Lent Recipes ie food for thought :)

[gmcbroom]

Hello All,
I’m a Maronite catachumen and this is my first Lent.
Now technically, I believe I already screwed it up. I started out ok by waking up and having my coffee minus the milk, and a piece of peanut butter toast. But 7 hours later ( I get up at 2am) I was hungry so I intended to buy something small and eat an orange too. My mistake was buying a brownie. I ate it because I don’t like to waste food. Turns out I shouldn’t have because it contains milk. So, I failed in my first religious Fast. However, I don’t want to just throw in the towel on day one. So I’m here asking for help.
From my understanding the Fast lasts a few weeks. During that time I am to abstain from dairy, meat(including fish I’m an eastern catholic guy) and alcohol. So, what can I eat during the evening? Was I right in eating peanut butter toast in the morning? I take vitamins that require food to be ingested with it. Thats why I eat in the morning. From what I gather 2 small snacks are allowed during the day (so long as they don’t resemble a meal) and then a later dinner minus the forbidden items milk,etc.
So what can I eat? Are there any recipes for Lent floating around here at CAF or elsewhere? I want to do this right even if its too late for this Lent.

 

[5Loaves]

“Let us begin the fast with joy!”

Hello All,
I’m a Maronite catachumen and this is my first Lent.
Now technically, I believe I already screwed it up. …
From my understanding the Fast lasts a few weeks. During that time I am to abstain from dairy, meat(including fish I’m an eastern catholic guy) and alcohol.
So what can I eat? Are there any recipes for Lent floating around here at CAF or elsewhere? I want to do this right even if its too late for this Lent.

Congratulations on being a Maronite catachumen!

Fasting and abstinence are best done under the direction of your spiritual father. If he hasn’t already talked with you about this then you can initiate the conversation.

Fasting in the East does vary. I am surprised if it is only for two weeks in your area. However, I see right away several websites of Maronite Priests where they talk about Dispensation from fast and abstinence in such a way that it seems that maybe Maronites have a much less strict fast for Great Lent than do we Byzantines and yours may be closer to that of the Latin Church.

In the Byzantine tradition we began the movement towards Great Lent with Meatfare, eliminating meat after Sunday a week ago. Yesterday, Forgiveness Sunday, Cheesefare we gobbled up the rest of the non-fast foods (really non abstinence foods). Last week I has some meat in my mouth before I knew it, even though in fact I rarely eat meat anyway. Oops.

You might like hearing the interview Fasting in the Byzantine Church Year with Fr. Moses of Holy Resurrection Romanian Catholic Monastery as well as Feasting in the Byzantine Church Year on the same website. His teaching on the place of fasting and feasting in our liturgical year is very helpful. Also the Orientale Lumen conference a couple of years ago was on “Feast Days of the Eastern Church”. The plenary sessions are archived here. Of those, I’d suggest you might find Plenary 5, Fr Loya’s talk interesting and helpful for understanding fasts and feasts in our liturgical year.

Again, you need to be sure that as a Maronite catachumen any fasting and abstinence you are involved in you are being guided by your priest or whomever is directing you.

Catachumens are a great blessing to a parish.
Peace be with you!

 

[malphono]

Hello All,
I’m a Maronite catachumen and this is my first Lent.
Now technically, I believe I already screwed it up. I started out ok by waking up and having my coffee minus the milk, and a piece of peanut butter toast. But 7 hours later ( I get up at 2am) I was hungry so I intended to buy something small and eat an orange too. My mistake was buying a brownie. I ate it because I don’t like to waste food. Turns out I shouldn’t have because it contains milk. So, I failed in my first religious Fast. However, I don’t want to just throw in the towel on day one. So I’m here asking for help.
From my understanding the Fast lasts a few weeks. During that time I am to abstain from dairy, meat(including fish I’m an eastern catholic guy) and alcohol. So, what can I eat during the evening? Was I right in eating peanut butter toast in the morning? I take vitamins that require food to be ingested with it. Thats why I eat in the morning. From what I gather 2 small snacks are allowed during the day (so long as they don’t resemble a meal) and then a later dinner minus the forbidden items milk,etc.
So what can I eat? Are there any recipes for Lent floating around here at CAF or elsewhere? I want to do this right even if its too late for this Lent.

