Substitutes

During the Daniel Fast, you should be eating no meat, and no milk products. This means that, if you’re not careful, you could have certain deficiencies. Which is why we have compiled a list of natural DFA (Daniel Fast Approved) foods that can help you balance out your diet.

Protein

We know that you’re going to miss your nice piece of chicken. But in the meantime, you can replace your meat with :

• I’m nuts about nuts ! Any kind of nut, cashew, brazilian, hazelnut, and especially peanuts, are a good source of protein.
• Try a good steak… I mean, a soya steak. Soy milk, tofu, soy sprouts,…
• Vegetarian meat ? What an oxymoron! Even though this « fake meat » from the organic section can be quite pricey, we admit it looks and tastes a lot like real meat.
• Let’s be cereal-eaters, not serial-killers. Mainly lentils, quinoa, red or white beans, and chickpeas.

Calcium

Don’t worry, your bones won’t break if you don’t eat a bite of your favorite cheese at night, or if you don’t drink your tall glass of fresh milk in the morning. However, adding these elements to your meals can give you a good dose of calcium :

• My worst nightmare : brocoli. Alas, we know it’s true for a lot of you. Unfortunately, brocoli is also an excellent source of calcium!
• Almonds can be a good thing to munch on. Or why not pour some almond milk into your bowl of unsweetened cereal?
• Open sesame! You can sprinkle sesame seeds on practically any dish.

Sugar

We know it, it’s hard to sacrifice the delicious brownie you’re dreaming of. But stay strong, and try these tricks to calm your urges :

• Hey honey, do you know I love honey? Although some christians arguent that honey comes from an animal (a bee), we think that’s honey is DFA since it is not a produce of the bee’s body, but the fruit of it’s labor.
• Pancakes & syrup! (without the pancakes). It can be argued that 100% pure maple syrup, since it comes from a tree, is DFA.
• It might be obvious to you, but not to everyone. All fruit contains natural sugars, and usually have a sweet taste… wether it be dried, blended, mashed, diced : let’s fruit it up!
• Although peanut butter might seem like a real treat, organic peanut butter (no sugar or oil added) is technically DFA.

Sauces

Be careful with sauces !! Most of the sauces that we use in our cooking is either full of sugar, or it contains animal-products. Here are some examples of DFA sauces that you might like :

• Houmous : a chickpea spread that can easily be found in the kosher section.
• Basil spread : a green sauce that almost has the same taste as pesto, but with no parmesan.
• Vegetable pastes : an eggplant dip to spread on some crackers for a light snack, or a red-pepper paste to mix into your pasta for lunch.

 

Short on ideas on what to cook? Check out our DF-approved recipes.