The Prevalence of Dairy

One of the reasons why I chose to write about recovering the practice of fasting during Advent for Christian Reflection was that I wanted to actually fast during Advent this year. I decided to follow the rules of the Eastern Orthodox Nativity Fast, but I started the fast on the first day of Advent in the Western Christian Calendar, November 28th.

Something I have really noticed already is the prevalence of dairy in my diet. We don’t eat a lot of meat, so we have compensated in our diet with dairy: cheese, butter, milk, eggs. Those things I can go without, but their necessity in many recipes and in so many other foods is something I grossly underestimated, rather naively, I might add.

It started on the first day when my wife asked if I wanted some ice cream and I replied, “Sure! Wait…ummm…dairy…no!” Then I went to the fridge to get something else and noticed the two quarts of yogurt I had bought a few days before the fast started. Not real smart. And it keeps coming…

Apple pie equals butter in the crust. My wife is eating it.
Reese’s Bells have milk in the chocolate.
The brownie I scored lying around on catering trays at the office must have dairy in it. I gave it to my wife.*

I’m learning a lot already during this fast about how expensive our diet is when it includes dairy. I’m a bit humbled by how much God has blessed us with the ability to enjoy omelets, brie, cream cheese on bagels and milk in tea. And I am really hankering for some eggnog on Christmas day!

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*If you’re wondering why my wife is eating all this stuff is because she is excluded since she’s nursing.