The rules of fast and abstinence are the product of simpler times, when people actually prepared their own food at home. I wouldn’t fret the brownie, unless it was sitting in a bowl of milk. One would need a recipe book (or magnifying glass to read the micro-print on a label) to know the ingredients of every prepared food these days. And there are recipes for the lactose intolerant that don’t use dairy. As there are recipes calling for fake ingredients for just about everything. (Ever hear of tofurkey? )

Since at least the time of the Great Synod of Mt Lebanon (1741), fish has been ok. (Cephlopods, and mollusks were never procscribed). The rules were again loosened a few years ago, and now pretty much mirror the Latin practice.

Anyway, traditional Lenten fare in the Levant is basically vegitarian: potatoes, rice, beans, pasta, fruits, legumes, vegetables, herbs, oil, and bread are all used.

 

[bpbasilphx]

About your brownie.

Once upon a time, a saintly Russian Orthodox bishop was eating a cracker. A zealous seminarian said, “Oh, Vladika! Don’t you know that contains beef fat and milk?”

The Bishop replied, “But I’m not eating beef fat and milk. I’m eating a cracker.”

Obviously a cheese danish or something that has recognizable milk products in it, like ice cream, would be against the usual Eastern custom.

But my own rule: If I can’t see it or taste it, it’s not there.

I would also recommend you not fast and abstain more strictly than your faith community does, lest you be led into pride. Anything you attempt beyond what is customary should be done ONLY with the blessing of the pastor.

Anything that is truly medicine, including required food to be taken with it (food can assure the med’s absorption), does not break the fast.

As for ideas about cooking, you can find wonderful recipes in vegetarian and vegan cook books.

Two popular ones among the Orthodox are A LENTEN COOKBOOK FOR ORTHODOX CHRISTIANS and LENTEN FAVORITES FOR ORTHODOX CHRISTIANS.

 

[jakasaki]

Lenten Applesauce cupcakes

1/2 cup veg oil
1 cup sugar
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tspn baking soda
1/4 cup rainins
2 cups of flour
1 tspn cinnamon
1/2 tspn cloves
1/4 tspn nutmeg
1/4 tspn salt
1/2 cup chopped nuts

Oven 350

Cream oil & sugar until fluffy - 5 - 7 minutes

Blend in applesauce to which baking soda was added to it.

Stir in raisins.

Add sifted dry ingredients.

Blend until smooth for about 1-2 minutes

Pour that in a greased & floured cupcake pans.

Bake for 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cupcake comes out clean.

It should yield 12 cupcakes and it makes a great breakfast & snack.

 

[jakasaki]

Lenten Nut Cake

2 cups sifted flour
2 tspns baking powder
1/2 tspn salt
1 tspn cinnamon
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 veg oil
1/2 cup oragne juice
1 cup chopped walnuts
3/4 cup raisins, white or dark, whatever you like
1 tspn vanilla

Syrup recipe:

2 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 tblspn lemon juice

Simmer this for about 15-20 minutes and THEN add the lemon juice. I also throw a cinnamon stick in there when I have extra.

Oven @ 350

Mix the ingredients in the order I wrote them above and pour into a 10" greased & floured baking pan.

Bake for about 30 - 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Cook it down by a cold window.

Once cooled, cut into squares and pour your syrup all over it.

Let it stand so the cake can absorbe the syrup for about 30 minutes.

Man, oh man… is that good!!! Again, it’s great with breakfast with some plain yogurt and also as a snack.

 

[jakasaki]

I also have “strict fast” recipies if you want them. It just takes me a while to type everything out… but I don’t mind.

I have:

Veggie soup
chick pea soup
shrimp & rice
tomato sauce
lentil soup
honey cake
tahini cake
apple pie
&
apple roll

Let me know if you want any of these.

I hope you try and like the 2 recipies I posted above…


Pam