I usually balk at making menus more than a week ahead (but I ALWAYS make menus a week ahead and go shopping once a week; see this post for a good explanation for why) because I actually LIKE to cook. It’s kind of a hobby and I enjoy going through my massive pile of cookbooks every week and finding all kinds of new things to make. But it really does take a lot of time each weekend, and I think it’s a really good idea to simplify during Lent. Lent is not the time to be thinking about food all the time and spending three hours planning out menus and shopping lists, but instead to focus on prayer and repentence. Still, (baby steps here) I couldn’t go so far as to plan just one week of fasting recipes and repeat it all Lent long, so I compromised and did a three week menu to rotate through. I typed it up, I have one taped to my kitchen cupboard and one in my new homemaking notebook (in progress; see Mary’s series at evlogia for more info) and then made up PDFs of all the recipes to also put in the notebook. This part really helps; I have a very small kitchen, and I find myself either taking up a full one-half of my counter space with an open cookbook or even bringing the computer in to read a recipe from the internet. Now I just take out the recipe and clip it to the magnetized clip on my stove hood, and I don’t ever have to go searching for the recipe again. They’ll even be there for next Lent, so in theory, I never have to do all this again. So, since I did all that work making up a menu, I thought maybe it would help others get ideas for Lenten meals, so I will upload it here.

Download 2010 Great Lent Menu

I don’t have time to upload all the recipes right now (…or maybe ever) but I will try and return and link to the recipes online and maybe upload a few. Several of them are already posted here, and several I stole from other Orthodox bloggers. If you are really hankering to make one of these before I come back and link them, just leave a comment and I can email it to you. I’ve added links to several of the recipes, and will continue to add to it as I have time.

You’ll see that I only make about four dinners a week. Since it’s just Paul and I that eat actual food here, one batch of something feeds us for usually two dinners and some lunches. So if you’re feeding more than two people, you’ll probably need more meals than this. Also, we do not usually fast from oil. If a recipe calls for it, I still use it. I just try not to add oil when it’s not necessary. Our priest often encourages us to struggle just a little more each year, to fast a little more, give a little more, pray a little more, try to attend one more service than you were able to last year. So one of these years the oil will go too, but not this year.

Edited to add: Here are links to the recipes that are available online already, either on this blog or others.

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cake (will open PDF)
Banana Bread (For pumpkin bread, switch out the banana for an equal amount of canned pumpkin and add as many sweet spices (nutmet, cloves, allspice) as you like.)
Koshari (this isn’t the best of recipes; I will upload my more streamlined recipe when I return and upload PDFs of other recipes)
Granola (from my other blog)
Pumpkin pancakes
Chana Masala
Palak Daal
Cuban Black Beans
Butternut Squash Soup
Curried Lentils and Sweet Potatoes
Black Bean Chimichangas (will open up a PDF. The only change I make is I cook up a few cups of black beans in the crock pot.)
Ribollita