recipes for Michael Mosley’s 5:2 Diet

Maria Mitchell

~ 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.

Maria [ pronounced ma-RYE-uh] Mitchell was born on Nantucket Island on August 1, 1818. By the time she died in 1889, she was famous around the world. And you are asking, “How come I don’t know who she is???” Raised in a Quaker community, she was as educated as any boy in town — if not better. She had such a grasp of mathematics and astronomy that when she was 14, whaling captains came to her for navigational advice. In 1847, using her father’s telescope, she discovered a new comet. [To this day it is called “Miss Mitchell’s Comet“.] She received international renown and a gold medal from the King of Denmark. Maria went on to be the librarian of the stately Nantucket Atheneum and was lured off the island to be one of the first professors at Vassar College. There, Maria was the beloved and innovative teacher of many future scientists

Astronomers cut their teeth on the observation of equinoxes and solstices. In honor of Miss Mitchell’s birthday, our meals revolve around those celestial events.

Vernal Equinox ScrOmelette: 172 calories… 8.4 g fat… 2 g fiber… 15 g protein… 11 g carbs… 60.4 mg Calcium…  NB: Food values shown are for the ScrOmelette and fruit only, and do not include the optional beverages. PB GF The cured meat and asparagus are emblematic of the changing seasons: the meat is for Winter and the aparagus is for Spring. Together, they are a heavenly flavor combination. 

++ 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 to store in the ‘fridge for next week ++++ 1 oz cooked asparagus, chopped ++++ 1¼ oz uncured capicola ham or proscuitto ++++ 1 clementine OR 3 oz melon ++++ Optional: blackish coffee [53 calories] or blackish tea ++++ Optional: 5-6 oz fruit smoothie or  berry-yogurt smoothie[88 calories]

Thinly slice and coarsely chop the meat. Combine it with the chopped asparagus. Spritz a non-stick pan with non-stick spray. Put the meat-asparagus into the pan and stir until warmed. Whisk the eggs and pour into the pan. Scramble or cook as an omelette. Plate with the clementine and ponder the changing seasons as you enjoy the beverages of your choosing.

Winter Solstice Pizza: 283 calories… 10 g fat… 3 g fiber… 16 g protein… 16 g carbs… 224 mg Calcium…   PB On the Winter solstice, we like to prepare a pizza with elements of the season past [mushrooms represent Fall] and of the season to come [cured meats stand in for Winter].

++ 1 whole wheat tortilla [Herdez 8” Fajita-style Tortilla is what I use], must be 170 calories or less ++++ 1.5 Tbsp crushed tomatoes ++++ pinch granulated garlic ++++ 1 oz mozzerella cheese, grated ++++ 1 oz/2 Tbsp mushrooms ++++ 1/3 oz prosciutto ++++ 1 Tbsp onion, chopped ++++ ½ Kalamata olive, quartered ++

Heat the oven to 400 F. Spread the tortilla with the crushed tomato sauce and garlic. Chop the prosciutto roughly and combine it with the mushrooms, onion, and cheese. Distribute over the pizza shell. Sprinkle with herbs, crushed red pepper, or other seasonings to taste. Dot with olive bits. Bake for 5-10 minutes. Think about how the Earth and Sun move through the heavens in their stately yearly dance.

Ingredients for next week: 

Breakfast, single portion for Monday ………………… single portion for Thursday:

Bob’s 10-grain cereal1.5 two-oz eggs 
applesauce + nutmegground bison meat
cottage cheese + cinnamon
spaghetti sauce

maple syrup		scallion + melon
Optional smoothieoptional smoothie
optional hot beverageoptional hot beverage

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

smoked haddock/finnen haddie
ground venison + chili powder
onion + potato
canned red beans + green pepper
milk + parsley + bay leaf
canned tomatoes + garlic
asparagus or peas
red onion + ground cumin + melon
Sparkling waterSparkling water

Martha

~ 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 SimplyMySwank who is now Following.

Poor Martha! All she wanted was a hand in the kitchen… That new Rabbi was passing through town, so she invited him over for dinner. The fact that he was traveling with about 40 other people wouldn’t be much of a problem — her sister Mary would help her while their brother Lazarus entertained the guests. Martha heads to the kitchen to cook. But where is Mary? She’s in the living room listening to the Rabbi talk — that’s not helping! Martha takes the Rabbi aside to get him to make Mary retreat to the kitchen. Instead, he gives Martha a gentle rebuke: “Martha, you are worried about many things. But only one thing matters and Mary has chosen it. Do not take that from her.” This is how Luke tells the story in Chapter 10 of his Gospel. Martha became the patron saint of cooks for obvious reasons. I remember seeing a statue of a female saint high on the wall of the kitchen in the 15th century charity hospital at Beaune, France. It was Saint Martha, of course, ready to give her spiritual help to all the workers in the kitchen who were cooking for others.

