Lent: meals by day with recipes and a complete list of lean foods. Step-by-step recipe instructions for preparing delicious and easy meals during Lent. What baking recipes can be used during Lent?

Great Lent is not only a time of abstinence from fasting food, but also a period of spiritual cleansing. It is called to prepare believers for the Easter holiday, so that everyone can meet this bright day with a pure soul and an open heart.

The time of physical and spiritual abstinence is the period given to a person in order to moderate your desires and needs and thereby draw closer to the Lord. Daily prayers for yourself and your loved ones, as well as the renunciation of worldly pleasures, elevates the soul and allows it to develop in piety and faith in happiness. Lent in 2017 will begin on February 27 and continue until April 15. During this period, the church recommends that all Orthodox Christians adhere to the Lenten menu, excluding meat products from their diet.


First week of fasting

Monday, February 27th. Today, according to church canons, you should abstain from eating and devote time to prayer.

Tuesday, February 28th. On Tuesday, limit your diet to eating bread, mostly black, and water, kvass and tea without sugar are allowed as drinks.

Wednesday, March 1st. Eat as food raw vegetables fruits. You can diversify the menu with dried fruits, nuts, herbs and bread.

Friday, March 3. The church does not allow the use vegetable oil. It is also worth limiting raw foods. You should not cook on this day.

Saturday, March 4th. Stick to the Friday menu today. Grape and apple juices are allowed.

Sunday, March 5th. Today, cooking with the addition of vegetable oil is allowed. It is also allowed to drink dry red wine in small quantities as a sacrament.

Second week of fasting

Monday, March 6th. Porridge with water, vegetable soup, potatoes, fresh vegetables and fruits are allowed.

Tuesday, March 7th. You can diversify the menu with jam or jam. As your main food, use cereals cooked in water, as well as dried fruits and nuts.

Wednesday, March 8th. Include solyanka or other dishes using cabbage in your diet.

Thursday, March 9. Add vegetable oil to water-based porridge. Eating homemade food is allowed.

Friday, March 10th. For variety in the menu, prepare a vinaigrette, pea soup and potato cutlets.

Saturday, March 11th. It is allowed to add homemade preserves to the main menu. Today is the first Parents' Saturday, on which Orthodox Christians visit the cemetery to honor their deceased relatives.

Sunday, March 12. On this day, fried potatoes, fruits and vegetables are allowed.

In general, the menu of the second week of fasting includes all the main products, with the exception of food of animal origin, so housewives can use it to prepare new dishes every day. Only alcohol is completely excluded. The ban also applies to excessive consumption of food.


Third week of fasting

Monday, March 13th. Any cereal cooked in water or vegetable broth is allowed.

Tuesday, March 14th. Use vegetable cabbage rolls, fresh vegetable salad and boiled potatoes.

Wednesday, March 15th. Diversify your menu with nuts and fresh herbs. They provide a sufficient amount of energy and help quickly saturate the body.

Thursday, March 16th. Today, for a change, make red bean lobio.

Friday, March 17th. Buckwheat cutlets and rice porridge with raisins, as well as fruit compote will improve your mood.

Saturday, March 18th. As a main dish for lunch, please your household with pickle and containing a large number of vitamins vinaigrette. Today is the second parent's Saturday. Visit the cemetery and pray for your deceased relatives.

Sunday, March 19th. Vegetable borscht, as well as potato cutlets with the addition of fresh herbs will delight you with their taste.


Fourth week of fasting

Monday, March 20. Eat on this day legumes with the addition of dried fruits.

Tuesday, March 21st. Today for lunch, serve vegetable soup with large pieces of carrots and green peas; for dessert, you can make fruit jelly.

Wednesday, March 22. Fresh cabbage soup and fruit salad dressed with sweet soy milk.

Thursday, March 23. Today, your homemade preparations will come in handy with fried potatoes.

Friday, March 24th. Add mushrooms to your diet. With their wonderful aroma they will remind you of the approach of the long-awaited summer and charge you with good emotions.

Saturday, March 25th. Make a prefabricated porridge from rice and millet in the oven, adding for taste dried fruits. March 25th is the third Parents' Saturday.

Sunday, March 26th. Add fried onions and carrots to buckwheat porridge, also cook healthy salad from tomatoes and cucumbers. Decorate dishes with herbs.


