salt, black pepper - to taste
- olive oil - 1 tbsp.
- parsley for serving
Cooking:
Separate mushroom stems from caps. Put the caps in a baking dish or on a baking sheet. Cut the onion into small cubes, fry in olive oil until transparent. Finely chop the mushroom legs with a knife and add to the onion. Add salt, pepper, fry together for 2-3 minutes. Stuff the hats with this mixture, bake in the oven until blush at a temperature of 180 degrees. Sprinkle with herbs when serving.
Ingredients:
- buckwheat noodles - 0.5 pack (2 bunches)
- onion - 1 head
- carrots - 1 piece
- bell pepper - 1 piece
- olive oil - 2 tbsp.
- soy sauce - 2 tbsp.
- sesame - 2 tsp
- salt - to taste
Cooking:
Bulgarian pepper, carrots and onions cut arbitrarily. Fry in olive oil for 7-8 minutes. Add soy sauce and sesame seeds, simmer for about 10 minutes. In parallel, boil the buckwheat noodles in salted water for about 12 minutes. Mix noodles and vegetables together.
Creamy soup with chickpeas and curry
Ingredients:
- canned chickpeas - 1 can
- potatoes - 2 medium tubers
- carrots - 2 pieces
- onion - 1 head
- garlic - 2 cloves
- curry - 1 tsp
- turmeric - 0.5 tsp
- pepper - 0.3 tsp
- water - 2 liters
- olive oil - 1 tbsp.
- lemon juice - 1 tsp
- salt - to taste
- greenery
Cooking:
Cut potatoes into cubes and place in boiling water. Boil for 7 minutes. Spasser in olive oil onions and carrots, cut into small cubes. Put chickpeas, prepared vegetables to potatoes, add turmeric, curry, pepper, salt. Cook until potatoes are fully cooked. Puree with an immersion blender, then add minced or pressed garlic and lemon juice. Stir, put on fire, bring to a boil. Serve with greens.
Ingredients:
- flour - 200 g
- boiling water - 80 ml
- vegetable oil - 80 ml
- baking powder - 1 tsp
- salt - a pinch
- starch - 1 tbsp.
- any fruit or berries for filling
Cooking:
Combine flour with baking powder and salt. Pour boiling water and vegetable oil into this mixture. Knead elastic dough. Roll out into a circle, sprinkle with starch (because the filling is juicy). Any fruit (here - apples, pears and plums) cut and put on the dough. Wrap the edges and bake for 35 minutes at 180 degrees.
Ingredients:
- pumpkin puree - 0.5 cups
- mineral sparkling water - 0.5 cups
- vegetable oil - 0.5 cups
- sugar - 0.5-1 cup (to taste)
- baking powder - 1 tbsp.
- flour - 3.5-4 cups
- coconut flakes - to taste
- poppy - to taste
Cooking:
To obtain pumpkin puree, punch the pumpkin cooked in any way with a blender. Add sugar to the puree and stir. Pour mineral water and vegetable oil. Then add flour mixed with baking powder. Knead not very steep dough, roll out into a layer about 0.7 cm thick. Sprinkle with coconut and poppy seeds, roll out a little with a rolling pin (up to 0.5 cm). Cut out cookies with a cookie cutter. Bake at 180 degrees, depending on the characteristics of the oven, from 12 to 25 minutes.
Fish steaks in the oven
Ingredients:
- steaks of any red fish (here - trout) - 500 g
- lemon (juice) - 2 pieces
- vegetable oil - 50 ml
- garlic - 2 cloves
- dill - 0.5 bunch
- spices - to taste
- salt - to taste
Cooking:
Wash the lemons with very warm water, squeeze the juice out of them. Add chopped garlic, vegetable oil, spices, salt, chopped herbs to it. To stir thoroughly. Pour the prepared sauce over the steaks and refrigerate for 30-60 minutes. Bake in the oven at 200 degrees for 20-25 minutes.