Today’s meals are easily prepared for guests and they are similar to foods that Martha and Mary might have served. OK, they didn’t have tomatoes or quinoa, but these meals have Eastern Mediterranean origins.

Shakshuka: 158 calories 8 g fat 5 g fiber 12 g protein 17 g carbs [17 g Complex] 144 mg Calcium  NB: The food values given above are for the egg bake only, not the optional beverages. PB GF This breakfast from the Eastern Mediterranean is a real treat. If you prepare part of it the night before, then morning meal prep is very easy. HINT: This recipe serves 2 [two] people. Easily doubled or tripled. This prepares and bakes in one pan.

2 two-oz eggs 1/3 cup sliced onion 1/3 cup sliced red pepper 1 clove garlic, sliced 10 oz whole tomatoes ¾ oz feta cheese, cubed or crumbled 2 large pinches each of ground cumin + paprika + cayenne

Slowly saute onion and pepper, using non-stick spray, until very soft – about 20 minutes. Add garlic and cook 1-2 minutes more until it is tender. Add spices and cook one minute. Add tomatoes, salt, and pepper. Simmer 10 minutes until mixture is thickerand someof the tomato liquid has cooked off. Add feta cheese. [TIP: you could do this the night before and stop here] Set the oven to 375 degrees F.  If serving two, the mixture could be divided into two separate dishes for baking/serving or kept in one larger dish. Using the back of a spoon, press an indentation in the vegetables. Carefully break one egg per person into each depression. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Bake 7-10 minutes. If you want the yolk to cook, put a lid on the pan for the last 2 minutes. Garnish with cilantro or flat-leaf parsley.

Fish with Mediterranean Vegetables: 278 calories 6 g fat 6 g fiber 28 g protein 25 g carbs [24 g Complex] 290 mg Calcium PB GF Mediterranean Food, anyone? Here it is, full of protein of seafood and Calcium!

1 cup Mediterranean Vegetables without chickpeas Sidekicks II, 4 Oct. ’17 3 oz fish/mussels/shrimp, raw or cooked 1 oz mushrooms, sliced 1 oz mozzerella, grated 1/3 cup cooked quinoa

Start cooking the quinoa. Prepare or thaw the Mediterranean Vegetables. Stir in the mushrooms and sea food and heat until warmed through. Place the quinoa on the side of the plate and spoon the warm mixture on top. Top with the grated cheese and pause before serving to let the cheese melt a little.

St Christopher

~ 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.

Christopher is the patron saint of travelers. Cars used to have tiny statues of the man on their dashboards. He was, purportedly, a giant man who helped travelers to traverse a dangerous stretch of river. Due to his height, his head was always above water. Due to his strength, he kept your head above water, too. The story is told of his carrying a small child across the river, only to have the water rising as the child on his back becoming heavier. Once the other bank was reached, it seemed that the child had turned into the man Jesus. This is why the name ‘Christopher’ translates as ‘Christ-bearer.’ But alas, the Roman Catholic Church declared that there was no actual evidence that he had ever lived, and so he was demoted from sainthood.

“Saint” Christopher’s Feast Day is July 25, so we will observe it with food. And it is food that you could take along while traveling. Leaving early in the morning? Prepare today’s breakfast the night before and wrap it in waxed paper or foil. Next morning, warm it in the microwave [waxed paper] or the toaster oven [foil] and take it with you in the car. The dinner crepes can also be prepared in advance and eaten hours later on the road. They are good even at room temperature. Or they could be reheated in a motel room microwave.

Egg-McArnold: 230 calories 6.5 g fat 5.6 g fiber 13.3 g protein 26.8 g carbs [15 g Complex] 91 mg Calcium  NB: The food values given above are for the egg sandwich only, not the optional coffee. This, of course, is the Fasting version of a fast-food favorite.

1 two-oz egg 1 Arnold-brand multi-grain Sandwich Thin [100 calories] ½ oz Canadian/back Bacon or 1 slice Jones Brand [20 calories/slice] Optional: 2 oz grapes  Optional: blackish coffee [53 calories] or blackish tea or lemon in hot water NB: NO SMOOTHIE today

Open up the ‘sandwich thin’ and lightly toast it. Fry or poach the egg to your liking and cook the Canadian Bacon in the same pan. Assemble, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy it with your coffee in a to-go cup. You can eat this in the car on the go or you could sit down and slowly savor this Fast food.

