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 Clary Rouge who is now Following.

“Gascony” is one of the regions of old France, often called by other names, and now broken up into several small departments. It is bounded on the West by the Atlantic Ocean and on the South by the Pyrenees Mountains. To the North, it is bordered by the Garonne River and on the East by the region of Languedoc. The Romans called it Aquatania, after the native tribe. The locals at the Eastern end called it Occitain, which is based on the ancient local word for ‘Yes’ which was ‘Oc’ instead of the current ‘Oui.’ The Duchy of Aquaitaine passed into English control in 1152 when Eleanor of Aquitaine married the English King Henry II — a simple act that set the stage for the Hundred Years War. Gascony is known for three famous ‘products’: its iconic and delicious food; the fictional/actual Musketeer d’Artagnan; and French King Henri IV.

If the world were a healthier place right now, Dear Husband and I would be in Gascony. It is our idea of a vacation spot: bucolic, ‘undiscovered’, full of good food, and planted in vineyards. We have never been there, but maybe next year…. In the meantime, we will prepare Gascon foods at home.

Garbure Bake: 134 calories 6.3 g fat 1.7 g fiber 9.5 g protein 7.7 g carbs [7.5 g Complex] 53 mg Calcium  NB: The food values given above are for the egg bake and fruit only, not the optional beverages.  PB GF  ‘Garbure’ is a favorite casserole of Southwestern France. Now you can enjoy its flavors at breakfast.

1 two-ounce egg ½ oz cabbage, thinly-sliced ½ oz leeks, thinly-sliced ¼ oz small white beans [All I had were garbanzoes, so I sliced them in half] 1/3 oz pork, shredded or thinly-sliced ½ tsp duck fat or bacon fat 1-3/4 oz strawberries/blueberries   Optional: blackish coffee [53 calories] or blackish tea or mocha cafe au lait [65 calories] or lemon in hot water  Optional: 5-6 oz fruit smoothie or berry-yogurt smoothie [88 calories]

Prepare the cabbage and leek, and put in one bowl. In another, put the beans and pork. Heat a saute pan and add the fat with a few Tablespoons of water. Saute the cabbage/leek until they are limp, adding more water if needed. Then stir in the pork and beans and cook until warm.Season with salt and pepper. Put the cooked mixture into a baking dish which has been spritzed with non-stick spray. Whisk the egg with salt and pepper to taste and pour into the dish. Bake at 350 F for 15+ minutes. Portion the fruit and plate the bake. Welcome to a taste of Gascony.

Chickpea Ragout with fish:  ragout = 121 calories  2.8 g fat 5.3 g fiber 5.8 g protein 20 g carbs 26 mg Calcium  PLUS calories from the fish you choose GF PB  Prepare the simple ragout, add the fish of your choice.  This is from Jacques Pepin’s Fast Food My Way. Although he doesn’t mean our kind of ‘Fast Food,’ Pepin has long been a proponent of healthy cooking. He presents this as a side dish, but for our purposes it is best prepared as a main course with seafood for more protein.

½ cup Chickpea Ragout [see Saucy, Dec 6, 2018] 1 oz fresh spinach leaves your choice of fish:   4 oz swordfish  139 calories   4 oz cod  92 calories   4 oz salmon  160 calories   4 oz halibut  124 calories   4 oz smelts 110 calories 2 oz shad  140 calories

Put the Chickpea Ragout in a small pan with a few tablespoons of water. Place the fish on top. Cover and cook over medium-low heat for 10 minutes or until fish is cooked. At the last minute, add some fresh spinach leaves and continue to cook until they wilt. All done. All delicious.