Friday 28 February 2014

And thus begins life at full speed (and Daniel Fast menu)


Life in our house is back running at full speed.  Uni started back this week and already I have an assignment looming and due in 3 weeks!  Just as well I have but one book left to be reviewed.

And on that note I am very excited to have surpassed my goal of reading 20 books over the summer.  Since today is the last day of summer I can now confidently report I have read a whopping twenty-nine books!  Yep, a really good summer.

To add to the current speed of life I'm finding that fasting does not make more time to spend in prayer.  In our case it has meant less for two reasons.  First I am having to put a lot of time into planning our meals.  Secondly, whatever I'm cooking for us often has to be supplemented with 'normal' meals for the kids so I'm doing a bit of doubling up in the kitchen.  I found a new Australian Women's Weekly mini cookbook at the newsagent today, simply called 'Vegies'.  On a quick flick through it looked to have some tasty things we could try next week.  Below has been our plan for this current week.



Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Monday
Toast
Sliced banana
Quinoa salad
Vegetable Curry
Brown Rice
Tuesday
Banana & Raspberry smoothie
Toast
Tomato & avocado
Bean nachos
Wednesday
Banana & Raspberry smooth
Potato wedges
Roast vegetable bake
Thursday
Toast
tomato & avocado
Leftovers
Roasted vegetable medley
Friday
Toast
banana
Leftovers
Chickpea & Vegetable casserole
Saturday
Fruit salad
Smoothie (banana/raspberry)
Potato wedges
Avocado salsa
Tofu & Vegetable Stir Fry
Sunday
Toast
tomato & avocado
Leftovers…toast…
potato wedges…
Minstrone
Bread
Snacks
Fruit, mixed nuts/seeds, hommus/guacamole & carrots, popcorn


For those who might be concerned I again cooked chickpeas and borlotti beans the Nourishing Traditions way to add protein and bulk to most of our dinners so that we're getting as much protein as these particular omnivores can seem to find in a day.  I must confess, the other day while watching TV there was an advertisement for KFC burgers.  Now I don't like KFC and we never eat there, but I suddenly found myself thinking those burgers looked really good.  Then again, on the same night Dh stood over a pan of chocolate chip slice to breathe in the aroma.  I think we've both hit 'desperate'!

Saturday 22 February 2014

Foray into Fasting (Daniel Fast Menu Plan)


We've been going for nearly a week.  We're still alive and beginning to say things like "I really miss having a cup of tea"...or my more emphatic "I just want a cracker with butter on it!".  And what I wouldn't give to use eggs in my cooking...

We have been surprised at the things we miss most and the things we couldn't care less about.

As I mentioned a post or two back Dh and I have chosen - well, I chose and he agreed to go along with it - the Daniel Fast for our 21-day church-wide fast.  Our church encouraged us to choose anything that was meaningful to us, but my understanding is that a fast is to do with food.  Choosing to avoid other 'things' is abstinence rather than fasting.  So I chose the Daniel Fast.  We've eaten lots of fruit, lots more vegetables and dipped our toes back into the idea of legumes - something we tend to avoid a bit around here.  With Mr Busy's negative attitude to the texture of 'evil beanies' (as he used to call them) and the unpleasant physical side effects we just don't eat them much.  Basically, the Daniel Fast is plant based foods and water - no animal products.  I found lots of helpful information here and here.

Despite being faced with many times a day when we would love to just grab whatever we feel like eating, having to be intentional and considered about the whole thing is not all that bad either.  It reminds me to be intentional and considered about the things I'm praying about.  I've discovered I'm really bad at focused prayer.  I'm really good at the quick prayers.  You know, the ones where something pops into your mind and you just have a little moment with God and keep going with what you're doing?  Yeah.  I'm good at that stuff.  I'm not good at keeping my mind on more sustained stuff.  I confessed that to God this morning and now my prayer is becoming "help me to pray".

On the food front we're eating surprisingly well.  We've both been surprised at things we've enjoyed this week.  Mr Busy was away on school camp so the girls have done a bit of their own thing.  My brother and his girls had dinner with us on Monday - my girls made dinner for all of them while I made what Dh and I ate.  They've had some of our meals with some taken out and meat thrown in and sometimes they've had to make a salad to go with something I've dug out of the freezer and thrown into the oven.  It's worked OK, but maybe Mr Busy's return will force me to be a bit more organised.  The boy is an eater!

Below is our menu for the first week.



Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Monday
Toast
Sliced banana
Quinoa salad
Chickpea & Veg Casserole
Tuesday
Toast
Sliced banana
Leftovers
Nachos Salad
Wednesday
Porridge
Sliced fruit
Citrus Walnut Salad
Vegetable Curry
Brown rice
Thursday
Fruit salad
Leftovers
Roast Vegetable layer bake
Friday
Porridge
Sliced fruit
Leftovers
Pasta with tomato & veg sauce
Saturday
Fruit salad
Salad in pita bread
Hungarian Casserole
Sunday
Toast w. tomato, mushroom, avocado
Salad in pita bread
Coconut Pumpkin Soup
Snacks
Fruit, mixed nuts, hommus/guacamole with carrots, popcorn
 

 A note on legumes -I tried cooking chickpeas and borlotti beans according to the directions in my 'Nourishing Traditions' book.  Perfect!  No unpleasant, smelly side effects.  I didn't cook my pulses for the 6 hours they said.  I think the chickpeas went for about 3-4 hours and the beans for 2-3 hours after an all-night soak.  It was worth the time and effort rather than opening a tin.

Sunday 16 February 2014

More Book Reviews....Shadowed by Grace

My review for 'Shadowed by Grace' is here at Relz Reviewz.  Great story, especially with a movie about the Monuments Men coming out sometime this year.  Check out my review....

Saturday 15 February 2014

Big Catch Up and Preparing to Fast

Afternoon tea in Leongatha in January
 
Perhaps the reason I haven't posted much is that nothing much has happened.  We've all gone back to school and we're all fairly content with the beginning we've each had.  My greatest joy has been to see Mr Busy so much happier and settled than he was last year.  Same group of kids, but with some new teachers and a friend or two makes a huge difference.  He's off on school camp next week so things will be quiet around here.

I've quite surpassed my summer reading goals and I might even fit in another one or two books before Uni begins and the end of summer is official.  I've even read some non-fiction books lately (those who know me will be shocked!).  Jen Hatmaker's Interrupted and 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess make for very compelling and challenging reading.  The timing has been perfect though.

I have been more than a little shocked over the last week as Dh has agreed to undertake not only a year-long leadership preparation program, but also a church-wide 3-week fast.  Both are way out of his comfort zone so I deeply admire that he willing to do these with me.  We have chosen a 'Daniel Fast' so after a great deal of research our fridge is now overflowing with fruits and vegetables that will suit our restrictions and tastes.  I had consider doing Jen Hatmaker's '7' fast, but our purpose and intention are not about addressing a wealthy culture's excess, but about seeking God in a number of corporate topics within our church and a couple of personal issues as well.