People who are new to Fasting often pose the questions: “Can I really eat ‘anything I want’ on a Slow Day?” and “What should I eat on Slow Days?” To answer those questions, I have decided to add some blog posts to show some of the foods we eat on what the world calls NFDs [non-fast days] but which, in our house, we call ‘Slow Days.’ This feature will appear sporadically. 

Now for the answers. Can you really eat ANYTHING you want on a Slow Day? Not really. If you eat too many calories every Slow Day, you will not lose weight. There are many questions asked on the FastDiet Forum which attest to that. Once in a while you can splurge, as long as it isn’t everyday. For what to eat on Slow Days, Dr. Mosley recommends a Mediterranean Diet. As for how we eat, an example follows.

Some people call these “German Pancakes” while others call them “Dutch Babies.” Since ‘Dutch’/Deutsch often refers to ‘Germans,’ we can guess that this might be related to the German Pflannkuchen, but the recipe for this breakfast dish seems to have been invented in American West-Coast kitchens in the early 1900s. Several restaurants claim to have been the first to serve it, and it appears without attribution in many cookbooks. We enjoy this on Sundays. And I do mean ENJOY. Our recipe and method are from Marion Cunningham’s The Breakfast Book.

The mise en place above shows how easy this recipe is: 3 eggs, 1/2 cup flour, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 cup milk, 2 Tbsp butter. These were set out on the counter the night before so the eggs and butter could be at room temperature. Heat the oven to 450 and generously butter a 10 or 12″ cast iron skillet or, as we use, two 8″ skillets. Use an egg beater to break up the eggs in a bowl, then add the milk. Add the flour and salt, again deploy the egg beaters. Then mix in the melted butter to make a smooth batter. Pour into the pan/pans and pop into the oven. Bake for 15 minutes for the small pans. For the larger pan, after 15 minutes at 450F, turn heat down to 350F and continue to bake for 10 minutes more.

Magically, the batter rises up the sides to form a serving bowl of huge proportions! Serve with any fresh fruit in season, or with thawed and drained unsweetened frozen fruit. Maple syrup, lingonberry syrup, or cloudberry syrup are our faves.