Tips for cutting food intake during Lent

I wrote these last year when our church was doing a Daniel Fast.

~With money you’re not spending on meat and pop, splurge and buy yourself something really tasty and packed with good health, like blueberries or raspberries. Yummy!

~Baked sweet potatoes are easy, nutritious, full of vitamins, and sweet.

~Leafy greens are some of the healthiest things you can eat. Cook them up in a little water with some seasoning or stir fry with garlic.

~Get in touch with your taste buds. Play with seasonings other than salt and pepper. Look at herbs and seasonings for non-butter, non-bacon, non-salt ways to enhance potatoes and greens. (Don’t expect much, however, from things in your spice rack that have been there for five years. You may need to freshen up.)

~Fresh beets are wonderful. Buy a bunch of beets, cut off the tops one inch up from the beet root, wash and cook up as greens. Rinse the bottoms and toss into boiling water to cover. Leave an inch of stem. Cook until tender, maybe up to an hour depending on size of the beet. Drop into cold water, so you can immediately peel them with your hands under even more cold running water. No knife needed; just press against the outer skin and it slips off. Serve while still warm. So good and sweet and full of vitamins! NOTE: You will probably pee pink after eating beets. It’s all good.

~Expand your definition of smoothies. They don’t have to be just fruit, but are a great way to get more vegetables too. In fact, if you Google “green shakes” you will find information on how to add spinach, kale, and other green things to fruit-based shakes so that you are getting more nutrition for less expense and maintaining the tasty sweetness.

~When you have a food craving, brush your teeth. A fresh, clean mouth is inclined to want to stay that way.

~If you crave sweets, try some raisins—not handfuls at once, but two or three at a time appreciating their sweetness. Or craisins or dried apricots. Carry some in your jacket pocket for emergency attacks.

~If you crave fats, find something—salad, tortilla, etc—to add avocado to. Nuts are also good for this.

~If you’re craving meat, rent and watch the DVD Food, Inc, or Fast Food Nation.

~Instead of store-bought salad dressings with multi-unpronounceable ingredients, make your own. Mix one part lemon or lime juice or vinegar (apple cider’s good) with two to three parts olive oil (or sesame oil) and whatever herbs you like. Here’s a two-minute video lesson: http://allrecipes.com/HowTo/How-to-Make-Vinaigrette-Salad-Dressings-Video/Detail.aspx

~Learn to make falafel. Mashed chick peas (garbanzos), with garlic and parsley fried up in little patties in olive oil tastes amazingly better than it sounds. (If you’re in a hurry, hummus powder and parsley flakes might work.) Recipes on line.

~With more nutritious beans and soy in your diet, you’re going to need some Beano. Use as directed. Trust me on this one!

~Whatever your biggest temptation is, get it out of the house, or at least packed away out of sight.

~“If you’re not hungry enough to eat an apple, you’re not hungry.” I love this from Michael Pollan’s collection of food rules: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/10/11/magazine/20091011-foodrules.html.

How about a John the Baptist fast?

~Luke 7.33-35 For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man [Jesus] came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is proved right by all her children.”

Ah! A tidbit more information than we got before on John the Baptist's eating habits. Matthew 3 and Mark 1 say he ate locusts and honey. Now we learn that he didn't eat bread or wine. The wine I can understand, but not even a bit of bread for the honey? Have you ever tried to eat honey straight up? Quite sweet. Of course, John was in the wilderness, so it would make sense that he just ate what was available naturally. Maybe he put the honey on the locusts. :-]

Sometimes if a person wants to honor God with a fast, but not a full no-food fast, he or she can do a Daniel fast--see Daniel 1. This involves eating mostly vegetables and water, no meat, wine, or "choice foods." But I've never heard of anyone doing a John the Baptist fast. Haha!

The rest of this passage is back to more complaining by religious leaders that Jesus is enjoying his food and wine. How dare he!

What's your fruit?

~Matthew 7.15-20 Watch out for false prophets. . . . . By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. Also ~Luke 6.44-45 A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.

That we can discern something about a person by the "fruit" produced in his or her life has become an accepted principle. In John 4.36 Jesus says the fruit of harvesters is "people brought to eternal life." That's good fruit. The fruit of the spirit listed in Galatians 5--love, joy, peace, etc--is good fruit. Anyone who sows anxiety, strife, and violence would be bearing bad fruit.

