Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Top Ten Lenten Staples

At the beginning of Lent, Christina posted her Top Ten Lenten Staples. Now that we are in the middle of Lent, and this is my third fasting period in the Orthodox Church, I feel like I've found my own staples. If you have some to share please do and let me know! It's nice to get some ideas at this point. This year has been somewhat challenging as the family chef, since Jason has told me to fix beans very sparingly, as they tend to hurt his stomach. So we've had no bean soups, or lentils this time around. Bad for getting protein, good for having pleasant air to breath, if you know what I mean. ;)

1. Blue Diamond Almond Milk. It's tasty, good cold on cereal, and warm in coffee. We get Original the most but the chocolate is a treat. We like it much better than soy.

2. Split Pea Soup. So easy to make and it's always satisfying. I put celery, potatos, onion, garlic, and carots in mine. Salt it up and throw in a Bay leaf. The kids love it.

3. Earth Balance Butter Spread. Our favorite non-GMO, lenten spread. We use it on non fasting periods too.

4. Leeks! 2008 is the year I discovered leeks. No wonder the French love them. They are fantastic. I make a hearty potato leek soup with them, and they can also be thrown into pasta dishes. Yum.

5. Pasta, which is pretty much a lenten staple for everyone. Our fave is good old spaghetti with some marinara. Nothing fancy.

6. Oat meal. The old fashioned kind. Lots of protein and "stick to yer ribs goodness." I eat it with raisins and brown sugar.

7. Avocado salad sandwiches. This sandwich has a downside. It cannot be made in advance and it does not keep well. I do a layer of hummus, then lettuce, about half an avocado (I just slice it into chunks) then some seasoned salt, some red onion, and then tomato if I have some. It's also great with cucumbers slices. It's filling and delicious. Hannah eats it up.

8. Enchilada casserole, which would normally be a staple, but has yet to have been made this Lent due to a broken oven that is waiting quite exhasperatedly for a new part. It's layers of flour tortillas (but corn or wheat flour would be fine too), chile colorado sauce, leftover spanish rice, corn, refried pinto beans, and cilantro.

9. Rice cooker rice with sauteed veggies. We love the Trader Joe's Soyaki sauce.

10. Goddess Dressing. So great on salad or as a dip. I always have this stuff on hand.

5 Comments:

Blogger Mrs. Ham said...

Leeks? I'll have to try some!

2:39 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I love that Earth Balance Spread. It tastes like Butter :)

3:18 PM  
Blogger Mimi said...

Ooooh, I like leeks too - especially potato-leek soup.

We use Smart Balance, which must be similar to Earth Balance. I'll have to look for EB.

3:21 PM  
Blogger jenny baker said...

gosh, that all sounds so tasty! i bought a carton of almond milk last night after you suggested it and i love it! chris kruse wasn't too excited about it but i like the extra nuttiness it has.

also? i can never say no to peanut butter toast. it's the tastiest and quickest snack ever!

8:00 AM  
Blogger Xenia Kathryn said...

Looks like you've got some good stuff goin' on here! Mmm... your avocado sandwiches sound so good!

12:59 AM  

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