Advent and non-alcoholic beverages

I can hardly wait for Advent to start. As per my "Christmas in November" post I sort of feel like the beginning of Advent is also the beginning of Christmas fun and anticipation. Well, it is really. As Orthodox we start preparing for feasts even EARLIER than most people. We just prepare by fasting rather than decorating and shopping.

I will restrain my decorating impulses until the cookie-bake off at the end of the month though. Some things are worth waiting for. Anyway we don't put our tree up until Christmas Eve.

And truthfully it's not just decorating and cookie-baking and shopping that I'm anticipating with delight but actually fasting. Unlike my pregnancy with Theo, I actually don't want to eat meat all that much. I couldn't get enough pepperoni when I was pregnant with Theo, but this time I'm actually after fish and vegetables a lot. And cheese. I've gained a lot of weight already--far more than I'd like. But luckily fasting is not off-limits for pregnant women completely. Mother Anna's advice was just to eat what I crave because I probably need it. Since I haven't really been craving meat much I think I can at least sort of adhere to the fasting rules and I'm looking forward to the challenge of finding yummy vegetarian recipes.

I plan to cut back my consumption of cheese to include only cheddar which I can turn into cheese sauce or grate on pasta or salad for a little extra protein and calcium. And eggs and fish will have to be quite frequently on the menu to ensure I get enough protein. But I'm actually looking forward to beans and peas and lentils quite a bit.

One thing I am going to miss this year is mulled wine. I discovered (to my great delight!) that non-alcoholic beer is really not as gross as it sounds and satisfies the beer craving very well. Plus it's full of vitamins that are actually very good for pregnant and nursing mothers. As far as I've read (and a beer junkie like me has read a lot on the subject) it's not the beer itself that's good for mothers (obviously alcohol is not good for babies, at least not in large or regular amounts) but the hops in beer is helpful for production of certain milk-producing hormones. I imagine the alcohol might be good for calming the nerves of a sleep-deprived nursing mum though!

Red wine too has some very beneficial effects, though the alcohol should be kept to a minimum. In fact most Europeans continue to drink wine with dinner right through their pregnancies with no ill effects. Having said that, I don't know how comfortable I am with making mulled wine. The sugar in mulled wine will get you drunk much quicker than a regular glass of wine would and I don't know if I ought to risk it. So I am curious to know if de-alcoholized red wine is as disgusting as it sounds. It might be worth the experiment.

In any case, mulled wine or no, I'm looking forward to Advent and everything it brings with it. Tomorrow is the last meat day before the fast and I can hardly wait for it to be over. I have a large pot roast in the fridge for a pre-Advent meat-feast (to satisfy the husband really) and an array of fancy cheeses that I plan to give up for Advent. Saturday is Christmas shopping and Sunday I plan to start baking!