Leek & Bacon Galettes: 260 calories 5.5 g fat 4.6 g fiber 10 g protein 37 g carbs 114 mg Calcium  PB Joanne Harris writes in her French Market cookbook about buying these at a market stall in France. Now you can make them at home. NB: It is easier/quicker if you prepare the galettes/crepes in advance.

2 buckwheat galettes/crepes [..Not by Bread.. 17-Jan-’18] ½ cup Leek & Bacon Filling [Savory 27-Feb-’19] 2 oz fresh tomatoes, diced and sprinkled with basil or thyme + salt

Gently warm the galettes and place them on a baking sheet. Warm the Leek&Bacon filling and divide it between the crepes, spreading it on one half of each. Fold the crepes in half, then in half again, placing them on the baking sheet so that the filled part is upper-most [this prevents unfolding in the oven]. Cut and season the tomatoes. Warm the galettes/crepes thoroughly in the oven. Delicious!

Ingredients for next week: 

Breakfast, single portion for Monday ………………… single portion for Thursday:

1 two-oz egg1.5 two-oz eggs 
whole tomatoes + feta cheeseasparagus
red/orange Italian pepper + onion
capicola ham
garlic + cumin + cayenne + paprika
clementine
Optional smoothieoptional smoothie
optional hot beverageoptional hot beverage

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

Mediterranean Vegetables [no
chickpeas]
see Sidekicks II 4-Oct-’17		170-calorie whole wheat tortilla
fish or crustaceans
crushed tomato + mozzarella
mozzarella
onion + mushroom
quinoa
prosciutto + Kalamata olive
Sparkling waterSparkling water

Moon Shot

~ 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 InspiredLiving who is now Following.

We were in a bus, returning to Paris. ‘We’ were a mixed bunch of college students from the US on a student “tour with cultural experiences and language immersion.” It was a Sunday in late July, 1969. The organizers had herded us into a bus for a weekend trip to Normandy and Brittany which we had dutifully toured. Now it was dark and we had a couple more hours ahead of us on that bus. We had been singing, chatting, napping, and suddenly the bus driver turned on the radio. An excited French broadcaster was beginning to shout: “L’Aigle est atterri*! L’Aigle est atterri**!!” Those who knew more French translated for the neophytes: ‘The Eagle has landed!” And so we knew that the Apollo 11 lunar lander was safely on the moon. What a moment! As one, we began to sing The Star Spangled Banner. Writing about it now gives me goosebumps. The next day, every cafe in Paris had a TV out on the sidewalk, so everyone could share the adventure. That night, the Place de la Concord had screens on which the TV images from the moon were displayed. We, France, and the world were mesmerized by the event. Fifty years ago and I can still remember it in detail.

*The word ‘atterri’ [or ‘landed’] literally means ‘come to Earth.’ Soon a new word was coined: ‘aluni,’ meaning ‘land on the moon.’ ** I remember the word a “atteresse” [with a accent aigu on the last ‘e’; and the moon landing version as “alunisse” but maybe I that is a detail that I have mis-remembered…

Our meals today are in the image of the full moon, with a round of dairy at breakfast and a fish timbale at dinner. NB: The idea that the “moon is made of (green) cheese” comes from the detailed observations of an early astronomer. He was looking at the moon through his telescope and writing notes to himself. To describe the color of the pale orb, he gave a comparison: it was ‘the color of green [meaning young or un-aged] cheese.’ Some idiot took him literally.

Bombadil’s Breakfast: 146 calories 5.1 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 Vegetarian 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-Man’s daughter] and the fruit shall be Golden Berries [aka Peruvian Ground Cherries], again in a nod to his wife.

½ oz Camembert cheese ½ cup watercress leaves or microgreens ½ cup plain yogurt ½ tsp honey 1 oz Golden Berries edible flowers [violets, chives, nastursum, 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.

Fish Timbale:  276 calories 17.3 g fat 1.6 g fiber 23.5 g protein 8 g carbs 95 mg Calcium  PB GF Sounds high-falutin’ but really very easy.

1.6 oz mackerel or salmon + 1.3 oz haddock or cod 3/4 oz egg [either pullet egg or an egg white] 1/3 oz white beans 2 Tbsp cream + 2 Tbsp spinach + 1/2 Tbsp shallot 1 oz Swiss chard 1/8 tsp olive oil nutmeg + granulated garlic

Wash the spinach and leave water on the leaves. Put in a lidded pan along with the chopped shallot. Put on the lid and let cook until the spinach is limp. Remove, chop, and squeeze the water out of the spinach. Thoroughly mash the white beans and add the cream. Stir the spinach/shallot into the bean/cream. If fish is raw: Put in a pan with a little water. Cover and steam until fish is cooked. Flake the fish and combine with the other ingredients, except the chard. Turn into an oil-spritzed ramekin and bake at 400 degrees F. for 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile, coarsley chop the chard and cook it in a little water until done. Drain and season with nutmeg and granulated garlic. Run a knife around the sides of the timbale and invert the plate over it. Turn the plate right-side-up and remove the timbale. Plate the chard.

