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What and when can you eat during Lent? Meals during fasting by day. What to eat during fasting? What kind of food can you eat during fasting?

Lent nutrition implies special, certain foods should be absent from the diet. This time is intended for good deeds, prayers, searching for measures to become better, and comprehensive cleansing of the soul and body. The beginning of Lent is a chance for spiritual improvement and rest from animal food.

The right approach to fasting

We welcome Lent in 2019 with joy and special inspiration. This is a good chance to improve your spiritual life and learn to eat right. A daily menu with recommendations will help with this; it is given below. From March 11 to April 27 are the days when Lent will take place. Some dietary restrictions should not be taken as a priority. The spiritual part of fasting is mainly aimed at working on oneself, caring for loved ones, abstaining from judgment, anger, lies, envy and evil deeds, and the food component is insignificant.

You should not restrict yourself in food, practice diets and fasts if you are unhealthy, travel a lot, are weakened, work hard, live in an unfavorable or cold geographical area, are breastfeeding a child or are pregnant. You are allowed to eat everything according to the doctors' recommendations and your needs. Children also cannot be forced to eat fast; they can abstain from some food only if they themselves strive for this and fully understand the meaning of fasting. As an option, you can try to plan the children's fast before Easter so that the meals are without desserts, sweets and harmful products, it contained less heavy food. This is also a good way to cleanse.

It should also be said about how long Lent lasts, the total number of days in it is 48. Correct preparation is to gradually lighten your diet, learn to analyze your inner world more deeply and learn more about Orthodox culture. Let's try to introduce this ancient tradition into our lives. Despite the fact that the essence of fasting is not a diet, the issue of proper and varied nutrition is still relevant. Every person who accepts Orthodoxy as their worldview and way of life and undergoes the rite of baptism consciously must understand the topic of fasting. One of best calendars nutrition is presented in this article specifically for your convenience.

Monastic Lenten menu for every day

What foods can you eat during Lent according to the regulations of most Orthodox monasteries:

  • different types of vegetables (including pickled and salted vegetables, sauerkraut);
  • seasonal fruits;
  • mushrooms;
  • the whole range of dried fruits;
  • cereal porridges cooked in water;
  • different varieties of nuts;
  • compote based on dried fruits;
  • natural kvass;
  • homemade jelly.

What not to eat during Lent:

  • meat products;
  • milk products;
  • eggs;
  • bakery;
  • all alcoholic drinks;
  • candies;
  • fish;
  • mayonnaise;
  • White bread.

Food during fasting by day of the week:

  • Monday is a day of dry eating (vegetable and fruit dishes, water, bread, compote);
  • Tuesday - hot dishes without oils (stewed vegetable dishes, porridge with water, first courses, for example, rassolnik soup);
  • Wednesday - day of dry eating (vegetable and fruit dishes, water, bread, compote);
  • Thursday - hot dishes without oils (stewed vegetable dishes, porridge with water, first courses, for example, rassolnik soup);
  • Friday - dry eating (vegetable and fruit dishes, water, bread, compote);
  • Saturday - dishes seasoned with oil (vegetable salads, stewed vegetable dishes, first courses);
  • Sunday - foods with oils (stewed vegetable dishes, vegetable salads and soups).

There are special days during Lent:

  • Clean Monday (in the first week) - fasting;
  • 2, 3, 4, 5 (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday) days of fasting - eating bread and water;
  • The middle cross environment is the consumption of natural wines;
  • Day 40 of the Holy Martyrs - food with vegetable oil and wine;
  • Palm Sunday holiday - fish dishes, caviar, wine, vegetable oil.

Meals during Holy Week (final week):

  • Maundy Monday, Maundy Tuesday, Maundy Wednesday - a ban on processed foods, raw food days;
  • Maundy Thursday - dishes with vegetable oil, wine;
  • Good Friday - fasting;
  • Holy Saturday - fasting or minimal nutrition with olives, bread, dried fruits;
  • Easter holiday - on this day all Lenten restrictions are lifted, you can eat any food.

It should be noted that monastics do not eat meat even outside of fasting, but nevertheless, monasteries provide good food and their diet is rich in nutrients.

Now you have an idea of ​​what foods you can eat during fasting and when you should fast. In fact, there is nothing complicated in planning a diet; for daily nutrition control, you can buy a special calendar, which contains many monastic recipes. We urge you to take the food of Lent seriously and be sure to combine it with spiritual improvement, in otherwise no need to fast.

List of nutritious Lenten foods for the laity

Here best products nutrition that fits into the framework of Lent and supplies the body with many valuable substances to maintain health, vigor and good mood:

  • different types of table vinegars;
  • edible seaweed;
  • lean bread (lavash or other bread products with a neutral composition);
  • tomato paste and ketchup;
  • lean mayonnaise;
  • adjika and many other sauces;
  • all types of nuts;
  • all types of seeds;
  • pasta and flour products without unnecessary ingredients;
  • dried fruits;
  • all types of cereals ( a good option- porridge with dried fruits);
  • mushrooms;
  • legumes (for example, lentils, peas, beans);
  • fish and caviar (as well as shrimp, squid, all this is possible on certain days according to the calendar);
  • seasonal and exotic fruits (the more variety of fruits, the better);
  • seasonal vegetables (you can prepare a lot of healthy dishes from vegetables, eat them pickled and salted, for example, cabbage, beets, carrots, celery);
  • homemade sweets (fruit and berry preserves, jam);
  • lean chocolate;
  • milk (coconut, soy and other types);
  • drinks (decoctions and infusions of herbs, teas, coffee, jelly, compote, juices, fruit drinks);
  • soy yogurt and cheese;
  • lean marshmallows;
  • marmalade;
  • berries;
  • Turkish Delight;
  • halva and kozinaki;
  • sugar and candy;
  • Korean dishes (salads).