Ingredients:
- pike perch - 1500 g
- champignons - 300 g
Subscribe to our channel in Yandex.Zen!Great or strict fasting in the Orthodox Church is considered the longest. Lent begins seven weeks before Easter. What is Great Lent and what are the rules of human behavior during this time? Let's figure it out.
Great Lent is first of all a cleansing, which should be not only bodily, but also spiritual. This is a time of repentance before the Lord, reading prayers, spiritual literature, as well as confession and communion. A fasting person is instructed to curb his anger, lust, greed, envy and rudeness. It is strictly forbidden to slander, slander and get angry.
The true meaning of Great Lent is the spiritual upliftment of man. An important role here is played by the nutrition of the fasting person, since it is easier for the soul to purify itself in a clean body. Food restrictions are quite strict and seem unbearable to many. However, if you look at it, the lenten menu resembles newfangled diets that modern girls are so eager to follow. However, diet is just a way to give the body the desired shape. Fasting has a much deeper spiritual meaning.
Great post: how to eat right?
The most difficult are the first day of fasting - Clean Monday, as well as Good Friday and Good Saturday - the last two days before Easter. These days you should completely refuse food. The rest of the days are supposed to be limited in nutrition.
How to eat right in Lent? It is necessary to exclude meat, milk and dairy products, as well as eggs. These products, as well as any dishes that include the above, should be completely excluded from the diet. Fish and fish products are allowed only on the Annunciation, Palm Sunday and Lazarus Saturday. On other days, fish should also be discarded.
If you write down the proper nutrition for Lent by day, it will look like this:
- Monday, Wednesday and Friday - it is allowed to eat cold food without vegetable oil, once a day in the evening.
- Tuesday and Thursday - it is allowed to eat steamed food (boiled, stewed, baked) without adding oil, also once a day in the evening.
- Saturday and Sunday are more sparing days of fasting, it is allowed to eat twice a day in the morning and in the evening, you can eat vegetable oil, and you can also drink a glass of red grape wine (once a day).
List of products allowed for consumption during fasting:
By eating all of the above products, you can get a fairly good and varied diet for every day. The main thing in the lenten menu is not to overeat, since the true meaning of fasting is the rejection of any excesses, especially in food.
This post is not for everyone. It is recommended that pregnant and lactating women, the elderly, and children under 14 years of age refrain from observing strict fasting. However, true believers try to observe the fast from beginning to end under any circumstances.
How should one enter and exit a fast?
Despite the tangible benefits of Great Lent for cleansing the body and soul, a sharp rejection of the usual products included in the daily diet can negatively affect the state of the body. Therefore, it is recommended to start fasting gradually. A week before the start, it is recommended to abandon egg dishes, after a few days - from milk and dairy products. It is preferable to use lean meat (poultry, turkey, beef). In the first days after the end of the fast, it is also better to use the food that has become habitual over the previous seven weeks. To vegetable dishes, you should gradually add low-fat meat dishes first, then milk and eggs. For the first week after fasting, it is recommended to refrain from such dishes as dumplings, soups with fatty broth, fried pork, pancakes.
Thus, we can conclude that the observance of the rules of nutrition in Lent only benefits our body. Lenten menu significantly reduces the risk of obesity, diabetes, stroke, removes toxins from the body, promotes cleansing. In addition to cleansing the body, a person, having passed the tests of Great Lent, overcomes the path of spiritual purification, and “spiritual purity” is much more important than “physical purity”.
Every Orthodox person, sooner or later, thinks about how to organize his meals during fasting by day. He asks friends, studies literature and is often frightened by strict rules for eating and a monotonous diet. In fact, everything is not so scary.
Refusal for a while from certain types of food is a spiritual feat
There are many among our compatriots who not so long ago decided to bring their bloodless sacrifice to the Creator. These people have discovered many such products, which earlier in ordinary worldly life, the menu consists largely of protein foods of animal origin. Fasting prohibits meat and dairy products, as well as eggs.
How to properly prepare for the post?