Fifth and sixth weeks of fasting

During these weeks, you can use the recommendations of previous days and prepare food based on your taste preferences. Still should not be used for cooking butter, as well as mayonnaise and other dressings, including milk, eggs and other animal foods.

Seventh week of fasting

The last week of Great Lent is extremely strict. This The final stage before the celebration of Easter.

Monday to Wednesday the church bans cooking - use it in the menu raw fruits and vegetables.

IN Thursday Porridge from any cereal cooked in water is allowed.

Friday- a strict day on which only bread (preferably yesterday's) and water are possible.

IN Saturday It is forbidden to eat food. Drink more fluids to avoid harming your health.

Sunday falls on the celebration of Easter and marks the end of Lent.


This sample list products that you can replace with others of similar composition. Such strict fast compiled for clergy and monks, and ordinary people you can make concessions by eating foods necessary to maintain yourself in good condition. Remember also that sick people, pregnant women and children should not maintain such an ascetic menu, as they require significantly more vitamins.

Often the laity refuse to observe strict Lent only for the reason that it is difficult to find a suitable Lent menu for every day of 2017; in this article we will provide great option meals for Lent by day, which will allow you to diversify the menu of every believer.


If you choose the right dishes for each day of fasting, you can easily survive these difficult forty days, while eating delicious and very healthy dishes. This article presents best options daily dishes that will help you not only diversify your diet, but also try something tasty from simple lean products.

In addition, it is worth remembering that nutrition is only a small part of cleansing the body, because it is also important to remember about cleansing the soul; if a believer devotes more time to self-development and reading prayers, this will bring the Orthodox closer to God, and will also help to significantly improve emotional condition person. Only when proper training soul and body, a person will finally gain freedom from his sins, and will also realize the need to adhere to fasting. The fast itself will last not forty days, but forty-eight, but the last week has a separate name - Holy Week, it is the most strict in the observance of fasting by believers.

What foods are allowed to eat on days of strict fasting?

If you need bread, then you should choose one that is baked from rye flour without adding yeast, cereal breads are also suitable. Will be used as a main course different kinds cereals and legumes, permitted products include various berries, vegetables and fruits, you can use preparations in jars, these can be tomatoes, cucumbers, various types of vegetable salads, marmalades and jams, and you should also use fruit and berry compotes.



Fasting does not prohibit eating herbal products, and mushrooms are classified as such products; for this reason, any Forest mushrooms fresh or pickled.

When you want something tasty and sweet, you use dried fruits, high-quality honey and various types of nuts. In some holidays you can afford to eat some fish or fish products, including caviar. To quench your thirst, you are allowed to open summer compote twists; you also drink tea, herbal decoctions, various types of infusions, still water and coffee.

Some people prefer to adhere to stricter rules, eating only once a day. evening time, but this is not necessary, since meals can be in the morning, lunch and evening. You are allowed to drink large amounts between each meal. clean water. Lent can be different.

First week of fasting

On the first day of fasting, it is customary to refuse to eat, healthy people should not eat on this day, only drinking is allowed a small amount of tea made from chamomile and mint herbs. The second day of this week should also usually be more strict, for this reason a little black bread is added to the diet, if desired, you can use useful decoction dried fruits, you are allowed to eat no more than 200 grams of bread per day.

On Wednesday you should also be strict in your diet, since the first week of fasting is quite strict, for this reason they eat no more than 250 grams of bread per day, and wash it down with tea based on medicinal herbs.



Thursday is already distinguished by a more relaxed diet, since here the diet includes various types of fresh fruits and vegetables, it is advisable to use grapes, various types of nuts, as well as apples and herbs. Eating food on Friday in the first week of fasting is prohibited; for this reason, you should drink more clean water and decoctions of dried fruits.

The Sabbath will bring joy to the laity a complete diet, so in the morning you should drink a glass of juice or tea, for lunch use beetroot or carrot salad with onions, you can use additional boiled potatoes, the dish is served with a glass of good red wine. On Saturday evening you can drink a little compote with dry Lenten cookies.



Sunday is allowed to start with coffee and a light vinaigrette; for lunch, any kind of lean soup is served; a mushroom and potato stew would be a good option; if desired, the dish is washed down with wine or compote. For dinner it is allowed to serve cauliflower with carrots and apples, and the dish is washed down with tea. If you wish, you can prepare Lenten dumplings with garlic in the oven; you can find a simple recipe for such baking on the Internet.

