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.

The Hundred Years’ War blurs by the students in history class — too many names; too many battles. Unless you have a dog in the fight, it matters not. But some battles stand out to me: Crecy in 1346, Agincourt in 1415 [made memorable by Shakespeare], and Verneuil. As at Crecy, my mother’s ancestors fought at the Battle of Verneuil. It took place in Normandie, France in 1424. In those battles, the English were trying to establish their dominance in the province that had belonged to their leader, William of Normandy, three and a half centuries ago. Once again, the English were outnumbered. Once again, the French were defeated. The French army was a combination of French knights, infantry, and archers, 1000s of Scots, and calvary units hired from Milan and Lombardy. This polyglot assemblage lead to poor communication on the battle field and a lack of unity with the attack. I try to imagine my ancestor, Gerard d’Harcourt, the 44-year-old only son of his noble family, with a wife and two young sons at home. He would have gone into battle on that hot August day in head-to-toe armor. Since dawn, while the two armies had been maneuvering into position, Gerard sat locked in his metal suit, without much food or water since breakfast. The battle finally began at 4 pm, and when it was over, [only?] 1600 English had died, compared to 7262 combatants on the French-Scots side. Gerard was one of them, along with his first cousin Jean VIII, Count d’Harcourt and leader of the French army. Less than 30 years later, hostilities ceased. Too late for Gerard and Jean.

A foraging army might well have found cepe mushrooms in the woods of Normandy to add to breakfast, and rabbits would have provided a welcome stew at dinner for those who survived the ‘bloodiest battle of the Hundred Year War.’

Cepe Omelette: 139 calories 9 g fat 1 g fiber 10 g protein 6 g carbs 46.7 mg Calcium  PB GF Cepes [aka: ceps, porcini] are a divine mushroom. Like many good foods, they exist in a brief moment of time and must be savored in the moment. True, they can be dried for later, which is a real plus. But today we will be Zen-like and enjoy them now.

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.   ½ oz [1/3 cup] sliced, raw cepes ¼ tsp butter parsley, chopped salt & pepper 4 cherries   Optional: blackish coffee [53 calories] or blackish tea or mocha cafe au lait [65 calories]    Optional: 5 oz fruit smoothie or berry-yogurt smoothie [88 calories]

In a non-stick pan, melt the butter and spritz well with cooking spray. Whisk the eggs with parsley, salt, and pepper. Cook the mushrooms in the butter until tender [1 minute?] and pour in the eggs. Let the bottom of the eggs get firm, lifting the edges to let the raw egg run underneath. Either flip the eggs to cook on the other side, or leave the upperside soft when you fold and plate it with the fruit. With or without the optional beverages, this is a rare Summer treat.

Rabbit Pie: 275 calories 6.6 g fat 4.6 g fiber 25.6 g protein 27.5 g carbs 77 mg Calcium  PB Rabbit is a common meat in recipes the world over. It is high in protein and low in fat. And yes, it does taste like chicken. You could substitute.

2 oz mushrooms 4 oz chicken stock 2 tsp potato starch 0.55 oz [1 slice] ham from the deli 3 oz rabbit meat ¼ cup onions, chopped big pinch dried thyme big pinch savory salt + pepper 1.5 oz carrots ½ Arnold Multi-Grain Sandwich Thin OR a 4” circle cut from whole-grain bread

If the rabbit is uncooked: Cut it into bite-sized pieces and quickly cook in a saute pan which has been spritzed with non-stick spray. Remove the meat. Chop and cook the mushrooms in non-stick spray, but do not evaporate all of the liquid they give off. Remove the mushrooms from the pan and set aside. Add the onions and the stock to the pan along with the mushroom juices and ¼ cup water. Simmer to cook the onions. Whisk in the potato starch and the seasonings. Continue to whisk over heat until the potato starch is dissolved. Cook at a simmer until the liquid measures ¼ cup and is thickened. Add the rabbit meat, ham, and the mushrooms. Simmer for a few minutes and taste for seasonings. Pour and scrape into an oven-proof dish. Top with the Sandwich Thin. Bake at 350 F for15 minutes. Cook the carrots. Plate the meal by first putting the Sandwich Thin on the plate, then covering it with the rabbit-mushroom mixture. Pour any extra liquid so that it is soaked up by the bread. Plate the carrots to complete the meal.

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

2 cucumbers = 21 oz + cantaloupe balls	1.5 two-oz eggs
mint leaves + piment d’esplette/paprika	apple + melon
fromage blanc or plain Greek yogurt	1 oz raw pork
Optional: 1 oz sliced deli ham	dried sage
optional smoothie	optional smoothie
optional hot beverage	optional hot beverage

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

rice vermicelli + raw shrimp	4 oz pot roast of beef
carrots + scallion + Thai fish sauce	boiling onions
lime juice + Thai green curry paste	carrots + beef gravy
fresh or frozen spinach + sugar	small red potatoes
Sparkling water	Sparkling water