What time and what to eat during fasting is not an idle question. The church allows seafood, vegetables, nuts, fruits, mushrooms and cereals. They can be eaten throughout the entire period of abstinence, with the exception of a few special days on which it is impossible to eat at all, in particular on Good Friday, on the day of Christmas Eve - Christmas and Epiphany. Meals during fasting are scheduled by day in each Orthodox calendar. The degree of severity is regulated by the canons. However, prescriptions sometimes change. In each temple, the priests must explain to the parishioners what is possible during fasting and what should be abstained from. The most correct thing is to ask the priest for a blessing before fasting. He will clarify what and when is possible, and what will have to be abandoned. Some Christians quite rightly believe that the inhabitants of the monasteries know and follow the most precise rules. To copy their routine or not, each layman has the right to decide independently, having previously talked with his confessor of spiritual dignity.
Is it necessary for the laity to follow the monastic rules?
The diet of laymen and monks differs significantly. The monks fast according to all the rules - they eat only once a day, on the prescribed days they strictly observe dry eating, and they do not eat meat even outside the fasts. The main reference point for all Christians is the forty-day fast of Jesus Christ. Before assuming the mission assigned by God the Father, the Lord retired to the desert, where he prayed and fought temptations, and supported his physical body with wild honey and locusts. Christ commanded us that we can only save our souls through fasting and prayer. Any fast should be aimed primarily at the desire to comprehend and accept the commandment “Yes, love one another” into your soul.
What foods are allowed in fasting?
Meals for fasting by day for the laity usually look like this. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday, dry eating is accepted, that is, food cannot be cooked. These days, cereals are allowed, filled with water and soaked to a soft state, and dried fruits and water soaked in the same way.
On Tuesday and Thursday you can cook hot. It can be porridge on water or vegetable broth, jelly, seafood, pasta. How often do you cook jelly for yourself outside of fasting? But they are very beneficial for health. Kissels can be made from fruits, berries, cereal flakes.
What can be prepared from lean foods?
From mushrooms, vegetables and marine life, you can cook delicious soups. Eating fasting does not prohibit the use of seasonings and spices. And they are almost always non-animal. In the post - it's time to master oriental cuisine. Soy sauces, Indian spices, domestic herbs, nuts, honey are all things you can experiment with four days a week, and vegetable oil is also allowed on Saturday and Sunday. Eating during fasting by day will add variety to your life. At the end of the week, you can bake strudel. These are peculiar rolls of very thinly rolled out dough. For its preparation, only flour, water and a little salt are used. The filling for them can be sweet, for example, apple-apricot. Take fresh apples, dried apricots or apricot jam, flavor with cinnamon or vanilla, and so that the filling does not flow out, fix it with potato starch.
As a filling for unsweetened lean roll, you can use fresh cabbage. So that it does not taste bitter, boil water and put chopped cabbage leaves in it for 3-5 minutes, then fold it into a colander. After the water drains, use the cabbage in any dish. To fill the strudel, fry onion in vegetable oil and mix with cabbage, to improve the taste, add one grain of cardamom, salt and pepper.
Fasting food can be varied with jelly and aspic dishes on agar-agar. They can be made for the future, but whether they are allowed to be eaten on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, you will have to check with the priest of your church.
Benefits of fasting for physical health
Eating during fasting by day will not allow you to gain excess weight, but will allow you to eat those foods that you forbade yourself in everyday life. For example, potato pies fried in vegetable oil. Say: "Death to the figure"? Nothing happened! You can afford this pleasure only on Saturday and Sunday. The rest of the days the weight will return to normal. In general, eating during fasting on the days of the week is quite an exciting thing. You will not only greatly expand your culinary horizons by adding new dishes to your diet, but also get rid of dysbacteriosis, improve the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract, cleanse your body of toxins and toxins. The Lenten food calendar sets a rather rigid framework for believers, but it does not make their life dull and monotonous.