When the Great Orthodox Lent begins, there is no need to suddenly change your diet and go hungry for a long time. As you already understand, by abstaining from all meat and dairy foods during Lent, lay people do not need to torture themselves and greatly limit themselves. On the contrary, variety and lightness should reign in the home kitchen of Lent. Strict restrictions are intended for highly spiritual persons carrying out a feat.

this time is intended for good deeds, prayers, searching for measures to become better, comprehensive cleansing of the soul and body, eating light food, taking a break from animal products

How to keep an Orthodox fast?

Fasting in the monastery and in the world

We figured out what you can eat during Lent and what to abstain from, and how to properly distribute your diet over the days. You understand that monastic food differs significantly from secular food, since the monastery has a special charter and the most serious restrictions on food. We are ordinary people, strict fasting is not for us, we can observe fast days at our own discretion, because everyone has different opportunities. Thus, by eating right, you will be able to maintain and increase your health.

Leaving the post

It is important not only to start Lent correctly, but also to complete it with dignity. Everyone asks when they can eat after fasting. Typically, all Orthodox Christians begin to eat normally at the onset of Easter. Ideally, after the Liturgy there is a rich meal. It is important not to overeat, but to switch to your usual diet gradually. Having completed your fast, you need to go to the Easter service. Before communion, Orthodox Christians experience special religious feelings, and after this sacrament they are overcome with enormous, indescribable joy, compensating for all the efforts made earlier.

You will be interested Lenten recipes, we will describe them below.

Recipes for meatless dishes without animal ingredients

Lenten first course - tomato soup

Components:

  • water - liter;
  • chopped tomatoes - 450 grams and tomato paste - 4 tablespoons;
  • canned white beans - 420 grams;
  • onions - 1-2 pieces;
  • olive oil - 2 large spoons;
  • chili pepper - a quarter of a small spoon;
  • garlic - 2 cloves;
  • wine vinegar - 1-2 large spoons;
  • Provençal herbs - 2 small spoons;
  • sugar - 1-2 large spoons, as much pepper and salt as you like;
  • for croutons - ciabatta or baguette, salt, garlic - 3 cloves, olive oil - 3 large spoons.

In the oil heated at the bottom of the pan, saute the onion for about 5 minutes, add pepper, garlic, fry for a couple of minutes, add tomato paste, fry for another minute. Next, add herbs and tomatoes, then pour in water and wait until it boils. Add the beans, draining the water from them, after cooking for a quarter of an hour, add black pepper, salt, sugar, vinegar. Cook covered for 10 minutes. Cook croutons with garlic in the oven - fry the bread in butter with garlic.

Lenten second course - stewed cabbage and mushrooms

Components:

  • cabbage - up to 1 kg;
  • champignons - 400 grams;
  • vegetable oil - about 3 large spoons;
  • salt, pepper, lemon juice - 2 small spoons.

Chop the cabbage and mushrooms as desired and heat the oil in a frying pan. First, the mushrooms are fried, then cabbage is added to them. After pouring a small amount of water, simmer the dish under the lid until the food softens. If necessary, add water. Cooking time ripe white cabbage- about an hour, if it is Chinese or young cabbage - 20 minutes is enough. Season the finished dish with pepper, salt, lemon juice, leave on the fire without a lid for 3 minutes to evaporate the moisture.

Second courses for fasting can be quickly and tasty prepared on those days when it is necessary, and with the correct selection of products, the impression of an incomplete diet will not be created.

Lenten salad

Components:

  • carrots - 2 pieces;
  • tomatoes - 2 pieces;
  • cucumber - 1 piece;
  • apple - 1 piece;
  • onion - 1 piece;
  • lemon - half;
  • vegetable oil - a large spoon;
  • herbs, salt, sugar.

Grate the carrots with a Korean or simple grater. We cut onions, tomatoes, cucumber. Chop the greens, cut the apple, removing the skin. Butter, salt and sugar, squeezed lemon juice - make a dressing from these products, mix everything.

Lenten cookies

Components:

  • water - 200 ml;
  • flour - up to 400 grams;
  • baking powder - half a small spoon;
  • salt, sugar, nuts, dried fruits, basil or other herbs;
  • vegetable oil - 70 ml.

Pour oil into water. Mix flour, salt, baking powder, gradually combine the liquid with the dry component. Keep the resulting dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. From a layer of dough with a thickness of 2 to 4 mm, make any shape - round, diamond-shaped, square, triangular. To make the cookies sweet, dip them in sugar with chopped dried fruits and nuts. For salted cookies, use basil and salt. Bake the cookies, pierced with a fork, in the oven for 15 to 25 minutes at 200 degrees.

Oatmeal cutlets

Components:

  • cereals- cup;
  • onion - 1 piece;
  • potatoes - 1 piece;
  • carrot - 1 piece;
  • spices, garlic and herbs.

Lenten cutlets are easy to prepare. Leave the flakes in for about 20 minutes hot water. Grate the onions, potatoes, carrots, crush the garlic with a garlic press, chop the greens. Mix vegetables, garlic gruel and herbs with oatmeal, add salt and pepper (you can add any spices). Using a spoon, fry the cutlets on both sides. We also recommend including mushrooms in this recipe and eggs on non-fasting days.

Lenten nutrition is unthinkable without potato dishes and pureed soups. For lunch you can cook hearty cabbage soup, for dinner you can serve pancakes, pilaf, pancakes without animal ingredients. To make your dishes more interesting, you can make lean mayonnaise or various sauces. To feel the holiday on ordinary days, the best solution is a Lenten cake or Lenten pizza.

