My laptop, with my recipe software is in the shop at this point, so you won’t get all the pretty formatting. What the heck, it is lent, so we are supposed to give up stuff. I guess I am giving up HTML formatted recipes

Lowcarb Lenten Veggie Burgers

Ingredients:

2 Teaspoons of Olive Oil
1 small Onion grated
2 carrots grated
1 small summer squash grated
1 small zucchini grated
1 egg beaten
1 to 2 tablespoons Soy Sauce
1 3/4 cups of Flax Meal
1 1/2 cups of Almond Flour

Dirctions:

Grate the carrots, summer squash, and the zucchini and place in paper towels to get rid of the extra moisture. If you don’t do this your burgers will be mushy in the center and not firm.

In a skillet, heat the olive oil under low heat and add the onion and garlic and cook till tender (about 5 minutes)

Add the veggie mix to the skillet and cook for a couple of minutes.

Take the Veggie mix, move to a bowl, add the flax meal, the egg, and the soy sauce. Mix together and place in a refrigerator for about an hour. This will let the flavors come together.

Once it has finished in the fridge, take out the mixture, put the almond flour on a plate.

Preheat the oven to 350

Fashion 8, 3 inch patties out of the veggie mixture and them lightly cover them with Almond flour.

Once the oven is heated put the patties on a greased jelly roll pan and place in the oven for 20 minutes. You can choose to turn the patties after 10 minutes to crisp the other side.

If you try this recipe, post in the comments how you liked it and how it came out for you. I am working on this recipe and will update the recipe for different ways to cook these burgers.

Shamelessly stolen from the Greek Orthodox Site:

Lent was in origin the time of final preparation for candidates for baptism at the Easter Vigil, and this is reflected in the readings at the Liturgy, today and on all the Sundays of Lent. But that basic theme came to be subordinated to later themes, which dominated the hymnography of each Sunday. The dominant theme of this Sunday since 843 has been that of the victory of the icons. In that year the iconoclastic controversy, which had raged on and off since 726, was finally laid to rest, and icons and their veneration were restored on the first Sunday in Lent. Ever since, that Sunday been commemorated as the “triumph of Orthodoxy.”

Orthodox teaching about icons was defined at the Seventh Ecumenical Council of 787, which brought to an end the first phase of the attempt to suppress icons. That teaching was finally re- established in 843, and it is embodied in the texts sung on this Sunday. Continue Reading »

As many people know I am back on Atkins.  Which if you understand the Atkins diet you realize that it is mostly protein.  Which means that you have MEAT, and fish, veggies (which you can have in certain amounts)

Now many of you know that I am Eastern Catholic (I try to think of it as being Orthodox in Union with Rome, even tho my bishops would disagree.) and try to follow the Orthodox fasting regulations.

Now you must realize that these two really don’t fit… Unless you do some heavy modifications.

Lets just say that I am not going full balls on orthodox fast with respect to the backbone.  Some Orthodox fasting regulations say that you can’t eat anything with a vertebrate.  Which would mean fish.  Sorry guys..  I love you and I love the Lord, and I think the Lord wants me to be healthy i.e. weigh less, so.. I have personally added fish back into the mix for myself.  Also I do allow small portions of cheese, if I need a protein pick me up.

Now realize I am NOT eating pounds and pounds of Cheese, so the idea isn’t that I am bingeing on cheese the idea is to know your body and try to be as faithful to the fast and to your weight loss program as you can be.

So what do I eat…

Tuna, lots of tuna, lots and lots of Tuna.  Salads, lots of salads, lots and lots of salads. Veggies, but I try to keep the number of Carrots low, and work with mostly the green veggies, which are lower in carbs.

These are what you can eat

These veggies are slightly higher in carbs:

You want to keep these veggies down to less than 12-15 carbs of your daily intake when you are in induction.

Induction is the first stage of the Diet where you cut down your carbs to a minimum and this gets your body working on your fat.  It takes fat out of your body, and produces keotones, which then the body uses for energy.  This is a win win situation, you lose weight and your body gets energy.

So what is a typical day of the fast for me you ask?  Well here is one of my menus:

Breakfast:  2 Eggs, Fried using Pam on the pan or equivalent.

Snack:  1 or 2 oz Almonds, or 1 oz Macadamia Nuts

Lunch:  Large Salad, Romain Lettuce, and A serving of canned Greenbeans

Snack:  Same as above, or 1 to 2 servings of Green beans

Dinner:  Tuna Salad with Mayo (yes, I know there is oil in it… get over it) or another 2 or 3 fried eggs.

At this time I am taking a multivitamin because I know that nutritionally I am out of whack.  Even when I was eating crap, I was nutritionally out of whack, so what else is new with this life?

What we are taking is an imbalanced system, mine, and working it in the best way that we can.  My body can’t handle sugar, because of the years of abuse I put it through my Pancreas is too good and taking sugar and making fat out of it.  By removing the sugars from the body we then make the pancreas do the opposite.  The body can’t find sugar to burn, so it eats the energy it has stored in my cells.

In regular atkins, I would be allowed to eat almost anything that I wanted as long as there were no carbs, so I could have four pieces of chicken, but with the lenten fast, I can’t do this.

Atkins during Lent takes some doing, but IT CAN BE DONE.  I am now one week into the Great fast, I am running less than 20 carbs a day, I am not eating meat, Cheese is used for emergency use i.e. if I get to the point where the body needs a boost, I allow myself a 1/2 ounce to an ounce, but I have only had to do this once, and it was yesterday.

Today is Forgiveness Sunday in the Eastern Catholic Church, and those Orthodox Churches on the new Calendar.

Tonight, at vespers, before we enter the Great Lent, we will prostrate ourselves in front of each parishioner that is in attendance and beg forgiveness from them for anything that we have done where we might have offended them.

Here is something written by Fredrica Matthews-Green which is more eloquent than I could put it.

When I entered the Eastern Catholic Church I was seeking deeper tradition and deeper religious expression.  Yes, I know this can be found in the West, but those places, sadly, are few and far between.  I believe that I have been lead to the east by our Lord, for he wants me to delve deeper spiritually.

The Blessing of Apples on Theophany

The Cassocks, and the Church

The Monastics

The Vestments

MATT. XXV. 31–41. “When the Son of Man shall come in the glory of His Father, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit,” says He, “upon the throne of His glory, and He shall divide the sheep from the kids;”[and the one He will accept, because they fed Him, when an hungered, and gave Him drink when thirsty, and took Him in when a stranger, and clothed Him when naked, and visited Him when sick, and came to see Him when in prison: and He will give the kingdom to them. But the others, accusing them for the opposite things, He will send into the eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.]

Unto this most delightful portion of Scripture, which we do not cease continually revolving, let us now listen with all earnestness and compunction, this wherewith His discourse ended, even as the last thing, reasonably; for great indeed was His regard for philanthropy and mercy. Wherefore in what precedes He had discoursed concerning this in a different way; and here now in some respects more clearly, and more earnestly, not setting forth two nor three nor five persons, but the whole world; although most assuredly the former places, which speak of two persons, meant not two persons, but two portions of mankind, one of them that disobey, the other of the obedient. But here He handles the word more fearfully, and with fuller light. Wherefore neither does He say, “The kingdom is likened,” any more, but openly shows Himself, saying, “When the Son of Man shall come in His glory.” For now is He come in dishonor, now in affronts and reproaches; but then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory. Continue Reading »

The Holy Apostle commands us saying “Let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk becomingly as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof.” From the time of the Apostles, Prophets and Fathers till our own day, it is evident from the life of the Church that fasting is part of our “armor of light”; it is a mighty weapon against the enemy given into our hands by the Saviour Himself, Who is a type and example for us in all things and Who fasted in the flesh in order to teach us to fast. To those weak and ill, it is a medicine and antidote a bath in which to be washed and cleansed. Armored with holy fasting, St. Elias the Tishbite withstood Ahab and his army singlehandedly and called down fire from the heavens. By fasting St. Moses, the seer of God and the elder of Israel, prepared to ascend the mountain in the desert and behold the Glory of God. By fasting the Three Children were shown forth to be fairer than the other children in Babylon in the house of the king, and Daniel was shown forth to be a shepherd of lions. Fasting, therefore, should always be understood as a thing most necessary in our battle with the evil one. Only a man who has lost his mind would put down his weapons, strip himself naked of his armor and then jump into the line of fire to do battle with the enemy. Such a one would be committing suicide. A man who calls himself a Christian and does not fast, is such a man. In the final analysis he who does not fast does not believe in God, for he does not really believe in the existence of the enemy and the great victory gifted to us over him by our Saviour. He who does not fast does not believe in Him Who said to the enemy, “Man shall not live by bread alone.” This is why Apostolic and Patristic canons proclaim that all who do not keep the fasts have fallen away from the Faith (i.e., have become excommunicated), and our Holy Father St. Seraphim of Sarov instructs us not even to speak with such persons. Continue Reading »

Here is a meatless sauce for pasta.

Here is a quick and easy meat free recipe for those fast days

Now if you are on the Strict Orthodox fast, then the oil blows it. You could try to substitute Applesauce for the oil, and use nonstick spray rather than butter or grease.

Meatfare is the Sunday when Eastern Catholics and Orthodox remove meat from their meals.  This is in preparation of the Great Lent.  Next Sunday will be Cheesefare and that is when we will remove dairy.  After that then it will be 40 days of Fasting until Pascha.

Depending on how hard core you there are varying forms of the fast.

We also reflect on the Last Judgment.  This goes hand in hand with the penitential season of Lent.  Lent is where we look at our lives, removing those things that separate us from God, and enter into a deeper reflection of our lives as Christians.

Commemorated on February 7

Today’s Gospel reading is Matthew 25:31-46, the parable of the Last Judgment. It reminds us that while trusting in Christ’s love and mercy, we must not forget His righteous judgment when He comes again in glory. If our hearts remain hardened and unrepentant, we should not expect the Lord to overlook our transgressions simply because He is a good and loving God. Although He does not desire the death of a sinner, He also expects us to turn from our wickedness and live (Ezek. 33:11). This same idea is expressed in the prayer read by the priest after the penitent has confessed his or her sins (Slavic practice).

The time for repentance and forgiveness is now, in the present life. At the Second Coming, Christ will appear as the righteous Judge, Who will render to every man according to his deeds” (Rom. 2:6). Then the time for entreating God’s mercy and forgiveness will have passed.

As Father Alexander Schmemann reminds us in his book GREAT LENT (Ch. 1:4), sin is the absence of love, it is separation and isolation. When Christ comes to judge the world, His criterion for judgment will be love. Christian love entails seeing Christ in other people, our family, our friends, and everyone else we may encounter in our lives. We shall be judged on whether we have loved, or not loved, our neighbor. We show Christian love when we feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, visit those who are sick or in prison. If we did such things for the least of Christ’s brethren, then we also did them for Christ (Mt.25:40). If we did not do such things for the least of the brethren, neither did we do them for Christ (Mt.25:45).

Today is the last day for eating meat and meat products until Pascha, though eggs and dairy products are permitted every day during the coming week. This limited fasting prepares us gradually for the more intense fasting of Great Lent.
Troparion – Tone 1

When You, O God, shall come to earth with glory,
all things shall tremble
and the river of fire shall flow before Your judgment seat;
the books shall be opened and the hidden things disclosed!
Then deliver me from the unquenchable fire,
and make me worthy to stand at Your right hand, righteous Judge!