Posts vary in length and severity. During the Apostolic, or Peter's Lent, as well as in Philippovsky, that is, Christmas, fish is often allowed. Accordingly, the filling for baking, soups and main dishes become even more interesting. Even in Great Lent, you can treat yourself to fish for the Annunciation and Palm Sunday and fish caviar on Lazarus Saturday.
The joy of successfully overcoming carnal temptations
Only those who endured a multi-day fast have the opportunity to experience the real joy of eating. Usually, the first week after a multi-day fast is continuous. Products banned for several weeks are perceived in a new way. Fresh cottage cheese with fat sour cream and condensed milk tastes like the most delicate ambrosia. And if you spread it on a rich cake, the flesh of which is not white, but bright yellow from eggs generously added to the dough?! Who can afford such luxury as not those who for a long time deprived themselves of the joys of gluttony, abstinence from food and prayer?
The joy of the Incarnation of the Lord in the Only Begotten Son and His victory over death are celebrated very widely, no prohibitions darken these two holidays for those who properly prepare for them. Believers at this time completely freely indulge in the joys of life, not caring about the harmony of the figure, calories, the hour of eating, and so on. A liberated and purified organism works admirably. All useful substances are used to improve health and build tissue cells of all organs, while harmful substances are removed without delay.
You can no longer wonder when and what to eat. During the fast, these issues had to be resolved every day, because it’s no secret that, no matter how hard you try, fasts generally last long, and it’s not always possible to cook food. Snickers and cappuccino snacks are not allowed. So the Orthodox eat, most often, water, nuts and dried fruits. To be honest, it's not easy.
And if you failed to cope with the prohibitions and regulations?
Attending divine services and reading prayers greatly help to strengthen the will and spirit. And if you still failed to pass the test of fasting, do not despair. It didn't work now, it will work another time. The most important thing is that the Lord sees your efforts.
Fasting exists in many religions and ideological concepts. Symbolically, it displays many principles and performs far more than one function, but it is formally reflected in the stipulated restrictions imposed during this period on nutrition, behavior, and sometimes appearance. And most often it is food that is put at the forefront when it comes to fasting. No wonder, because daily food is the key to our strength, health and well-being. Another thing is that we do not always correctly understand the benefits and harms of certain products, and form a diet according to many, far from the most healthy habits. And fasting gives very specific recommendations, following which we get a chance to purify not only the soul, but also the body - who will refuse such an opportunity?
So we suggest that you understand precisely the gastronomic aspect of fasting, leaving the spiritual to your discretion as deeply personal issues. But even this purely practical approach has many nuances regarding the set of allowed foods, time and other additional conditions for eating, which together make up proper nutrition in fasting. Therefore, eating right in fasting does not mean just forgetting about meat, but knowing what, when and how you can cook and eat in order to withstand this difficult test and at the same time not harm your health.
What is fast food? Lean and fast food
Let's make a reservation right away that we are considering the rules of nutrition during the Christian, or even more precisely, Orthodox fasting. After all, fasting and similar ascetic practices are characteristic of Hinduism, Judaism, Islam, and other religions, but it is impossible to adequately describe all their features within the framework of one article. Therefore, we will pay attention to the tradition that is closer to the numerical majority of our compatriots in the hope that adherents of other faiths will understand us correctly - in the way that befits true believers. And as for Orthodoxy, it understands fasting as abstinence (refusal or restriction) from food and drinks - all or only some, for a specified time. Compliance with bodily fasting also helps to endure spiritual and spiritual fasting, and ideally, prepare for contact with the Almighty through Communion. But even if you are not yet ready for such deep inner work, fasting will not harm you - only benefit.
During fasting, some foods are excluded from the diet, which are called fasting, that is, not allowed in fasting. Roughly speaking, all food of animal origin refers to modesty, and in more detail, this concept combines:
- meat of animals and birds;
- offal;
- animal fat (lard, fat tail);
- semi-finished products and any products containing meat and offal;
- eggs;
- butter;
- dairy products;
- dairy products;
- fish on certain days of strict fasting;
- confectionery and other dishes prepared using the listed ingredients.
