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: a simple way to lose weight and be healthier.

July 28, 1862, was the birthdate of one of my favorite authors: [Helen] Beatrix Potter. Her family had been made wealthy from the calico trade in the early 1800s, and they lived in London. Beatrix and her brother were schooled at home, allowing her to develop a keen interest in nature and in drawing. Summers were spent away from London, first in Scotland, then in the Lake District. Potter’s eye for detail lead her to study fungi. She became a technical illustrator and wrote a scientific paper on the reproduction of mushrooms. As a young woman, Beatrix sold pictures for greeting cards and also wrote illustrated letters to the children of friends. One of those stories, telling the misadventures of a young rabbit, was self-published in 1901. Beatrix’ idea was to produce picture books for children, small enough for them to hold by themselves. Finally she found a publisher and in 1902, the Tale of Peter Rabbit was a best-seller. Potter was canny enough to license all the ‘merch’ to go with it: toys, wall paper, dishes. Other books followed, along with an agreement to marry her publisher’s brother. Her family disapproved but they never had to intervene since the fiance died of leukemia. By then, Beatrix Potter was a house-hold name and was independent financially. She began to buy properties in her beloved Lake District, first to have a writing retreat, then to protect the area from development by keeping the land in working farms. Beatrix loved the farming life and the countryside, and her interests were encouraged by a local solicitor William Heelis whom she married at age 47. Writing books [20 all together] and buying land [15 farms totaling 4000 acres] and raising Herdwick sheep became her great interests until her death in 1943. Her lands were left to the National Trust. Her Hill Top Farm is open to visitors and is like walking into one of her books. Tom Kitten, Jemima Puddle-duck, and Samuel Whiskers all were written into existence there.

For breakfast on Beatrix Potter’s birthday, a meal in honor of one of her most endearing characters, Mrs Tiggy-winkle, the hedgehog washer-woman. For dinner, the meal that Tom Thumb and Hunca-Munca, the Two Bad Mice, wished they had eaten.

Hedgehog Apple Breakfast: 198 calories 8 g fat 3 g fiber 10.5 g protein 21 g carbs 9 mg Calcium   PB GF  This is so cute that your can’t bear to eat it, yet you want to gobble it up! Audley End House and Gardens is the source of the recipe, via the Dear Lady at KoolKosherKitchen.com.

3 oz baking apple	Cut apples in half, then peel and core them.
Light syrup	Cook in light sugar syrup until tender. Do not overcook, about 5 minutes at a simmer, turning apples in the syrup.
2 Tbsp thick applesauce	Place one ½ apple on a parchment-covered baking pan. Use a smaller apple piece to form a ‘head.’ Spread sauce over apples, to fill in gaps and hold apples together.  TIP: I did this the night before and put the pan in the ‘fridge overnight.
1 egg white = 1½ Tbsp 1 tsp sugar	Beat egg white with sugar until forming soft peaks. Spread meringue over apples to cover completely. Rake with a fork to form fur.
zante or black currents = eyes red currant or cherry = nose sliced/slivered almonds	Create a ‘face’ with black and red fruits. Set almonds in meringue in rows to form spikes.
	Bake at 350F until meringue sets and browns, about 8 minutes.
Canadian bacon OR chicken breakfast sausage	Serve with Canadian Bacon [20 cal] or chicken sausage [30 calories]

Optional: 5 oz fruit smoothie or berry-yogurt smoothie [88 calories] Optional: blackish coffee [53 calories] or blackish tea or mocha cafe au lait [65 calories] or lemon in hot water 

Ham Dinner: 297 calories 8 g fat 6 g fiber 19 g protein 40 g carbs 41.5 mg Calcium  PB GF This is a standard Easter Dinner in many homes, as well as being a popular diner order. From the succotash to the sweetened sweet potato to the pineapple garnish, this meal is a classic.

3 oz ham, sliced 3/8” thick ¼ c. lima beans + ¼ c corn kernels 1 oz sweet potato 1 tsp brown sugar ¼ c canned pineapple chunks

Cube the sweet potato and simmer in a small pan until tender, about 10 minutes. Heat the ham slice in a non-stick pan over medium, until ham begins to brown. Heat the vegetables together. When the ham is cooked and the sweet potato is tender, plate the ham and drain the potato. Put the potato in the ham’s pan, along with a bit of the potato water. Stir to incorporate the brown bits on the bottom of the pan. Then stir in the brown sugar until the potato is covered with the sugar. Plate everything, putting a pinch of salt on the vegetables. Place the pinapple chunks on the ham and tuck into a meal fit for people or naughty mice.

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

1 two-oz egg + olive oil	1.5 two-oz eggs
corn + canned black beans	chèvre [goat cheese]
tomato + red onion + basil	mixed, cooked vegetables
red wine vinegar + berries	strawberries
Optional smoothie	optional smoothie
optional hot beverage	optional hot beverage

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

Barramundi fish fillet + fresh spinach + garlic	curry sauce  + carrot + peas
puttanesca sauce + Camargue red rice	Yellow lentils or Naan bread, 92-calorie
black olives + Dijon mustard + olive oil	Cauliflower/broccoli florets + Tomato
red wine vinegar  + lemon zest + green beans	Cooked chicken breast + Cucumber
Sparkling water	Sparkling water