Join the New Year Fast

Happy New Year! Oh, what a great time to start a new course and establish the direction for the coming months. Beginning the New Year with a period of extended prayer and fasting is the most perfect way to start. And especially since hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of believers around the world will all be opening their hearts to God at the same time! We are blessed to be together for this powerful spiritual experience.

So, when does the New Year Fast begin? Most churches, study groups and individuals will begin the fast on Sunday, January 4th. However, whatever date the Lord leads you to begin your fast is the right date for you. The New Year Fast is not like Lent (a called fast) that has a specific start and end date. If you are fasting with others or with a church congregation, you will want to follow the leaders and the dates they establish.

Most people begin the fast being highly focused on the food and the changes to their menus. I encourage you to keep your meals simple and easy to prepare. One of the greatest mistakes I see today is that people put way too much focus on the food miss out on the powerful spiritual benefits of the fasting experience. Remember, this is a fast (which means to restrict food for a spiritual purpose). Keep the main thing the main thing. Eat simply. And invest most of your time and attention on your Lord.

Most people will fast for 21 consecutive days. And for the Daniel Fast, there are not times during the day when you don’t adhere to the restrictions. There are some fasts where you don’t eat at all during daylight hours, and then eat whatever you desire or within some guidelines after sundown. But that is not part of the Daniel Fast.

Be sure to learn about the fast. There is so much erroneous information “out there” about the Daniel Fast. I have been using the Daniel Fast for decades and I have been teaching about it since 2007. I have researched the fast extensively and feel confident that the information you’ll find in the books I’ve written and on this site and at Daniel-Fast.com is grounded in the scriptures and is accurate. I can’t tell you the number of times discouraged people have written to me sick and not feeling well after they’ve tried to eat only vegetables and drink only water because they didn’t learn the complete background of the fast and just plunged in. So please, study the information on our Daniel Fast sites and the Daniel Fast book includes everything you need for a successful fasting experience (including a cookbook and a daily devotional).

Put your flesh where it belongs . . . under submission. One of the most powerful lessons you can learn on the Daniel Fast is how to put your flesh in its rightful place, which is under the authority of God. Your flesh may throw a fit. It might try to sabotage you and tempt you to break the fast or change the guidelines to satisfy it’s desires. But we are called to walk in the Spirit and not by the flesh. You can work on your self-control muscles during the fast and realize that you don’t have to give in to the whims of your flesh. I truly believe this is one of the most powerful lessons you can learn during your fast.

If you have health issues then be sure to follow the advice of your earthly physician as you pray to your Great Physician. Due to medical needs or special issues, you many need to modify the fast. Keep the core of the fast and make the slight adjustment. This is the same for pregnant or nursing mothers and for athletes who expend a lot of energy.

Get support and encouragement – we provides lots of help, tips, encouragement and support to anyone who wants it through our websites, emails, and Facebook groups. Click on the the Join the Fast link to receive daily emails. Or join our Facebook Group. Also, keep visiting our sites as we update and add helpful information and tips almost every day.

Meanwhile, open your heart to the Lord and submit yourself to Him. Allow Him to direct your steps as you begin this New Year and as you enter into this fasting experience.

Be blessed!

Tips for Getting Your Mind Off the Food and onto the Lord

The Daniel Fast requires some unique balancing moves. It’s not like a “normal fast” when you drink only water and that’s it. And it’s not like a “juice fast” when your choices are clearly defined.

On the Daniel Fast, which is a “partial fast,” some foods are eaten and others are allowed. And the choices are wide and many. So you will need to spend some time thinking about food and food choice for meals. But you don’t want food to become your focus . . . and you don’t want the Daniel Fast to become another way to satisfy the desires of the flesh by concocting “yummy, delicious, scrumptious” meals.

Does that mean your meals shouldn’t taste good? No. But it does mean that you want to keep the first thing the first thing. Jesus says, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.” We want to keep Jesus and our growing relationship with Him as the foundation of the fast . . . and not the food!

So how can you still eat according to the Daniel Fast Guidelines and not get carried away? Here are a few simple steps you can take so you are sure to keep Jesus first.

Decide to eat more simply for this period of prayer and fasting. Prayerfully consider the purpose of fasting and how it can be a powerful time for putting the flesh under the authority of the Spirit. Don’t make the Daniel Fast more complicated than it needs to be or should be! Humble meals. Simple dishes. Flavorful and pleasing is fine . . . but in balance for the purpose of fasting, which is to restrict food for a spiritual purpose.