So, we talked about all the generally accepted features of the diet and the preparation of lean dishes. Let there always be light, healthy, tasty lean food on your tables. Don’t forget to attend church services, come to church not only with your troubles and problems, but at any free time. It is not difficult for Christians to observe Lent, the main thing is to properly tune in to it.

– Why are there so many restrictions on pleasures, food, and sexual relations in Orthodoxy? It seems that no harm is caused to others, the commandment of love for one’s neighbor is not violated. Why is it necessary to “kill your body”, your desires? Why such lack of freedom?

– Our body is killed not by restrictions on food and other pleasures, but by excess in them. And, besides, even if we do not harm others and do not violate the commandment to love our neighbor, we still need to love God. This is where some restrictions in pleasures come from, since love, when it exists, manifests itself in action, in our actions.

For example, it is easy to say: “I don’t love myself,” but at the same time our actions indicate that we love ourselves exactly as we should love God. And you can just as easily say: “I love God,” but nothing is easier than words—love is learned from deeds. And if we want to love God, then we will limit ourselves to what removes us from Him. There is no such goal - neither in worldly life nor in spiritual life - for the sake of which we would not sacrifice something else. Those who do not want to sacrifice anything are left with nothing. They do not gain anything worthwhile, and at the same time lose what they had.

Priest Mikhail Nemnonov
answers priest Alexy Chumakov (Los Angeles)
– How is it different from ordinary time? I already try to lead a strict spiritual life... how and what should I change during Lent? Ksenia

– Hello, Ksenia!

May God grant you to create a strong and happy family!

Sincerely, priest Alexander Ilyashenko

HOW TO FAST FOR PREGNANT WOMEN AND CHILDREN?

Archpriest Alexander Ilyashenko, rector of the Church of the All-Merciful Savior in Moscow,father of 12 children, chairman of the editorial board of the portal “Orthodoxy and Peace”

— Father Alexander, one of the questions that readers asked us is this: they often say that a mother’s fast can have a beneficial effect on the spiritual life of a child. Will a child become better off from an uneaten piece of meat?

The point is that fasting is a sacrifice to God. If mommy fasts, wanting her feasible If you fast as a sacrifice to God, then it pleases Him and the baby will feel the grace of God, as when visiting a temple, as when the parents pray.

“Mother made a vow to God: if I remain alive, then she will go with me on a thanksgiving pilgrimage to St. Mitrofan of Voronezh. And, thank God, he recovered... ...By the way, she “fasted on Monday” for the children (fasted on Monday), but she always hid it from us. In fact, she raised and educated all six children (three in higher educational institutions, and three - in the middle). God save her!” Metropolitan Veniamin Fedchenkov. God's providence in my life

—Did you strictly fast in the old days?

Of course, but then there was a different ecology and different food. In one work from the tsarist era, an unfaithful nephew said to his aunt: “What difference does it make whether I eat ham or sturgeon balyk during Lent?” Or there is another known case when a foreigner was advised to come to Russia during Lent, when the table is the most exquisite. After all, lean food can be tasty, nutritious and healthy.

But we are very different from our ancestors in both physical and spiritual health, we have a different ecology, pace of life, overload. We are different. Therefore, one cannot literally adopt those traditions that were natural even not so long ago, even at the beginning of the twentieth century. There has been migration from the countryside to the cities, our peasantry has been destroyed, in our modern language there is no word that can be used to describe a farmer. Life has changed dramatically. That’s why the question of forms of physical fasting is so acute now: people used to have a greater margin of safety. People ate differently: milk came not from a bag, but from a cow, bread from the oven, spring water, clean air. The peasant actively owned 10,000 operations. Imagine - we will be asked to harness a horse. Repair the plow, fold the hut. How amazingly they wielded an ax!

— And if fasting is perceived even by a believer not as a sacrifice to God, but simply as a restriction established by the Church, November 28th came and that’s it, now it’s a month of no meat or milk.

— Of course, even if a person approaches fasting without the proper depth, but fasts out of obedience to the Mother Church, then he is showing obedience, and obedience is already a virtue. And if you fast unconsciously, then the Lord will compensate and give you a deep understanding of fasting.

— Father, is it right for pregnant women to limit themselves to their favorite food and eat less tasty, albeit fast food? In particular, readers remember the 8th rule of St. Timothy of Alexandria: “a wife who gave birth on the Fourth of Easter is commanded not to observe the legal fast, but to strengthen herself as much as possible by drinking wine and moderate food, for fasting was invented to curb the body, and when it is weak, it does not need curbing, but help to improve your health and regain your former strength.”

This rule says everything in accordance with high Greek learning: reinforce yourself in food, limited. If you need to eat food as medicine, eat it, or maybe you don’t need to be treated by fasting? Moreover, this rule does not cancel fasting; the reason why we fast is also indicated here: we fast in order to be able to limit our desires. But illness itself is a limitation.

Of course, in case of toxicosis - a painful condition, in case of poor health, you need to eat what the body requires. But I would like to rely on an authority quite far from pregnancy: Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov: “The bad soldier is the one who does not want to be a general. Every soldier must understand his maneuver."

Why are you fasting? If you are a mother, your task is to give birth to a healthy baby: you need to eat right, and your state should be peaceful and joyful, and it should be passed on to your child. If you don’t feel well, then eat what your body requires. And we start to get smaller - otherwise this is possible, but this? So, either you set yourself the task of giving birth to a child and more than one, or you turn fasting into pharisaical literalism. If your heart is peaceful, joyful, then the feat is correct, but if you treat God as an accountant who counts for you what you have eaten, then you are mistaken. But at the same time, it is very easy for a person to relax and give himself unnecessary indulgences. This requires both self-control and church life, and relying on the advice of a confessor and people who already have experience in this area.

