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.

Molasses was a trade commodity. It was one of the major products that constituted the Triangle Trade of the 17-1800s. Molasses was a bi-product of sugar-making in the Caribbean, and was imported to New England in large amounts. How did they use all that molasses? Some of it went to livestock feed. Most went into making rum. A lot of molasses was used in food preparation — Boston Baked Beans, molasses cookies, molasses puff candy, poured on pancakes — molasses was a popular ingredient when sugar was expensive. By the time of World War I, molasses was used to manufacture some munitions, and also to make distilled alcohol, so there were storage tanks of molasses in a few places around Boston, Massachusetts. The largest of these was near Cobbs Hill in the North End, and it was owned by United States Industrial Alcohol. The company had been told that the tank was leaking, so they painted it brown to camoflague the fact. January 15, 1919 was unseasonably warm. The molasses and fermentation gasses expanded in the tank. And then it exploded. Near-by, buildings collapsed or were knocked off their foundations. Shrapnel in the form of half-inch rivets flew everywhere. The resultant implosion sucked a train off the tracks. Not done yet! When the tank ruptured, a 40-foot wall of molasses flowed down the streets at 35-mph. Twenty-one people died, 150 were injured, many horses and other animals were lost. The company blamed “Italian anarchists” and anything else they could think of — except their own neglect. The smell of molasses lingered for months. Building codes are stronger now in Massachusetts. Good thing.

A breakfast that features Boston-inspired ingredients and a dinner from the Caribbean, the origin of molasses, are ways to commemorate the Molasses Flood.

B-O-S-T ScrOmelette: 161 calories 7.6 g fat 1.5 g fiber 11 g protein 9 g carbs 220 mg Calcium  NB: Food values shown are for the ScrOmelette and fruit only, and do not include the optional beverages.  PB GF  The beans are for Boston’s nickname: beantown. The green onions are for the Green Monster at Fenway Park. The shrimp are for the strong maritime tradition of the port. The tomatoes are for New Englanders’ fervent wish to raise just a few ripe tomatoes before the end of summer. The perfect beverage would be a cup of tea – for the Boston Tea Party, of course.

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.   1 Tbsp white beans, preferable small ‘navy’ beans           2 Tbsp green part of scallions, sliced   1 oz tomato, diced and drained in a sieve overnight       ¼ oz shrimp, preferably tiny Northern shrimp OR larger shrimp chopped   1½ oz nectarine    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]

Put the beans, onion, shrimp, and tomato in a warm non-stick pan spritzed with non-stick spray or olive oil. Cook until warmed. Whisk the eggs with salt and pepper and pour over the other ingredients in the pan. Scramble or cook as an omelette. Pour the beverages of your choice, plate the fruit, and plate the eggs. 

Lobster ‘Lambi’ & Plantains: 270 calories  8 g fat 3 g fiber 18 g protein 35 g carbs 51 mg Calcium PB GF A simple meal from Haiti. Easy any season of the year. Ordinarily lambi is made with the meat of the Queen Conch, but if they are unavailable, try lobster tail instead. The plantains are oven-roasted and are a fun new vegetable for us.

3 oz lobster meat – a tail, for example  ½ Tbsp olive oil 1 lime, cut in half             3 oz plantain slices, from a ripe [yellow skin with some black spots] not green plantain         3 oz cantaloup melon   Fresh spinach leaves

Peel the plantains and carefully slice them so they don’t get squished. Place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and sprayed with non-stick spray. Brush with the olive oil and sprinkle with a flavorful salt. Bake at 425 F for 10 minutes, then turn the slices and bake for a further 10 minutes.  If the lobster is uncooked, grill it indoors or outdoors while you squeeze juice from half the lime on it. Cut it into bite-sized pieces.  If the lobster meat is cooked already, cut it into bite-sized pieces and squeeze lime juice on it. Place the spinach on the plate with the lobster on top of it. Then arrange the melon and plantains. Keep the other half lime for more juice-squeezing to your taste.