Menu for the second week

Monday this week can start with simple and light oatmeal cooked in water, and you can wash down the dish with tea; if desired, add a little dried fruit to the porridge. For lunch, they serve noodle soup with large carrots added. Served for dinner, you are allowed to add some vegetables to it. fresh, and for the third they serve jelly. By dinner it is worth unloading the body; for this reason, Orthodox Christians should eat only one small apple and wash it down with tea.

Tuesday is usually more hospitable, since on this day you are allowed to eat finished products, past heat treatment. Breakfast is light buckwheat porridge, and you can make aromatic coffee with sugar with it. For lunch they prepare cabbage soup from sauerkraut with the addition of herbs, you can make pasta with mushroom sauce and vegetable salad, seasoned with lemon juice and herbs. The dishes are served with sweet compote or jelly. Should be baked in the evening delicious apples with the addition of honey and walnuts.



Wednesday should be leaner, for this reason on these days it is better not to cook warm dishes, it is allowed to eat cold soups without meat, this can be lean okroshka or prison. Compotes and water are served as drinks, and if you want to eat sweets, you can prepare a little fruit salad with honey. On Thursday you should plan to prepare lean corn porridge in water, and also serve it to light dish tea with sugar. Lunch can be light lean cabbage soup, vinaigrette without oil, and also served cranberry juice.

In the evening, it is recommended to prepare mashed potatoes with boiled zucchini In addition to the dish, salted and pickled vegetables are served; you can add tea or compote to the menu. Friday is a day of dry eating; in the morning it is worth having breakfast with tea with jam or honey, which is smeared on cereal breads. Mushroom okroshka is served as a cold lunch dish, and in the evening you should prepare yourself a vegetable salad and serve as an appetizer sauerkraut.

Saturday makes it possible to use additional oil in cooking; for this reason, a real classic vinaigrette is prepared for breakfast; if desired, a little mushrooms are added to it, and this dish is served with tea or coffee. Good for lunch buckwheat soup, for the main course they serve rice cutlets and beet caviar, and wash down the dish with wine and a simple compote. In the evening you should try Lenten chebureks with light sweet tea. On Sunday, it is allowed to prepare millet porridge with the addition of pumpkin, and the dish is served with coffee. For lunch, the first course can be ordinary; you can also prepare potatoes with stewed mushrooms; you are allowed to drink a little wine and serve berry jelly. In the evening, meals begin with pea cutlets, complement the dish with vegetable caviar and regular sweet tea.



Two simple weeks fasting have already been described here, according to the same principle, a believer can eat the remaining two weeks; below, another (fifth) week of fasting will be described, since it is in this week that big celebration and the menu will change a little.

Fifth week of Lent with holiday

The first day of the week can also be observed by believers, since at this time it is customary to eat only fresh foods; it is worth serving a delicious and light salad from carrots, apples and cabbage, to which a little greens are added, onions, lemon juice and salt. Served as lunch cold soup based pomegranate juice with vegetables, in the evening it is worth creating a salad of tomatoes and cucumbers with salt and herbs.

On Tuesday, dishes can be cooked, for this reason it is worth making delicious oatmeal with water, to which dried fruits, honey and walnuts are added, this dish is served with jelly or hot tea. For lunch, prepare vermicelli soup with mushrooms; if you wish, you can bake any vegetables in the oven and serve them with sauerkraut. In the evening, Orthodox Christians are given the opportunity to make grated boiled beets with nuts and prunes, and wash down the dish with compote.

Wednesday is a dry day, for this reason you will have to choose dishes that are allowed at this time for fasting people, for example, vegetable salad with herbs and tofu cheese, and cold vegetable okroshka with kvass is also served. For dessert, oatmeal bars are prepared, to which a little prunes, dates and honey are added. The fourth day of the week is a holiday, for this reason you can prepare delicious fish products, for breakfast you should make stewed cabbage with carrots and fresh herbs, and serve this dish with aromatic strong coffee.



For lunch it is worth serving boiled or baked fish, but if another second course is used as lunch, then fish soup is prepared for the first one. On this day, believers can treat themselves to wine drinks and sweet compotes. For dinner, sweet rice with dried fruits or fruits is served.

