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.

Do your guests drink too much at Thanksgiving, then do/say regrettable things and ruin the meal? Carrie Nation didn’t approve of such behavior. She became famous for her staunch stand against the making, selling, and drinking of alcohol. Caroline Amelia Moore was born on a farm family in Kentucky on November 25, 1846. The family moved around a lot — Kentucky, Texas, Missouri — with Carrie’s education being interrupted by illness and relocation. Sometimes the family took in boarders. One such was Dr. Charles Gloyd, with whom Carrie fell madly in love. After their marriage, his alcoholism became obvious and the couple separated before the birth of their daughter and Gloyd’s death the next year. Carrie received a teaching certificate and taught for four years. She remarried, to David Nation, in 1874 and they moved to Kansas. On the books, Kansas was a “dry” state, which Carrie was happy about until her husband told her that there was still a lot of drinking going on. Angered that such a useful law was being flouted, even by legislators, Mrs. Nation started a local chapter of the Women’s Christian Temperence Union [WCTU]. Together, they lobbied and prayed to close bars and other “joints” that sold liquor. They were also in favor of a woman’s right to vote. Her second marriage ended and Carrie Nation went on the warpath, throwing herself into the temperance cause. In 1900, she attacked a bar in Kiowa by throwing stones at the windows, then going inside and breaking bottles. She encouraged other women to join her while gaining much notoriety and many enemies. Her famous hatchet was given to her in 1901 so that she could continue her vision of God’s work. So formidable was she, that people believed her to be 6-feet tall, when in reality she was only 5’4″ in height. Yet bartenders quailed and cowered when she walked in. Though she was roughed up and jailed, Carrie [now Carry] Nation persisted until her retirement to Arkansas, where she opened a hostel for wives of alcoholics. She did not live to see the 18th Amendment passed in 1919 or the 19th Amendment in 1920. Carry A. Nation would have been pleased. Perhaps she would have buried the hatchet.

Our meals reflect a simpler time — or is that clouded by veils of nostalgia? On the farm, herbs and fresh eggs would have been on the table often, for family and boarders alike. The dinner is a Tex-Mex favorite, reminiscent of Carrie’s time in Texas. No booze in either meal.

Herb Scramble: 127 calories 7.5 g fat 0.6 g fiber 10 g protein 5.6 g carbs [4 g Complex] 47.5 mg Calcium  NB: Food values shown are for the ScrOmelette and fruit only, and do not include the optional beverages.  PB GF  Take a walk in the herb garden, then put the herb garden in the breakfast.

3 two-oz eggs of which you will use 1½ 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  2 Tbsp chopped herbs: chives, rosemary, oregano, thyme, lavender salt & pepper to taste 2 oz canteloup or 3 oz strawberries or 2 oz grapes  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]

Whisk the eggs with the herbs and salt & pepper to taste. Pour into a hot pan sprayed with cooking oil. Scramble to your preferred degree, and plate with fruit. Pour the optional beverages and you have a simple, delicious breakfast.

Chili non Carne:  1 cup =133 calories 0.7 g fat 6.5 g fiber 7 g protein 10 g carbs 70 mg Calcium 1½ c. =199 calories 1 g fat 9 g fiber 9.4 g protein 14. g carb 120 mg Calcium The recipe is my mother’s, except that she added beef. And she served it on a heap of mashed potatoes, but we won’t do that on a Fast Day.  PB GF  HINT: This is enough for 4 one-cup servings OR two 1.5 cup servings with 1 cup left over. Save the remaining chili for a lunch or check other postings to see how we use it for breakfast. For 1½ cups chili served with cheese garnish and melon, as in photo: 276 calories 10 g fat 6 g fiber 13 g protein 19.4 g carbs 227 mg Calcium

15 oz canned red beans, drained and rinsed 16 oz canned tomatoes – in chunks or diced, not drained 1 cup chopped onion 1 green pepper, chopped 2-3 tsp chili pepper, or more if you like it hotter ½ – 1 tsp ground cumin   per serving: 1 Tbsp cheddar cheese, grated, as a garnish + 2 oz melon

Saute the onion and green pepper in some of the tomato juices until tender. Add remaining ingredients and cook gently until the stew is thickened. Taste to see if it needs more seasoning. Serve one or one and a half cups for dinner tonight with the grated cheese on top, and melon on the side.

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

1 two-oz egg + one egg white	1.5 two-oz eggs
yellow cornmeal + yeast	mozzarella cheese
raspberries	Mediterranean Vegetables
honey	strawberries OR applesauce
Optional smoothie	optional smoothie
optional hot beverage	optional hot beverage

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

1 pound mussels + salad greens	chicken or turkey broth + chicken white meat
olive oil + lemon juice + tomato	Parmesan cheese + white beans + carrot
feta cheese + kalamata olives	spaghetti or linguine + green beans
bouquet garni + splash white wine	back bacon/Canadian bacon + Finn Crisp crackers
Sparkling water	Sparkling water