- That is, the fasting person needs to walk between Scylla and Charybdis in order not to lose strength and make a sacrifice to God?

— Fasting is not a referral to the hospital! One must fast as strictly as one can realistically do.

Often believers begin to fast excessively: jealousy beyond reason, in my opinion, is associated with the loss of traditions. After all, the issues of fasting, in fact, should be decided not so much by the priest as by the traditions of the family. In a large patriarchal family, where grandparents, uncles, and aunts fasted, a child from childhood saw before himself all types of fasting, how adults fasted, how pregnant wives of older brothers fasted, and whether the sick fasted.

You need to limit yourself, especially pregnant women, wisely. For example, limit yourself from negative external impressions, the main source of which is television, from the habit of judging and picking on each other. The Apostle Paul says, “Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. Give thanks in everything” (1 Sol. 5:16-18).. If your condition is like this, your fasting is pleasing to God. If you are unable to maintain such joy, then you are not fulfilling the main task of fasting. But even if you somehow limit yourself, the Lord will reward it, He kisses your intention.

Fasting not for your own glory, but for the glory of God

Archpriest Igor Pchelintsev , clergyman of the Nizhny Novgorod diocese.

It seems to me that fasting depends on the spiritual and physical strength of the woman herself. For a church-going woman, bearing, perhaps not her first child, living in Orthodox family in the normal course of pregnancy, it is probably possible to fast according to the rules (but with the prudence that is expected in a normally churched person).

People with little church, who do not have sufficient experience of Christian life, should probably have a different measure of fasting. First, we need to think about the basics - about faith in Christ and knowledge of the Gospel. Otherwise, many want to fast (or not fast) for their own glory, and not for the glory of God, as the Apostle Paul says - “I eat for the glory of God; I do not eat, I do not eat for the glory of God.” Don’t indulge your desires in general, but don’t sew your mouth shut either - feel good about yourself and the baby.

There is no need to ask for a blessing as a sanction for fasting or for its permission. Before fasting, ask for a blessing from your confessor or parish priest. Just a blessing. There is no need for your confessor to approve a list of what to eat and what not to eat (and in what quantity) - this is simply unworthy of our church life.

From the questions asked, we see that often the problem of fasting is, first of all, a problem of nutrition, but (as is known) fasting is not only abstinence from food. The mind fasts, the human heart fasts, the tongue fasts. The patristic teaching calls during Lent to perform deeds of mercy and goodness, to learn from the Holy Scriptures, to repent of sins, to pray more fervently than usual, to attend divine services (if possible), and to partake of the Holy Mysteries. And vice versa - move away from unnecessary entertainment, vanity of mind, idle talk and other evils. All this is more important than gastronomy and much more important in general for the mother and her unborn child.

Always rejoice!

Mother Inna Viktorovna Asmus , mother of 9 children, wife of Archpriest Valentin Asmus

As St. Seraphim of Sarov said, eat what you want, just don’t eat each other. This is our main problem. I think that pregnant women should eat according to science and there is nothing wrong with a pregnant woman being craving a certain product and eating it. Fasting is a purely personal matter for each person. You just don’t need to forget about the words of the Holy Apostle Paul: “Always rejoice, thank God for everything”; you don’t need to try to turn Christianity into something mournful.

The measure of fasting is individual

Olga Dmitrievna Getmanova, raised 9 children. In 2006, she was awarded by His Holiness Patriarch Alexy the “Patriarchal Badge of Motherhood.” Wife of Roman Nikolaevich Getmanov, a famous obstetrician-gynecologist.

Fasting during pregnancy is undoubtedly individual: if you want, eat meat, if you don’t want, don’t eat. If you don’t eat meat for a month and a half, nothing will happen to you or your child. You won't be fasting all year. I myself love potatoes – I feel good with them during Lent. If you can’t live without kebabs, then eat them. And if you need dairy, eat it. Just don't overeat.

I don’t ask my confessor how exactly I should fast during pregnancy, but I know that he allows his parishioners to have dairy during Lent during pregnancy.

In fact, protein consumption is no longer during pregnancy, but during feeding - that’s when it’s tight without milk. After fasting for a week, you feel that there is noticeably less milk.

Another known fact: during the siege of Leningrad, completely exhausted women gave birth to full-fledged children. This means that they themselves take everything they need from the mother’s body. It’s the mother’s teeth that can then break and hair fall out... (Smiles)“

Abstain from what you are addicted to

Mother Elena Karpenko , mother of three children, wife of priest Dimitry Karpenko.

For a woman, pregnancy is her feat, that small sacrifice to God that she can make. You need to fast according to your own strength, because, unfortunately, modern women not so strong physically, and spiritually, I think, too. If there was a short break between pregnancies, it is very difficult to fast, I know from my own experience.

You need to eat whatever you want and limit yourself only to what is not particularly necessary. Each woman must determine her diet for herself, find the “golden mean”. For me, let’s say, such a limitation was abstaining from sweets - I must admit, this is my weakness. I know cases where women fasted throughout pregnancy, strictly observed the fast and gave birth to strong babies. That is, if you feel strong and your health allows it, then you can fast.

Fasting is a purely personal matter for everyone... The most important thing is not to get angry at others. During pregnancy, you need to abstain not from meat and yogurt, but from what you have addictions to. You can limit yourself from watching TV and idle talk. After all, try not to judge, but this is much more difficult than not eating a piece of meat.

It is best to ask questions about nutrition during pregnancy to the doctor you are seeing. It is still worth going to confession with your confessor not with questions about food, but with spiritual problems and experiences.