Plan a few simple meals. I like to tell the people I coach about the fast to plan just 3 breakfast menus, 4-5 lunch menus (using leftovers from dinners is great), 5-6 dinner menus and then about 3 different snacks. Then you can rotate these menus and get good at preparing them and making sure you have the ingredients on hand. Keep your meals uncomplicated and undemanding. Then you won’t have to be so consumed about meal preparation and about satisfying the flesh! Instead you can focus on God, study and prayer.

Prepare several meals at one time. For example, make a double recipe of Vegetarian Chili and freeze one and eat the other for dinner and lunches. Using this pot of flavorful and nutritious chili as the center of your menu makes it easy to add a simple green salad and flatbread for a nutritious and satisfying meal. I like using Saturday as my meal prep day. I plan and prepare five or six meals and I use the time to pray, listen to worship music, memorize scripture or listen to a teachings. The time flies by and meanwhile my spirit is fed and I experience the joy of the Lord during my labors.

Using these simple approaches will do two things. First, when you plan and prepare ahead you will be ready and have the primary parts of your meals on hand! You won’t have to worry about, “What’s for dinner?” You’ll know and it will be simple and easy for you to finish up the meal and stay on the fast.

Second, you won’t be anxious! I hear from many people who end up quitting the fast because of one of two reasons: 1) they felt preparing all the meals each day took too much time and energy; 2) the meals were too complicated and too expensive.  You can avoid both these issues by keeping your meals simple and preparing them ahead of time.

But the most important benefit about all of this is that you won’t be centered on the food. I’ve had people write to me and say, “Susan, I spent too much time trying to make all these special meals and new recipes each day. I realized I was really on nothing more than a diet . . . and I totally missed the blessing of the fast.” The good news is that you can make sure you don’t miss out. Keep your meals simple. Plan only a few menus that you like and can rotate them over and over again. And prepare ahead so you have the food on hand and available so you don’t have to think about food too much  . . . and so it won’t take up too much of your time!

Be blessed as you grow in the knowledge and love of Jesus during your fast.

What About the Daniel Diet?

Daniel Diet or Daniel Fast?

I’ve been teaching and writing about the Daniel Fast since 2007. And you can see by this blog and my website at http://daniel-fast.com that literally millions of men and women from all over the world are learning about this method of spiritual fasting. Many have asked about the Daniel Diet as they see health gurus turn to the prophets way of eating as a good alternative for healthy weight loss.

So here is my take on the Daniel Diet.

First, let me say that biblical fasting is always about restricting food for a spiritual purpose. That’s how the word is defined in both the Hebrew and the Greek. There is always a spiritual component – in fact, it’s the most important element of a fast. However, many people find that the eating plan on the Daniel Fast is very healthy and helpful to their bodies.

If you want to follow an eating plan (without the spiritual life) that is the same as the Daniel Fast program, then that would be a Daniel Diet. There is nothing wrong with that, but be clear that you would not be on a spiritual fast.

I often counsel people who are preparing for the Daniel Fast to be sure to not let their spiritual life be overshadowed by the food restrictions. Fasting is a spiritual discipline. We are entering into a time of prayer and fasting – both linked together in definition.

So if you want to use the Daniel Fast eating plan for health benefits, then technically you would be on The Daniel Diet. You would be following the practices of the prophet by eating in the way that he and his companions did and if you follow the plan as I’ve outlined in on this blog and in my books, you will experience the great benefits of a healthy way of eating.

Homemade Dijon Mustard for the Daniel Fast

As you probably have discovered, most prepared Dijon mustard includes sugar or another sweetener in its ingredients, deeming it unusable on the Daniel Fast. However, since most of us eat a lot more salads than usual, we want good flavors . . . and adding Dijon mustard to our salad dressing recipes provides a wonderful, full flavor. So here is a recipe for Homemade Dijon Mustard! You can make a batch of it and store it for use during the Daniel Fast. If you want, you can add a little honey to the recipe AFTER the fast, but meanwhile, be blessed with this modified recipe.

 

Ingredients:
2 cups dry white wine vinegar
1 cup finely chopped onions
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
4 ounces dry mustard
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 teaspoons salt
Few drops Tabasco

Directions: Combine vinegar, onion and garlic. Heat to boiling and simmer for five minutes. Pour into medium bowl to cool. Add dry mustard and the oil into a small sauce pan. Now pour the vinegar mixture through a strainer into the saucepan, whisking until very smooth. Sir in the salt and Tabasco. Heat slowly, stirring constantly until the mixture thickens. Allow to cool and then pour into non-metallic covered container. For best results, chill at last two days before using. This mixture will stay fresh in the refrigerator for several weeks.