Polonium

~ 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.

Marie Sklodowska Curie stirred and stirred her cauldron of melted pitchblende. It was 1898, and she was in a wooden shack behind the Sorbonne in Paris. This was not the university life she had imagined as a child in Poland. Marya [Marie] had entered the Sorbonne to pursue a degree in science when the University of Krakow [Poland] would not admit her. She did research into the energy given off by certain salts and crystals [like Uranium, discovered in 1789], an energy which she dubbed ‘radiation.’ Together with her husband Pierre, a professor of chemistry at the Sorbonne, Marie thought that pitchblende/Uraninite contained undiscovered elements which were radioactive. By July of 1898, they had isolated one of those elements, which they named Polonium in honor of Marie’s native land. By the end of the year, they also identified and named a second element, Radium.

Foods in honor of Polonium should have a distinctly Polish slant to them. Horseradish is a popular flavoring in Eastern Europe, so that is in the breakfast. The dinner of cabbage soup, also very Polish/French, evokes Curie’s stirring the pot of pitchblende. Marie was a busy woman, having some soup in the freezer for a quick meal would have appealed to her.

Horseradish-Cheesey ScrOmelette: 158 calories 9.8 g fat 0.7 g fiber 11.4 g protein 5.8 g carbs [5 g Complex] 105.6 mg Calcium  NB: Food values shown are for the ScrOmelette and fruit only, and do not include the optional beverages. PB GF Barney Greengrass’ place in Manhatten combines eggs with a horseradish-cheese mixture and here is my version. Tangy and unusual. Oh, and good.

1-½ two-oz eggs per person 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 Barney Greengrass cheese mixture*** ½ Tbsp crushed tomatoes ½ clementine  Optional: blackish coffee [53 calories] or tea or lemon with hot water Optional: 3 oz green smoothie or fruit smoothie [34 calories]

***Cheese Mixture: 2 Tbsp Old English cheese spread + 4 tsp horseradish from a jar. Save the remainder for another time. 

Stir the cheese mixture and tomatoes together until smooth. Whisk the eggs with salt and pepper to taste, then whisk in the cheese/tomatoes. Pour into a hot pan sprayed with cooking oil. As the eggs set, lift the edge and tilt the pan so that uncooked egg flows underneath. When the eggs are still very moist on top, fold the omelette, take off the heat, and put a lid on the pan. Plate the fruit and pour the beverages of your choice. Then plate that warm, tasty omelette. Yum.

Cabbage-Sausage Soup: 264 calories 11 g fat 5 g fiber 14 g protein 25.5 g carbs [22 g Complex] 66 mg Calcium  PB GF  Since this is Jacques Pepin’s recipe, I’ll let him say it: “When the weather gets cooler in the fall, I make soup. I generally cook up a big batch and freeze some for whenever I need it. This one, with sausage, potatoes, and cabbage, is hearty and good for cold weather.” Or for a quick meal anytime of year.

8 ounces mild Italian sausage meat [using bulk sausage is easiest] 1 ½ cups onions, sliced  6 scallions, cut into ½-inch pieces (1¼ cups) 6 cups water 1 cup chickpeas 16 oz potatoes, peeled and cut into ½-inch chunks 8 ounces savoy cabbage, chopped/sliced 1¼ teaspoons salt

“Break the sausage meat into 1-inch pieces and place it in a saucepan over high heat. Sauté, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to keep the meat from sticking, for 10 minutes, or until the sausage is well browned. Add the onions and scallions and cook for 1 minute. Stir in the water, chickpeas, potatoes, cabbage, and salt and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce the heat to low, and cook for 45 minutes.” Portion for storage or serving. One portion = 1 cup.

Ingredients for next week: 

Breakfast, single portion for Monday ………………… single portion for Thursday:

plain yogurt + honey + edible flowers1 two-oz egg
Camembert cheese or Brie
Arnold brand Sandwich Thin
watercress or microgreens
grapes
Golden Berries/blueberries
Canadian bacon/Jones brand
Optional smoothieoptional smoothie
optional hot beverageoptional hot beverage

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

3oz cooked or raw fish + 1 egg
2 crepes [Not by Bread, 17-Sept-’17
cream + shallot + spinach
carrot + broccoli + cauliflower
nutmeg + canned white beans
leek/bacon filling
Swiss chard + garlic powder

Sparkling waterSparkling water

Good Saint Swithin

~ 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 weewritinglassie who is now Following.

