great fast
meals
Due to a family health crisis, I've been on a whole-food, plant-based nutrition plan since 2017, which is a lot like our Eastern Christian fasting regimen! It wasn't easy but it's not as hard as you might think. Let me share some of what I've
learned along the way with you!
Next up:
The Great Fast
March 3-April 11
What is True Fasting?
The Great Fast
We begin our preparation for Pascha by enduring Holy Week.
We begin our preparation for Holy Week by striving the 40-day Great Fast
We begin our preparation for the Fast by enduring the pre-Lenten Sundays!
SO MUCH PREPARATION! Well, the Resurrection is that important!
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When we fast, it is NOT to make us suffer needlessly or to give up food meant to nourish us and give us what our body truly needs. It IS to free us from the slavery we have to food so that our souls can be free from distraction and we can focus on God better AFTER the fast is over. It helps us become just and merciful, like our God.
Think: if we can barely keep ourselves from minor distractions like the hamburger or the chocolate bar after dinner, how can we judge our brother who can't keep from major addictions like alcohol, drug abuse, habitual lying, etc. We become more compassionate AFTER we fail.
When we give up things for Lent, yes, there are rubrics that should be followed, but these are guidelines only. The individual needs to focus on what keeps him bound to the material and fast from it, no matter how trivial or permitted it may seem to someone else. The merit lies in the journey and in taking each step toward perfection fast by fast, year by year.
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That said, we strive to refrain from eating any animal products: no meat, fowl, fish, eggs, or dairy. On weekdays we also fast from wine and oil. This is the goal. Let us strive to take one step further this season and remember to increase prayer and almsgiving.
Check out our Facebook group for added support, inspiration, ...and RECIPES! God bless your fast!
Watch ByziMom
Catherine Alexander from
Your Word From the Wise
as she interviews
Abouna Moses from
Holy Resurrection Monastery on how to observe the Fast
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See the Video HERE
Plant-Based Nutrition Certificate, Completed October 2020, from the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies at Cornell University.
My book is out!...
As you may already know, my family has been advised by our cardiologist to adopt a perpetual fast in order to combat a family health crisis. We've adopted a whole-foods, plant-based, no oil diet...just like our Eastern Christian fast!...full time, and now that we've done it, I can help you get through 40 days of fasting too.
Here are a few of ByziMom's Great Fast Recipes:
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Middle Eastern Meze: falafel, tzadziki, tabbouleh & dolmades
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Fajita Night: sweet potato tortillas, unfried beans, oil-free vegetable stir fry, cashew nacho sauce, Mexican quinoa, etc.
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What's for dinner tonight?
A Feast Day RECIPE for January 30 from ByziMom.com
Triple Hierarchs Neapolitan Cake
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In the 11th century, during the Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos’s reign, there was a heated dispute among the faithful about the greatest of these three 4th-century bishops; Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, or John Chrysostom.
Church tradition tells that the arguments among the people and the clergy continued until the Metropolitan, John Mauropous of Euchaita, had an exciting dream on a night in 1084.
Metropolitan John was also a gifted hymnographer who wrote some 200 canons, which we still use today. In his dream, the three holy hierarchs appeared together and assured him that they were all considered equally important in heaven. They asked him to celebrate their memory together on one date and suggested that he write a particular service and hymns for their new feast!
So Metropolitan John set out to the task of composing the service for the Three Holy Hierarchs. When he had finished writing his hymns, approximately 16 years later, in 1100AD, he instituted the Feast of the Three Holy Hierarchs to be celebrated on January 30 since all three saints have a commemoration during that month.
Ingredients
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One recipe of vanilla cake batter (mix or homemade)
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¼ cup cocoa powder
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¼ cup strawberry preserves
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6-8 drops red food coloring
Preparation
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Prepare your baking pan (bundt or 9-inch square or round) by greasing and flouring, or if oil-free line it with coffee filters.
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Split the cake batter into three equal parts. Set one part aside. Into one other part, stir in the cocoa powder. Into the third part, stir in the strawberry flavoring and red food coloring. Now you have three equally delicious flavors; vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry!
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Layer the three batters into your prepared baking pan and gently swirl them to achieve a marbled effect, without over mixing! You want to be able to see each separate layer. Remember, like the three holy Hierarchs, each flavor is unique and special and none is better than the others, but together they make a wonderful, (and delicious) whole!
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Bake at 350 degrees for as long as your recipe indicates then (when a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean) remove it from the oven and allow it to cool 10 minutes before removing it from the pan. Cool completely and dust with powdered sugar before serving.
