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.

Truman Streckfus Persons was the talk of the town and the entire country in 1966. After having been serialized in the New Yorker, In Cold Blood was published in book form. Of course the name that became famous was that of Truman Garcia Capote. He was born in New Orleans to a pair of squabbling Southerners who left him for years in the care of elderly relatives in Alabama. Miss Sook became the fruit-cake baking character in A Christmas Memory. As a child, he and Harper Lee were playmates. Years later, he became the child “Dill” in To Kill a Mockingbird and she was his research assistant for In Cold Blood. When he was 7, his mother remarried: a wealthy Cuban business man who adopted young Truman and gave him a new surname. The family lived in and around Manhattan, putting Truman in and out of various schools. Although he was highly intelligent, he disliked school. One year, his mother sent him to military school in an effort to make him less effeminate — like that worked! But he wrote for a school newspaper and was encouraged by a teacher to do what he always wanted to do: to be a writer. Short stories were published in the 1950s, with the most famous, Breakfast at Tiffany’s being made into a movie with Audrey Hepburn. [Capote wanted Marilyn Monroe.] Capote became the darling of the Park Avenue set — until 1975 when a chapter from his unpublished tell-all book was printed in Esquire. Giggles at his catty gossip in the drawing room became cold shoulders in the fashionable restaurants. His flamboyant life of excess caught up with him when he went to California and died at a friend’s house in 1984. In one last curious twist, the friend kept most of his ashes at her home. The house and contents were sold to settle her estate, and Truman’s ashes were auctioned off in 2016. He would have loved the publicity.

For Capote’s birthday on September 30, a Cubano ScrOmelette to make note of his Cuban step-father’s last name and a Jambalaya, comfort food of the South.

Cubano ScrOmelette: 151 calories 8.5 g fat 0 g fiber 12 g protein 1 g carbs 71 mg Calcium  NB: Food values shown are for the ScrOmelette and fruit only, and do not include the optional beverages.  GF  The famous Miami sandwich comes to the Fasting breakfast table, with every flavor intact!

1½ two-oz 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.  1/8 oz ham, diced ¼ oz Swiss cheese, diced ¼ oz pork, diced [this could be from a previous roast or a grilled tenderloin] ¼ tsp mayonnaise + 1/4 tsp mustard 1.5 tsp dill pickle, diced  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]

Cut up the meats, and combine in a small bowl. Dice the pickle and cheese, and whisk with the mayonnaise, mustard, and eggs. Season to taste. Spritz a saute pan with non-stick spray and heat it. Put the meat mixture into the hot sauté pan to warm, then add the eggs. Scramble together [or cook like an omelette] until the way you like it. Pour your beverages and enjoy a semi-tropical start to your day.

Jambalaya: 275 calories 5 g fat 4 g fiber 15 g protein 39 g carbs 81 mg Calcium  PB GF What else would you eat when you want delicious Cajun comfort food: jambalaya, of course.  HINT: This recipe makes enough to serve 4 [four]. Invite friends.

2/3 cup onion, chopped 2 cloves garlic, chopped 2 tsp cajun seasoning ½ cup green pepper, chopped 1/3 cup celery, chopped 2 oz andouille sausage [or sweet Italian], sliced 3 oz chicken breast, cubed 2 oz [½ cup] ham, cubed 12 oz crushed tomatoes 1/3 tsp crushed red pepper 1/3 tsp black pepper 2/3 tsp salt ½ tsp Tabasco sauce 1½ tsp Worcestershire sauce ¾ tsp file powder ¾ cup brown rice, uncooked  1½ cups chicken broth 2 oz broccoli

Cook the onion in a little water and a dash of olive oil until translucent. Add the garlic and cajun seasoning and cook until fragrant. Stir in the green pepper and celery and then add the meats. Pour in the tomatoes, seasonings and sauces, the rice, and broth. Cover and simmer for 25-40 minutes, stirring every once in a while to prevent sticking. The mixture will not be soupy, as the rice will have absorbed the liquids. Cook uncovered if too much liquid remains. Prepare the broccoli and plate.

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

70-calorie wholegrain bread	Bob’s Red Mill 10-grain cereal
small-curd cottage cheese + chives	Ricotta cheese + cinnamon + raspberries
smoked trout	Pumpkin puree + nutmeg + Maple syrup
plum	Optional: pecans
Optional smoothie	optional smoothie
optional hot beverage	optional hot beverage

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

onion + whole-grain 70-calorie bread	excellent chicken stock + creamed corn + ham
ground pork + ground 3%-fat ham	scallions + bouillion cube or grains + sesame oil
egg + uncured bacon	egg white + cornstarch/cornflour
green beans	chicken meat + fresh ginger
Sparkling water	Sparkling water