Hey guys! Considering it’s the twelfth of January, it’s probably time for a recap. Honestly, not too much has been going on. Just settling in after the holidays, a lot of applying for jobs and hiring events (for DJ and I), cleaning out house, and cooking.

Our church is participating in the Twenty-One Day Daniel Fast, and I was all unsure about if I should even mention that here because, you know,…. (Matthew 6:16-18), but since we are doing this as a church I think a lot of these food ideas can help someone looking for ways to recreate meals using DF ingredients. We also have created new meals that are actually pretty doggone delicious, so I wanted to record them for future reference! Fasting is a very personal conviction, so the purpose of this post is not to make any kind of statement about fasting, but simply to share some ideas with those who may be doing the fast (or just others who want to consider some new healthy ideas!!!) Everyone does the fast differently too, so some of these items may need to be tweaked based on what parameters you have established for yourself! Did I make enough disclaimers and use the word “fast” enough in one paragraph?! 😉

On the first day of the fast we had zero food in the fridge and everything in the pantry was not “fast approved” so this required a fun little trip to Whole Foods!

The Daniel Fast Approved List

from TheUltimateDanielFast

• • All fruit – fresh, frozen, dried, juiced, or canned.
  • All vegetables – fresh, frozen, dried, juiced, or canned.
  • All whole grains – amaranth, barley, brown rice, oats, quinoa, millet, and whole wheat.
  • All nuts & seeds – almonds, cashews, macadamia nuts, peanuts, pecans, pine nuts, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, and sunflower seeds; unsweetened almond milk. Nut butters are also included.
  • All legumes – canned or dried; black beans, black eyed peas, cannellini beans, garbanzo beans (chickpeas), great northern beans, kidney beans, lentils, pinto beans, and split peas.
  • All quality oils – avocado, coconut, grapeseed, olive, peanut, sesame, and walnut.
  • Beverages– distilled water, filtered water, and spring water.
  • Other – unsweetened almond milk, coconut milk, rice milk, or soy milk; herbs, spices, salt, pepper, unsweetened coconut flakes, seasonings, Bragg’s Liquid Aminos, soy products, and tofu.

  Foods to Avoid on the Daniel Fast

• • All meat & animal products – bacon, beef, buffalo, eggs, fish, lamb, poultry, and pork.
  • All dairy products – butter, cheese, cream, milk, and yogurt.
  • All sweeteners – agave nectar, artificial sweeteners, brown rice syrup, cane juice, honey, molasses, raw sugar, syrups, stevia, and sugar.
  • All leavened bread & yeast – baked goods and Ezekiel bread (if it contains yeast and honey).
  • All refined & processed food products – artificial flavorings, chemicals, food additives, preservatives, white flour, and white rice.
  • All deep-fried foods – corn chips, French fries, and potato chips.
  • All solid fats – lard, margarine, and shortening.
  • Beverages – alcohol, carbonated drinks, coffee, energy drinks, herbal tea, and regular tea

Personal Recommendations/Tips:

• Hummus (look at long label ingredients to make sure there are no additives) is a MUST or make it from scratch!
• PEANUT BUTTER- find an organic, unsweetened peanut butter like MaraNatha
• Evoke Athlete Fuel Organic Muesli
• 90 Second Brown Rice packs from 365- make sure there are no additives
• Try a variety of potatoes! Small, sweet, regular, purple!
• Get a combination of frozen fruit and fresh fruit. Frozen fruit is great to make mixes for “sorbet” and as a sweet treat for dessert.
• Stock up on a variety of nuts & organic raisins or unsweetened dried cranberries to make your own trail-mix- we love pumpkin seeds, cashews, peanuts, pepitas, slivered almonds, and raisins for ours!
• Whole grains: Quinoa, Farro, and Rice will add bulk to any meal! Get a variety and make it in bulk to eat for a couple of days.
• Lemon juice makes a wonderful “dressing” for a salad when mixed with olive oil.
• Bragg’s liquid aminos might sound scary… but it is a GREAT substitute for soy sauce and it’s great to cook tofu in.
• When picking out tofu- go for the extra firm. (Firm is okay for tofu scrambles though). Before using it, wrap it in a towel, put it on a plate and put a heavy object on top (I actually use a giant nursing textbook!) and let it sit in the fridge for an hour. This helps get rid of the moisture and create a super dense, meat-like consistency.
• Let me introduce you to Bob Mill. He is your best friend. Stock up on corn grits as substitutes to bake and “bread” food with.
• Salsa!!! Make sure it doesn’t have vinegar added, or make your own!
• Have a date with lotsa dates- they can add sweetness and texture to anything!!!
• Most importantly- Don’t lose sight of what you are doing the fast for- don’t get caught up in the “dos” and “don’t”s of the fast
• Watch God do some amazing things!

