Hobbit Food

There and back again.

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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. Simple way to lose weight and be healthier.

On March 25, Frodo Baggins, with help from the duplicitous Gollum and the faithful Samwise Gamgee, destroyed the One Ring of Power. [Or shall I say: the duplicitous Gollum, aided by a wavering Frodo and the faithful Samwise] This is the main purpose of the grand Quest, as told by J.R.R.Tolkien in his trilogy The Lord of the Rings. Since this book is our great favorite, Dear Husband and I have, for the last thirty-some years, celebrated on March 25 by eating foods named in the books. Tolkien chose that date very carefully to represent the start of a ‘New Age’ because it is the day said to be when the Virgin Mary became pregnant with Jesus: “Annunciation Day.” Tolkien wrote the story as a Christian allegory. Many people, including his friend and fellow Catholic C.S. Lewis, missed that point and see it only as a fantasy. However you see it, we think it is a gripping tale with complex characters and an engrossing plot. End of book review — for now.

Hobbits love to eat, even after escaping from dire situations. Tom Bombadil rescues them from the dangers of the Old Forest and they all sit down to breakfast the next day. Farmer Maggot shelters them as they flee Black Riders, and then sends them off to their second dinner with a hot mushroom casserole. Enjoy some Hobbit food today.

Bombadil’s Breakfast: 205 calories 5 g fat 2.5 g fiber 10.5 g protein 15 g carbs [8 g Complex] 312 mg Calcium  NB: the food values given are for the plated items only, and do not include the optional beverages. PB GF  When Tom Bombadil served his guests breakfast, it was plants, fruit and dairy of his own collection or production. The plants should be watercress [since his wife Goldberry was the River-Woman’s daughter] and the fruit shall be Golden Berries [aka Peruvian Ground Cherries], again in a nod to his wife.

2/3 oz Camembert cheese ½ cup watercress leaves or microgreens ½ cup plain yogurt 1 tsp honey, warmed 2 oz Golden Berries edible flowers [violets, chives, nastursium, or others]  Optional : blackish coffee [53 calories] or blackish tea or mocha cafe au lait [65 calories] or lemon in hot water

Warm the honey and stir it into the yogurt. Plate the items to your taste and enjoy a magical breakfast in The Old Forest. Wear a blue jacket and yellow boots.

Marish Mushroom Casserole: 299 calories 9 g fat 6 g fiber 24 g protein 41 g carbs 165.6 mg Calcium   PB  If you are a mushroom lover, this meal will make you happy. Vaguely inspired by English recipes.  HINT: This preparation is enough to serve two [2] diners. The wife of Farmer Maggot [a man much nicer than his surname] gave Frodo a mushroom casserole, like this, before he left the Shire on his quest.

BATTER: 1 egg + ½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup white whole wheat flour
½ cup skimmed milk + 1 tsp baking powder		Whisk together and let the batter sit for 30+ minutes.
You will need 2/3 cup for this recipe. Remainder can be frozen.
3 slices uncured bacon @ 30 calories/slice Chop bacon and cook until almost done
8 oz mushrooms, several varieties, if possible 
1 clove garlic 
one scallion, sliced		Chop mushrooms, slice the garlic and scallion. Cook in the bacon until vegetables have softend and most of the liquid has evaporated. Take off heat.
2 T Worcestershire sauce 
2 Tbsp white whole wheat flour
1 oz egg [that’s ½ of one US Large egg]  
3 Tbsp Parmesan cheese, grated		Stir Worcestershire and flour to combine. Then add the egg and cheeese, and stir again. Combine in the pan with the mushroom mixture.
2/3 cup batterPour into an oven-safe dish which has been spritzed with non-stick spray. Smooth the top of the mixture and pour the batter on top.
Bake at 425 until batter is cooked.
½ tsp prepared mustard, per person 
1½ oz green beans, per person		Serve with green beans and mustard on the side.