Saint Swithin is one of my favorites. He is one of the ‘obscure saints’ [my terminology] who’s Feast Day does not make it onto the modern lists. It is his story that captivates me. Ethnically, he was a Saxon and he lived in the Kingdom of Wessex in England in the 800s. He was chaplain to King Egbert and tutor to his son. Swithin was still alive when the future King Alfred was a child and no doubt he assisted in his education as well. Swithin loved God’s Good Green Earth. Before he died, he asked that his grave be outside, where it could be sprinkled by the ‘gentle rains.’ For about 90 years, it was outside. Then an abbott decided he wanted to make the church a tourist destination by building a fancy shrine for Swithin inside. On the 15th of July, the body was dug up and moved. And it rained. No, it poured! For 40 days! Folks said that St Swithin was angered, and so, posthumously, he became a weather prophet. People still say, “If on St Swithin’s it should rain, for 40 days it will remain. If on St Swithin’s it be fair, for 40 days shall rain nae mair.”

By Robin Hood’s time [he is first mentioned in a ballad in 1370], St Swithin’s ability to cause rain was common knowledge. Thus, for breakfast, we have Robin Hood Eggs. [Swithin is credited with restoring broken eggs] For dinner, a meal with many vegetables, grown in the sun and washed by the rain. Keep an eye on the weather.

Robin Hood Egg: 150 calories 6 g fat 1 g fiber 15 g protein 26 g carbs [7 g Complex] 111 mg Calcium  NB: The food values given above are for the egg bake and fruit only, not the optional beverages. What this breakfast has to do with the legendary outlaw, I don’t know. At least no robbery is involved – you can keep your wallet and your waistline.

½ Arnold multi-grain Sandwich Thin, or similar round bread at 50 calories one 2-oz egg 1 slice Jones-brand “Canadian bacon” [round, 1 oz = 20 calories] 2 oz sliced tomato

Lightly toast the sandwich thin and plate it. Broil the tomato slice and briefly warm the Canadian bacon while you fry the egg in a pan spritzed with non-cook spray. Assemble the layers in your order of preference and pour the optional beverages. Tuck [not Friar Tuck] in with knife and fork.

Fish Kabobs: 236 calories 8 g fat 4.3 g fiber 27 g protein 22 g carbs [all Complex] 77 mg Calcium PB GF Any firm fish will work for this simple meal. The Fresh Polenta is from Jacques Pepin and it is a keeper.

3.6 g firm fish [swordfish, tuna, halibut], cut in 1-2” cubes 1 oz eggplant cut in 1” chunks, skin left on 1 oz cherry tomatoes 3/4 oz red or yellow bell pepper, cut in 1” squares 2 tsp Pimenta do Queilo or other red pepper sauce ½ cup fresh polenta *** Second Fiddles I-9-’19 ½ cup side salad

Combine the pepper sauce with 2 tsp water in a small, microwave-safe bowl. Toss the eggplant and bell pepper in the pepper sauce and microwave for 30 seconds. Remove the bell peppers and microwave the eggplant 45 seconds longer. Cool the vegetables and save the marinade. Prepare the polenta. Assemble the kabobs on skewers and brush with remaining marinade. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. Broil 4 minutes, then turn the kabobs, brush with marinade, and broil for 4 minutes more. Prepare the side salad and plate to applause.

Scout and Jem

~ 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.

On July 11, 1960, Harper Lee‘s novel To Kill a Mockingbird was published. What a sensation it made! The writing lovingly evoked a childhood passed in a sleepy Southern town, oppressed by heat, humidity, and racism. As the narrator describes the events surrounding a sensational trial in the town, tensions unfold that are scarcely understood by young Scout Finch and her brother Jem. Since her own father is the defense attorney, things could turn dangerous for the family, not to mention for the wrongly-accused defendant. My mother said how much she liked the book and that Scout reminded her of me. When I went to the library to get the book for myself, I was told to go back to the Children’s Section for my reading material. In 1962, the story was reintroduced, this time as a movie starring Gregory Peck as Scout’s father. It was made into a stage play and a new version is on Broadway. Harper Lee’s story of Scout’s childhood deserves to be told again and again. Reread it soon.

Calpurnia, the Finch family’s cook/nanny/housekeeper, would surely have combined ham and corn and eggs for a meal. And here they are at breakfast. And on hot summer nights, nothing beats a BLT [Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato] sandwich with a 3-Bean Salad. Very Southern.

