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 NutritionIdeas2020 who is now Following.

Dear Husband and I love to read ‘whodunits.’ Crime literature in English harks back to Edgar Allen Poe’s Murders on Rue Morgue in 1841. As the genre took off, a sub-genre developed: culinary crime. These books are read as much for the procedural as for the vicarious thrills of the meals that are described along the way. There are many authors who tantalize our tastebuds while they challenge our little grey cells and today, I will feature foods from two widely different sources.

Hercule Poirot is one of Agatha Christie‘s most enduring detectives, although she came to dislike the character eventually. He is a former policeman from Belgium who is obsessed with order and cleanliness. Not for him searching for footprints and collecting cigar ash — too dirty. Add to that, Poirot professes to have a tender stomach. Thus he prefers food that is neat, regularly-shaped, European, and mild but never bland. An omelette made with apples and cream would appeal to him.

Omelette Normande:  174 calories 11 g fat 1 g fiber 10 g protein 9 g carbs [8.2 g Complex] 46 mg Calcium NB: Food values shown are for the ScrOmelette and fruit only, and do not include the optional beverages.  PB GF  Cooking in Normandy naturally involves apple and cream, even at breakfast. This is the breakfast version of a Norman dessert omelette.

1 ½ eggs 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.  1½ oz apple, peeled and sliced thinly 1½ tsp heavy/whipping cream ½ tsp butter ¼ tsp sugar + ¼ tsp cinnamon 1 oz peach    Optional: blackish coffee [53 calories] or blackish tea or mocha cafe au lait [65 calories]  NO smoothie

Peel and slice the apples and cook them slowly in a saute pan with the butter, sugar, cinnamon, 2 Tbsp water, and a healthy spray of non-stick spray. Add more water if the pan gets dry – you don’t want the apples to stick or scorch. Cook until the apples are almost soft and there is no more liquid in the pan. HINT: You can do this the night before. Whisk the eggs with the cream and a little salt while the apples heat/stay warm in the saute pan. Pour in the eggs and let them cook undisturbed until done. Fold and plate with the peach or other fruit of 11 calories. Picture apple trees in bloom.

Perhaps the greatest contemporary foodie-detective is Bruno Courreges, created by Martin Walker in the Bruno, Chief of Police series. As you read, you can’t wait for the next succulent recipe to be presented — step by step, so you could almost cook from the page of the novel. In addition to the food, the plots and characters make the books worth reading. Bruno lives in southern Perigord, a region known for its local ingredients and he makes the most of them. This is a person you want to share a meal with, as long as he is cooking. Author Walker’s wife, Julia Watson, is in charge of the recipes and she does a great job.

Green Gazpacho with Shrimp:  279 calories 19 g fat 2 g fiber 13 g protein 11 g carbs 56 mg Calcium   PB GF   “Bruno,” according to the cookbook, “likes everything about Spanish Gazpacho except the color and texture.” So here is his own version. HINT: The recipe makes 3 cups of soup, to serve three [3] people.

1½ green peppers [9 oz] cut in ½” dice  3 fl oz dry white or rose wine	Put 1/3 of the chopped green peppers into a blender with the white wine. Pulse a bit, then add 1/3 more and pulse again. Add remaining peppers and pulse.
½ large cucumber [5 oz] cut in ½” dice	Add the chopped cucumber and pulse a few times.
75 ml / 4 Tbsp good olive oil 50 ml/ 4 tsp vinegar tarrragon sprig 2 cloves garlic, chopped ½ cup onion, chopped salt + pepper to taste	Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until the soup is still a little chunky. Pour into another container and chill for 30 minutes or more.
Per serving: 2 oz small shrimp Piment d’esplette	Sprinkle shrimp with piment d’esplette and cook. Pour soup into serving bowl and top with cooked shrimp.