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

kielbasa or chicken sausage1 two-oz egg + two 8-inch cucumbers 
onion + olive oil + rice vinegarbunch of mint + piment d’esplette
red seedless grapeswhole milk + Parmesan cheese
Parmesan cheese + parsley + chivesfromage blanc or plain yogurt + cantaloup
Optional smoothieoptional smoothie
optional hot beverageoptional hot beverage

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

150-calorie fajita shell + garlicgarlic + egg + marjoram
frozen spinach + tomatochicken or vegetable stock
plain, no-fat yogurtpotato + parsnips + butter
Parmesan cheeserye bread + Swiss cheese
Sparkling waterSparkling water

Saint Robert Flower of Knaresboro

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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. Simple way to lose weight and be healthier.

A fun thing about delving into one’s genealogy is the discovery of some unusual characters in the family tree. One such find was St Robert of Knaresboro. A saint!! An eccentric hermit!! What fun. He was born in Yorkshire around 1160, the son of the Mayor of York. From an early age, Robert Flower knew he wanted a religious life, so he became a novice of the Cistercian Abby at Newminister while yet a child. He then decided that the life of a hermit was what he wanted. Robert was forced to move from place to place — he should be the Patron of Displaced Persons. Along the way, he gained a reputation as a holy person who gave good advice. He settled in Knaresboro, near York, in a cave that was chiseled from solid rock. People came to see him and to drink from his holy well — from King John to common pilgrims. Robert was never actually canonized as a saint, but the Trinitarian friars deemed him venerable and there are churches and stained glass windows dedicated to this kindly man who helped the poor and worked to free the prisoners. St Robert’s Cave is open to visitors.

September 24 is the day Saint Robert Flower died in 1208. You will ask why the breakfast planned for him relates to Tolkien‘s Hobbits. The first line of The Hobbit reads, “In a hole in the ground, there lived a Hobbit.” Saint Robert lived in a hole in the ground. In addition, September 22 is the birthday of the Hobbits Frodo and Bilbo Baggins. Furthermore, St Robert’s father’s first name was “Took,” used as a surname for a prominent Hobbit family. Continuing that theme, the dinner is a simple soup prepared from the leftovers of a famous meal from the Azores: Cozido, cooked in a pot in a hole in the ground. Saint Robert Flower would have enjoyed its simplicity.

Hobbiton Breakfast:  217 calories 6 g fat 3.4 g fiber 5.7 g protein 29.4 g carbs [11 g Complex] 60 mg Calcium   NB: These values are for the plated foods only, and do not include the optional beverages.  PB  A simple-to-prepare and delicious combination of textures and flavors. For Halflings and Big People alike.

1 full-size or 2 half-size [from 3 Tbsp Scone ‘Mix’.] Seedy Scones*** ½ oz Camembert cheese   3 oz apple Optional: blackish coffee [53 calories] or blackish tea or mocha cafe au lait [65 calories] 

***Seedy Scones: This makes 2 cups of ‘Mix’. 1 cup all-purpose flour 1 cup white whole wheat flour 3 Tbsp sugar 1 tsp baking soda 1.5 tsp cream of tartar 2 Tbsp unsalted butter buttermilk or sourmilk, as needed mixed seeds + a pinch of salt Combine the dry ingredients [except seeds] in a bowl. Cut in the butter until well incorporated. 

Prepare the Scone Mix. Take out 3 Tbsp [1.6 oz] of the mix and stir in just enough buttermilk or sour milk [1-1/2 Tbsp? 2 Tbsp?] to cause the dough to come together in a rough ball. TIP: store the remaining mix in the refrigerator in a glass jar with a lid. Ready to use when you wish. Knead briefly on a lightly floured surface. Pat out into one scone, or divide into 2 scones. Brush the surface with milk and scatter the seeds on top. Place in a buttered dish to bake  HINT: I did this the night before and left it on the counter to bake in the morning. Slice the apple and cheese. Bake the scone[s] at 400 F. for 7-10 minutes. Plate to please the eye. Serve with the beverage of your choice.

Cozido Soup: Cozido  is a specialty of the Azores island of Sao Miguel. Some of the dormant volcanoes still have warm magma and send out steam through vents and fissures. Local people lower cauldrons of meats and vegetables into steaming wells, then serve the cooked meal at restaurants or at home.. The serving for two at O Miroma in Furnas consists of vast quantities of beef, pork knuckles, blood sausage, carrots, potatoes, collards, cabbage, and turnips. Like a New England Boiled Dinner, but cooked in a volcanic vent! We took the remainders from our meal home. 

The next day, I put the bones, sausage, and juices in a pot with water and Piment da Queijo. While that simmered, I cut up the vegetables and meat into bite-sized pieces [discarding the blood sausage to which I have an aversion]. Combined, it provided a hearty, nourishing, and low-calorie soup for a Fast Day.

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

1.5 two-oz eggCamembert or Hermelin cheese
apple + heavy cream3%-fat ham
sugar + cinnamonsourdough rye bread
butter + peachplums, preferably yellow
Optional smoothieoptional smoothie
optional hot beverageoptional hot beverage

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

green peppers + cucumber + garliceggs + streaky American bacon
white wine vinegar + tarragon Parmesan-Reggiano cheese
olive oil + shrimp + onionasparagus + scallion
piment d’esplette + dry white wineside salad with beet + tomato
Sparkling waterSparkling water

L.o.t.R.

~ me ~ Leave a comment

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.  Simple way to lose weight and be healthier.                                                                               Welcome to uptightprettygirl who is now Following.

The book series that I have re-read most is The Lord of The Rings by JRR Tolkien.  He creates memorable characters; a unique and believable world; complex languages for different groups of people; and a satisfying story which makes you want to visit it again. A Quest, a Coming-of-Age plot, Star-Crossed Lovers, Overcoming Evil — these books have it all.   March 25 is the day the One Ring was destroyed: the end of evil times and the start of an era when goodness reigned.  In our house, we celebrate LotR day with special foods.  Oddly, although the principal characters are food-loving Hobbits and feasting Dwarves, the author seldom names the foods that are eaten.  Out of the 5 or so instances that ingredients are mentioned, I have crafted two meals. One is eaten at the home of the magical Tom Bombadil and his marvelous wife Goldberry.  The other is based on Hobbits’ enjoyment of mushrooms and rabbit.  We can eat with the Hobbits but not like the Hobbits — they gain weight as adults and being tubby is a bit of a plot-line. We don’t have to be plump, chubby, or stout.  We can Fast.

Bombadil’s Breakfast:   146 calories  5 g fat   2.5 g fiber  10.5 g protein  15.3 g carbs [8.3 g Complex]   312 mg Calcium  NB: the food values given are for the plated items only, and do not include the optional beverages.  PB GF V When Tom Bombadil served his guests breakfast, it consisted of plants, fruit and dairy of his own collection or production. The plants should be watercress [since his wife Goldberry was the River-Man’s daughter] and the fruit shall be Golden Berries [aka Peruvian Ground Cherries], again in a nod to his wife.Bombadil Breakfast

½ oz Camembert cheese                                                                                                                ½ cup watercress leaves or microgreens                                                                                                    ½ cup plain yogurt                                                                                                                         ½ tsp honey                                                                                                                                                      1 oz Golden Berries  [aka: Peruvian Ground Cherries]  OR blueberries                                                              edible flowers [violets, chives, nastursium, or others]                                                                     Optional: blackish coffee [53 calories] or blackish tea or lemon in hot water                       Optional: 5 oz fruit smoothie or berry-yogurt smoothie  [88 calories]

Warm the honey and stir it into the yogurt. Plate the items to your taste and enjoy a magical breakfast in The Old Forest. Wear a blue jacket and yellow hat.

Rabbit Pie: 275 calories   6.6 g fat   4.6 g fiber   25.6 g protein   27.5 g carbs [15 g Complex] 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.

Rabbit Pie, baked
Here is the Rabbit Pie for 2 people as it came out of the oven, with the bread on top.

Rabbit Pie, plated
Here is one serving of the Rabbit Pie plated with the bread underneath to catch the juices.

