Pre-Fast and Post-Fast Menu

We all know that Tisha B'Av is approaching, and it's probably the most difficult fast of the year.
Ironically, that means we're all thinking about FOOD, of course.

Tisha B'av is strange - we need to eat before the fast, but I always have a hard time figuring out what to do about that meal.

I mean, I know about the egg and bread seudah. I'm talking about the "real meal" before the egg and bread. (We make that a meal of its own, for the official "seudah mafseket".)

On erev Yom Kippur, the only other 24+ hour fast on our calendar, the meal before the fast is very much a shabbat or chag style meal.

Tisha B'Av? Not so much. It's the 9 Days, our days of National Mourning. We can't sit down to a festive meal as we prepare to sit on the floor and cry for a whole day. It wouldn't feel right, at least, not to me. Not to mention that we don't eat meat or chicken, so we are obviously limited with our menu options.
And I don't want to cook elaborate dairy foods, either. For one thing, I don't eat dairy (allergy), and for another, those foods are PRICEY and definitely make me think "celebration!"

So I guess we'll be doing more of an "every day" sort of meal. I considered soup, but I think it's just too hot for soup!

Here's the plan:

Garlic Bread
Baked Ziti (and something dairy-free for me, not sure what)
Cut vegetables with dips
Watermelon and Grapes

 Bonus: I'm really sticking to inexpensive foods that require minimal cooking time and that I know my family will eat. I even managed to get Alma brand mozzarella cheese for the baked ziti for 35nis/kg today.

For post-fast, we'll have more watermelon and grapes, a cheese platter (splurged. Bought cheeses for 35/kg, which is really not so bad), breads and rolls, tuna, and similar. Maybe ice cream or sorbet. I don't want to stress about cooking at the end of the fast day, so this made the most sense to me!

What do you plan to eat pre-and post-fast?

Fast Days

Today is the shortest Fast Day on the Jewish calendar - the 10th of Tevet. But even though it's a relatively short fast, for some reason everyone in my family has made a habit of getting up in the early morning hours before fasting in order to eat and drink something.

I filled up on coffee (the most important thing!), water, and a bit of food. Thankfully this time my boys did NOT fill up on pizza at that hour, so we didn't have to all get nauseated by the smell at that time of the day - that used to be their "minhag". (I convinced them to drop it after they complained of stomach upset during the day!)

Getting up early for coffee makes my day easier, since I really never think of going decaf before the fast, and I'm not convinced the strategy really works well for me anyway!

So now, it's time to figure out our break-the fast menu. I am not planning to go out today at all, so we'll make do with whatever ingredients we have on hand. 

 
I'm strongly leaning towards a soup - maybe this one - (it's SO cold today!), some fresh bread, cheeses, and spreads. And fruit, of course. (The kids are asking for pizza or lasagna though, so I guess I'll have to spend some time considering their request...)

What do you do for breaking the fast?

Break the fast

It's really hot this Tisha B'Av - I hope everyone is managing to stay cool and avoid dehydration!

Hoping you make it to the end of the fast without getting sick!

Since the timing of the fast this year was just difficult, in my opinion, I haven't prepared a break-the-fast meal yet.

But here's the plan:

Watermelon 
Cake left from Shabbat
Coffee and lemonade and iced tea

Real food:
probably Baked Ziti, or sandwiches, or whatever anyone feels like making. I'm not doing much cooking!

And it's just going to have to be "Good Enough".

Hope everyone has a meaningful and easy fast.

Menu Plan

Help! I need a cooking and cleaning fairy or a packing fairy to show up at my place.

I'm so overwhelmed and kind of not getting enough done because of that.

As far as meals go, I figured that I cannot ignore two very important meals this week - BEFORE the fast, and AFTER the fast.

So here's the plan:

Before the fast:

Minestrone Soup

Fish (I have some fish fillets in the freezer, not sure how I'll prepare them, but maybe with grapes - since I kept getting advice to eat grapes for an easy fast!)

Spinach and Cheese Pie (I discovered a bag of spinach in the freezer I had forgotten about) or spinach and wheat berries casserole, I haven't decided.

Lettuce, cucumber, and mango salad

Of course, we'll have the required Egg and Bread too...


After the fast:

Fruit salad

Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Minestrone Soup, and other leftovers from our pre-fast meal

We usually nibble our way through our after-the-fast meal, no one, except for our 14 yr old, wants to eat a whole lot at once.

What are you serving?