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.

Omelettes [or omelets] are found in many cuisines. Surely, as long as people have had eggs and a pan to cook them in, they have been eating omelettes. The ancient Persians had their Kuku, which sounds rather like the ‘bakes’ we have on Mondays. Cookbooks in France mention ‘alumete’ in 1393, long before Mere Poulard. India eats its Pora. Canton, China enjoys eggs fu yung, and Japan serves tamagoyaki. The Spanish omelette [they call it a ‘tortilla’], which is cooked on both sides in a pan, seems to have caught on in 1798; while the Italian frittata, pan-cooked then baked, lacks an origin story. Louis XV of France whipped up a dinner of omelettes for his friends — weren’t they surprised! Whether king or commoner, the omelette is a fine meal. Whether Faster or feaster, omelettes provide flavor, nutrition, protein, and calcium in a low-calorie form.

There are omelettes for breakfast and dinner and dessert. Just about every Thursday, as you have seen, we enjoy an omelette for our Fast breakfast. Of late, since the hens are laying well, we have sampled the joys of dinner eggs: Chinese, French, Spanish, Italian. Here are some examples:

Guacamole Eggs:  145 calories 11.4 g fat 1g fiber 11 g protein 5 g carbs [45. g Complex] 45 mg Calcium   PB GF  Avocado and eggs are a very good combination. Both are high in fat, but the plant fat helps to mitigate effects of the animal fat. Here, we use Haas avocados.

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.  3 Tbsp Guacomole, homemade** or purchased  Optional: blackish coffee [53 calories] or blackish tea or mocha cafe au lait [65 calories] or lemon in hot water   Optional: 5 oz fruit smoothie or berry-yogurt smoothie [88 calories]

**Guacamole: makes 1 cup  1 jalepeno pepper, sliced. Remove the seeds if you wish it less hot. 1 cup diced tomatoes, canned or fresh 1-1/2 avocados 1/3 cup minced onion ¼ cup chopped cilantro leaves salt lime juice, and hot pepper flakes to taste Peel, seed, and mash the avocados. Stir in the other ingredients and mash again or run through the food processor.

Whisk the eggs with salt and pepper and pour them into a pan which has been spritzed with non-stick spray. Cook, without stirring or scrambling, until the top is almost set. Spread the guacamole on half of the eggs, then fold the omelette over. Serve with optional beverages. Mocha coffee would be the more traditional choice for a Mexican food theme.

Omelette Basque:  274 calories 14.8 g fat 4.4 g fiber 16.7 g protein 20 g carbs [14 g Complex] 69.5 mg Calcium  PB GF – if using GF bread A savory omelette is a wonderful dinner, any day of the week. Susan Herrmann Loomas’ French Farmhouse Cooking is the source of this delicious meal.  HINT: serves two [2].

4 two-oz eggs 8 oz Italian bell peppers, green +/or red, cut in 1”x2” pieces 1 tsp olive oil ground espelette or Aleppo pepper or smokey paprika   per serving: one side salad with tomato   per serving: 0.8 oz whole-wheat sourdough bread

Cut the peppers as described above. Heat the oil in a 10-12” saute pan along with some healthy sprays of non-stick spray. When the oil is hot, add the peppers and cook, tossing them to turn to the other sides, until they have blackened parts. Lightly salt and pepper the peppers. Remove and separate into two portions. Whisk the eggs. Divide the eggs into two equal portions and add a pinch of espelette or Aleppo pepper to each batch. Put the pan back on the heat and add one portion of the peppers. Arrange them so that they are evenly distributed on the pan. When the pan is sizzling, add one portion of the eggs to the pan. Tilt the pan around so the eggs flow over the bottom and around the peppers. As the sides cook, lift the edge and let uncooked egg go to the bottom of the pan. Lightly salt and pepper the eggs. As the top just sets, remove the pan from the heat. Lift up one-third of the omelette and fold it over the rest. Fold the other side over the center, too, and ease the omelette onto a plate. Cook the other omelette right away. Plate with the salad and the bread. Everything you want in a dinner: delicious, quick, healthy.

Ingredients for next week: Breakfast, single portion for Monday ……… single portion for Thursday:

1 two-oz egg	Bob’s Red Mill 10-Grain Cereal
mushrooms	low-fat milk
galettes/crepes	blueberries
Mediterranean Vegetables
Optional smoothie	optional smoothie
optional hot beverage	optional hot beverage

Dinner, single portion for Monday: …….. single portion for Thursday:

Smoke ham hock	70-calorie multi-grain bread
sauerkraut + garlic	tuna + onion + celery + tomato
canned red beans	celery seed + Swiss cheese
red potatoes [raw spinach]	reduced-fat mayonnaise or Béchamel
Sparkling water	side salad + Sparkling water