Daniel Fast- WEEK 1 Menu

With doing the Daniel Fast each year for the past 6 years, there are a few things I've learned along the way to help make things easier. I've learned that organization is the key to success. You must have a menu. And planning only for the main evening meal isn't enough. I need to have a meal plan for the entire day (including snacks) if I want to succeed. Also, another thing I did last year which I plan to do again this year is to make my menu and shopping list for one week at a time. The Daniel Fast is mostly fresh fruits and vegetables and in my zeal (and hatred for grocery shopping) I've often overshot the runway and bought enough for the entire fast, only to see it spoil before the fast's end. So shopping for ingredients each week is a more economical way to go. Also if you have family members in the house who aren't doing the fast with you, most of these recipes can be adapted to include meat. Often in prepping for the fast, I will brown several pounds of hamburger meat and freeze in bags per pound or grill some chicken breasts beforehand. Also, cooked whole chickens sold at most grocery stores are a good option. It could be done the night of, but if you're like me, cooking meat that I can't have is a bit painful. I prefer to do it beforehand to alleviate temptation.  So anyhow, those are my helpful tips before I share my menu for this upcoming week beginning with Monday.

The double starred menu items ** are recipes I've never tried yet. So these may or may not be to our liking. I shall take pics and give a full review once it has been consumed. Non-starred items are tried and true.

I will be adding recipes or links to recipes throughout the day. So stay tuned. The menu is in no particular order so I can choose from a selection what to eat each day.

By the way, I plan on blogging on more than just the Daniel Fast. It's just what I'm doing right now. So if the Daniel Fast isn't your thing, hang on, there will be more varied content as time goes on :). 

MENU WEEK 1:

Breakfasts:

Green Fruity Power Smoothie ( Recipe )

Baked oatmeal** ( Link ) This website has lots of recipes I need to check out!

Peanut butter (natural) and banana on whole wheat pita bread or a whole wheat tortilla

(Some Daniel Fast experts allow for whole wheat breads as long as there's no yeast. Other purists say no gluten at all. This week, I'll go with the more tolerant DF enthusiasts to ease us in and hopefully the DF police won't come after me. ;) Next week, no gluten!). 

Lunches:

Avocado on whole wheat tortilla or whole wheat pita

Left-overs

Peanut butter and banana on whole wheat pita or whole wheat tortilla

Dinner

-Fall Detox Vegetable Soup**( Link ) This looks amazing! This website has some great looking recipes

-Portobello Fajitas **( Link ) Really looking forward to trying this one! 

-Burrito Bowls
Basically how I do it is- cilantro rice ( Recipe ), black beans, refried beans, avocado and sautéed peppers and onions. 

-Taco Soup ( Recipe ) Another tried and true recipe that even my non-fasting ones like;  from my favorite, go-to Daniel Fast website. 

-Veggie kabobs** ( Link ) Yum! This blog has some great recipes I've tried before.

-Greek Salad ( Link ) Another tried and true D-Fast staple

Snacks:

Almonds (raw or smoked)

Peanut Butter Bites ( Link ) Recipe is for almond butter but I personally prefer peanut butter

Hummus and pita chips or veggies