Ham-Cup Egg with Corn: 140 calories 6.7 g fat 1.3 g fiber 10 g protein 11 g carbs [10 g Complex] 36.8 mg Calcium  NB: The food values given above are for the egg bake and fruit only, not the optional beverages. PG GF  Ham and corn are such a grand combination. Easy to prepare ahead for a quick breakfast.

1 two-oz egg 1 slice “Cottage Ham” [4” diameter thin slice of ham] I used North Country Smoke House brand at 21 calories/slice 1 Tbsp fresh polenta [see Second Fiddles I-9-’19] 1.5 tsp red bell pepper, diced dash or two of Sriracha 3 oz watermelon

Fit the ham into an oven-proof container that measures 3.25” in diameter and 1.25” deep. [I used a cleaned tuna can. It was perfect.] You will need to snip the ham on 2 sides and overlap the meat to make it fit better into the mold. Combine the polenta with the diced pepper and season with Sriracha/salt/pepper to taste. Whisk in the egg and pour into the ham cup. HINT: I did this the night before and put it in the ‘fridge.Turn on the toaster oven to 350 F and bake the ham cups for 20+ minutes, until the filling is puffed and set. Prepare the optional beverages and the melon. Use a wide knife to loosten the ham cups from the mold before plating. Some of the egg will have oozed into the mold as it baked, but that is easy to remove too. This is a real treat!

BLT: 291 calories 10 g fat 4 g fiber 14.4 g protein 34 g carbs [22 g Complex] 231 mg Calcium  PB GF – if using GF bread Until I worked out the calories, I wouldn’t have believed that this would be fit for a Fast Day. But it is! Go ahead, enjoy.

2 slices whole wheat bread at 60 calories/slice 2 slices uncured bacon 1 oz lettuce 2-oz sliced tomato 1/3 cup 3-bean salad, see Sidekicks I, Sept 17, 2017 ½ button original Baby-Bel cheese

Lightly toast the bread. Cook the bacon until crispy. Assemble the sandwich: lettuce, bacon, tomato, lettuce. Plate with the salad and cheese. A real treat.

Ingredients for next week: 

Breakfast — single portion for Monday ………………… single portion for Thursday:

1 two-oz egg1.5 two-oz eggs 
slicing tomato
crushed tomatoes
Arnold multigrain sandwich thin
cheddar spread
Canadian Bacon, 20 calories/slice
horseradish + clementine
Optional smoothieoptional smoothie
optional hot beverageoptional hot beverage

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

firm-fleshed fish + butterbulk sausage meat
eggplant + yellow bell peppers
chickpeas + onion
cherry tomatoes + fresh corn
scallion + potato
salad ingredients [Second Fiddles, 9-Jan-’19
Savoy cabbage
Sparkling waterSparkling water

Summer of 1816

~ 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 Mary Ellen B. who is now Following.

In 1815, an Indonesian volcanic island near Bali blew its top. The eruption of Mount Tambora scarcely made the headlines, but it had long-ranging consequences. Tambora was a type of volcano that puts out huge quantities of ash and gasses [remember the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajokull in 2010?]. Ejected high into the atmosphere, they were carried by the jet stream around the world. This had the effect of blocking much of the solar energy [light] which enters the atmosphere. The result? Cooler temperatures in North America and Europe. Just as the farmers crops were sprouting from the ground, freezing temperatures and snow would kill them. While thousands of people around the Indian Ocean died directly from the eruption, many more died half a world away due to famine and hypothermia as winter came on. This came to be called The Year Without A Summer, immortalized in books and doggerel: “Air so cold you could see your breath/ 1800 and froze to death.”

Our breakfast contains sprouted seeds, in remembrance of the crops that died in the fields that summer. The dinner is fish chowder, which probably became a staple that fall and winter due to the lack of food from plants. Whatever your weather is tomorrow, at least this isn’t the summer of 1816.

Sprouted Bake: 129 calories 5.3 g fat 1.8 g fiber 9.5 g protein 7.8 g carbs [6.9 g Complex] 45.5 mg Calcium  NB: The food values given above are for the egg bake and fruit only, not the optional beverages. PB GF Time to get the sprouts out of the sandwiches and into the breakfast.

1 two-oz egg ¼ c radish sprouts OR microgreens 1/2 oz avocado 1 Tbsp low-fat cottage cheese ¼ cup blueberries Optional: blackish coffee [53 calories] or blackish tea or lemon in hot water Optional: 5-6 oz fruit smoothie or berry-yogurt smoothie [88 calories]

Mash the avocado and mix with the cottage cheese. Heat the toaster oven to 350 degrees F. Spritz an oven-proof dish with cooking oil or spray and put the sprouts in it. Whisk the egg with the avocado mixture and pour over the sprouts. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Bake for 12-15 minutes. Portion the fruit and pour the optional beverages. 