If you are fasting and would like to know what you can eat during this period and what is prohibited, we suggest that you familiarize yourself with the list of products. Do not think that by fasting you will go hungry and not eat enough. A properly selected menu and knowledge of the main products containing fats, carbohydrates and proteins will allow you to easily carry out the holy cleansing, and even lose extra pounds.

You can eat any fruits and vegetables during fasting:

  1. Potato
  2. Cabbage, including sauerkraut
  3. Mushrooms
  4. Radish and radish, turnip
  5. Beet
  6. Carrot
  7. Onion and garlic
  8. Greens and lettuce
  9. Eggplants and zucchini
  10. Bell pepper
  11. Cucumbers, including pickles
  12. Pumpkin
  13. Apples
  14. Pears
  15. Bananas
  16. Tangerines, oranges, grapefruit and lemon
  17. Persimmon
  18. Plum and grapes
  19. Peaches and apricots
  20. Any berries

Vegetables and mushrooms can be boiled, stewed, baked without adding butter. A huge number of salads and snacks can be made from vegetables. Fruits can be eaten fresh, or baked, or made into salads. Adding vegetable oil is allowed only on Saturday, Sunday and holidays.

During Lent you can eat any cereals and porridges:

  1. Buckwheat
  2. Oatmeal
  3. Pshenka
  4. Pearl barley
  5. Lentils, peas and beans
  6. Corn porridge
  7. Semolina

You can also eat dried fruits, nuts, pasta, cookies and bread (without eggs or egg powder). You can prepare delicious pastries and pies, most importantly without adding animal fats or eggs. Fish is allowed twice during the entire fast: on Annunciation Holy Mother of God and on Palm Sunday. If it is difficult for you to fast without fish, then it is better to replace it with soy products. Even on holidays, you can drink a small amount of wine.

During fasting you should not eat products of animal origin:

  1. Meat and all meat-containing products
  2. Bird and eggs
  3. Milk and all dairy products (sour cream, cottage cheese, yoghurts, kefir, cheeses and milk drinks)
  4. Baked goods and pasta with eggs and butter
  5. Mayonnaise
  6. Chocolate
  7. Fast food because it's high in fat
  8. Fish and vegetable oil, excluding weekends and holidays
  9. Alcohol, with the exception of small amounts of wine on holiday

In fact, modern priests, speaking about fasting, note that this is a limitation that a person must make for himself. For some people, it is enough to give up only meat, while eating dairy products, while others need to adhere to fasting according to all the canons.

I decided to write an article about what you can eat during Lent, what dishes you can prepare for the Lenten table.

After all, you want to eat tasty, varied, healthy and not boring, so that you don’t eat the same thing every day, right?

I would like to offer you some delicious ideas on how to feed yourself and your family during the fasting period.

From this article you will learn:

What can you eat during Lent - menu for Lenten nutrition

So, many people know that fasting can be strict and not strict.

Moreover, during the same fast there are certain differences in daily nutrition.

Accordingly, the dishes that are consumed are different.

Strict fasting and non-strict fasting - what are their differences?

All posts vary in their degree of severity.

  • Strict post:

During strict fasting, only plant foods (vegetables, fruits, cereals) are allowed, and all products of animal origin are completely excluded. Food can be thermally processed or raw (these are days of dry eating).

  • Less strict post:

when vegetable oil is allowed in plant-based dishes on some days.

  • Not a strict post:

on these days fish and vegetable oil are allowed. Otherwise, all food is plant-based; meat, milk and eggs are not consumed at all.

Lent is considered the strictest. The rest are less strict.

What can you cook during Lent?

Many people think that fasting means only carrot cutlets, sauerkraut and “empty” rice... But, in fact, everything is not so scary at all, friends!

How do you like lasagna, spaghetti, pizza, various pancakes, dumplings, pancakes, pies and pies? It is not necessary to cook with white wheat flour if we do not want to gain weight! Can be prepared from buckwheat, corn, oatmeal, pea, etc.

How do you like various delicious sandwiches with hearty pates, vegetable and mushroom caviar, jelly, mushroom aspic, sweet porridges, dumplings with different fillings and “lazy” dumplings (gnocchi, dumplings, dumplings), julienne, various salads with such a satisfying composition, that they can be called the main dish and dumplings?

Borscht, cabbage soup, soups, dishes made from mushrooms and nuts, and even “scrambled eggs” without eggs!

And how many sweets you can prepare, it’s completely incomprehensible!

And sweets, and kozinaki, and pies, and cookies, and even cakes with cream!

Including cakes without flour, without eggs and without sugar, this is already “aerobatics”, but you can also learn this!

And this is far from full list those dishes that are called lean...

And if fish is allowed, then it’s generally a holiday: fish soup, cutlets, meatballs with rice, fish pastes (pates), steamed fish, fried, grilled and oven-baked.

With vegetables, stuffed, stewed with mushrooms and onions, various fillings with fish for pies and pancakes... You can’t list it all!

What products can be used in preparing Lenten dishes?

  • Cereals:

millet, wheat, pearl barley, barley, rice of all varieties, . Also buckwheat, bulgur, couscous, spelt, corn grits. As well as oatmeal and cereals from several types of grains.

  • We prepare from them:

porridge, add to vegetable dishes, make cutlets, zrazy, fillings for pies and pies, prepare cereal soups and various casseroles.

We prepare our own baked goods and bread from buckwheat, oatmeal, rice, barley, corn flour, rye flour, and spelled flour.

  • Vegetables - absolutely everything

We prepare from them:

soups, vegetable stews, vegetable purees, pureed soups, different fillings, vegetable sauces and cutlets.

We add them to pates, make salads from raw and boiled vegetables, casseroles, stew, bake, boil, fry, steam them.

