Daniel day 3… we are getting cosy!

Isn’t it funny how we become over apprehensive over a project/idea/journey?

Doing a Daniel fast and a regular blog are both very new to me so, over the whole month of February, I chewed my nail over this. I imagined all possible fails and good reasons to abandon or push back the fast. I nearly abandoned on day one… I was in Paris and surrounded by GOOD FOOD! That was the worst bridge to cross. And having crossed it I now feel that all that time worrying about doing this was just a…. WASTE. Well here we are. 

It might just be day 3, but I feel that the worst is over. I have also realised that worrying about stuff helps you prepare for obstacles. I am not claiming victory just yet, but I felt that I am getting in to  a routine now and really starting to enjoy this.

It is almost too easy. The real challenge will come when the spiritual stuff start kicking in. You can never prepare for that. I sincerely hope that the prayer for random people isn’t going to increase as I feel weird calling someone and saying…”God told me that you needed prayer”. Thank God the most random of them seem to know who I was, but I couldn’t remember her… well, may be that is my comfort issue … will need to sort it out and be more positive about it.

The reading today in my bible was about Moses having people supporting him in everything he did. Similarly during my preparation, I nominated few people who will support me during the fast and help me keeping on… people to be accountable to are a good motivator… who like admitting defeat? Not me! So I find them really useful and thank God that I have such friend. I am yet to find people to join me on short legs of the journey and can understand their reluctance… If you are interested, there is still time. DM me on twitter to @hjulienne.

Oat Bran with fresh fruits

Today food wise, the Oat bran looked and tasted better topped up with fresh Strawberries, chopped red grapes, coconut milk and a small pinch of salt. I think this could be even better with sharper watery fruits like Clementine or other red berries (black berries seem watery enough).

For lunch I had the leftovers from “my suede surprise” topped up with sesame seeds for crunch.



"my suede surprise"


For dinner it was a simple lentils & potatoes soup accompanied with bobolo. The bobolo is from Cameroon and made with fermented Cassava steamed in a banana leaves…

I love them and they can be used in place of bread for the soup. Given that It is fermented, I am not quiet sure if it suitable for this fast. 

Lentil soup and bobolo





Recipes of the soup and the bobolo are available on request. Please DM me via twitter @hjulienne.

Thank you for keeping up. A bientot!



girl holding a bobolo







  

Daniel day 2

Daniel day 2. I am settling in. No fail today. Yay!

Another change added in my routine from today; I am reducing my LBC early morning intake.

Now. I am an LBC973 addict. And Steve Allen is the best person to wake up to on week days. Steve keeps me from falling back asleep from the first alarm at 4.45am until 6am when I switch to David Jeremiah on Premier Christian radio as part of my morning devotion.

By reducing Steve Allen to 30 minutes, I get to sleep 15 more minutes and switch to Premier from 5.30am for 1hr teachings. But more sleep yay!

Breakfast was rank this morning. I have switch from porridge to Bran oat.

That, mixed with soy milk and no sugar….yuk!  I have promised myself to make this slobby slob edible and visually acceptable. So tomorrow, we will add in fresh strawberries and red grapes on top of the seeds and dry raisins that are already there. Hopefully the sugar kick will be more instantaneous.

My lunch plate

Yesterday I was a bit worried about the staff lunch with all that meat available on the buffet, but, my plate was quite satisfying as I had not troubles resisting the liver pâté and cheeses available… I am really proud of this…. See how beautiful my paper plate looks with the colours and houmous!

For dinner I made what I will call my suede surprise … see how beautiful that look; it includes, suede (also called) rutabaga of course, green cabbage, chilli pepper, fresh tomatoes, sage and coconut milk.

The dinner was really tasty but my mouth was oh so on fire… I was too heavy on chilli… lol.

As for prayers today and the rest of this first week, we are still on thanks giving prayers… I have discovered that the more you thank God more you find reasons to… One thing I really rubbish at is praying before eating… I must work on that… Hey I never said I was perfect!

Thank you for reading... A demain!