You should start your Friday day with steamed oatmeal, add nuts and honey, and serve the dish with jelly or compote. For lunch, you are also allowed to eat a sandwich with mustard and pickles, which are decorated with herbs, washed down with tea or fruit juice. For dinner, you are allowed to make a light fruit salad, seasoned with lemon juice and sprinkled with sesame seeds.

On Saturday, you are allowed to make raspberry juice and drink a glass of wine in the evening; you can also serve boiled corn porridge for breakfast, you can flavor the dish with honey, and for lunch you can prepare it with pickles or sauerkraut. If desired, you should make Lenten solyanka, and for dinner prepare delicious buckwheat with fried mushrooms and onions.

On Sunday it is allowed to serve a dish with added butter plant origin, in the morning porridge with pumpkin is prepared, you can wash down the dish with delicious strong coffee. Next, you should prepare lunch; cabbage soup with sauerkraut is suitable; in some cases, you can cook boiled fish with fried potatoes. These dishes are served with tea and wine. For dinner, it’s better to make oven-baked vegetables.

So, with the beginning of Lent, which begins on February 27 in 2017, our entire diet changes radically. So let's look at the menu at Lent by day for 40 days 2017 for the laity, to make it easier for you to navigate and tune in to certain foods for all days of fasting. By the way, don’t be afraid, if you approach the problem of nutrition rationally and thoughtfully during fasting, you won’t have to go hungry. You can plan your meals in such a way that the food will not only be varied, but also satisfying, nutritious and tasty. And don’t forget - nutrition is only a part of fasting, the main thing is to strengthen prayers, acts of mercy, visit the temple and train in love for others, then food restrictions will benefit the soul and body.
Just a small clarification, fasting actually lasts not 40, but 48 days (plus Holy Week).

During Lent 2017, you are allowed to eat the following foods:

1. Cereal bread and plain black bread made from coarse rye flour.
2. Any cereals and porridges made from them, cooked in water.
3. Summer preparations, namely salted, pickled and soaked vegetables and salads made from them, preserves, marmalades and jams.
4. Mushrooms prepared in all possible ways.
5. Beans, peas, beans and lentils - boiled.
6. Nuts, honey and dried fruits.
7. All vegetables, both fresh and boiled. Fruits and berries.
8. Seafood (squid, shrimp, mussels) and fish.
9. Tea, coffee, mineral still water, herbal decoctions.
10. In between meals, you need to drink water - 2.5 liters of mineral water and always without gas. Food should be taken three times - 1. morning (breakfast), 2. day (lunch), 3. evening (dinner). The size of each serving is 200 – 400 grams.
Look, it will be easier to make dietary changes.


The beginning of Lent 2017 - the strictest first week(like the last one, Passionate).

02/27/2017, Monday - abstain from food, only tea is allowed - chamomile, mint, St. John's wort.

02/28/2017, Tuesday – during the day you are allowed to eat 200 g of bread, a decoction of dried fruits, Herb tea and water.

03/01/2017, Wednesday: per day - 250 g of bread and herbal tea.

03/02/2017, Thursday: fresh, unprocessed fruits and vegetables. Preferably - grapes, apples, nuts, greens.

03/03/2017, Friday: decoction of dried fruits or tea throughout the day. Eating any food is prohibited.

03/04/2017, Saturday – 1. A glass of juice or tea.
2. Boiled vegetables - beets, carrots or potatoes, a glass of red, but only natural, wine.
3. Compote and Lenten cookies.

03/05/2017, Sunday – 1. Vinaigrette and coffee.
2. Any lean soup, potatoes with onions and mushrooms. Wine and compote.
3. Boiled cauliflower with apple and carrot, tea
Can be baked for borscht or soup, take a look step by step recipe, This is delicious. Besides, they can be made sweet for tea.

The 2nd week of Lent in 2017 in nutrition may look like this:

03/06/207, Monday. 1. Oatmeal with water, tea.
2. Vermicelli soup with carrots. Potato cutlets, fresh vegetables, jelly.
3. Apple and tea

03/07/2017, Tuesday. 1. Buckwheat on water, coffee.
2. Cabbage soup made from sauerkraut (lean), vermicelli (pasta) with mushroom sauce, vegetable salad with fresh vegetable oil, compote.
3. Apples, baked with honey and tea.