Can I say that by my fruit you will know me? What is my fruit? I'm going to have to give that some thought.

As to what I should be eating though, good fruit is definitely on the priority list.

Fish: a good gift

~Matthew 7.9-11 Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

~Luke 11.9-13 What father among you, if his son asks for a loaf of bread, will give him a stone; or if he asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, evil as you are, know how to give good gifts [gifts that are to their advantage] to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask and continue to ask Him!

Here's bread again. Jesus sees bread and fish and eggs as good gifts, advantageous food to give kids. Fish sticks is the only "seafood" Steve or I remember getting as we grew up. I baked actual fish for our kids but they didn't care much for it until they became adults. Now two of the four live on the coasts and love fish. Obviously fresh fish, like Peter and John would have caught maybe the same day, is tastier than the frozen-then-thawed varieties we customarily get here in the Midwest. Just about any health recommendation nowadays will say to eat more fish and less red meat.

Footnote: We were amused that the daughter of some Korean friends loved to munch on very fishy tasting and smelling seaweed wafers. She was two or three and loved them like cookies.

Most Important Entry: Bone Density & Food Fixation

~Matthew 6.25-33 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink . . . . Is not life more than food . . .? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? . ... So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ . . ..’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

~Matthew 6:31-34 Peterson's Message Bible What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.

Jesus says not to worry about what we will eat, but I give thought to this constantly. You can evaluate my reason for doing so. Some years ago, although I felt fine and had no symptoms, I flunked a bone density test. The doc started me on some high powered drug and instructed me to take multiple calcium pills daily and to drink lots of milk. I did this for five years with little improvement in my score. Then I started studying the issue. I learned some bad things about the prescription and the mega-doses of calcium and dairy, so I stopped the drug and the supplements; I cut back on the milk. I read more about nutrition and started eating a lot more fresh vegetables and fish and way less red meat, white flour, and packaged stuff with mysterious ingredients. I feel good about all this, but scientists have conflicting opinions on what to eat to best help bones (and for health in general), so I'm still always studying food.

Jesus seems to be talking about worrying over whether one has enough to eat. No credit to faith, but because of my current situation of abundance, I don't do that. BUT I do worry about whether I'm getting enough of this or that mineral or nutrient or fiber which is probably the same thing. I think that if I can just get this figured out, make myself some reasonable food guidelines to live by, then I can stop thinking about it and just do it. But I'm not at that point yet. And in fact, that's why I'm doing this study of what the Bible says about food. I figure God should know what makes a body work well. (No locusts tho, thanks!)

Father God, if I'm going over the top with this, please show me. If I'm on the right track, please encourage me. And if the things I learn are of value to anyone else, kindly make that connection.

Lent

~Matthew 6.16-18 When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Last year our church congregation was called to a "Daniel fast" (mostly vegetables) for the season of Lent. I loved the group effort. The fast was a big topic of conversation among the people trying it. As we shared various experiences (and recipes!) this verse came to mind. I thought that probably we were not violating the spirit of the verse, because we weren't showing off our piety, but were encouraging each other in the endeavor. My other thought was that I wasn't doing the fast for reward anyway, but as a God-honoring discipline.

Being Baptists, the family of my youth gave no special attention to Lent. In my adult experience, the Vineyard movement hasn't emphasized it either, last year being an exception. So, this year I haven't really settled on anything solid to sacrifice. It's still five weeks until Easter, and I'm open to hearing from God about it.

Bread

~Matthew 6.11 Give us this day our daily bread. OR Give us today the bread we need.

Judging from the model here, one of our basic consistent daily prayers should be asking for what we require, be it bread, another kind of food, or any other need. We look to God as our provider.

It's interesting that Jesus says bread, not vegetables or meat, as in the wilderness he was tempted with bread, not meat or honey. Bread was and is the staple. Food pyramids of our day put grains as the foundational layer. Although the outer hull, the chaff, was removed, I assume first century bread would have included the bran and the germ from grain plants. It was nutrition rich and high fiber, not the bleached, processed, synthetically-enriched fluffy stuff that comes in a Wonder bag today. (Can you tell how I feel about white bread?)