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.

Margaret Cochran had a difficult life. She was born on a subsistence farm in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, which was then on the far western frontier of the 13 Colonies. Her father was killed in an Indian raid, during which her mother was abducted, never to be seen again. Little Margaret and her brother were taken in by relatives. She married John Corbin when she was 21 years old. Three years later, the Colonies asserted their independence, the Revolutionary War began, and John Corbin enlisted. Wives of soldiers had three choices: go live with their parents; stay home and run their farm alone; or join their husbands at the army camp. Margaret took her only option and became a ‘camp follower.’ Contrary to popular opinion, these women were not prostitutes and, although General Washington tried to outlaw them, they served a purpose. The women who lived with the army did the cooking and laundry for the troops, providing a useful service and earning money for their work. It was not an easy life, especially during battles when the women would take food and water and ammunition to the soldiers under fire. They would also move the injured to the medical tent and tend them. John Corbin was part of a 5-man team who manned a cannon. His job was to swab the bore of the cannon with a wet mop, to cool it down between shots. After the cannon was loaded with shot and powder, he tamped the charge into the barrel. On November 16, 1776, during the battle of Fort Washington on Manhattan Island, Margaret Corbin put on man’s clothing and stood with her husband by the cannon. When he was killed, she took his place, doing the work as well as any man, much to the admiration of her crew-mates who called her ‘Captain Molly’. The superior British forces closed in on the fort at last and a cannon shot hit Margaret’s position. She was badly injured in her jaw and chest, and her left arm was almost blown off. When the fort fell, Corbin was captured but later released. Her injuries healed poorly and she was in pain for the rest of her life, losing the use of her arm. She joined the Invalid Regiment at West Point, one of many disabled soldiers who help tend the wounded until her discharge in 1783. Margaret was not a likable women by all accounts but she was tenacious. When she heard that veterans received a stipend, she applied for one. The Congress awarded her a life-long pension [half-pay] and a new suit of clothes for her service. In Manhattan’s Fort Tryon Park, a plaque describes Margaret Corbin as the first woman to fight for her county’s freedom. She died in obscurity in her late 40s, but her remains found a home at West Point and were buried with military honors. A monument to her marks her grave. Margaret proved that there was a place for women in ‘this man’s army.’ In 1976, female cadets were admitted for the first time to the US Military Academy at West Point.

Our menu consists of food that would have been familiar to farm families who lived off foods of their own production.

Scrapple Bake: 149 calories 7 g fat 4 g fiber 8.5 g protein 10 g carbs 62.5 mg Calcium  NB: The food values given above are for the egg bake and fruit only, not the optional beverages.  GF  Scrapple is one of the specialty foods of the “Pennsylvania Dutch” people of South Eastern Pennyslvania. Excellent for breakfast, served as a side dish like sausage or combined with eggs in this bake.

1 two-oz egg ½ oz scrapple, baked until cooked ½ oz scallion, chopped ½ cup raspberries + 1 Tbsp fat-free vanilla yogurt  Optional: blackish coffee [53 calories] or blackish tea or mocha cafe au lait [65 calories]   Optional: 5-6 oz fruit smoothie or berry-yogurt smoothie [88 calories]

The night before, bake the scrapple in the oven until firm. Dice it and combine with the scallion.  In the morning, set the toaster oven at 350 F. Spritz a ramekin with oil or non-stick spray. Scatter the scrapple and scallion in the ramekin. Whisk the eggs with salt and pepper and pour over the scrapple. Bake 12-15 minutes. Meanwhile, portion the berries and dollop the yogurt on top. Brew a beverage and enjoy a fine, homey breakfast.

Corned Beef & Cabbage:  299 calories 22 g fat 4 g fiber 22.5 g protein 15 g carbs 220.5 mg Calcium  Fannie Farmer’s cookbook provides the inspiration for this recipe. Add deli corned beef to creamed cabbage with cheese, and you are in the spirit of subsistence farmers in early America.

3 cups sliced cabbage ¼ cup plain bechamel sauce, without cheese  2 oz corned beef [thinly sliced, from the deli] cut into strips ½ oz deli Swiss cheese salt & pepper

Steam the cabbage for 5 minutes. Stir in the bechamel sauce, corned beef, and seasonings. Put into an oven-proof dish and lay the cheese slice on top. Bake at 350 degrees F. until the cheese melts.

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

1 two-oz egg = US large	1 two-oz egg + olive oil
mango	pear + onion + celery + herbs
shrimp	turkey breast meat, cooked or raw
cafreal masala	70-calorie whole-grain bread
optional smoothie	optional smoothie
optional hot beverage	optional hot beverage

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

pork meat + beef meat	venison sausage @ 290 calories or less
carrots	delicata squash + sweet potato
kale + turnip	parsnip + fresh cranberries
cabbage	crushed red pepper + thyme sprigs
Sparkling water	Sparkling water