- vegetables;
- fruits;
- greenery;
- mushrooms;
- cereals and cereal flakes;
- legumes;
- nuts;
- spices and spices;
- vegetable oils, except for some days;
- fish and seafood, except on some days;
- honey;
- salt.
When do you need to follow the rules of lenten nutrition?
Orthodox fasting is observed several times a year, and each time has a different duration and name. The longest and strictest is Great Lent, lasting 40 days. If you have never fasted before, you can start small and try fasting for one day, such as Wednesdays or Fridays. And check the schedule of longer food restrictions with the church calendar. There you will also find indications of the prohibitions and permissions provided for each specific fasting period. They are different:
- Strict post- This is the rejection of all foods and drinks, except pure water.
- Xerophagy- this is the use of only natural products of plant origin, not cooked or even warmed up. Drinks are also taken cold.
- "The Eating of Welding" allows cooking vegetable food, but forbids filling it with oil.
- "The Eating of Boiling with Oil" implies that it is possible not only to cook/heat products of vegetable origin, but also flavor them with vegetable oil.
- "Eating fish" allows not only thermally processed vegetable food seasoned with oil, but also fish, fish products in raw or boiled form.
Who should not fast
Food restrictions, like any sudden change, are stressful for the body, especially if you are not used to denying yourself meat and oil dishes. On the one hand, such a shake-up will have a beneficial effect on the digestive, cardiovascular and immune systems, so the exclusion of heavy and generally any food is used as therapeutic fasting. The effectiveness of this method has been repeatedly proven by both alternative and traditional medicine, but it is used for a short time: one to three days, a maximum of a week. Longer interruptions in the intake of nutrients (and lean diets are lacking primarily in protein and fat) can backfire, especially for a person who is not completely healthy and / or weak. Therefore, the strictness of fasting is not the same, and some indulgences are allowed in such cases:
- For children of preschool and primary school age, fasting meals can be harmful. Their body is at the stage of active formation, when a complete protein, vitamins and minerals are especially important. Therefore, do not deprive your child of meat and fish at all and / or replace part of animal products with vegetable sources of protein: legumes, mushrooms, nuts, buckwheat. They should be enough to provide the structure of bones, teeth, muscle tissue and the nervous system. And in general, do not force the child to fast, let him make his own decision, watching you. How sensibly you eat in fasting depends on whether your child wants to follow your example.
- Pregnant and lactating women are allowed to eat eggs, fish and dairy products, without which their body cannot cope with its responsible mission. They need to carefully monitor their well-being and listen to the doctor more attentively than to the confessor.
- Recovering patients, especially after injuries and wounds, should not be reduced nutrition - on the contrary, they need amino acids and fats to restore strength. At the same time, fasting can be turned into a spiritual and spiritual channel, without overeating and doing inner work, praying and helping others.
- Some types of diseases are a direct contraindication to fasting. These are diseases associated with metabolic processes, digestive and endocrine systems: anemia, gout, pancreatitis, diabetes mellitus, etc.
- The first post in life in adulthood can be with slight indulgences. They are chosen depending on the state of health and your goals, which are determined together with the doctor and / or priest. But since fasting is your conscious decision, then try not to make yourself big indulgences and eat right in fasting, as expected.
Eating right in fasting means not allowing yourself too much, but from time to time adding variety to the list of allowed dishes. What and when exactly? If you do not fit into any of the categories of people described in the previous paragraph, then according to the schedule set by the church. Its specific calendar dates vary slightly from year to year, but in general the "schedule" remains unshakable. Here are his main postulates on the example of Great Lent: - Lent begins on Monday, or Pure Monday. On this day, you can not eat at all, you can only drink water.
- All subsequent Mondays during fasting will not be so strict, but not without restrictions: you can eat food once in the afternoon, adhering to a dry diet (cold raw vegetables, fruits, herbs without oil).