03/08/2017, Wednesday. 1. Rice porridge, coffee.
2. Soup - vegetable hodgepodge. Potatoes with mushroom sauce with onions, herbs and tomatoes. Fresh cabbage salad with apple, carrots and cucumber, sauced with berry (grape) vinegar and butter. Compote.
3. Tea with lemon and jam.

03/09/2017, Thursday. 1. Corn porridge, tea.
2. Lenten cabbage soup, vinaigrette, cranberry juice.
3. Mashed potatoes with zucchini. Salted or pickled vegetables. Tea, maybe with lemon or apples.

03/10/2017, Friday. 1. Barley porridge, tea with jam (honey).
2. Lenten pea soup, vegetable salad and apple compote.
3. Potato salad with mushrooms, tea.

03/11/2017, Saturday. 1. Vinaigrette with mushrooms, coffee.
2. Buckwheat soup, rice cutlets, beetroot caviar, a glass of wine, pumpkin jelly.
3. lean pasties, tea.

03/12/2017, Sunday. 1. Millet-pumpkin porridge, coffee.
2. Lenten borscht, potatoes stewed with mushrooms, wine, lemon juice.
3. Vegetable caviar, pea cutlets, tea.


3rd week of Lent 2017, menu for every day

03/13/2017, Monday. 1. Millet, tea with honey.
2. Beetroot soup with pearl barley, potato zrazy stuffed with onions and mushrooms, pea salad with pickles, wine, fruit, cranberry lemonade.
3. buckwheat pie, tea with honey.

03/14/2017, Tuesday. 1. Boiled potatoes with garlic, coffee.
2. Bean soup, pasta with mushroom sauce, lingonberry juice.
3., tea with honey.

03/15/2017, Wednesday. 1. Semolina With strawberry jam, coffee.
2. Lenten solyanka, cauliflower casserole with peppers and tomatoes, coffee.
3. Fried squid with boiled potatoes, and tea.

03/16/2017, Thursday. 1. Oatmeal with fruit and tea.
2. Lenten cabbage soup, canned pickles with barley, compote.
3. Vegetable ratatouille, tea.

03/17/2017, Friday. 1. Rice porridge, coffee.
2. Pea soup, boiled potatoes with brown mushroom sauce, rosehip compote.
3. Squash caviar with buckwheat, tea.

03/18/2017, Saturday. 1. Semolina porridge with raspberry jam.
2. Pumpkin soup, stuffed squid with rice, wine, cranberry juice.
3. Open Lenten pie with apples, tea.

03/19/2017, Sunday. 1. Custard oatmeal with dried fruits, coffee.
2. Lenten borscht, pilaf with mushrooms, wine and compote.
3. Buckwheat with lecho, tea with honey.

4th week of Lent in 2017

03/20/2017, Monday. 1. Bean porridge, fruit, coffee.
2. Vegetable soup, lean pilaf, nuts, orange juice.
3. Braised cabbage, tea.
03/21/2017, Tuesday. 1. Pearl barley porridge, coffee.
2. Lentil soup, pea puree with pickles, compote.
3. potatoes with garlic and mushroom caviar, tea

03/22/2017, Wednesday. 1. Lenten cabbage rolls, coffee
2. Mushroom pickle, cauliflower casserole, pineapple juice.
3. Nuts, fruits, tea

03/23/2017, Thursday. 1. Brewed rice, coffee.
2. Bean soup, rice with mushroom sauce, lingonberry juice.
3. Mashed potatoes with zucchini, tea.

03/24/2017 Friday. 1. Oatmeal, coffee
2. Pea soup, baked vegetables, compote.
3. Pumpkin salad with honey,

03/25/2017 Saturday. 1. Custard buckwheat, coffee.
2. Cabbage soup on sauerkraut, squid baked with carrots and onions, compote
3. Potato cutlets, tea.

03/26/2017 Sunday. 1. Apples baked with honey, coffee.
2. Lenten borscht, fried potatoes with boiled fish, fruit drink
3. Barley with tomatoes, nuts, or.


5th week of fasting, menu

03/27/2017, Monday. 1. Vinaigrette, coffee.
2. Lentil soup, pasta with mushroom sauce, squash caviar, compote.
3. Boiled potatoes with sauerkraut, tea.