 

 

 

 

                                                             

         

 

 

 

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                                                                    ½ Arnold Multi-Grain Sandwich Thin OR a 4” circle cut from whole-grain bread                                     1.5 oz carrots                                                                                                                                               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.

Tolkien

~ me ~ 2 Comments

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. Simple way to lose weight and be healthier.

J.R.R. Tolkien did not set out to be a world-famous fantasy writer. Born in South Africa on January 2, 1892, he became a professor of linguistics at Oxford. There he dabbled in writing with a group called The Inklings. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis traded ideas and critiqued each other’s work. [This is why both their fantasy series feature talking trees, elves, and Christian allegory.] At heart, Tolkien was a lover of the linguistic roots of modern English and of old myths.  He wanted to create an English mythology and produced The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, the Silmarillion, as well as many songs, poems, and short stories. Tolkien’s works are beloved the world over for their universal human insights set in a fantasy landscape.  The Quest and Coming of Age themes are compelling and the characters are memorable. The works may not be the history of England and its language, but they are worth reading at any age.                                                                                                                          

Since Tolkien was such a devoted chronicler of all things English, today’s meals would please him as well as making sure that no Hobbits become fatter.  The mushroom breakfast is based on the casserole given to Frodo by Farmer Maggot’s wife, and the dinner is a classic English meal from the 1700s.

FarmWife Mushroom Pudding: 127 calories 2 g fat 2 g fiber 7 g protein 33.5 g carbs 83.6 mg Calcium NB: Food values given are for the plated foods only, and do not include the optional beverage. PB Having heard this described in The Fellowship of the Ring, I searched and searched until I found an approximation: this recipe in Theodora FitzGibbon’s A Taste of England.

½ oz [around one strip] American/streaky bacon ¾ cup assorted mushrooms, chopped 3 Tbsp chicken stock 1 tsp white whole wheat flour 1 Tsp Worcestershire Sauce salt & pepper ½ Arnold Multi-grain Sandwich Thin  ½ oz pear  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]

Cook the bacon partially, blot off the fat, and cut in strips. Pour off the bacon fat but return 1 tsp to the pan. Saute the mushrooms in the fat with a pinch of salt, and remove them. Pour some of the chicken stock into the pan and sprinkle in the flour while whisking to prevent lumps as it thickens. Add the remaining stock and some pepper. Put the bacon and mushrooms into the sauce and cook over low heat. Pour into an oiled oven-proof dish and bake at 425 F for 15 minutes. Warm or lightly toast the Sandwich Thin. Place the bread on top of the mushroom pudding prior to serving.  NB: you can serve it out of the baking dish or turn it out on the bread on a plate.  Enjoy with the pear and have a hearty day, even if you are not escaping from Black Riders.

Pheasant Casserole: 250 calories   9.5 g fat   5.4 g fiber   22.5 g protein  21.6 g carbs [19 Complex]   86 mg Calcium  PB   This recipe is based on one from English Provincial Cooking by Elisabeth Ayrton and it dates back to the 18thcentury. Whole partridges were stewed with onion, carrot, and cabbage for 2.5 hours and served on thick slices of bread. Well, this is a modified version and it is delicious. Using left-over cooked pheasant meat, this recipe works well as a quick and nourishing meal.

Pheansant Casserole

2-1/2 oz cabbage, sliced 1-1.5” thick                                                                     1.5 oz baby carrots, cut in half lengthwise                                                                                                            ¼ oz onion rings [which I forgot to put on the top]                                                       2 Tbsp chicken or pheasant gravy                                                                                                                      2 oz pheasant meat, cooked and taken off the bone                                             ½ Arnold Multi-Grain Sandwich Thin

Prepare the carrots, cabbage, and onion and steam them for 25 minutes until the carrots are tender. If the cabbage is not yet done, leave it in the steamer with the lid on but off the heat until needed. Warm the pheasant in the gravy + 2 tsp of the water from the steaming liquid. Warm the Arnold Thins in the toaster oven. Plate the bread. Spoon a tablespoon of gravy on top. Place the meat atop the bread. Stir the warm vegetables into the warm gravy and plate them. Put the onion rings on top and pour any remaining gravy over the meat.

