Vegan For Holy Week

 Tomorrow is Palm Sunday, the beginning of the Christian Holy week. Some fast while ohers just observe Good Friday. However if you want to observe but not fast so muc then think about going vegan for a week.It's an easy practice for avoiding meat and other indulgences.

Home chefs can take a page from the Greak Orthodox. They forgo all meat , dairy and egg for their Lenten period which started on February 27th. Their's is a  strictly vegan until  their Easter Sunday which is a week after ours. it is an easy to do thanks to all the vegan products that have exploded on the market in the last few years. You can easily make both red and white chili using soy crumbles or plant based chicken strips.The crumbles cna be used to make a vegetarian Bolognese too, perfect with penne or spaghetti. Kids will love the chiocken nuggets that both Gardein and Morningstar Farsm sell. You may want to try the last's Veggetizers, small fun bites in such flavors as pizza and popcorn chicken for a quick weeknight meal.  Tey also have plant based taquito bites chorizo nacho bites and buffalo chicken wings.Their bacon is excellent , especially when served with Just Egg's egg substitute. This last is perfect for scrambles  and makes for a good breakfast or even breakfast for dinner. It can even be used in baking too.

Holy Week is also a good time to forgo dairy too. Again this is easy thanks to all the plant based milks out there. There are even chocolate versions sold in handy boxes with straws.Keep in mind that oat milk has the highest calories with 120 a cup. You may want to try almond or soy milk for lesser calories. What about ice cream, whipped cream and cheese.Again there are so many to choose from thanks to people going vegan. even Ben and Jerry have their own line featuring some of the best loved flavors like mint chocolate cookie and Colin Kaepernick's Change The Whirled. That ice cream giant Breyer's also sells  non dairy version of their most popular flavors. You can make your own using coconut milk maple syrup or cane sugar and vanilla extract. It will have a coconut taste but you can off set this with fruit juice to create a sorbet or  chocolate bits. THere is also vegan whipped cream thanks to Reddi Whip  producing both a coconut and almond version of their original. as for cheese, try Chao's . Theyy have both sliced  and shredded that are perfect for grilled cheese or in salads.

You can do some fasting for Holy Week by forgoing meat, dairy and eggs. It's easy nowadays, thanks to all the different products. You may continue it even after Easter.

Food for The Souls

 Today and tomorrow the Christian world honors its saints and its souls. This is usually done through prayer but also through eating. There's a warm feeling reminiscing over a loved one's favorite dishes and recipes past down. Thye're not really gone if their food lives on through the generations.

Mexicans celebate Dios de Muertos -Day of The Dead. It's not a day of sadness but one of togetherness as families create such dishes as concha breads, taquitos and skull shaped cookies and candies.Taquitos are easy to make and they 're perfect to cook up all month long.It's just taking tortillas and first heating them. They're then filled with whatever you want , whether chicken ,beef or beans and then frying them in oil.They can be topped with cheese or guacamole. These can also be baked or air fried for a healthier , crisper bite. Chili is also served for the day. This is a definite cold weather dish as well. The Mexicans have always used ground beef but you can also make a white one. This involves chicken instead of beef and using creamy white cannelini beans instead of the usual kidney and pinto.Some recipes add broccoli and corn .That's up to you. Spicing is the same, with the usual bite of chili.The  memorial meal is finished with some kind of sweet. Bake skull  shaped brownies that can be either iced or just dusted with confectioner;'s sugar. You can also make the sweet concha bread, perfect with butter and Mexican hot chocolate.

Soul cakes are  another part of the All Soul's Day. If it sounds familiar Sting sang about them over a decade in his Christmas album. They're a big part of Samhain the Celtic holiday which Halloween derives from. Children went from door to door, much like trick ro treat, asking if homeowners would want a prayer said for the souls of their dearly departed. Payment was an apple, plum or these. The recipes goes back centuries, probably to the medieval period and the ingredients reflect this. They are egg yolks, butter, sugar and milk. Raisins and such spices as cinnamon, cloves nutmeg and gimger. A cross is made in them, similar to hot cross buns. You can modernize them with subbing in pumpkin spice for the spices and craisins or dried cranberries for the raisins. Soul cakes can also be made plain. They're usually baked in rounds and then dusted with powdered or granulated sugar. Some British chefs use saffron as flavoring and to give the cake a pale yellow color. Soul cakes are a nice contast to the rich holiday cookies on the calendar ahead.

These are the days when we remember our beloved who are gone. There are taquitos and cocnhas or soul cakes. Any of these are a lovely way to celebrate those lost.