How this Fast Diet Lifestyle works: Eat these meals tomorrow, for a calorie total of less than 600. On another day this week, eat the meals from a different post, another day of eating 600 calories or less. Eat sensibly the other days of the week. That’s it. Simple way to lose weight and be healthier. Welcome to Mary Ellen B. who is now Following.

In 1815, an Indonesian volcanic island near Bali blew its top. The eruption of Mount Tambora scarcely made the headlines, but it had long-ranging consequences. Tambora was a type of volcano that puts out huge quantities of ash and gasses [remember the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajokull in 2010?]. Ejected high into the atmosphere, they were carried by the jet stream around the world. This had the effect of blocking much of the solar energy [light] which enters the atmosphere. The result? Cooler temperatures in North America and Europe. Just as the farmers crops were sprouting from the ground, freezing temperatures and snow would kill them. While thousands of people around the Indian Ocean died directly from the eruption, many more died half a world away due to famine and hypothermia as winter came on. This came to be called The Year Without A Summer, immortalized in books and doggerel: “Air so cold you could see your breath/ 1800 and froze to death.”

Our breakfast contains sprouted seeds, in remembrance of the crops that died in the fields that summer. The dinner is fish chowder, which probably became a staple that fall and winter due to the lack of food from plants. Whatever your weather is tomorrow, at least this isn’t the summer of 1816.

Sprouted Bake: 129 calories 5.3 g fat 1.8 g fiber 9.5 g protein 7.8 g carbs [6.9 g Complex] 45.5 mg Calcium  NB: The food values given above are for the egg bake and fruit only, not the optional beverages. PB GF Time to get the sprouts out of the sandwiches and into the breakfast.

1 two-oz egg ¼ c radish sprouts OR microgreens 1/2 oz avocado 1 Tbsp low-fat cottage cheese ¼ cup blueberries Optional: blackish coffee [53 calories] or blackish tea or lemon in hot water Optional: 5-6 oz fruit smoothie or berry-yogurt smoothie [88 calories]

Mash the avocado and mix with the cottage cheese. Heat the toaster oven to 350 degrees F. Spritz an oven-proof dish with cooking oil or spray and put the sprouts in it. Whisk the egg with the avocado mixture and pour over the sprouts. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Bake for 12-15 minutes. Portion the fruit and pour the optional beverages. 

Chowdah: 294 calories 7.3 g fat 1.7 g fiber 33.6 g protein 17.2 g carbs 114 mg Calcium  PB GF Here in Northern New England, chowder is king. Cod or haddock is traditional but hake is more flavorful and lower in calories. If you can, make it one day and eat it the next day for richer flavor.

½ slice bacon ¼ cup onion, chopped 2 oz potatoes, 1/2” dice 1.5 cups fish stock 4 oz cod or hake fillets, cut into 1-1/2” pieces ¼ cup 2% milk salt + pepper + parsley

Cook the bacon until it is almost crispy, remove from the pan, blot dry of fat, and chop coarsely. Pour most of the fat from the pan and add the onions. Cook slowly until soft and transluscent. In another pan, boil the potatoes in water until tender. Drain and salt the potatoes. Put the fish stock, cod, potatoes, and milk in the pan with the onions. Heat slowly until warm. Add the bacon, parsley, and seasonings to taste. [TIP: Best if held in the ‘fridge for 8-24 hours before you heat slowly [do NOT boil] and taste for seasonings again.]