We add cereals, mushrooms to them, water them with all kinds of delicious sauces and eat it just like that, cut into pieces.

Berries, fruits and dried fruits - absolutely everything

We prepare from them:

fruit purees, pastilles, compotes, fruit drinks, jelly, jams and confitures for tea. We also twist freshly squeezed juices, add them to baked goods, prepare fillings for pancakes and pies, and add them to porridge. We eat it just like that, whole or cut into beautiful pieces.

  • Greens - any

We prepare from it:

“green” salads, add to smoothies, cut into salads from boiled and raw vegetables, sprinkle generously with your ready meals, we make “green” fillings for our pancakes and pies.

  • Legumes:

peas, beans of all kinds, beans, chickpeas, mung beans, lentils.

  • From legumes we prepare:

soups, puree soups, add to salads, boil and puree, add to vegetable stews, prepare bean pastes, fillings, etc.

  • Nuts – all the ones you like

From nuts we prepare: nut sauces (sweet and salty), nut muffins, nut cutlets, make kozinaki and halva, prepare delicious nut milk, add to pates and fillings, sprinkle our porridge with chopped nuts and add to any other dishes and baked goods.

We make cheese from nuts. We prepare nut butters and nut urbechi. We gnaw just like that

  • Seeds:

sunflower, sesame, flax, poppy seeds, chia seeds, hemp seeds.

We prepare from them:

We add it to baked goods, make kozinaki, sauces for dishes (sweet and salty), sprinkle our porridge with crushed seeds and add it to other dishes.

We prepare plant-based milk (sweet and unsweetened), urbechi from seeds, cheese from seeds, tahini (tahini, tahini) from sesame seeds and a paste mix for sandwiches from various seeds.

  • Mushrooms - absolutely everything

We fry them, stew them, bake them, grill them, and steam them.

We prepare them with various fillings, make pates out of them, julienne them, add them to vegetable dishes, in soups, prepare mushroom soups, mushroom fillings, add to porridges, salads.

  • Vegetable oil - any you want

For salads, cold dishes and snacks, and in ready-made dishes, it is best to use first cold-pressed vegetable oils. Their taste and aroma are simply divine!

Choose those that you like: olive, flaxseed, camelina, and hemp, grape seed oil and walnut oil, sesame.

As well as mustard oil, coconut oil, rice oil, sunflower oil and pumpkin seed oil.

For frying, boiling and stewing, 100% and refined oils are suitable, they are odorless and can be used for cooking, as well as coconut oil.

Where to get protein in a lean diet?

Mushrooms are our “meat” for the period of fasting. This also includes legumes, nuts, greens and seeds.

All of these foods are very nutritious, containing plenty of protein, healthy fats (nuts and seeds), and vitamins and minerals.

During fasting, all these products are MANDATORY in the daily diet. In this case, you will not have any “protein fasting”.

What kind of porridges are prepared during Lent?

Our Russian porridge is not just food, it is a whole “philosophy”! We are, of course, not talking about quick, instant porridges that you “poured and ate right away.”

Although, this is also an option: simple oatmeal or a mixture of cereals, doused with boiling water or vegetable milk, and with the addition of berries, nuts, fruits and seeds - what’s not a hearty, tasty breakfast?

And porridge with vegetables and mushrooms is not a wonderful and satisfying dish for lunch?

The main idea here is this: porridge is never NOT tasty. The porridge just needs to be cooked correctly.

Here's an example: pearl barley. Do not love? You just don’t know how to cook it!…

Here you need to know the secret of delicious pearl barley. Try to do this: rinse it, pour a fairly large amount of boiling water, wrap it in a warm blanket and let it brew all night, 8–10 hours. If all the water is not absorbed, then drain it, add a small amount of water again and cook for 10 minutes.

Fry separately the onion, cut into beautiful rings and grated potatoes, add spices and mix with the prepared pearl barley.

If you want, you can add mushrooms too.

No one will refuse such porridge!

It’s a similar story with buckwheat porridge. Do you like it with milk? Please: grind the seeds or nuts with water in a blender, strain, and you will have the healthiest milk in the world! Any porridge is good with vegetable milk, and buckwheat is especially good. Make the porridge sweet or salty as you wish.

An excellent option for buckwheat porridge is buckwheat with onions, carrots and other fried vegetables.

Buckwheat with mushrooms and onions - who can refuse it, right?

Very tasty buns, pancakes are prepared from buckwheat flour, and “grechaniky” are fried.

In stores, look for spaghetti or any other pasta made from buckwheat flour. It's very tasty and unusual!

Prepare sweet pilaf from rice: add steamed raisins, nuts, seeds, any fresh berries or fruits to boiled rice, pour over sweet nut sauce or honey. This is delicious!

What about rice with mushrooms and vegetables? Why not pilaf? A very tasty and satisfying dish, you won’t even notice the absence of meat...

You can serve any porridge with a sauce you prepare yourself. It’s as easy as shelling pears to make a sauce from the same seeds or nuts. You can make vegetable sauce, tomato sauce, sweet fruit and berry sauce.

Be sure to add spices to any porridge. This will enrich the taste of your cereals, give them an incredible aroma and make them more healthy and easily digestible.

Dried fruits for fasting

Of course, dried fruits are eaten during Lent.

The amount of vitamins in them, of course, decreases, but the amount of sugar increases.

But, despite this, the benefits of dried fruits are still beyond any doubt, because all trace elements are stored there in the necessary and sufficient quantities.

They are available for sale, they are not so expensive in price, especially since you can’t eat too many of them. Of course, it is better to buy those that have not been processed, that have been dried and stored without being subjected to “chemical influence.”

They are not as beautiful and glossy as those that were first filled with sugar syrup and dried under high temperature, and then they are also treated with sulfur dioxide, etc., but you know 100% that you are not harming yourself by consuming them.

