La Florida

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.

In May of 1539, Hernando de Soto thought he was on to something.  After helping to subdue Peru and Mexico for Spain, he retired back home as a very wealthy man.  Though newly-married, the young father was restless for the soldier’s life. He had been named ‘Governor of Cuba and La Florida‘, so he sold everything [What did his wife have today about that??] to provision 10 ships with 700 chosen soldiers. Off they went to the new world.  After a stop in Havana to drop off his wife, they landed in Tampa Bay (Florida) on May 30, 1539. And then they sought gold: North through Florida, into Georgia, North Carolina; West into Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana they went, doing their usual Conquistador deeds. [For God and King? The king might have approved, but God surely didn’t.] Three years later, no gold, no riches, no fountain of youth: only angry natives, sickness, battles, and wounds. In May, 1542, de Soto died of fever on the banks of the Mississippi River and his body was sunk into the water to preserve the illusion that he could not die.  There was a car named after him…                                                                                              In memory of all the indigenous peoples whom he killed or oppressed, we have a breakfast based on the Cuban/Miami sandwich ‘the Cubano‘ and a dinner with ingredients grown in the sunshine of modern Florida.

Cubano ScrOmelette: 151 calories  8.5 g fat  0 g fiber  12.2 g protein  0.8 g carbs   71 mg Calcium NB: Food values shown are for the ScrOmelette and fruit only, and do not include the optional beverages.  GF  The famous Miami sandwich comes to the Fasting breakfast table, with every flavor intact!Cubano ScOmelette

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.                                                                                                   1/8 oz ham, diced                                                                                                                                   ¼ oz Swiss cheese, diced                                                                                                                   ¼ oz pork, diced [this could be from a previous roast or a grilled tenderloin]                                           ¼ tsp mayonnaise                                                                                                                           1.5 tsp dill pickle, diced                                                                                                                               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]

Cut up the meats and combine in a small dish. Dice the pickle and whisk with the mayonnaise and the eggs. Spritz a saute pan with non-stick spray and heat it. Put the meat mixture into the hot sauté pan to warm, then add the eggs. Scramble together [or cook like an omelette] until the way you like it. Pour your beverages and enjoy a semi-tropical start to your day.

Grapefruit-Avocado Salad:  289 calories  20 g fat  6.4 g fiber  18 g protein  15.3 g carbs [14.5 g Complex]  75.5 mg Calcium   PB GF  This is delicious, nutritious, and satisfying. Real food. Good food.grapefruit-avocado salad

1 two-oz egg, hard-boiled                                                                                                               2.5 oz avocado [this was half an avocado], sliced in 4 pieces                                                               3.3 oz pink grapfruit sections [you need 4 sections]                                                                                       1.75 cups lettuce, sliced/shredded                                                                                                      1 oz cooked chicken breast [you could substitute 4 shrimp for a vegetarian meal]                          ½ tsp white wine vinegar + ½ tsp lime-infused olive oil + ¼ tsp ground ginger lemon finishing salt

Whisk the oil, vinegar, and ginger in a meduim-sized bowl. Add the lettuce and toss to coat with the dressing. Remove the lettuce to a serving plate, letting some of the dressing drip back into the bowl. Spread the lettuce evenly over the plate and sprinkle with the finishing salt. Starting at the center with the egg, arrange the grapefruit and avocado around the plate. Place the chicken as you wish. Brush the remaining dressing on the grapefruit and avocado.

Ingredients for next week:

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

next Monday I will discuss ways to 1 two-oz eggs
maintain a 5:2 lifestyle while Camembert cheese
traveling Dijon mustard   +  nutmeg
apples/strawberries
choose a new favorite from the Archive Whatever you need for your smoothie
Whatever you need for your hot beverage

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

baked beans
choose a new favorite from the Archive low-fat hotdogs, 110 calories
carrots
Sparkling water Sparkling water

Think Sandwiches…

How this Fast Diet Lifestyle works: Eat these meals tomorrow. On Monday, eat the meals that will be posted on Sunday.  Eat sensibly the other days of the week.  That’s it.  Simple way to lose weight and be healthier.

There are many famous sandwiches: Po’ Boys from N’Orleans; Croque Monsieurs from France; Cheesesteaks from Philadelphia; Panini from Italy. Delicious! But not on a Fast Day. Today we take inspiration from two all-American sandwiches; the Cubano from Miami and the Hamburger from everywhere. Eat up without fear of a mounting calorie count.  These ‘sandwiches’ are in a safe form.

Cubano ScrOmelette: 300 calories   8.8 g fat   1 g fiber   16.8 g protein  30.8 g carbs   244 mg Calcium  GF  The famous Miami sandwich comes to the Fasting breakfast table, with every flavor intact!   NB: that’s a little piece of melon on the plate below. No calories in that.Cubano ScOmelette

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.                                                                              1/8 oz ham, diced                                                                                                                                                       ¼ oz Swiss cheese, diced                                                                                                                                      ¼ oz pork, diced [this could be from a previous roast or a grilled tenderloin]                                   ¼ tsp mayonnaise                                                                                                                                                       1.5 tsp dill pickle, diced                                                                                                                                                      5-6 oz fruit smoothie or natural apple cider                                                                                         blackish coffee or tea or lemon in hot water

Cut up the meats and combine in a small dish. Dice the pickle and whisk with the mayonnaise and the eggs. Spritz a saute pan with non-stick spray and heat it. Put the meat mixture into the hot sauté pan to warm, then add the eggs. Scramble together [or cook like an omelette] until the way you like it. Pour your beverages and enjoy a semi-tropical start to your day.

Burger Bun Dinner: 280 calories    This makes it possible to have a hamburger in a bun and still be Fasting! Think Summer! Bison-Blue Burger w: bun & red slaw

one 4-oz bison burger                                                                                                                                           ½ oz mushrooms                                                                                                                                                      1 tsp curried catsup                                                                                                                                             one potato roll slider [90 calories] — our favorite buns are from Martin’s in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, if you are lucky enough to find them                                                                                side veg to equal 50 calories:      2 oz boiled or baked beets = 24 calories                                                              2 oz carrots = 23 calories                                                                                                                                           1/8 cup pickled beets = 19 calories                                                                                                                             2 oz broccoli =20 calories                                                                                                                                         2 oz green beans = 18 calories                                                                                                                              1 oz peas = 22 calories                                                                                                                                           ½ cup coleslaw = 50 calories

In a cast iron or other heavy, non-stick skillet, put a healthy sprinkle of salt. Heat the pan over medium-low burner and add the bison burger. Cook 3-5 mins on one side, then the other. [You could grill it, but note that slow cooking is the key to tenderness.] When red juices no longer come out, it is done. Center the burger on the slider bun, top with catsup. Plate with sides.

Ingredients for next week:          breakfast, single portion

1 two-oz egg 1.5 two-oz eggs 
 ½ oz salmon, cooked leftover or raw 1 tsp ground cumin
 leek  5 Bing cherries
 Dab of low-fat sour cream or plain Greek yogurt
 Dill weed + lemon juice
Whatever you need for your smoothie Whatever you need for your hot beverage
Whatever you need for your hot beverage Whatever you need for your smoothie

dinner, single portion

 3 oz lobster meat, fresh, cooked or frozen  4 oz chicken breast, raw
 Shallot + garlic 2 limes
 1 oz cognac or brandy + 2 oz dry white wine  chicken stock
 Tomatoes, fresh or canned diced  heavy cream
 Tomato puree + half & half [blend cream]  oil  +  sugar  + cornstarch
 Broccoli + carrots 3 oz fresh pineapple
 sparkling water Sparkling water