Recipes of all the meal are available on request DM me on twitter @hjulienne.

Here we are... Daniel day 1

I spent the week end in Paris with my family. They know how to deal with food and of course I stuffed my face even though I was supposed to wind down in order to star the fast.

This morning first day, I woke up in Paris few steps away from warm tasty croissants, pains au chocolat, pain aux amandes and fresh baguette. 

Instead I opted for 3 oranges and a apple. But I couldn’t resist coffee. Well, that was the first and hopefully the only fail of the nest 28 days. T

he rest of the day was easier because I was returning to London by coach and ferry. I planned my day and had enough ground nuts and a vegetable stir-fry (see picture) in my luggage. 

Stir fry eated on the quay waiting for the ferry at Calais - France



For drink, I had  glaces of hot water with lemon slices then normal water. Another apple in the ferry that cost me 80 pences… thieves! Plus it was a tinny one.

Over all it was an easy enough day as I wasn’t around food much. The journey from Paris lasted 10 hours (passports issues with some of my fellow travellers) and I used that time for prayer and reading the word of God -I intend to read the bible cover to cover I started in January, made a big dent today-.

The prayer today were mostly about thanks giving as I’ve had many answered prayers this year already.

I got home at 10.45pm, so, missed out on cooking the meal I was so looking forward to put together for my first fast cooked meal. So (quick) dinner is roasted nuts and caffeine free- sugar -free-ginger tea.

Tomorrow at work is staff lunch…aaaahhh that’s going to be fun with the whole office filled with smells of roasted chicken and hot dogs… I might just decide to take a walk… Yes I am a chicken, cowed or better yet …a horse ah!

See ya tomorrow and thank you for reading… Want to join me for a day or two on this journey? Please let me know. So I will add you to my prayers of the day.  A bientot.

The Daniel Fast set up

So, I have decided to do a Daniel Fast from March 5^th until March 31^st. That is a long period and I am really worried about failing.

I came back after 3 weeks in Africa and it was only few days before Lent and I hadn’t thought about what I was going to give up for Lent. Last year at this time my brother died just a few days into Lent and it think I may have erased the word Lent as it is now associated to my little bro Claudio passing.

On 4^th February at work, I came across this church’s website giving advice to members of the church who had decided to fast together. Suddenly, I had the ‘light bulb’ moment I needed. I decided there and then that I would take the month of February to prepare myself for a month of Daniel Fasting in March.

I thought of doing it for just 10 days. And then I thought of all the reasons i was doing this fast;

1. Was it for thanksgiving?
2. Was it because of my aching desire to have a family unit of my own?
3. Was it to have a better relationship with my family?
4. Was it to grow in faith?
5. Was it to do more with the homeless?
6. Was it to ask God to give me more direction in my life?

All of a sudden, 10 days just didn’t seem enough. All those things need to be submitted (seriously) to God’s care. So, 4 weeks of fasting it is, then!

I decided during the month of February to empty my fridge, freezer and cupboards of everything that might tempt me: dairy, meat, sugar, all forms of sweeteners, yeast, refined and processed foods, deep-fried foods, and solid fat (butter), coffee, caffeinated stuff. Yikes!!!

The first challenge will be the staff lunch ON THE FIRST DAY of the fast and then the Spring Harvest buffet in the last 3 days of the fast… how funny is that?

During the fast, I will try and be creative with my food and keep an online journal, here with the recipes.

I was born in Cameroon, in west Central Africa, and raised in France. I now live and work here in the UK. There’s no doubt that my heritage will be reflected in my food over the next 4 weeks.

What will I miss most?  I think milk will be my biggest weakness! I consume more whole milk than a baby… Lord Help me!

Stay tuned!

plain greens

coco, yam, kasava (this is what makes Africans built like me lol)

pulses

 

 

 

 

 

Find out what I will do with these and quinoa, barley, Sarasin African root vegetables and others

Learn about Daniel fast here: http://daniel-fast.com/about.html

Got questions on fasting? Click here http://www.gotquestions.org/fasting-Christian.html