Cooking rice can be sticky, and preparing brown rice usually takes an hour to cook. After I made a huge container of brown basmati rice during last years Daniel fast, I decided I would purchase a rice cooker. There are several things that make it nice.

• It shuts off when done
• Rice doesn’t stick
• Makes perfect rice
• Can make large quantities and freeze for other meals
• Even my kids could make the rice

Target has a rice cooker by Oster that steams veggies in the top while cooking the rice. I like this feature as well. The cost is $19.99 and I think it will be worth it for this year. I could cook all my rice on one day and freeze it in individual containers. I think this is a win!

Several years ago, Bryan and I did the weight loss and exercise plan “Body for Life”. One of the main themes throughout the book was to plan your meals, exercise and snacks. There is a proverb that says, “He who fails to plan, plans to fail.”

Last year, I found with the Daniel Fast there was a lot of meal preparation involved. I have figured out how to cook many of the meals one day a week and do some of the preparation ahead of time for others. How much easier would it be if you came home from work and dinner was already cooked?

Having snacks on hand will help when you are ravenous and think you will starve before you get dinner on the table. Maybe it’s your family who will starve, but keeping healthy snacks handy will help you and your family.

Starting tomorrow, I will walk you through my menu, shopping list and snacks for 21 days of the Daniel Fast. Please leave comments if you have questions or send me an email.