Hangry Tuesdays: Fasting, Faith, and the Dinner That Saves Our Evening
In our house, Tuesdays are fasting days.
Not in an extreme or rigid way, but intentionally. My husband and I chose to build this rhythm into our week as a way to refocus our hearts on God and spend time in prayer.
This rhythm actually started through our church, First Baptist Forney. Our church hosts a Tuesday night prayer service that is open to the entire community, and the church began encouraging those who are able to fast on Tuesdays as a way to prepare their hearts for prayer.
Those prayer services are incredible.
There is something deeply powerful about being in a room filled with people who have gathered for one purpose — to seek the Lord together. The atmosphere is reverent, hopeful, and full of faith.
Children are welcome too. There are things to help keep them occupied, but honestly one of the most meaningful parts is simply that they are there.
It matters for kids to see their parents worship.
It matters for them to see their parents pray.
It matters for them to witness faith lived out in real time.
With work schedules, kids, and the normal chaos of family life, we can’t always make it to the prayer service in person. But we still fast on Tuesdays as a way of joining our brothers and sisters in Christ in that shared rhythm of prayer.
Even when we’re not physically there, we know we’re participating together.
Life moves fast. Work, school schedules, kids, responsibilities — the days can blur together. Fasting helps us pause in the middle of all that noise and remember that our lives are not ultimately sustained by comfort, convenience, or even food.
It reminds us that we depend on God.
But I’ll be honest about something.
…..
Our family has a strong tendency to get… hangry.
Not just the kids.
All of us.
Which makes Tuesday evenings particularly interesting.
By the time we’re heading home at the end of the day, everyone is hungry, everyone is tired, and patience is sometimes in short supply. (Cue my sarcastic laugh here.)
Because of that, we try to plan ahead. One of our favorite strategies is putting a crockpot meal together in the morning so dinner is ready the moment we walk in the door.
When that plan works, it’s wonderful.
You open the door, dinner smells amazing, and the evening feels calm instead of chaotic.
But sometimes life happens.
The day runs late. The schedule gets messy. We forgot to meal prep. Everyone is tired. And someone inevitably suggests the alternative.
That’s when the “Sith Kermit” voice makes an appearance.
If you know the meme, you know exactly what I’m talking about.
One of us will jokingly say something like:
“Well… we could cook…”
And then the other one whispers dramatically,
“Or we could just… eat out.”
At this point the kids are usually laughing because they’ve heard the joke before and they know what will happen.
And yes — most of those times we end up eating out.
But whether dinner happens at our table or in a booth somewhere, the most important moment always comes when we finally sit down to eat.
Before anyone takes a bite, we pray.
Then we ask our kids a simple question:
“What day is it?”
They know the answer immediately.
“It’s Tuesday.”
“And what did we do today?”
“Mommy and daddy fasted.”
Then we ask them why.
And they answer with us.
We talk about how fasting helps us focus our hearts on God and spend time in prayer. We talk about how Jesus reminds us that man does not live by bread alone. We talk about how our small discomfort helps redirect our attention away from ourselves and toward something eternal.
It reminds us that this world is not the end of the story
One day we will live with Jesus in Heaven for eternity — a place where there will be no pain, no sorrow, no suffering, and no hunger.
Because Christ fulfills all of it.
Fasting helps us remember that.
And sometimes it also involves a little laughter, a crockpot meal, or even a spontaneous family dinner out because everyone got just a little too hangry.
Either way, those Tuesday evenings around the table remind me of something important.
Faith isn’t lived only in quiet moments or perfect routines.
It’s lived in ordinary family rhythms.
Even the slightly chaotic ones.
And when we finally sit down to eat on Tuesday evenings, this is one of the meals we come back to again and again.
Our Go-To Tuesday Night Pork and Hominy Soup
This is one of our favorite Tuesday meals. It’s easy, filling after a day of fasting, and the crockpot does most of the work while we’re at work and school.
It’s also one of those meals that tastes even better the longer it cooks and is a massive family fav!
Ingredients
2 lbs pork shoulder, cut into bite-sized cubes
1 (30 oz) can hominy, undrained
1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 can Rotel
1 onion, diced
3 stalks celery, diced
1 rounded tablespoon cumin
Salt and pepper to taste
3½–4 cups chicken broth
Instructions
Brown the pork in batches in a skillet until nicely browned on all sides, season with salt and pepper.
Add the browned pork to the crockpot along with the hominy, tomatoes, Rotel, onion, celery, cumin, salt, pepper, and chicken broth.
With the final batch of pork, pour a little of the chicken broth into the hot pan to deglaze it, scraping up all the flavorful bits from the bottom. Pour that into the crockpot as well. (optional but highly recommended).
Stir everything together.
One little trick that makes Tuesdays easier in our house: I often brown the pork the night before and combine everything in the crockpot insert, then store it in the refrigerator overnight. In the morning before work, I simply place the insert in the crockpot and turn it on.
Cook on low for 8–12 hours.
To Serve
Ladle into bowls and top with whatever you like. Some of our favorites are:
sliced green onions
radishes
chopped cilantro
lime wedges
And now for our family’s slightly unusual but absolutely delicious addition…
We add a tiny dollop of mayonnaise and stir it in.
It sounds strange, but trust me — it adds a creamy richness that completely transforms the soup. Our kids refuse to eat it without it now.
Serve with a loaf of bread and enjoy.
Simple meals like this have a way of bringing us back to the table together — even on the hungriest Tuesdays.
