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.

Louis Capet, the ninth of his name, became King of France in 1226, when he was 13 years old. His mother, the formidable Blanche of Castile, had been regent for seven years — a ‘tiger mom’ fighting for the rights of her son against nobles who would have weakened his power, and her’s. Influenced by his mother, Louis was strong in his Christian faith. He attended mass twice each day and spent great sums of money to bring relics such as the Crown of Thorns to France. To house it, he ordered the construction of La Sainte Chappelle, an exquisite jewel-box of a church which is shaped like a reliquary — only fitting since its sole purpose is to house a relic. The Chapel is a breath-taking masterpiece of Gothic design. To his detriment, Louis lead two crusades to the Holy Land. On the first, much of the army died of disease and Louis was captured. On the second, he died of scurvy in Tunisia on August 25, 1270. He was canonized only 17 years later, due to many miracles in his name. Saint Louis is also the name of the principal city of Missouri, USA. Its location at the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers made it a center of Native American culture. They built extensive mounds on both sides of the rivers, such as those seen at Cahokia, Illinois. French fur traders arrived in 1764, starting a settlement which they named after the 9th Louis of France. The area was held by the Spanish for a bit, then became part of the United States in 1804 with the Louisiana Purchase. Today, St Louis is known for the Gateway Arch, its Blues Music, its sports teams, its style of pork BBQ, and as the home of Budweiser Beer. It was the location of the 1904 World’s Fair which prompted the 1944 Judy Garland film Meet Me In Saint Louis.

Today’s meals are from the American heartland in the Missouri and Mississippi River watershed. Louis’ death from scurvy was preventable had he eaten more fruit and vegetables. As an ardent religious faster, he had an unbalanced diet. Had he partaken of today’s menu, he might have survived longer.

Pineapple Pompeii: 205 calories 5.4 g fat 3 g fiber 10 g protein 27 g carbs 26.6 mg Calcium  NB: Food values shown are for the plated foods only, and do not include the optional beverages.  PB GF  This is served in in the Mid-West as a side dish to baked ham, but I put the ham in the casserole to make a complete meal. The fanciful name is unique to the neighbor who gave me the recipe.  HINT: Serves 8 as breakfast.

1 piece of Pineapple Pompeii 1 oz peach   Optional: blackish coffee [53 calories] or blackish tea or mocha cafe au lait [65 calories] or lemon in hot water   Optional: 5 oz fruit smoothie or berry-yogurt smoothie [88 calories]

Serve with the peach and optional beverage. Freeze the pieces that you don’t use today for another meal.

Pineapple Pompeii  8 pieces
1 Tbsp butter  ¼ cup loosely-packed brown sugar	Cream the butter and sugar together.
5 cups whole-grain bread cut in cubes 4 two-oz eggs	Add bread cubes and eggs to the bowl. Stir to combine.
20 oz can crushed pineapple, drained and saving the juice 2/3 cup 3%-fat ham, cut in ¼” dice	Add these. Stir to combine. Batter should be moist — add some drained pineapple juice to bring it to the right consistancy.
	Spray a 6×10” baking pan with non-stick spray and pour in the batter. Smooth it into the corners and bake 25 mins at 350F for, until set and starting to brown. Cut in 8 pieces.

Chicken-Stuffed Tomato: 293 calories 16 g fat 4.5 g fiber 25 g protein 13 g carbs 64.5 mg Calcium  PB GF  This is certainly a staple of the late-Summer repertoire, lightened considerably from the standard recipe.

5 oz tomato, about 3” in diameter 3 oz cooked chicken meat, from thighs/breast 2 Tbsp chopped scallion 1 Tbsp mayonnaise [60 cal/Tbsp] 1 tsp capers 2 tsp caper juice 3 oz string beans, yellow + green

Put the chicken in the food processor and pulse it until it is shredded but not turned into a paste. There will be about 1-1/3 cups of meat. Add the scallion, mayonnaise, capers, and caper juice. Pulse two or three times to combine. Slice the tomato ‘on the latitude lines’ to produce 3 thick slices. Salt them and place on the serving plate. Steam the beans. Using a scoop or large spoon, portion the chicken salad on the tomato slices. Arrange the cooked beans on the plate, add a sprinkle of finishing salt, and enjoy a colorful Summer repast.

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

1 two-oz egg	1.5 two-oz eggs
curry powder crushed tomatoes	cinnamon + oregano
lower-fat ricotta	feta cheese + tomato puree
artichoke hearts applesauce or slices	pomegranate seeds or applesauce
Optional smoothie	optional smoothie
optional hot beverage	optional hot beverage

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

Mussel meats + olive oil  + whole-wheat baguette	2 buckwheat galettes
onion + garlic + mussel broth + capers	Mediteranean Vegetables with chickpeas
Canned tomatoes + Italian Herbs	mozzarella
red pepper flakes + salad greens + vinegar
Sparkling water	Sparkling water