How this Fast Diet Lifestyle works: Eat these meals tomorrow. On Monday, eat the meals that will be posted on Sunday.  Eat sensibly the other days of the week.  That’s it.  Simple way to lose weight and be healthier.

John James Audubon: champion of wild birds; American defender of wildlife; founder of the Audubon Society.  Not so fast. He was a man of two worlds and of two personas. The famous bird artist was not an American by birth: he was born on the wrong side of the blanket in Haiti to a French ship owner and his housekeeper. His name at birth was ‘Jean Rabin.’  Ultimately adopted by his father and his father’s wife, Rabin’s name was changed to Jean-Jacques F. Audubon.  An education centered around art and dancing did not help when he was sent to Pennsylvania to escape Napoleonic conscription and to run the family lead mine.  [On the way to America on a false passport, he changed his name to John James.]  After marriage and the arrival of children, Audubon tried shop keeping in Kentucky and life as a miller, before working as a portrait painter and dance instructor. Earning praise for his paintings of birds, Audubon went on an extended hunting trip: he would shoot birds, wire them into lifelike poses, and paint them. Meanwhile, his wife supported the children by working as a governess. In 1836, publishers in Scotland and England agreed to publish his large-format book Birds of America, Audubon’s seminal work depicting more than 700 species. This work raised him from obscurity and secured him some financial stability.  He actually had nothing to do with the Audubon Society: that was founded by an admirer after Audubon died. One idea of Audubon’s persists in the study of birds: he developed the concept of ‘bird banding.’   Tomorrow, on Audubon’s birthday, we will eat the gizzards of birds he might have killed for breakfast [that’s <gésier> in French] and eat pheasant, a common game bird, for dinner. Bon apétit.

Gizzard ScrOmelette:  292 calories  10.7 g fat   2.4 g fiber  17.6 g protein  32 g carbs [29 g Complex]  212 mg Calcium  GF  Yes, really: gizzards. High in protein, low in fat . You could try this with the gizzard that is in the giblet package at Thanksgiving time.

Three 2-oz eggs of which you will use 1 ½ eggs per person HINT: If you are serving one person, crack three 2-oz eggs into a small bowl or glass measuring cup. Whip up those eggs and pour half of their volume into a jar with a lid and put it in the ‘fridge for next week.                                                                                                                                                                                  1/2 oz gizzards, cleaned and simmered in seasoned stock for 1 ½ hours [HINT: cook up a bunch of gizzards at the same time for future use]                                                                                  1 clove garlic, minced                                                                                                                                   sage + salt + pepper                                                                                                                                                       1 oz applesauce                                                                                                                                        Blackish coffee or tea or lemon with hot water                                                                                               5-6 oz fruit smoothie or natural apple cider

Spritz a non-stick pan with olive oil or non-stick spray. Slice the gizzards and cook them with the garlic and sage until warm. Whisk the eggs with salt & pepper to taste and scramble in the pan with the gizzards. Plate the applesauce and pour the beverages. Real farm food.

Pheasant Casserole:  250 calories  9.5 g fat   5.4 g fiber  22.5 g protein  21.6 g carbs [19 Complex]  86 mg Calcium   PB  This recipe is based on one from English Provincial Cooking by Elisabeth Ayrton and it dates back to the 18^thcentury. Whole partridges were stewed with onion, carrot, and cabbage for 2.5 hours and served on thick slices of bread. Well, this is a modified version and it is delicious. This uses left over cooked pheasant meat and works well.

2-1/2 oz cabbage, sliced 1-1.5” thick                                                                                                                   1.5 oz baby carrots, cut in half lengthwise                                                                                                     ¼ oz onion rings [which I forgot to put on the top in the photo]                                                                     2 Tbsp chicken or pheasant gravy                                                                                                                      2 oz pheasant meat, cooked and taken off the bone                                                                                                     ½ Arnold Multi-Grain Sandwich Thin

Prepare the carrots, cabbage, and onion and steam them for 25 minutes until the carrots are tender. If the cabbage is not yet done, leave it in the steamer with the lid on but off the heat until needed. Warm the pheasant in the gravy + 2 tsp of the water from the steaming liquid. Warm the Arnold Thins in the toaster oven. Plate the bread. Spoon a tablespoon of gravy on top. Place the meat atop the bread. Stir the warm vegetables into the warm gravy and plate them. Put the onion rings on top and pour any remaining gravy over the meat.

Ingredients for next week: breakfast, single portion

Dinner, single portion: