Alexandr,

Do you think that the bread would be improved with crushed nuts or raisins?

Why would you want to improve it? Isn't the idea of fasting to only take what is necessary to live, and to cleanse oneself spiritually? Posnaya foods that are enjoyable, IMHO, go against the spirit of fasting.

I think crushed nuts would be a nice way to add to the protein content of the bread.

Quick calculation here:

Per Loaf:

Calories: 2655

Protein: 104g

Carbohydrate: 564g

Fat: 12g

Sodium: 5.925g


Cholesterol: 0 mg

Calcium: 555mg

One loaf is more than sufficient to meet caloric and fat requirements for a 200 # male for more than 2 days.

My concern would not be with whether there is adequate calories. I cannot tolerate the carbohydrates. My neuropathy would be aggravated terribly. I need something with a much higher percentage of the calories coming from protein and a much lower percentage coming from carbohydrates.

My body favors protein. I can get light headed if I fast against what my body demands. I have not fainted, but I will go into diabetic shock if not careful.

I am not a big meat eater, but I do go through lots of eggs, beans, and veggies.

Terry

You may want to look more at Greek and/or Middle Eastern sources than Slavic. Slavic foods tend towards carbs and fat whilst Greek tend more towards protein. Carb and fat tolerance can be a genetic inclination.

Terry, when I was pregnant with my last child I had gestational diabetes. I was determined not to have to go on insulin (I have a needle thing...), so for the last month of pregnancy I ate beans, cheese, cabbage, and salsa sometimes 3x a day. It was boring, but it kept my blood sugar under control and kept me from getting hungry. Beans have a lot of carbs, but the fiber content is so high that they don't seem to really affect blood sugar.

I will look to the Greek and sources in the Near East.

I have found that there's a lot of nutrition in urad and mung legumes. In my bean mixes I add a quarter cup or so to one cup other beans.

I do well with cheesy grits in the morning. Better than on sugary cereals.

Terry

OH we have a lot of fun around here at fast time. NOT! With Deacon Stan being diabetic and end stage renal on dialysis - though peritinel - well I just through up my hands and say you know Lord! The nutritional requirements are crazy, what you think he can have, he can't. Some of what he can have he hates to eat. But, even simple things like beans, no go, too much phosphorus. He can eat frozen salmon, but not fresh. He can't eat most fish because they have too much, well it drives the blood pressure up, so renal patients can't eat it much. I get so frustrated!

It's amazing, of course, just how many dishes you can make with chocolate.

I have dredged several fasting food threads from the archives; they are stickied and will remain so until the passing of the season.

Many years,

Neil

Charles dark chocolate he can have - which he doesn't like.
Milk chocolate he can't have because of the phosphorus.
Go figure!

Not traditional, but REALLY easy and tasty curry

1 can coconut milk or coconut cream (which is non-dairy)
1 cup rice
1 can or 1 cup diced potatoes, sweet potatoes, or yams
1 can or 1 cup other veggie of choice
1 cup water
1 packet green curry powder (or favorite curry powder.)

Mix curry powder and coconut thoroughly in smallish metal bowl. Stir in fluid from canned tubers or add water to fill to the gaps in the measure and water.

Add rice, then Add veggies.

Put bowl inside pressure cooker, with several cups water in bottom of pressure cooker. Cook using 20-25# overpressure for 30-50 minutes, depending on how soft one likes the rice, then kill heat, let cooker cool under cold running water. Open, serve. Contents should still be nice and warm. won't be much sauciness, but the rice will be wonderfully infused with the curry, as will the veggies.

Oh, yeah, outside of fasts:
add a sausage (6-8" long 1" thick, or 2x 6-8" long 1/2" to 3/4" thick), diced, or a chicken breast diced.

Replace the cup of water in the bowl with a cup of wine or beer.

Add some honey, sugar, or syrup instead of some water.

This isn't a recipe but an idea that I got from one of my Philoptochos Ladies cookbooks. It has a cross about 2 inches high in the margin next to any recipe that conforms with fast needs.

So I took several of my vegetarian, and Mediterranean type cookbooks and went through them marking the recipes with a cross in the margin that are basically vegan, or easily converted (chicken stock in the recipe that's easy to switch out). It's been a useful tool, especially for the longer fasting periods when I can start to wonder isn't there something else I could be making? I can flip through and easily spot acceptable recipes.