- Every Wednesday and Friday during the fast, you should also follow a dry raw food diet, drink cool water and avoid even vegetable fats. On these days, unleavened bread is allowed.
- On Tuesday and Thursday, you can afford hot dishes, boiled or steamed. True, you will have to feast on them again only once a day (toward evening) and do without oil.
- Saturday and Sunday are the most pleasant days of fasting in terms of nutrition. Firstly, these days you can eat twice a day: in the morning and in the evening. Dishes can be boiled and seasoned with oil, and even drink grape wine for dinner.
- Friday and Saturday of the last week of the fast are exceptions to these general rules. On Good Friday, any food is prohibited, and on Holy Saturday you can extend the fast or take boiled food without oil and other seasonings.
- Twice during Lent it is allowed to treat yourself to fish: on the Annunciation and Palm Sunday.
- Lazarus Saturday is an occasion to treat yourself to caviar, although it is not allowed to eat fish on this day.
- At the end of the fast, throughout the last week, you will have to strictly limit yourself and adhere to dry eating.
How to eat delicious fasting
Some people mistakenly perceive fasting as a diet, at best - wellness, at worst - for weight loss. In both cases, when the true role of fasting is taken out of the brackets, and the restrictions are not supported by an internal desire, it is psychologically difficult to endure fasting. The culinary experience and imagination needed to bring variety to the daily menu come to the rescue. So, if vegetable salad and lean cabbage soup are already making you sick, try these tricks:
- In addition to sunflower and olive, use other vegetable oils: linseed, grape, sesame, etc.
- Eat a variety of cereals to help your bowels work. Do not forget about sauerkraut, so as not to deprive the body of lactic acid, which has a beneficial effect on intestinal microflora.
- Take an interest in exotic cuisines. For example, many Asian dishes contain tofu, sesame, seaweed. And Ayurvedic cooking almost entirely corresponds to the requirements of lean nutrition.
- Take advantage of lean nutrition to increase the amount of healthy foods in your diet: for example, replace your usual bread with yeast-free, or even better - whole, with bran.
- Use spices and look for new ways of cooking. For example, a pinch of allspice in a salad improves digestion and promotes faster satiety, and instead of oil, fish can be fried in a dry non-stick pan, grilled or in a double boiler.
You can cook a huge number of dishes without meat - perhaps you can’t even imagine the number of lean cooking recipes. Not only cold salads and snacks, but also first, second, sweet dishes, drinks are prepared from vegetables, fruits, mushrooms, berries. Well, for example:
- The vinaigrette. Take 4 potatoes, 2 pickles, 1 beet, 1 carrot, 1 onion, 100 grams of sauerkraut, 1 teaspoon of mustard, a pinch of salt and sugar, vinegar. Boil potatoes, carrots and beets, peel and cut into small cubes. Chop the onion and cabbage, cut the cucumbers into cubes. Make a dressing with salt, sugar, mustard and a tablespoon of vinegar. Put all the ingredients in a salad bowl, season and mix.
- Lean bean soup. Take 4 potatoes, 2 onions, 2 carrots, 1 cup beans, 4 walnuts, bay leaf, a pinch each of salt and ground black pepper. Boil the beans until done. Peel and cut the potatoes into cubes, put in a pot of water and bring to a boil. Add bay leaf and salt. Peel and chop the onions and carrots, fry in a pan until soft. 5 minutes before the potatoes are ready, put the beans, carrots with onions and peppers in a saucepan, cover and cook for 5 minutes. Put the peeled nut kernels and serve.
- Fruit puffs. Take a package of puff pastry, 1 large apple, 1 kiwi, 1 pear, 100 grams of raspberries or other berries, 100 grams of sugar. Peel the fruit and cut into small equal cubes. Roll out the dough and cut into 6 square pieces. Put fruits and berries on the dough mixed or in parts, sprinkle with sugar. Roll up the edges of the dough to make small rolls. Preheat the oven to 200°C and bake the puffs for 15 minutes.