Daniel Fast Breakfast Ideas

Daniel Fast Breakfast Ideas

I receive a lot of questions about the Daniel Fast and breakfast ideas! When we’re not fasting we’re so used to having dairy products (not allowed on the Daniel Fast), eggs and other animal proteins. So this is a good time to be creative!

Here are some of my favorites . . . you can find many recipes in the Daniel Fast books and cookbooks available at http://daniel-fast.com/store.html

Also, if you have Daniel Fast breakfast ideas . . . please post them here!

1. Muesli with unsweetened soy milk
2. Rice cakes (made with brown rice) with peanut butter and raisins
3. Fruit smoothies with unsweetened soy milk
4. Sautéed apples in coconut oil with brown rice
5. Oatmeal with dried fruit and unsweetened soy milk
6. Homemade tortillas with stir-fried veggies

These are just a few of my Daniel Fast Breakfast Ideas! Please add your favorites and be blessed on your fast!

The Daniel Fast – is it Really Hard on the Budget?

I am eager to hear from men and women about the cost of the Daniel Fast eating plan. I read posts from men and women saying they can’t afford to go on the Daniel Fast because it’s too expensive.

Please leave your thoughts about this so I can address if from a place of more specific information. What is too expensive? And what are the comparisons?

My food bill goes down during the Daniel Fast. So that’s why I am curious about this claim that, “the Daniel Fast is too expensive and so I can’t fast.”

Thanks for your help! I am eager to hear from people who will give specific information and not just generalities, which have already been supplied.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Another good reason for no MSG on the Daniel Fast

I just read an article from Johns Hopkins University that cited a new study about MSG. You can find it at MSG STUDY. It’s worth reading, especially when you wonder why you feel so good while on the Daniel Fast.

The article is also very convincing as to why most men and women lose weight while on the Daniel Fast. Here’s an overview:

The study finds that MSG causes the human body to gain weight three times more than those who don’t use the chemical! Here’s an excerpt:

“The study focused on 750 Chinese men and women, ages 40-59, living in 3 rural villages in north and south China. Most of the study subjects prepared their meals at home without commercially processed foods and roughly 82 percent used MSG. Those participants who used the highest amounts of MSG had nearly 3 times the incidence of overweight as those who did not use MSG, even when physical activity, total caloric intake, and other possible explanations for body mass differences were accounted for. The positive correlation between MSG and higher weight confirmed what animal studies have been suggesting for years.”

Most people think MSG (monsodium glutamate) is found only in prepared Chinese food or the food you get in Chinese restaurants. But the truth is that more and more food manufactures are adding MSG to their products because the chemical is a flavor enhancer.

Here is what is really amazing: in 1950 Americans consumed about 1 million pounds of MSG a year. Now that consumption has increased by 300 percent! That’s right, American consume more than 3 million pounds of MSG each year! And we wonder why we have a weight problem!

The best way to avoid MSG is to make you own meals from scratch. When that it’s possible, then – here we go again – READ THE LABEL on the foods you purchase to see what the ingredients include. One problem is that the law only requires ingredients to be listed if they represent a certain percent of all the ingredients. So if what seems like only a small amount of MSG is added, then it will not appear on the list.

I hope that most of those on the Daniel Fast are making most of your meals from fresh products and using packaged products that you can be sure don’t include chemicals. One thing I know is that many men and women continue to eat a more healthy diet with pure foods after they complete the fast because they realize good food is so good for them.

Please take a few minutes and read the article about THE MSG STUDY. You owe it to yourself and to your body!

Daniel Fast – Organic or Not?

Most of us increase the amount of fresh produce in our diets during the Daniel Fast. That’s good in some respects, but we also want to be wise about the foods we are buying. More and more consumers are buying “organic” produce because of all the pesticides used in large commercial farms. The cost of organic produce is usually higher, although I’ve found some sales on organic foods recently and there were less expensive than the commercial grades.

 

A useful source for information about food safety is the Environmental Working Group. Its Web site lists 44 fruits and vegetables ranked by the amount of pesticide residue each contains. By knowing which fruits and vegetables usually carry the most pesticides and which are cleanest, you can decide when it would be wisest to buy organic.