Chowdah: 294 calories 7.3 g fat 1.7 g fiber 33.6 g protein 17.2 g carbs 114 mg Calcium  PB GF Here in Northern New England, chowder is king. Cod or haddock is traditional but hake is more flavorful and lower in calories. If you can, make it one day and eat it the next day for richer flavor.

½ slice bacon ¼ cup onion, chopped 2 oz potatoes, 1/2” dice 1.5 cups fish stock 4 oz cod or hake fillets, cut into 1-1/2” pieces ¼ cup 2% milk salt + pepper + parsley

Cook the bacon until it is almost crispy, remove from the pan, blot dry of fat, and chop coarsely. Pour most of the fat from the pan and add the onions. Cook slowly until soft and transluscent. In another pan, boil the potatoes in water until tender. Drain and salt the potatoes. Put the fish stock, cod, potatoes, and milk in the pan with the onions. Heat slowly until warm. Add the bacon, parsley, and seasonings to taste. [TIP: Best if held in the ‘fridge for 8-24 hours before you heat slowly [do NOT boil] and taste for seasonings again.]

Uniformitarianism

~ 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.

Never heard of ‘uniformitarianism‘ before? Neither had anyone until July 4, 1785, when it was proposed by doctor/farmer/geologist James Hutton. This Scottish amateur scientist returned to run the family farm after the death of his father. Caught up in the scientific and intellectual zeitgeist of the Age of Enlightenment and the Scottish Enlightenment, Hutton applied science to farming. Noticing that crops grew better in certain places, he started to analyze soils and rocks. Observing erosion, he saw that even a small stream would carry away soil and sand, only to deposit them after meeting a larger body of water. From there he began to look at rock layers in a new way. Scientists of the time thought that violent cataclysms [volcanoes, earthquakes, floods] formed the rocks of the Earth in fits and starts. Hutton disagreed. He said that just as gradual changes happen today, causing layers of sand to build up at the bottom of a pond, the rocks of the Earth were formed gradually and uniformly, over time, to create the layers of rocks such as those we see in the Grand Canyon in Arizona. In short, “The present is the key to the past.” This brilliant idea was a major breakthrough in the science of geology and the study of the Earth’s history. Bravo, Hutton!

The way you have eaten in the past is the key to your weight today. Fasting can change your eating habits and your weight. Todays menu features kippers and eggs, no doubt a staple on the Hutton family farm. Dinner contains another favorite of thrifty Scots: haggis. Do not fear it — it is a form of lamb sausage and in spring rolls it defies expectations.

Kippered Eggs: 152 calories 9 g fat 0.8 g fiber 12.6 g protein 5.8 g carbs [5.2 g Complex] 56 mg Calcium  NB: Food values shown are for the plated foods only, and do not include the optional beverages. PB GF Kippers are tradionally served with eggs, but why not have them in eggs? We did and it is terrific!

1-½ 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  0.4oz kippered [smoked, salted, dried] herring ¼ tsp dried mustard 1 tsp lemon or lime juice 4 sweet cherries  Optional: blackish coffee [53 calories] or blackish tea or lemon in hot water Optional: 5-6 oz fruit smoothie or berry-yogurt smoothie [88 calories]

The night before: Soak the kipper fillet in warm tap water for 30 minutes. Mince the fish. In a small bowl, combine the juice and mustard, then mix in the fish. Leave it until morning. Next morning: Put the fish with its flavorings into a lightly-spritzed hot non-stick or cast iron pan and warm them. Whisk the eggs and pour over the fish. Let the eggs cook without disturbing them, then fold and plate with the cherries. A delightful meal.

Haggis Spring Rolls: 262 calories 12.8 g fat 2.8 g fiber 23 g protein 26 g carbs 41 mg Calcium The first time I enjoyed these was at the Whiski Rooms in Edinburgh, along with a wee dram of single malt. Today, the whisky is in the dipping sauce to complete the fusion of Asian-Scottish flavors. This meal has Dear Husband’s approval, so it can’t be that weird .