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

one 2-oz egg                           +            apple or strawberriesNext week I will provide some favorite side dishes for Fast Days
whole-grain bread, 70 calories 
blend cream/half&half 
parmesan cheeseFind a new favorite in the Archives
Whatever you need for your smoothieWhatever you need for your smoothie
Whatever you need for your hot beverageWhatever you need for your hot beverage

Dinner, single portion:

Beef chuck steak +  green pepper 
stewed tomatoes   + onion 
white whole wheat flour 
green beans   +  carrotsFind a new favorite in the Archives
Sparkling waterSparkling water

Hobbiton Birthdays

~ me ~ Leave a comment

How this Fast Diet Lifestyle works: Eat these meals tomorrow. On Thursday, eat the meals that will be posted on Wednesday.  Eat sensibly the other days of the week.  That’s it.  Simple way to lose weight and be healthier.                                                                                Welcome to AHazard who is now Following.

September 22nd means one thing in our family: the birthday of Frodo and Bilbo Baggins. “Hobbit Week” is a time in September that contains the 22nd, so we are celebrating. My Dear Husband and I both discovered J.R.R. Tolkien‘s books in high school and by the time we met, we were devotees. Naturally, we read the Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings to our children [then 5 and 3-yrs old] and were thrilled by how well they followed the plot and loved the tales. In our family, a book completed together meant a specially-themed meal and so the Rabbit Stew was developed.                                   Hobbits are always mentioning how chubby they are — Fasting might be in order even if it is a birthday. Today the breakfast is a homey Hobbiton meal involving the Hobbits’ favorite tuber: the potato [sweet potatoes in this case].  The dinner is one we have enjoyed for decades: the meal that Samwise Gamgee [the name of our current cat] prepared in Ithilien.  The rabbit [cony] was supplied by the duplicitous Gollum and the vegetables would have been foraged by Sam. He never got to have his po-ta-toes [watch  clip from movie!] in the rabbit stew, but we put them in anyway.

Eggs In Sweet Potato Nests:  304 calories  10 g fat  3.1 g fiber  15.7 g protein  38 g carbs  298 mg Calcium  PB GF  Saw this discussed on line and decided to try it. Preparation is a little fussy but it is done the night before making for an easy morning. HINT: this recipe serves 2 [two]. I’m told these refrigerate well for another morning.Eggs in Sweet Potato Cups

Grate the sweet potato and cheese. Toss thoroughly in a bowl with the garlic. Divide among 6 muffin pan cups and push it around, pressing up the sides a bit. NB: I used a flexible non-stick muffin pan which worked well with no sticking. If you don’t have one, use liners or spray the muffin pans very well.  Bake the cups in a 375° F. oven for 10 minutes. Whisk the eggs with some salt and pour over the baked sweet potatoes. Sprinkle the egg with chopped watercress or parsley. HINT: I left this on a cool counter/refrigerator over night.Bake at 350 F. for 15+ minutes or until the eggs are set. Use a knife to loosen the egg nests but let them sit just a bit to firm up before removing them to the plates. Add cherries and the beverages and try this new flavor combo.

Hobbiton Rabbit Stew: 286 calories  6.8 g fat  3.9 g fiber  24.7 g protein  30 g carbs [30 g Complex]  41 mg Calcium   PB GF   This foraged meal, cooked over a campfire in Ithilien, is so easily prepared in your kitchen. Purists will note that the dried fruit, a gift from Faramir, was given to the Hobbits later, but it adds a nice flavor note to the meal. Doubles well.LOTR Stew + fruit

4 oz boneless rabbit meat, cut into bite-sized pieces                                                                                   2 oz carrots, sliced or cubed                                                                                                                                 2 oz potatoes, peeled and cubed                                                                                                                       bay leaf + thyme + lavender buds  + sage                                                                                                                      2 dried apricots +  1 piece dried pear [which is ½ of a pear]

Put the meat, vegetables, and herbs in a sauce pan and cover with water or broth. Cover and simmer until all is cooked. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve with the dried fruit on the side. Long live Frodo!