Last week I told you about my experience with a Daniel fast. Although I can’t say I consumed a huge variety of foods on my fast, I found a few things I liked and put them on regular rotation for the three weeks I was fasting.
Here’s what a typical day looked like for me:
Oatmeal. I ate oatmeal almost every single day because it was easy, filling, and somewhat appetizing. I mixed the following in a bowl and microwaved it for 70 seconds:
½ cup oats (either old-fashioned or quick)
Water or almond milk
1-3 teaspoons almond butter
Before serving, I added:
One sliced banana or a (generous) handful of red grapes
A few almonds, optional
Smoothies. I froze bananas, strawberries, peaches, and clementines in Ziploc bags ahead of time in case I ran out of fresh fruit. Most days I blended up a combination of fresh and frozen fruit, almond milk, and kale in my smoothies. These smoothies weren’t as tasty as the protein shakes I usually have (I wasn’t sure protein powder was allowed, but I doubted it and didn’t want to risk it), but they weren’t bad, either. If my smoothie turned out to be absolutely not sweet enough, I threw in some grapes, and that did the trick.
Banana. Sometimes I just ate a plain banana for breakfast. You could smear it with almond butter, too.
Smoothies. I had these for lunch some days, too, often with a side of almonds or cashews. You could totally make one of those pretty smoothie bowls, but I was not that ambitious.
Roasted vegetables. I roasted broccoli, asparagus, cauliflower, potatoes, sweet potatoes…you name it.
Fried potatoes with homemade salsa. I used this recipe, skipping the seasoned salt (because the Lawry’s in my cupboard contained sugar) and subbing extra paprika and garlic powder instead.
Brown rice cake with refried beans and salsa. I know rice cakes don’t exactly compare to salty tortilla chips, but they’re something, at least!
Baked sweet potatoes. This is one vegetable I think tastes great on its own, no matter how you cook it!
Leftovers. See dinner ideas below. Most days I just reheated for lunch whatever I’d made for dinner the night before.
Quinoa Chili. I had a lot of quinoa chili. If you want, you can cook a pound of ground beef or turkey in a separate pan for others who aren’t fasting to add to their chili. Just be sure to leave out the sugar and cocoa powder to make this fast-friendly.
Quinoa taco “meat.” I basically just boiled a bunch of quinoa and then added chili powder, cumin, and garlic powder. I served it with homemade salsa and fresh cilantro and it wasn’t half bad! I also added various peppers to this “meat.”
Sweet Potato Noodles with Spicy Peanut Sauce. By far my favorite meal on this fast! I subbed almond butter for the peanut butter since I didn’t have any sugar-free peanut butter, but this meal was amazing. I eat it even when I’m not on a Daniel fast! I prefer this recipe without the chickpeas, but I did add chickpeas for extra protein during my fast.
Slow Cooker Enchilada Quinoa Bake (minus the cheese). This is another recipe I’ve made before even when I’m not fasting, but it definitely tastes better with the cheese.
Fried rice. I made a couple different versions. I used brown rice, wild rice, quinoa, and freekeh. (I couldn’t find out for sure if freekeh is Daniel fast-approved, but I couldn’t find anywhere that it wasn’t and it sure seems like a whole grain to me, so I ate it.) I cooked my grains and then fried them with a little oil, garlic, soy sauce, broccoli, and carrots. And it became a downright delicious meal when topped with a handful of cashews!
Refried beans with salsa. You could also have refried beans with Mexican-seasoned brown rice, but I was kind of over the rice after eating so much fried rice. I served mine with cilantro and kale or other veggies.
Shredded zucchini “noodles” with marinara. This was my least favorite meal because I just couldn’t get past the watery texture of the zucchini. The marinara was delicious, but it just wasn’t the same over a bowl of defrosted frozen zucchini. Haha. Fresh probably wouldn’t be so bad!
Cauliflower Steaks with Ginger-Soy Sauce. I won’t try to claim that these compare to regular steaks. And I would’ve preferred them as a side dish rather than an entrée. But they were tasty and simple to make!
Baked potatoes. Pretty basic. I usually served these with a generous scoop of quinoa chili (see above) since cheese, butter, and sour cream were off-limits.
Homemade salsa. Homemade salsa saved my life. I put it on everything and used rice cakes as “chips.”
Baby carrots.
Grapes.
Almonds. I don’t even really like almonds, but when you’re hungry and you have them in your purse, you learn to like them well enough!
Banana. What you reach for when you’re a girl who likes her sugar and can’t have it.
Hummus. I bought the ingredients but didn’t actually end up making it, because I felt too bloated to add chickpeas to my diet. But I love hummus and this recipe is my favorite, so it would’ve been a treat with some carrots or celery sticks!
Apples. I ate quite a few of these, and for once even the Granny Smiths tasted sweet to me!
Applesauce. Same story. I felt five years old, but in a very satisfying way.
Brown rice cakes with almond butter and all-fruit spread or sliced bananas. I happened to have raspberry all-fruit spread on hand (all the praise hands) and it was a game-changer when I was sick of or out of every other fruit. I’ve also seen people use rice cakes for avocado “toast,” but I’m not a cool enough millennial to eat that stuff.
Pineapple. I found a can in the back of my pantry that needed to be used up, and it was perfect for those moments when I had a dessert craving or needed a side dish for dinner.
Blueberries. I don’t love blueberries unless they’re fresh from the northeast or stuffed into sugary muffins, but I ate a lot of these when I didn’t know what else to eat.
…And that exciting lineup, ladies, and gents, is what I ate on my Daniel fast!
Need some more inspiration? I have a Daniel fast pinboard with other ideas.
For any recipes that don’t seem entirely Daniel fast-approved, just leave out any of the ingredients that aren’t allowed (brown sugar, meat, etc.).
Happy fasting! Hope you discover some of your own favorites if you’re taking on a fast of your own! You’ve got this!
Hey! I'm Brianna and I'm a millennial. I'm also a reader, writer, God-lover, introvert, and recovering perfectionist. ☺️ I want to inspire millennials to retain their morality, hope, and faith as they transition into adulthood and full-fledged "adult."