03/28/2017, Tuesday. 1. Oatmeal, coffee.
2. Vermicelli soup with mushrooms, boiled fish with rice, berry jelly.
3. beets with prunes and tea.

03/29/2017, Wednesday. 1. Barley, coffee
2. Lean shea, vegetables, compote.
3. Apples baked with honey, tea.

03/30/2017, Thursday. 1. Stewed cabbage with carrots and herbs, coffee.
2. pea soup, baked vegetables, fried fish in lemon sauce, compote.
Dinner – sweet rice with fruit, tea
03/31/2017, Friday. 1. Oatmeal with jam, tea
2. Lenten borscht, boiled potatoes with herring and onions, rosehip jelly.
3.Vermicelli with mushroom caviar, tea

04/01/2017, Saturday. 1. Seafood, tea
2. Lenten solyanka, wine, raspberry juice.
3. Buckwheat with canned eggplant appetizer, tea

04/02/2017, Sunday. 1. Porridge with pumpkin, coffee
2. Cabbage soup with sour sauerkraut, boiled fish with fried potatoes, wine, coffee
Dinner – baked vegetables, tea

6th week of fasting 2017

04/03/2017, Monday. 1. Oatmeal with berries, coffee
2. Light soup with peas and corn, tomatoes with garlic and nuts, vermicelli, compote
3. Buckwheat with mushroom sauce, tea

04/04/2017, Tuesday. 1. lean vegetable pizza, with spicy tomato sauce, coffee
2. lean borscht, boiled squid, rice, juice
3. zucchini with boiled potatoes, tea

04/05/2017, Wednesday. 1. Semolina, coffee
2. Potato soup, raw vegetables, tea
3. Carrot cutlets with garlic and onions, tea

04/06/2017, Thursday. 1.beet cutlets, coffee
2. Lunch – lean cabbage soup, herring with vinaigrette, compote
3. Baked peppers stuffed with carrots and garlic, tea

04/07/2017, Friday. 1. Seafood, coffee
2. Vegetable soup, fried fish, rice, compote.
3. Beans baked with carrots and onions, tea

04/08/2017, Saturday. 1. Custard oatmeal with berries, coffee.
2. Buckwheat soup, boiled fish and potatoes, mushroom caviar, wine, compote
3. Sauteed eggplant with rice, tea

04/09/2017, Sunday. 1. Barley porridge, coffee
2. Mushroom puree soup, baked vegetables, boiled fish, wine, juice.
3. Roast mushrooms with potatoes, tea

The last, Holy Week of Lent, coming in 2017


04/10/2017, Monday, fasting day, bread and water.
04/11/2017, Tuesday. 1. Rice, coffee.
2. Cabbage cutlets, juice.
3. Baked apple, tea.

04/12/2017, Wednesday, 1. Fresh vegetables, coffee.
2. Cabbage salad with carrots and apples, coffee.
3. Fruits.

04/13/2017, Thursday. 1. Corn, tea
2. Cabbage soup green peas, vinaigrette, herring, compote
3. Korean baked squid with carrots. Tea.
We bake Easter eggs and paint them!

Look - simple and delicious.

04/14/2017, Friday. Hungry day, herbal tea, water, bread are allowed.

04/15/2017, Saturday – we don’t eat until the first star.
We have provided you with sample menu for Lent in 2017, and you see for yourself, you can replace some products with similar ones, the main thing is to follow the rules for every day. And don’t forget to do good deeds, help the poor, show love to your neighbors, attend worship services and pray for everyone. And give the money you save on food to the poor.
April 16, 2017 — Great Easter, congratulations to everyone, you have endured the fast, cleansed your soul and body before the Lord, and you can safely break your fast!

The total duration of fasting is 48 days. It begins on the Monday, seven weeks before Easter, and ends on the Saturday before Easter.

The first week of fasting is carried out with particular strictness. On the first day, complete abstinence from food is accepted. Then, from Tuesday to Friday, dry eating is allowed (eat bread, salt, raw fruits and vegetables, dried fruits, nuts, honey, drink water), and on Saturday and Sunday - hot food with butter.

In the second to sixth weeks of Lent, dry eating is established on Monday, Wednesday and Friday; hot food without oil is allowed on Tuesday and Thursday, and hot food with butter is allowed on Saturday and Sunday.