 

The Dirty Dozen

peaches

apples

sweet bell peppers

celery

nectarines

strawberries

cherries

lettuce

grapes (imported)

pears

spinach

potatoes

 

The Cleanest Dozen

onions

avocados

sweet corn (frozen)

pineapples

mangos

sweet peas (frozen)

asparagus

kiwis

bananas

cabbage

broccoli

eggplants

Daniel Fast and chips – not a very good combination :-)

We all have foods that we miss a lot when we are in the Daniel Fast. Mine is coffee. Just about every thing else is tolerable. But I really miss coffee. But there is no getting around it, coffee and any kind of substitute is out on the Daniel Fast.

Others seem to miss chips the most. They serve as a great delivery system for both salsa and salt, so I understand the challenge. The good news is that it’s easier to find a suitable substitute for chips.

If you miss being able to “crunch” on something, then rice cakes are a great way to go. I use the ones made from brown rice and I keep them around all the time for snacks and a quick breakfast by adding peanut butter, raisins and nuts.

But if you need something for your salsa, consider cut or finely sliced vegetables including carrots, celery, jicama or lettuce leaves. Not exactly the same, but healthier and Daniel Fast friendly!

Search the health food stores for baked chips that might fit the demand. You’ll need to read the label and make sure the chips are not deep fried. Also, keep your eye out for any kind of leavening. I have learned that there are some flat breads being made now using a modified Ezekiel Bread ingredients.

Finally, you could always bite the bullet and just go without like I have to with the coffee! It’s a tough road, but I know you can make it! Just think of how good that first chip will taste when you’ve completed your successful fast!

No Animal Products on the Daniel Fast

I just read another question asking if chicken broth is allowed on the Daniel Fast.

The answer is easily, “No.” The bottom line is that no animal products are allowed on the Daniel Fast. This is drawn from both accounts of Daniel’s fasting as described in Chapter 1 and in Chapter 10. On these two “partial fasts,” Daniel ate no meat and only fruits and vegetables.

So as long as any product has an origin from an animal of any type, it is not allowed on the Daniel Fast. This goes for all dairy products, cheese, eggs, etc.

Cane juice is still sugar . . .

By now you are probably very good at reading labels. I have a pair of reader glasses at the ready whenever I’m strolling the grocery aisles. That type can be SO small for these “mature” eyes.

A newer ingredient used in a lot of natural foods is “cane juice.” It might be called something a little different, but if you see the word “cane” it’s still sugar. I asked about the ingredient and it was explained to me that cane juice is what comes before sugar is granulated. The content is the same, however, so it’s still sugar!

Sorry! It’s in a lot of prepared foods that would otherwise be perfect for the Daniel Fast. But the reality is, it’s still sugar and we want to be sugar free.

“Plus” Your Water

 When you “plus” something, you take a “good thing and make it better.” Daniel Fast Blog Friend Renee Hastings shared this great thought about “plussing” drinking water:

Some folks don’t like the “taste” of water, which is critical during the fast.  How about suggesting they add cucumber and lemon slices? The flavor combination is very refreshing!! 🙂

Thanks Renee for taking the time to share your great idea!

Frozen Veggies for the Daniel Fast

You will most likely increase your vegetable intake during the Daniel Fast. Fresh is great for your salads, but for cooking you might want to turn to the frozen food section of the grocery store.

The truth is that frozen foods maintain more of their vitamin and mineral content because they are flash frozen within a much shorter period of time from harvesting than those in the fresh produce section of the grocery store.

There are great vegetable medleys perfect for stir fry plus some mixed vegetables that are great for rice dishes and soup. Plus, when you READ THE INGREDIENTS you will find only the list of frozen vegetables . . . no sugar, no chemicals . . . just food!

The other great benefit is that these vegetables are all ready to go! They’re cleaned, cored, trimmed and cut into bite-size pieces. So the frozen vegetables come out on top in most cases when it comes to cooked dishes.

READ THE LABELS when selecting prepared foods

God bless you all. I am so blessed and honored to be in this position when I can hear from so many of you as you get ready for the Daniel Fast. Please know that God is doing a mighty work. We can all expect great things from our faithful Father. Prayer and fasting is so powerful and while I can’t explain the “why or how” I do know for sure that it moves heaven’s power!

 I receive many questions about prepared foods and so I wanted to write this post. READ THE LABELS of all prepared foods. Remember that the Daniel Fast is sugar-free and chemical-free. So if you use anything like canned fruits and vegetables, packaged foods, or prepared sauces you MUST, before you use them, READ THE LABELS.

Major food companies are “getting it” and now provide many chemical-free products. They’re not as good about sugar additives.  So READ THE LABELS and see if the product you are considering meets with the Daniel Fast Guidelines of no sugar and no chemicals.

Water During the Daniel Fast

During his times of fasting, the only liquid Daniel consumed was water. That’s why the Daniel Fast Guidelines restrict us from any other beverages, except pure vegetable and fruit juices since they are merely a combination.

Water is an excellent cleanser for the body and flushing your organs and cells with good and pure water will wash it of many of the impurities.

You want to make sure the water you drink is pure, filtered water free of all chemicals and additives. This is hard to find these days since recently it was uncovered that much of the bottled water is merely municipal water sold in plastic bottles.

In my case, I have the great privilege of pure well water on my little four acre farm in Central Washington. I save hundreds of dollars every year no having to purchase drinking water! You may want to purchase your water from a health food store or make sure your drinking water is acceptable.

One caution about fruit juices! They are very high in calories. An eight ounce glass of apple juice (no sugar added) is 117 calories. Orange juice is about the same. So if drink a lot of juice you will want to be aware of the increased calories.

There is a lot of debate about the amount of water we actually need to drink. Our bodies are made up of 2/3 water, so it needs to be replenished. We get a lot of water when eating fresh foods, but so many diets are deplete of fresh foods that increased water intake is important. The other reason to drink adequate water is that it helps with appetite control and body cleansing.

How much water do you need? The simple formula is to take your body weight, divide it by 2 and that is the number of ounces of water to drink throughout the day. To make this easy for me, I have a favorite glass that holds 16 ounces. So I just make sure I drink four glasses of water from my favorite glass each day.

Increasing your water intake can also help when when you’re eliminating caffeine and suffering from headaches. I like to drink hot water with a slice of lemon at times when I would normally drink coffee.

Plan a Meal Preparation Day While on the Daniel Fast

Meal preparation will take more time on the Daniel Fast since most of the foods will be homemade. A practice I do throughout the year and works well during the Daniel Fast is to establish a day when I prepare several meals for the coming week.

Saturday works best for me. I plan my menus and grocery shopping list at the same time. Then after my shopping is complete, I come home and wash and trim all my fresh vegetables. I slice and dice and store vegetables to be used later in the week for lunches and salads. I make double batches of soups, stews and casseroles. And I try to prepare the time consuming recipes that I would otherwise not have time to make on busier weekdays.

While preparing the meals I listen to uplifting music or by audio Bible. It’s a very fun, creative and energizing time. The time I invest on this meal preparation day pays major dividends later in the week when I can prepare a salad in less than five minutes and when I have lunches already portioned out in individual servings that can just be popped in a bag to be eaten later at the office or at school.

This is also a nice time to involve the family as they can help to make meals, visit the cook, or pack lunches! If you have never done this, you will be surprised at how much time and money you will save!

Read the Labels When on the Daniel Fast

Most of the meals you prepare while on the Daniel Fast will be from scratch, including homemade soups, casseroles, stir fries, and the like. But there are some excellent organic and chemical-free products available now that can be used for your meal preparation.

 What is the key? READ THE LABELS! You will be surprised at the ingredients used in some mass produced products, not to mention that many foods include sugar. So if you are looking for some time-saving prepared foods, make sure you carefully consider the ingredients to assure their conformity to the Daniel Fast food list.

Fried Foods on the Daniel Fast

I want to clarify some things about food preparation on the Daniel Fast. This post has to do with frying foods.

First of all, keep in mind the driving issues for the Daniel Fast, which is based on the Prophet Daniel and the records of his fasts in Daniel 1:12 and in Daniel 10:3. In Daniel 1 we learn that he asked to be fed only pulse (food grown from seed) and drink only water. In Daniel 10 we read that for three weeks Daniel ate no meat and no delicacies; and he drank no wine. It is from this example that the Daniel Fast of today was created.

The Daniel Fast is a healthy way of eating and doing without some foods. Deep fried foods are not healthy, however sauteing vegetables in a small amount of olive oil is not harmful. The same goes for using a small amount of vegetable oil in salad dressings or to lightly fry whole wheat tortillas.

On the other hand, potato chips or vegetable chips deep fried in oil would be coloring outside of the Daniel Fast lines, even though the ingredients are just the vegetables, the oil, and salt.

