Eating well with creative recipes while following the Fast Diet

Orts & Sorts

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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. Welcome to reginaldgreenway who is now Following.

The word ‘ort’ comes down to us from the 14th century. It is an English word meaning ‘a bit of leftover food.’ In those days, the orts would be returned to the stewpot or fed to the pig. Royal households would give their orts to the poor in public displays of generosity. Nowadays, this word is beloved of crossword puzzle writers and Scrabble players. For two years I worked in a lab run by a professor from Kansas. One day he threw the expression ‘orts and sorts’ into a conversation. Although I had never heard it before, I took it to mean ‘bits of this and that.’ Apparently, this expression was unique to his family — if you Google the term, there are no results. ‘Of a sort’ is a pejorative term implying that something is not up to standards. ‘Ort of a sort’ could mean a truly questionable left-over food or it could be another made-up term. Some people distain left-overs and throw out perfectly good food [chicken carcass with meat still on it; cooked vegetables]. To me, that is unconscionable food waste. Up-cycle your orts into delicious soups or salads for Fast or Slow Days. Do your budget and the planet a favor.

Today’s menus have no theme — they are a bit of this and that, representing some favorite meals from older posts. You will want to eat them all and have no orts remaining.

Cottage Cheese & Pear: 164 calories 3.5 g fat 5 g fiber 10 g protein 26 g carbs [24 g Complex] 61 mg Calcium  NB: Food values given are for the plated foods only, and do not include the optional beverage.  PB GF  This is from the Fast Diet book and it is a great way to start the day. I added the pecans to this for deeper flavor and more protein.

4 oz pear [of which Comice is the best] 1/3 cup fat free cottage cheese ¼ c. blueberries ½ Tbsp pecans, finely chopped  Optional: blackish coffee [53 calories] or blackish tea or mocha cafe au lait [65 calories]  Optional: 5 oz fruit smoothie or berry-yogurt smoothie [88 calories]

Section the pear into slices and remove the core. Do not bother to peel the pears. Fan the segments on a plate in a circle. Place the cottage cheese in the center, sprinkle with the berries and nuts. Pour the optional beverages of choice. Good stuff!

Shrimp Quick-fry with Udon Noodles: 267 calories 7 g fat 24 g protein 33 g carbs   PB The back of a bag of udon noodles supplied this recipe and then I adapted it. This is one of my go-to meals.

1 oz of dry udon [or soba] noodles 3 oz raw shrimp, cut in half across the body 2 oz carrot, peeled and sliced into coins 1½ oz green cabbage 1 oz onion 1- 1/2 tsp soy sauce 1 tsp olive oil 1 oz chopped green onion

Put the frozen shrimp in a bowl with a little water to thaw. Cook noodles in a quart of water about 4 minutes. Drain and set aside. Meanwhile, shell, and peel the raw shrimp. Slice the shrimp across the body. Heat the oil in a cast iron pan or wok. Add the carrot, cabbage, and onion and some of the water from the thawed shrimp. Stir-fry/steam for 3 minutes. Add the shrimp and any remaining liquid and cook one minute more. