During Great Lent, many Orthodox believers abstain from food of animal origin, which helps them not only cleanse and put in order the body as a whole, improve their well-being, but also get rid of impure thoughts.
The duration of the strictest fast in 2016 is 48 days (from March 14 to April 30), and during all these seven weeks, believers must adhere to a special diet menu, observe a regime, all the nuances of which everyone should learn before the upcoming period. Great rain begins immediately after the day of seeing off Maslenitsa, in 2016 it is March 14th. Until the indicated date, from 7 to 13, Pancake Week (Pancake) is going on, in the menu of which there are an abundance of dishes based on butter, eggs, milk, cottage cheese and other products of animal origin. After this period, Great Lent begins, which ends with Easter.
The Great Lent menu is quite limited and this is understandable, because only through bodily cleansing a person can maximally purify himself spiritually. Even more cleansing can be obtained if during the fast you limit not only food, but also renounce as much as possible from worldly needs and entertainment, which include refusal to have sex, all kinds of alcoholic beverages, smoking, attending entertainment events, etc. fasting and getting married.
Menu in Great Lent 2016 for every day
What you can't eat in post 2016
During the fast, you need to forget animal products, so to avoid temptations, try not to buy them a few days before the fast, so that at the indicated time your stocks will have the necessary content. So, during Lent you cannot eat any meat and fish dishes, including liver, caviar, etc., all products of dairy origin (yogurt, milk, kefir, cottage cheese, cheese, fermented baked milk, butter, etc.), mayonnaise, eggs, confectionery (they often contain milk, oils, etc.), pasta, baked goods and alcoholic beverages.
What can you eat in the post 2016
As for the permitted products, they include all vegetables and fruits, mushrooms, nuts, cereals (cooked, of course, without milk and butter, that is, just on water), dried fruits and berries, various ferments and marinades. From drinks you can afford teas and herbal infusions, compotes, kvass and jelly. Monday, Wednesday and Friday are the most difficult days for fasting people, as they allow you to eat only once a day, and the food must be raw (cabbage salad, fruits, grated carrots …). Any vegetable oils are prohibited on these days. On Tuesday and Thursday, you can still eat only once a day, but already food after heat treatment (stewed, boiled). Oil is also banned. Saturday and Sunday are days when fasting people can afford to taste food twice a day, and it is allowed to season food with vegetable oil. The hardest days in fasting are the first and last days (in 2016 it is March 14 and April 30), since it is advisable to completely refuse to eat during them. It would not be superfluous to say that on Lent on some days it is allowed to eat fish, but only on holidays (Annunciation (April 7), Palm Sunday (April 24) and Lazarev Saturday (April 12)).
Each believer makes an approximate fasting menu for himself, based on his preferences and tastes. However, to diversify it, I advise you to heed the recommendations below. Be sure to include vegetable soups in your diet, if desired, carrot, pumpkin or zucchini puree soups. Do not neglect porridge either. Take a closer look at rice, pearl barley, buckwheat and oatmeal porridges, cook them in water, and add frozen or fresh fruits and berries, nuts, seeds to them to give them a beautiful appearance and pleasant taste. Vegetable and mushroom cutlets and meatballs are quite interesting in taste. Experiment and cook them to your liking. Salads are the main dishes on the fasting table. They will help you cleanse your body, stock up on vitamins, and get a lot of energy. Vegetable oils can be used to dress these dishes, and fruit and vegetable purees can be used on days when they are prohibited.
