“Mm-mm Good” said the TV ad, and that’s how our food should taste, even if we’re ‘dieting.’  But this isn’t a diet, its a Lifestyle: good food with few calories twice a week, then eat normally the other five days. And today’s menu does taste good, right down to the soup.

Mushroom-Egg Toast   290 calories                                                                     PB This is yummy. The eggs are creamy and the mushrooms lend a marvelous layer of flavor. I like this better than poached eggs.

1 piece 35-cal bread OR 1/2 piece 70-cal bread                                                                                             one 2-oz egg                                                                                                                                                              1 oz mushrooms, chopped                                                                                                                                    1 Tbsp chives, chopped                                                                                                                                        1 ½ oz of applesauce                                                                                                                                                       blackish coffee, blackish tea, or lemon in hot water                                                                                      5-6 oz smoothie or natural apple cider

Toast the bread. Spritz the non-stick saute pan with oil or spray and gently cook the mushrooms. Put the chives, salt, and pepper in with the egg and beat it up. Scramble lightly with the mushrooms, keeping the eggs moist. Turn out over the toast and plate the fruit. Sip your beverages and have a good day.

Minestrone Soup    215 calories   3 g fat   10.2 g protein   36 g carbs   5.6 g fiber    PB GF [if you use GF pasta]HINT: One serving is one cup, but you could go to 1 and ¼ cups each. This recipe made 6 cups for me – several future meals from this recipe!                                                                             1 tsp olive oil                                                                                                                                                             1 cup onion, chopped                                                                                                                                          2/3 cup carrot, chopped                                                                                                                                         ½ cup celery, chopped                                                                                                                                         2 cloves garlic, chopped                                                                                                                                       3 slices pepperoni, chopped                                                                                                                              ½ cup sweet potato, cubed                                                                                                                                     ½ cup zucchini, diced                                                                                                                                          ½ cup mushrooms, chopped                                                                                                                              2 cups crushed tomatoes                                                                                                                                     ¾ cup small white beans, drained and rinsed if canned                                                                                 lots of sage and rosemary, chopped                                                                                                                  3 cups water                                                                                                                                                                    1 oz pasta, all or some of it could be whole wheat if you are boosting fiber [orzo, dinetelli, broken spaghetti]                                                                                                                                                     2 tsp Parmasan cheese, grated                                             salt and pepper to taste

Put the olive oil, onion, carrot, celery, garlic and pepperoni into a sauce pan together and cook over medium heat until onions begin to wilt.  Add the sweet potato, zucchini, mushrooms, tomatoes, white beans, herbs, and water.  Cook at a simmer for about 20 minutes. Add the pasta and cook until it is soft. Add remaining seasonings.

 

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. Join me in the Fasting Lifestyle. 

I get a kick out of novels from the early 1900s, when my grandparents were young.  One old goodie is The Melting of Mollie, in which our heroine seeks advice on how to lose weight before her boyfriend returns from a sea voyage.  The kindly, wise young doctor suggests one hard-boiled egg for breakfast, a peach for lunch, and chicken breast for dinner with vegetables. Mollie is spurred on by letters from her distant sweetheart in which he fondly remembers her slim silhouette. Since she has become a bit pudgy, she is ready to do anything to regain her figure. Imagine her horror when her sailor returns, and she finds that he has gained so much weight that she finds him unappealingly fat! The hypocryte wanted her to be slim while he thought it was alright to let himself go to seed.  [Spoiler alert: she marries the doctor!]

Mollie’s way of eating might be effective but you wouldn’t want to stay on it long — too little variety and too many foods off limits. One of the beauties of the Fasting Lifestyle that there are many food choices available to you.  Keep at it and you will melt like Mollie.

Improper English 265 cal.   4.3 g. fat     17.2 g. protein    47.5 g. carbA “proper English” is the full Victorian breakfast, serving every conceivable food you can imagine. This version leaves out the eggs and kippers [how improper!], but keeps the protein-rich baked beans along with the rest of the usual stand-bys.

++ ¼ cup baked beans ++++ one 50-60 calorie sausage  ++++   ½ piece of 70-calorie whole-grain toast ++++ ½ of a 2.5” diameter tomato     +     salt  ++++ 1 oz mushrooms ++++ a few grapes ++++ optional: 5-6 oz fruit smoothie or green smoothie ++++ blackish coffee or tea ++

Cut the tomato around its equator and put one half away for later. Salt the tomato and put under the broiler until it softens. Cook the sausage and mushrooms in the same pan to heat through. Heat the beans – perhaps in the microwave. Toast the bread and brew the hot beverage. Pour the smoothie and plate everything. Cheerio!

Pomelo-Shrimp Salad:     259 cal     5.9 fat     22.5 protein      26.6 carb   PB   GF

The pomelos were ripe in our son and daughter-in-law’s garden, so I used some to make this meal.   Since pomelos are uncommon, substitute grapefruit.   The recipe is from Hot Sour Salty Sweet by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid. I’ll be perfectly honest:  my chief taster thought the pomelos tasted bitter.  In future, I will use grapefruits.

++ 1 Tbsp fish sauce  ++++ 1.5 Tbsp lime juice ++++ 1.5-2 tsp brown sugar  ++++  1 cup grapefruit  segments ++++ 1.5 tsp coconut  ++++ 1/4 oz dry roasted peanuts ++++ 2 tsp chopped shallot  ++++   1/2 cup fresh mint  ++++ 1/4 tsp Thai chile sauce ++++  3 oz shrimp, cleaned — I used tiny cold water shrimp. If you use larger shrimp, cut them into smaller pieces. ++++ 1 large leaf romaine lettuce ++++ chopped scallion ++

Mix the fish sauce, lime juice and brown sugar in an oven-proof bowl. Add the shrimp and let marinate. Toast the coconut in a dry skillet until just beginning to brown. Peel and segment the pomelo/grapefruit and remove pulp from the membranes. Put the shrimp and marinade into the microwave and heat until cooked. Gently combine the shrimp, marinade, pomelo, coconut, peanuts, shallot, mint, and chile sauce in a wide bowl. Put the lettuce leaf on the plate and fill it with the salad. In the photo, you see some colorful chips. Those are veggie chips by Terra which add a nice crunch and a few more calories to the meal. Omit if you wish, but do not substitute potato chips!