How this Fast Diet Lifestyleworks: 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. Join me in the Fasting Lifestyle.

Literature loves to take a real story and change it. The trouble begins when the populace believes the tale that is told and confuses it for the real events. An example is La Chanson de Roland, a romantic poem composed in 1100 CE. It relates an historical incident from 16 June 808, when the Frankish King Charlemagne was returning to France from a military incursion into Spain. The purpose of the raid was to subdue the Berbers/Moors/Muslims who had invaded Spain and had been testing the French border. Charlemagne had been very successful, making treaties with the Berbers and along the way attacking the Basques. Now it was time to return to France/Frankia and the army had to funnel through a mountain pass near Ronceveaux. The king assigned his right-hand man, Roldán [Roland, in modern French], who was not his nephew, to guard against any attack on the end of the long baggage train. Roldán deployed his men, watching for trouble in an obvious ambush spot, and trouble came in the form of the Basques, along with the Moors. With home advantage, the Basques easily defeated the rear-guard and plundered the wagons. This was the second Battle of Roncesveaux Pass, the first being in 784. The middle ages, longing for romantic tales, embraced the story of the tragic hero Roland. The poem Chanson de Roland tells of Roland, with his mighty sword Durandel in his hand and best friend Olivier by his side, being ambushed by the Moors, due to the treachery of Roland’s father-in-law. [another fabrication] In rhyming couplets, Olivier urges Roland many times to blow his famous ‘Olifant’ horn to call for help from the retreating army. Roland, not wanting to show weakness, refuses and stands his ground. He and all his men are slaughtered, and with his dying breath he sounds his horn. Charlemagne arrives too late and a hero is made into a myth. The poem was the first great example of a chanson de geste, a poem glorifying chivalry and the denial of personal satisfaction in pursuit of honor. The problem is, it gets the facts of the original story wrong. But then, Art often plays fast and loose with facts.

Our breakfast features fruits from the fertile valleys of south-western France, and the dinner uses chickpeas, a food introduced to Europe by the Berbers.

https://lrc.la.utexas.edu/eieol/ofrol/10

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roland

Cherry Flamusse: 194 calories… 5 g fat… 1 g fiber… 11 g protein… 27.6 g carbs… 157 mg Calcium…  NB: Food values given are for the plated foods only, and do not include the optional beverage. PB GF – if using GF flour This breakfast custard is borrowed from the dessert section of the cookbook, and it works very well either way! It is similar to a clafouti, but simpler. Served with cherries or any fresh fruit, it is sure to be a hit. HINT: This makes enough for 2 [two] servings: share with a friend or save the rest for a future breakfast or dessert. [As a dessert, without the clementine, one serving has 177 calories.]

++ 2 two-oz eggs ++++ 6 oz milk ++++ 4 tsp flour OR tapioca flour ++++ 1.5 Tbsp sugar ++++ 10 sweet cherries, pitted ++++ ½ clementine ++++ 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] ++ 

Spritz 2 ramekins or an oven-proof dish with 1.5 cup capacity with non-stick spray. Cut the cherries in half and arrange on the bottom of the dish. Whisk eggs until foamy, then add flour and sugar, whisking until there are no lumps. Stir in the milk and pour the batter over the cherries. Bake at 375 F. for 20 minutes. Turn the flamusse out of the dish so that the cherries are on top. Plate with the clementine sections, serve with the beverages. You won’t believe this is a ‘diet.’

Chickpea Ragout:  makes ~4 cups  PB GF  This is from Jacques Pepin’s Fast Food My Way. The entire batch has 484 calories, so divide into appropriate portions.  divided in 2: 242 calories… 5 g fat… 11 g fiber… 12 g protein… 40 g carbs… 51 mg Calcium... divided in 3:  161 calories… 4 g fat… 7.5 g fiber… 8.6 g protein… 30 g carbs… 37 mg Calcium…

++ ½ tsp olive oil ++++ ½ cup diced onions ++++ ½ cup scallions, chopped ++++ 1 Tbsp garlic ++++ 2 cups diced tomatoes, fresh or canned and drained ++++ 1½ cup chickpeas, drained and rinsed if canned ++++ ½ cup chicken stock ++++ ½ tsp salt ++++ ½ tsp pepper ++++ optional: ½ oz feta or mozzarella cheese ++

Heat the oil in a saute pan. Add the onion, scallion and garlic. Stir briefly over the heat then add the tomatoes, chickpeas, salt, and pepper. Cook over low heat until liquids are mostly evaporated. If using now, separate out your portion and keep warm. Cool the remaining ragout and freeze it in serving portions. optional: When serving, this may be topped with ¼ – ½ oz feta or mozzarella cheese to add 25-50 more calories + more protein.