FeauxCajun.Com: Daniel Fast Day 12: Fasting & Valentine’s Day!

Today’s Devotion: “Let God Arise- Psalms 68:1 ‘Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered: let them also that hate him flee before him.’

It is day number 12 in our fast & 12 is the number of perfect government. To be governed perfectly means that the King is sitting upon the throne of our hearts ruling & reigning in our lives. That is a picture of his kingdom. I believe this is what this verse in Psalms is referring to when it declares, “Let God Arise”. Whenever we become complacent in the things of the Lord seems to be the times most of the attacks of the enemy come against us. Not as though the Lord has left us or anything like that, but it represents times when we put Him out of mind & begin to do our own thing. But the answer is simple, ‘Let God Arise.’ We can avoid the heartache most of us deal with if we will remember this simple truth.”

Well, Happy Valentine’s Day to you all! The day where we celebrate a man who was martyred for marrying Christians with champagne, flowers and boxes of chocolates. Completely logical, right?

Well, with the Daniel Fast, we can only celebrate with one of those things.

(Thanks for the flowers, Bishop Valentinus.)

So, are we stuck at home munching on celery & carrot sticks?

NOPE. Well…okay, we are eating at home, but definitely not rabbit food!

(Unless rabbits also eat fungus & tubers. In which case…erm…well…sorta.)

Breakfast: ½ whole wheat flatbread w/PB & pumpkin pie spice

Lunch: Leftover salsa rice.

Valentine’s Dinner: Garlic Rosemary mashed potatoes, balsamic grilled mushrooms & onions, and steamed peas.

That’s right…tonight’s dinner actually doesn’t have any “real” protein, because we’re kinda burnt out on beans. So I used my favorite marinade to make us some meaty mushrooms and comforting mashed ‘taters.

INGREDIENTS: (serves 2)

Potatoes -

2-3 large russets, peeled & cubed
2 tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp dried rosemary
2 cubes chicken bouillon (if it has no actual chicken product in it)
1/2-2/3 cup almond milk
2 tbsp coconut oil
2 tsp garlic powder
salt & pepper to taste

Mushrooms & Onions-

8 oz fresh portabellas, wiped but not washed
½ onion, sliced into thin rings
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp mustard
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp cracked black pepper
½ tsp salt

DIRECTIONS:

For the Mushrooms—place the oil, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, garlic, salt & pepper to a large Ziploc and mix well. Then add the mushrooms and marinate for about 30 minutes.

Boil potatoes with the chicken bouillon, minced garlic & rosemary to help infuse those flavors into the potatoes. When the potatoes are tender, drain the water and add coconut oil and milk and puree until creamy. Add more garlic powder, salt & pepper to taste.

While your potatoes are boiling, heat a large skillet over medium heat, spritz lightly with olive oil, and then add your mushrooms & the sliced onions. Sauté until tender and the onions are caramelized. You can add a bit of water if the marinade starts to render down too much.

And for Dessert? More fake ice cream!

(1 ripe banana, mashed, 1.5 tbsp peanut butter, 2 tsp unsweet cocoa powder, 4 dashes cinnamon: blend together & freeze)

Garnish with some fresh fruit (used a cookie cutter to make the shapes).

As for gifts: I pulled another “Crafts in the Office” & made The Hubs a little wall hanging from one of our favorite photos.

Supplies:

5” wooden plaque (Hobby Lobby)
Wood Stain or Paint
Modge Podge
Photo, trimmed to fit
Any lettering/decorations you want to use
Ribbon
Two thumbtacks & some Scotch tape

This was a super quick little craft. I had the photo printed at 5x7 so that I could trim it to fit, and then went through a recent mag and picked out some letters to decorate with. This seemed appropriate. :)

Backstory: This is from a trip to San Fransisco. We missed the last Alcatraz tour (which you can barely see in the background).

I stained the edges of the wood that would be visible, and then set it aside to dry. Then I applied Modge Podge to the wood, attached my photo, and then sorta “squeegeed” the photo to get the excess glue out. Then let it dry. Once dry, I added the letters, and Modge Podge’d over the whole thing, let it dry again, and used some sand paper to buff any edges of the photo so that it would be flush with the plaque.