4 six-inch rice spring roll wrappers/skins 8 Tbsp haggis filling see Spicy from 12-Sept-’18 1 cup lettuce leaves sliced into <1/2” strips 1/2 oz carrot, grated 1 tsp flavored olive oil + 1 tsp red wine vinegar + finishing salt 1.5 tsp Thai hot chili sauce + ½ tsp single malt Scotch whisky [I used Craggenmore from Speyside]

Put water into a wide, shallow dish such as a pie plate. Lay a tea towel on the counter. Place onespring roll wrapper in the water. Initially, the wrapper will look like a piece of thin, stiff, whitish plastic. Soon it will become more transparent, colorless, and pliable. Remove it from the water while still a little stiff [do NOT let it become limp] and lay it on the tea towel. Place 2 Tbsp haggis filling on the lower 1/3 of the wrapper, arranged as a little log. Roll it up, folding the sides in after the 1stturn. Move finished roll to the side as you repeat the steps. Heat a 10” cast-iron skillet over medium flame and spray with non-stick spray. Place the spring rolls in the pan with room between them. Cook slowly on one side, then roll onto another side. Continue until all the rolls are browned on each side. Prepare the salad and plate it. Combine the chili sauce and the whisky in a dipping cup. Plate the haggis, cue the bagpipes.

Ingredients for next week: 

Breakfast, single portion for Monday ………………… single portion for Thursday:

1 two-oz egg1 two-oz egg  + Melon
low-fat cottage cheese4″ diameter thin ham slices
radish sprouts/microgreens
corn kernels, fresh or frozen
avocado + blueberries
red sweet pepper + Sriracha
Optional smoothieoptional smoothie
optional hot beverageoptional hot beverage

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

fish stock + 2% milk
2 slices 60 calorie bread
cod or hake fillets
bacon [American streaky]
potato + bacon
lettuce + tomato
onion + parsley
Baby-Bel cheese
Sparkling waterSparkling water

Canada Day

~ 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.

155 years ago, a few colonies of the British Empire, the ‘Province of Canada,’ New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, met on Prince Edward Island to discuss confederation. In a few years, they formed a new colony called “the Dominion of Canada.” Other colonies were formed and joined, and so it was, in 1982, they became a fully independent nation. This is what is celebrated on Canada Day, July 1st. Flags, fireworks, parades, and speeches are the order of the day. And cookouts. And food with friends.

Our gastronomical celebration of Canada Day begins in the Maritimes, where the Fathers of Confederation first met. Dinner is from the icy waters of the newest Canadian province, Nunavut, where Arctic Char make their home.

Maritime bake: 150 calories 6.5 g fat 1.2 g fiber 16.6 g protein 6 g carbs [5.5 g complex] 84 mg Calcium  NB: The food values given above are for the egg bake and fruit only, not the optional beverages. PB GF To us, the Maritimes of Canada are all about seafood, potatoes, local cheese, and lots of the herb Savory, winter or summer. Then there are the strawberries: June/July in Nova Scotia; July in PEI; August in Newfoundland. Good people, good food.

1 two-oz egg 1/2 oz salt cod [cover with water and soak 30 minutes] 1/8 oz Cheddar OR ADL brand “Old/Fort”, grated 1 tsp dried savory 1/2 Tbsp dry potato flakes + 1 Tbsp water pepper to taste 2 oz strawberries  optional: blackish coffee [53 calories] or tea or lemon in hot water optional: 5-6 oz berry-yogurt smoothie [88 calories] or green smoothie or unpasturized apple cider

The night before: 1] stir the potato flakes and water together in a small bowl and let sit to moisten. 2] cover the salt cod with water and soak 30 minutes. Drain and flake into small pieces.  Next morning: Spritz a ramekin with cooking spray. Set the toaster oven at 350 degrees F. Combine the potato, cod, and savory and put into the ramekin. Whisk the egg and pour over the cod. Top with grated cheese and bake 12-15 minutes. Prepare the beverages as you like them and plate the berries.

Arctic Char with Peas: 263 calories 8 g fat 3 g fiber 28 g protein 10 g carbs [10 g Complex] 25 mg Calcium  PB GF  Arctic Char is a member of the Salmon Family which can be both sustainably fished in the wild and farm-raised. It is delicious, too. There are two presentations given: one ridiculously easy, the other slightly more complex. Both are great.

Recipe I: 4 oz arctic char fillets ½ cup green ‘English’ peas, fresh or frozen Bake the fish at 400 F. for 10 minutes/ inch of thickness or grill for 4 minutes/side. Cook the peas and serve over/around the fish.

Recipe II: 247 calories 8.7 g fat 2 g fiber 26.7 g protein 7.3 g carbs [5.5 g Complex] 74.7 mg Calcium PB GF 4 oz arctic char fillets ¼ cup watercress sauce [see SIDEKICKS II oct 4, 2017] 1 cup snow peas, stems and strings removed Bake the fish at 400 F. for 10 minutes/ inch of thickness or grill for 4 minutes/side. Warm the watercress sauce and serve over the fish. Cook the peas and plate.