Breakfast

Tofu scramble in olive oil with cayenne/garlic powder/paprika/turmeric/sea salt & avocado & hummus

Coconut flour& oats & banana pancakes topped with a blueberry compote- 2 large bananas//1/2 cups of oats//splash of vanilla//splash of almond milk in a food processor to get a fluffy batter, cooked like a regular pancakes, some light syrup or blueberry compote on top, and you are golden as a goose. If you are feeding more people, just double the recipe! I also like to add a bit of plain Chobani or Fage on the side to add some protein. I tell ya what, I think I could live on this stuff.

Oatmeal: This is SO versatile. There are endless combinations of oatmeal. Add some berries to your oats before heating them up and the fruit will turn into a nice compote. Top with cold, fresh berries on top to add a nice balance of temperature and texture.

Other oat add-ins: Unsweetened Coconut flakes, Unsweetened chopped date pieces, organic peanut butter, EVOLVE Athlete Fuel (store bought trail mix that is DF approved), nuts (almonds, walnuts, cashews, etc.), uncooked oats (add texture), unsweetened almond milk

Lunch & Dinner

Packed lunches: Fruit of any kind (bananas, grapes, clementines), hummus and carrots, Mary’s Gone Crackers (Classic Flavor), and homemade trail-mix

Tofu “Chicken Nuggets” crusted and baked with corn flour, salsa, carrots, & hummus.

“Everything but the kitchen sink” vegetable salad topped with broccoli sprouts, hummus, and topped with lemon juice!

Tempeh cooked in liquid aminos over a bed of farro, hummus, and tomatoes.

Quinoa and mango salsa topped with avocado slices

Purple sweet potato stuffed with pinto and kidney beans, broccoli sprouts, brown rice, and tofu sautéed in salt & pepper & liquid aminos.

Purple sweet potato (or any potato)  stuffed with guacamole and SO delicious dairy free unsweetened yogurt.

Peanut crusted tofu over mashed kidney/pinto beans with broccoli. I just put the raw peanuts in the food processor and crusted the tofu in them!

Leftover tofu (that was sautéed in olive oil) and cooled in the fridge over a bed of mixed greens. Tofu is soo good the next day!

This was one of our favorites! Zucchini “lasagna”. The tofu crumbles act like ricotta cheese and the ground corn flour acted like breadcrumbs- we were honestly surprised at how well you can trick your mind!

Hempseed burger from Good Seed Burger over a bed of brown rice and steamed edamame with sea salt

Dessert 

Fruit sorbet with 1 ripe banana, frozen strawberries, frozen peaches, & a dash of unsweetened almond milk.

Cocoa Nibs with 3/4 cup unsweetened coconut, 6 medjool dates (de-pitted), & 2 TBSP cocoa (cocoa is slightly controversial- you may leave out!). Put in the food processor and then ball them up! Place in the fridge for a couple hours and then you won’t be able to resist 😉

Other ideas not pictured:

• Sweet potato fries (or regular baked fries)
• Roasted veggies: asparagus, brussels sprouts, root veggies, etc.(usually you can toss in olive oil/grapeseed oil and roast at 350 for about 35-55 minutes)
• Mashed potatoes made with unsweetened almond milk and olive oil

I’ll continue adding ideas and recipes as we make them!!

Hopefully this helped someone trying to figure out how to navigate the fast, OR just sparked some healthy eats ideas for someone else! 🙂

Happy Fasting!

xo <3

Mack