You can eat dried fruits just like that, say, with tea. To do this, it is better to first soak them in water. They will acquire juiciness and softness, and will look like fresh.

You can make a delicious dessert treat from any dried fruit.

Particularly good in this dessert will be: figs, cherries, large prunes.

You need juice from red berries. If it’s not the season, then feel free to take your preparations off the shelves and get started! Add the following spices to the juice: vanilla, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, nutmeg, black pepper and sugar. Add dried fruits cut into large pieces, mix and boil it all over very low heat: first without a lid for 50-60 minutes, then under the lid for another 40 minutes. Watch, it may take less time. The main thing is that the syrup becomes thick.

This dessert can be served with tea, served with porridge, or simply cracked with a spoon...

The use of dried fruits is not limited to this.

Many amazing things are done with dried fruits: for example, they are added to the filling for stuffing tomatoes, sweet bell peppers and eggplant. They are stewed with red beans and fried onions.

It turns out unusual, original and piquant.

How to cook mushrooms during Lent?

If we do not take into account the “newfangled” soybeans, then mushrooms are exactly the “meat” that will be on our table during the entire Lent.

Mushroom soup, potatoes with mushrooms and onions, vegetable stew with mushrooms, mushroom julienne, mushroom caviar, potato cutlets stuffed with mushrooms, with mushroom sauce (zrazy), mushroom risotto and dumplings with mushrooms...

All this, of course, can be prepared quite calmly from dried mushrooms and from frozen. Not only boring champignons and oyster mushrooms are suitable. Honey mushrooms, chanterelles, boletuses, porcini mushrooms – anything goes!

IN Lately You can also find Japanese shiitake mushrooms. They are “world champions” in the fight against cancer. In addition, they are incredibly tasty, the Japanese know a lot about them!

And the huge, simply gigantic portobello mushrooms? It tastes like pure chicken! And they are quite often sold in regular supermarkets, check them out!

Mushrooms have a simply fantastic variety, and this is a great reason for daily “mushroom experiments” in order to cook with mushrooms often, cook a lot and taste delicious.

Here are some options for you:

  1. You can make sandwiches with tapenade from wild mushrooms: grind capers with olive oil, add lemon juice, season with salt and pepper. The result is a paste that is perfectly spread on toasted slices of bread, and between two slices are slices of mushrooms fried until crisp.
  2. And from the good old oyster mushrooms a salad “emerges” by itself: mushrooms, apples, celery stalks, lettuce and large dark grapes fried until beautifully golden brown. Everything is topped with a dressing of lemon juice with crushed pine nuts, salt, pepper and a little cinnamon. Mmm…
  3. And the champignons, fried with soy sauce, honey, sesame seeds and green onions? Served hot right away, they are incredible!

How to eat nuts and seeds during fasting?

Nuts play a fairly important role in our lean diet.

You can not only sprinkle them on cakes and add them to beetroot and garlic salad...

During Lent, when almost every protein counts, nuts are simply irreplaceable!

If the nuts are fresh, then consider it “almost a panacea” in the autumn-winter period, when all sorts of colds and ARVI bother us.

It’s just so nice to chew nuts and make nut butters from them. It doesn’t have to be peanuts; very tasty pastes can be made from absolutely any nut! It’s even better to make it from nuts, and from raw ones. Still, peanut butter is a controversial product...

Although, if you really want to, then you can, just not a lot. It can be prepared very easily at home: fry peeled peanuts in the oven, grind them in a meat grinder twice, add salt and water to the desired consistency.

Or blend everything at once in a blender - peanuts + salt + water.

Use the same principle to make raw nut paste:

  • Do you want something sweet? No problem: add honey and cinnamon.
  • Do you want something unusual? Please: add pepper, just a little honey and spices. The nut butter has a very original taste!
  • Want something more filling? Then combine lightly roasted nuts in a blender (walnuts are perfect for this snack, but you can use any nuts, depending on your taste), fried onions, salt, pepper and water. Very, very tasty, filling and aromatic snack! It smells so good that you immediately need to spread it on your own bread and eat it before your family “grinds it”, otherwise you won’t get it, believe me!
  • If you want to make something “more substantial” for a snack, you can add boiled beans and a little garlic to this recipe. Again: blend everything in a blender with adding water to the desired paste-like consistency.
  • You can do the same with seeds - prepare a paste, and every morning spread a thin layer on a piece of bread, crispy toast, cookies (can be sweet or salty) or whole grain bread. Nourishing, tasty, healthy, what more do you need, right?

Make sweet pastes, make savory ones, whatever you want!

Who said tahini has to be salty?

Aren't you afraid of experiments? Then prepare sweet tahini: sesame seeds (can be raw, or fried in a dry frying pan, with fried seeds it turns out much more fragrant) + honey + cinnamon + salt.

This is such an awesome thing, friends! To say that it’s delicious is to say nothing! Therefore, as soon as you prepare it, grab yourself a spoonful of bread, and only then call your family, although you won’t need to call them, I’m sure: the aroma of fried sesame seeds is something that they will come running to, believe me!

Here's another very, very original idea for a snack: raw almonds, lemon juice, a little honey, fresh basil leaves, salt, a little garlic and ginger (proportions are arbitrary, to your taste), grind through a meat grinder or in a blender, adding enough water to get a paste of the consistency you need.

Then you take apples, carrots, celery stalks, cucumbers and whatever else you can think of, cut them into pieces and eat them, dipping them in the prepared sauce.

Very tasty, unusual, nutritious and mega-healthy snack! Be sure to cook it, you will definitely like it!