During Holy Week ( last week Lent) dry eating is prescribed, and on Friday you cannot eat until the removal of the shroud.

On the Feast of the Annunciation Holy Mother of God(April 7) (if it did not fall on Holy Week) and on Palm Sunday(a week before Easter) it is allowed to eat fish. On Lazarus Saturday (before Palm Sunday) you can eat fish caviar.

It begins on Monday, the 57th day after Easter (a week after Trinity), and always ends on July 11 (inclusive). In 2017 it lasts 30 days.

During Petrov's Fast, fish is allowed on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, hot food without oil on Monday, and dry eating on Wednesday and Friday.

On the Feast of the Nativity of John the Baptist (July 7), you can eat fish (regardless of what day it falls on).

During the Dormition Fast, dry eating is allowed on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, hot food without butter on Tuesday and Thursday, hot food with butter on Saturday and Sunday.

On the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord (August 19), you can eat fish (regardless of what day it falls on).

In the period from November 28 to the feast of St. Nicholas (December 19 inclusive), hot food without oil is allowed on Monday, fish is allowed on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, and dry eating is allowed on Wednesday and Friday.

From December 20 to January 1, on Tuesday and Thursday it is already prohibited to eat fish; instead, hot food with butter is allowed. The remaining days remain unchanged.

From January 2 to 6, dry eating is prescribed on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, hot food without oil on Tuesday and Thursday, hot food with butter on Saturday and Sunday.

On Christmas Eve (January 6), you cannot eat until the first star appears in the sky, after which it is customary to eat sochi - wheat grains boiled in honey or boiled rice with raisins.

On the holidays of the Entry of the Virgin Mary into the Temple (December 4) and St. Nicholas (December 19), you can eat fish on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Orthodox Christians will celebrate the Holy Resurrection of Christ on April 28 in 2019. The holiday is preceded by Lent, which in 2018 begins on March 11 and will last seven weeks.

Lent is the strictest and longest of all four multi-day fasts established Orthodox Church. Therefore, it can be difficult to start fasting without any preparation, and it won’t harm your health for long if you don’t know how to eat properly.

The main purpose of fasting is to achieve internal qualitative changes, as well as the desire of a Christian to follow the feat of Jesus Christ, who fasted for 40 days in the desert.

Compliance with fasting today is a voluntary act and is deeply individual in nature. In post free time you need to devote yourself to prayers, subdue your desires for food, excluding any excesses and idleness, and strive for a more secluded lifestyle.

For seven weeks you will have to give up meat, eggs, milk, cottage cheese and other animal products. At the same time, food intake per day is limited.

Lenten menu

Fasting is primarily abstinence from rich food, and not exhaustion of the body, therefore Lenten menu should be varied and rich in vitamins.

The Lenten menu can be quite varied - during Lent you can prepare various porridges, lean pilafs, pasta, soups, cutlets, salads and so on.

Porridges - corn, buckwheat, rice, oatmeal, millet, barley, peas, beans, pearl barley and others - can be cooked in water. For example, rice porridge You can diversify by adding pumpkin, mushrooms, raisins, dried fruits or jam.

You can and should eat any vegetables - at your service all types of cabbage, carrots, beets, radishes, potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, green bean and others that exist in nature.

It is important to eat plenty of bell peppers and fresh herbs during this period, as they are rich in many vitamins and minerals necessary to maintain health.

You can also eat any fruit that is available this season - apples, pears, bananas, oranges, and so on. You can eat jams, dried fruits, pickles, honey, nuts and spices.

© Sputnik / Alexander Imedashvili

Xerophagy

According to church canons, you need to create a menu for Lenten cuisine according to the following principles - in the first and last (Holy) weeks of Lent, as well as on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays - dry eating.

These days it is allowed to eat fruits, vegetables, dried fruits, nuts, that is, eating exclusively raw, thermally unprocessed food and lean bread. On this day it is not even recommended to drink tea or compote.

If desired, you can prepare vegetable or fruit salads; the latter can be seasoned with honey.

Salad "Exotic"

Place the shredded cabbage in a bowl, lightly sprinkle with salt and rub with your hands so that the cabbage softens and releases juice. The juice should be drained. Grate the carrots on a coarse grater and add to the cabbage. Finely chop an onion, a couple of cloves of garlic and a few sprigs of celery. Cut into cubes fresh cucumber, apple or orange. Pour lemon juice, salt, pepper and mix all ingredients. This unusual and spicy salad will energize you for the whole day.