Let the Holy Spirit lead you as you make decisions about what is within the guidelines and want is not. You can hear Him saying, “No, put that bag of Natural Chips down!” Or He might say, “Yes, 100% whole wheat tortillas are healthy and within the guidelines. Go for it!”

Youth, Special Diets, and the Daniel Fast

 I want to answer some questions I’ve received about the Daniel Fast and how to handle various circumstances.

First things First: Remember the definition of fasting – to restrict food for a spiritual reasons. The Daniel Fast is a biblical model, but there is nothing powerful about the specific foods eaten or not eaten. The “power” in the fast is that a believer is consecrating (setting aside or separating) himself or herself for a period of time for prayer and fasting. This period of consecration will affect the body, soul, and spirit. By restricting some foods on the Daniel Fast, one is taking authority over the flesh and requiring that it submit to the spiritual discipline.

Youth and Teens on the Daniel Fast: First of all, the Daniel Fast is a very healthy diet. So if young people are signing up for the fast, there really isn’t a problem of getting enough nutrition. I think the bigger question is youthfulness, schedules, and perhaps physical demands of young people in sports.

If your child, a Sunday School class, or a youth group is entering the fast, then you might want to ask the young people what would work for them. Perhaps they will fast all sugar and “junk food” and otherwise eat their normal diet. Or maybe they will stick with the Daniel Fast at home, but resume their normal food intake when at school.

Talking with the teens and having them pray about the fast and how they can be authentic and true, but at the same time not set themselves up for failure, is important. Also, if a teen has high protein needs, then keeping eggs and other dairy in the fast might work or not eliminating meat, but just breads, desserts, fried foods, etc.

Diabetic requirements: First of all, anytime you are changing your diet or exercise plan, you should consult your health provider. So please do so if you have special diet needs and plan to enter the Daniel Fast.

With that said, the Daniel Fast is actually a very healthy diet! If you are willing to eat different foods than what you may normally consume, you will have all the protein, vitamins, minerals, and other requirements that your body needs. Since diabetics need to keep their food intake in proper balance, you may need to make some adjustments . . . but that’s all okay. Remember, this is a spiritual fast. Any fast should never cause harm! You might even find yourself in better health while on the Daniel Fast with lower sugar consumption and healthier carbohydrates.

Here’s an idea: Ask your doctor to supply you with a vegan or vegetarian eating plan specifically designed for diabetics. Use this as your fast and then, just like all fasting – stick with the plan! You will likely find it very similar to the Daniel Fast.

Special Health Needs: If you are currently under a doctor’s care or have health issues that concern you, please be sure to consult your health provider before entering the fast. Direct them to this site where they have immediate access to the Daniel Fast food list and guidelines.

Other questions: Please contact me if you have other thoughts and questions. My goal with the site is to provide quality information for people as they seek a deeper relationship with the Lord through prayer and fasting.

Whole Grain Pasta on the Daniel Fast

I don’t know if you’ve noticed the pasta companies are heeding the desires of more and more people who are getting away from white processed flour and into whole grains. Consequently, they’ve created lines of whole grain pasta in just about every shape and size.

With all that said, you still need to read the labels. Golden Grain’s Multi-Grain Spaghetti has what they call “crystallized cane juice.” Sounds an awful like sugar to me! But I also buy a store brand that is 100% Durum Wheat (Fred Meyer stores are a Pacific Northwest chain, but part of the Kroger line). That’s totally within the Daniel Fast Guidelines.

If you haven’t eaten whole wheat pasta before, you’ll find that the flavor is indeed different. Not bad . . . just different! I actually prefer the flavor because it . . . well . . . it has more flavor! One of my favorite ways to prepare pasta is to saute vegetables in a little olive oil  or just braise them in water until tender. Mix them with cooked pasta and some olive oil. When not fasting I add Parmesan cheese, but I just leave that ingredient out during the fast.

You can also use prepared sauces (again, check the label for ingredients) along with sauteed or braised onions and garlic. Heat everything up and then just pour it over cooked pasta.

I think this is a really nice addition to the foods that are within the Daniel Fast Guidelines. These are not substitutes, but rather a different kind of food. Whole grain pasta is much better for you and offers 7 grams of protein per serving (3/4 cup of dried pasta).

So, enjoy this nice new product line! It’s not really an advancement, but rather choosing to go back to what is good, true and healthy!