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.

To say that Luther Burbank was a plant-breeder would be an understatement. In his career, he developed 800 different plant varieties!! He was born on a farm in Massachusetts on March 7, 1849. As a child, he enjoyed working with his mother in the garden. He bought a small farm where he began to cross-breed plants. This means taking the pollen from one plant and using it to fertilize another plant. If one can control and limit this fertilization, then one can control the characteristics of the resultant plants. Several generations of cross-breeding can lead to plants that are quite different from the originals. Early on, a new plants was the Burbank Potato. One of its virtues was that it was resistant to the Blight which had caused the Irish Potato Famine. He sold the rights to it and moved to land in Santa Rosa, California. There he began breeding in earnest. Vegetables, flowers, grains, grasses, fruits, cactus — all were subjects for investigation. He was not a scientific man, being a bit loosey-goosey about record-keeping. Burbank was about the what-ifs and the results. And he got results: His most famous flower is the Shasta Daisy. His most famous fruit is the plumcot. And his most successful vegetable of all is the Russet Burbank Potato which is the chosen variety for McDonald’s french fries. Don’t blame Luther Burbank if they cause you to gain weight — that one is on you!

What better to eat to celebrate Luther Burbank than plants?! Eat them at breakfast, eat them at dinner — good to eat and good for you.

Ratatouille-Egg Toast:  301 cal 6 g fat 4 g fiber 17 g protein 31.4 g carbs 212.4 mg Calcium  NB: The food values given above are for the egg bake and fruit only, not the optional beverages. PB GF – if using GF bread  Ratatouille, the French vegetable stew, is great with eggs for breakfast. And you can prepare it year-round.

1 piece 70-cal multi-grain bread [Dave’s Killer Bread is great] ¼ cup Mediterranean Vegetables, drained through a sieve  one 2-oz egg Optional: 5-6 oz fruit smoothie or berry-yogurt smoothie  [88 calories] Optional: blackish coffee [53 calories] or blackish tea or mocha cafe au lait [65 calories]   

Toast the bread. Warm the vegetables briefly and spoon onto the toast. Fry the egg using a non-stick or cast iron pan and put the egg on top of the vegetables on the toast. Pour the beverages and you have a fine breakfast as well as a head-start on your 5 servings of vegetables for the day.

Zucchini Fritatta: 280 cal 13 g fat 3.5 g fiber 20.5 g protein 14.6 g carb 296 mg Calcium  GF PB  Inspired by a recipe in Fresh Ways with Vegetables, part of a Time-Life series. This is really delicious and can be prepared any time of year.  HINT: serves two, so save half for lunches or dine with a friend. 

2 two-oz eggs + 2 egg whites ¼ cup low-fat ricotta chesse thyme, salt, pepper to taste 3 oz mushrooms, chopped 2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed ¼ c. onion, chopped ½ pound zucchini, grated 1 tsp lemon juice 2 Tbsp Parmesan cheese, grated 1½ oz mozzerella cheese, grated

Whisk eggs, ricotta, salt, pepper, and thyme together. Heat the broiler. Cook the mushrooms, garlic, and onion in an oven-safe pan for 2-3 minutes. Add zucchini and lemon juice and cook about 5 minutes, until vegetables are soft and all the liquid has evaporated. Turn the heat down to medium and stir in the Parmesan. Smooth the surface of the vegetables in the pan and pour in the egg/ricotta mixture. [OR: spritz two 8” cast iron pans with non-stick spray. Divide the zucchini mixture between the 2 pans, spreading it out and smoothing it down. Pour 100 ml of the egg mixture into each pan, tilting it to distribute the egg evenly.] Cook on the stove-top for 1 minute. Sprinkle with mozzerella and put under the broiler for 2-3 minutes. Cut in half, if cooking in one pan. Save that half for tomorrow or serve proudly to your dinner companion.