Days without oil

On Tuesdays and Thursdays you can eat hot food of plant origin without oil. These days you can treat yourself to various cereals and soups, and you can also eat jams, pickles, herbs, and so on.

Bean soup with pasta

Boil red beans, add some pasta, finely chopped onion, garlic and a bunch of cilantro, spices to the pan and cook until tender. Then add salt and the soup is ready.

You can expand your menu these days by adding baked potatoes and other vegetables. You can also prepare lean spaghetti - boil the pasta in salted water and season it tomato paste. These days you can drink tea and compotes.

The second dishes on the menu during Lent can also be mushroom, potato, cabbage, and carrot lean cutlets, in which eggs as a fixative can easily be replaced with semolina. On days when oil consumption is prohibited, the cutlets can be steamed.

With butter

On Saturday and Sunday (except for the last Saturday of Lent) food with the addition of vegetable oil is allowed. Here you can give free rein to your imagination and cook various dishes- soups, salads, lean cutlets and pilaf, and so on.

Mushroom soup

Fry finely chopped onion and garlic in a saucepan and pour boiling water over the frying. As soon as the water boils, you need to pour a handful of rice into the pan, and after 10 minutes, put the mushrooms in the pan and cook a little. Then add a few cauliflower or broccoli florets, grated carrots and bell pepper(preferably red), chopped cilantro, dill and cook the soup until tender. Then add salt and start lunch.

Salad "Markitanka"

Boil potatoes and cut into cubes. Add shredded sauerkraut (preferably red), a jar canned corn, sliced green onions, parsley, cilantro, dill, celery, vegetable oil, lemon juice and mix everything well.

Fish day

During Lent, fish is allowed to be eaten only twice - on the Annunciation (April 7) and on Palm Sunday, which in 2017 falls on April 9. These days, fish can be eaten both boiled and fried, and if you are a fan Japanese cuisine- you can treat yourself to sushi.

Soup

Place a whole onion and chopped carrots in boiling salted water. Cook for five minutes over medium heat. Add potatoes and cook until tender. Very carefully, one piece at a time, add the fish (both red and white will do), without stirring, so as not to crumble. Bring to a boil over low heat, add Bay leaf, allspice and finely chopped fresh herbs, and remove - the fish will be ready.

Fish baked in foil

You can bake any fish in foil - river, sea, both in pieces and whole (if it is small in size).

Cut the fish into pieces or leave it whole, place on foil, pepper and salt. Greens, preferably oregano or tarragon, can be placed in the belly of the fish, on its carcass or pieces. Then sprinkle with lemon juice, or cover with lemon slices, seal the edges of the foil and bake until done.

Treats

Certainly, main meaning Fasting is a spiritual cleansing and refusal not only from certain foods, but also from harmful passions, evil words and deeds, bad mood and irritability. But I want variety even during Lent.

To the delight of many fasting sweet tooths, last years produce many Lenten sweets. You can also eat dark chocolate, nuts, fruit and berry preserves, jams, dried fruits, halva, natural marmalade, biscuits, and so on. The main thing is that desserts do not contain milk or its derivatives or animal fats.

Various delicacies can be prepared at home. For example, you can cook dessert salad.

Cut any fruits - apples, pears, oranges, add raisins, chopped nuts and dried apricots, and season the salad with liquid honey.

For cooking lemon ginger cookies you will need: 100 grams of wheat flour; 100 grams of water; 40 grams of olive oil; 30 grams of fresh ginger; one lemon; one full tbsp honey; one tsp baking powder for dough.

Remove seeds and skin from the lemon and grind the pulp in a blender. Grate the ginger on a fine grater, mix honey with warm water(a little to dissolve). Mix 100 ml of water, sifted flour, diluted honey, baking powder, olive oil, ginger and lemon - the dough should turn out thick, its thickness can be adjusted by the amount of water, or by additionally adding flour if the dough turns out watery.

Cover the kneaded dough and leave it for 10-15 minutes at room temperature. Heat the oven to 150 degrees, line a baking sheet with foil, make cookies of the desired shape from the dough and bake for 15 minutes.

The material was prepared based on open sources