I really love preparing various pastes and pates from seeds and nuts, it’s so helpful when you don’t have time, but you need to eat something quickly, preferably healthy!

And don’t be afraid of the calorie content, even if you want, you won’t be able to eat a lot, it’s very filling!

Such pastes can not only be spread on bread, they can be used as fillings, added to your own porridge, and to spaghetti - instead of sauce.

You need to store nut or seed butter in the refrigerator.

Lenten first courses

Friends, try to do this, and buckwheat soup will become your “favorite” for the Lenten period, honestly!

What do you think of the idea of ​​kharcho soup, gazpacho, pickle soup? You can continue the list. All this can be prepared without meat, and it’s all quite tasty and nutritious!

This, friends, is what I wanted to tell you today. I really hope that you will take some ideas for yourself and apply them.

If you liked the ideas from this article, then share with your friends on social media. networks, friends and co-workers at work.

Write in the comments what you can eat during Lent, your ideas for Lenten nutrition. What are you cooking? It will be very interesting for me, I'm always looking for something new and cool.

And other readers will also be interested to know, write!

See you later, my dears!

Alena Yasneva was with you, Health and Delicious Fasting to all!

photo@aedrozda


Lent lasts exactly 48 days or 7 weeks and includes the Holy Lent (a period of 40 days: five full weeks (5 weeks of Lent) and the sixth week from Monday to Friday (6th week of Lent), Lazarus Saturday, Palm Sunday and Holy Week.

Great Lent is one of the longest and most difficult fasts in Christianity; it is believed that at this time, through renunciation of familiar food and worldly entertainment, a person cleanses his soul, thinks about his actions and repents of his sins. A fasting person should be weak in his physical body, but strong in his soul (spirit).

However, this fast greatly limits a person's food intake. What dishes can you eat during this period in order not to deviate from church instructions, but at the same time help your body withstand fairly strict restrictions?

During Lent, you need to completely eliminate alcohol, cigarettes and foods that are quite familiar to most people: meat, fish, eggs, cheese, milk, dairy and lactic acid products, vegetable and animal oils, soft white bread, baked goods and pasta, sweets.

Vegetables, fruits, water, coarsely ground, some cereals, salted and pickled vegetables are allowed to be consumed. You can safely introduce greens, mushrooms, berries, honey, jam, nuts, legumes and other plant foods into your diet. Among the drinks during fasting, you can find tea, compote or jelly on the menu. Moreover, during Great Lent there are days of the week when the fasting person is prohibited from eating any food. There are also days when you can introduce a little vegetable oil, fish, caviar and wine into your diet.

One nuance that may arise when choosing permitted food for Lent should be taken into account: some food products may contain animal ingredients. They are also prohibited from being used as food at this time: for example, cookies may contain milk or butter. Therefore, before purchasing, you need to carefully study the composition of the product.

Monday, Wednesday and Friday are dry eating days. At this time, you cannot hot process food or add vegetable oils to prepared dishes. You can eat black bread, vegetables and fruits (fruit or vegetable salads), drink water and compotes.

Tuesday and Thursday – you can eat hot food without adding oil: vegetable soups, stewed vegetables, water-based porridges, porridges, fruits and vegetables.

On Saturday and Sunday (weekends), can be added to prepared foods(including heat treatment) vegetable oil.

The first week (first week) of Lent begins with Clean Monday. This day is considered special and it is not recommended to eat food throughout the day; you can only drink water. The entire first week is also considered strict; during this week only water and bread are allowed to be consumed. But such a strict rule of the first week is difficult for modern man who is engaged in heavy physical labor. Therefore, fasting days may differ slightly for a monk who has deliberately chosen the vow of fasting from a person who is busy with everyday hard work, but at the same time wants to observe Lent. The last week of Lent, Holy Week, is also considered strict.

On days of dry eating You can prepare vegetable or fruit salads; instead of oil, use lemon, lime, or grapefruit juice.

Salad "Aida"
Ingredients: 2 tomatoes, 300 grams of cabbage, 5 sweet bell peppers, 1 tablespoon of vinegar, 1 teaspoon of mustard, salt, sugar and herbs (parsley, dill and onion).
Preparation: Pour boiling water over the tomatoes, remove the skins and cut into slices. Peel the cabbage from old leaves, wash and chop into small strips. Wash the pepper, remove seeds and cut into half rings. Mix all vegetables, add salt and pepper. Separately, mix a small amount of vinegar, water and mustard. Season the salad with the resulting mixture, place it in a mound and sprinkle with chopped herbs.

Tangerine salad with avocado and pomegranate
Ingredients: 3 tangerines, 1 avocado, 1 pomegranate, juice of one lime, powdered sugar.
Preparation: peel the tangerine, remove the film from the segments and cut them into two parts. Peel the pomegranate and sort out the seeds. Peel the avocado and cut into cubes. Mix everything, season with lime juice and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

You can study on Tuesday and Thursday heat treatment food.

Baked apples with rice and prunes
Ingredients: 5 large apples, 1 glass of rice, 100 grams of prunes, powdered sugar.
Preparation: wash the apples, dry them and carefully remove the core and seeds. Boil the rice, mix it with chopped prunes and powdered sugar. We start the apples with the mixture and bake for 20 minutes in the oven.

On Sunday and Saturday, you can use vegetable oil, which allows you to diversify the menu with various fried dishes.

Fried pumpkin in semolina
Ingredients: 500 grams of sugar pumpkin, vegetable oil, semolina, salt to taste.
Preparation: Peel the pumpkin from seeds and skin, cut into cubes. Roll in semolina and fry on both sides in oil. Sprinkle with salt.

You can also cook various lean porridges in water with vegetables and fruits, vegetable and sweet soups (cold and hot). Drinks you can consume