Back around Christmas time I was looking on Facebook at some pictures and posts from our pastor's family eating out at steakhouse in our town. I was reading the comments and our pastor had posted one that said something to the effect of "get your grub on now cause the Daniel Fast will soon be starting". I commented to that "no comment :/ ". I told Shawn about it and said that I didn't know if I wanted to do the Daniel Fast this year. I honestly don't think he wanted to do it either. His excuse, he hated coming home for lunch every day. My excuse, I hated the meal planning, the grocery shopping, the hauling the groceries in the house and putting them away, the coming home every night and cooking, the cleaning up of the kitchen when Shawn forgets too, the not being able to run into Walmart and grab a rotisserie chicken cause you don't feel like cooking nights, the not being able to pull into Sonic and get delicious fountains coke every time my taste buds craved them. You get the picture!
We were even talking to another church member about it and they said that they weren't doing the fast. Shawn and I discussed it again and we both really didn't want too. We love our bad-for-us-food too much to give it up. We are addicted to sodas. We love going out to eat on the weekends.
Then it happened! On Sunday, January 5, our pastor stood up in front of the congregation and announced that starting Wednesday, January 8, we would begin our 21 day Daniel Fast. Deflated! I looked at Shawn and mouthed "I'm not doing it". He just shook his head and grinned. After church was over, Shawn said he was doing the fast. Well obviously he can't live on nuts and raisins and bananas for 21 days. He doesn't cook and that's all he would eat. So I gave in and agreed to do the fast too. Or was it conviction? Either way, in the back of my mind, I truly enjoy doing the fast. I knew I needed to do the fast, for both spiritual and health reasons. I have become lack in my Bible reading and prayer time with God. Lack is putting it mildly; I just wasn't doing either. And our weights have gotten out of control again. This fast will be the jump start that we need to get back on track to losing weight and eating better. In addition to my weight, I have been having some other health issues that I know once I lose some weight will probably go away.
We didn't start the fast until the evening on Wednesday. So Monday night I pulled out the "dreaded" black binder that is full of my Daniel Fast recipes and information and sat down and meal planned our breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and snacks for the week. I wrote out the grocery list of every item I needed to buy for those meals. Then Tuesday night after work, in the minus one degrees temperature outside, I headed to the grocery store and loaded up the cart full of fresh fruit and produce, whole grains, and proteins (yes I know there is probably a couple items that aren't really Daniel Fast approved, but we do the best we can, and remember - there are no fasting police!). I dropped two Franklin's at the checkout and back into the minus one degree temperature I went. The fast is expensive for some, but for us, it's actually cheaper on the ol' pocketbook. We go out to eat ENTIRELY too much and spend WAY TOO MUCH money!
Here is all of our groceries for the first week of the Daniel Fast. I stocked up on a couple things that I know we'll go through pretty quickly.
So here are our meals for the week. I'm missing Monday night's picture because I didn't cook that night. I went to paint at the studio instead so we just had some leftovers for dinner and then for lunch the next day I had a salad and Shawn had more leftovers. Whatever I fix for dinner at night, we also have for lunch the next day. And then for breakfast, we have bananas, apples and nuts, peanut butter and jelly wraps, or cereal with soy milk. Most of our dinners also include a salad and fresh fruit salad too.
Wednesday night - beans and potatoes with corn, green onions and garlic. I used less beans and more broth than normal so it was really soupy, but really yummy.
Thursday night - Whole grain spaghetti with garden veggies (squash, zucchini, onion, yellow bell pepper, asparagus, garlic, and cherry tomatoes).
Friday night - spicy black bean veggie burgers, seasoned potato fries, Mexican corn, and Mexican quinoa confetti salad. Yummy!
Saturday night - veggie chili and peanut butter wraps
Sunday night - whole grain spaghetti with sauce, corn, onion, garlic and zucchini.
Tuesday night - whole grain spaghetti with lemon and garlic sauce with fresh parsley, salad, and fresh fruit salad.
Well, we survived week one with no major breakdowns. Shawn even commented that food wise, this has been the best Daniel Fast ever. Maybe too good he said. Since that comment, I have been measuring out our foods now so that we don't go overboard on our portions. We've also been having more leftovers too to go with other meals now. Spiritually I have been reading my Bible every morning and praying more. God knows our prayers and needs during this fast and I am believing in him for our blessings.
