Saturday, January 14, 2012

"Fast" Food

I mentioned in my last post that we are fasting right now....we decided after some time with our Life Group to do a 21 day Daniel Fast. The Daniel Fast is not a liquid fast but its still pretty restricted. Basically it's eating vegan (no meat, no dairy, no animal products) plus no sugar, no caffiene, no processed foods, no white flours or grains. We are eating eggs and Rob is still drinking a morning cup of joe but other than that its fruits, vegetables and whole grains.

I wanted to share some recipes that are getting us through these few weeks as we attempt to declutter our systems and start our year with a clean slate focus on Christ and His will for our family!

Green Minestrone
Ingredients
2 cups whole wheat pasta (I used a mix of penne and large shells)
1/2 bag frozen green beans
1/2 bag frozen broc
1/2 bag frozen cauliflower-
1/2 bag frozen spinach-defrosted and squeezed dry
1 can cannelini beans (white, great northern) drained and rinsed
8-10 cups veggie stock
1 Onion-diced
2-3 cloves of garlic-minced
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
1 small can tomato paste
Salt, Pepper, Italian Seasoning Blend

In a large pot or dutch oven add your olive oil and heat on medium high. Add the diced onion and the garlic, stirring until translucent but not browned. Add the tomato paste and spinach and stir to heat. Add 8 cups veggie stock and season WELL with Italian Seasonings, salt and fresh cracked pepper(chicken would be fine if not fasting or vegetarian). In a large microwave safe bowl combine your green beans, broc and cauliflower and defrost for 5ish minutes, just long enough to get rid of some of the water. Remove and roughly chop to 1/2 inch-inch pcs. Add to the soup and bring to a boil. Add the pasta and cover for 15 minutes on medium-high heat. Check the pasta to be sure it's done and add the cannelini beans. Remove from heat and cover for an additional 10-15 minutes to let the flavors meld and the beans warm up. If needed add more veggie stock-mine was a great consistency with 8 cups...be sure to taste and add more salt and seasonings as needed! Serve with whole wheat crackers.

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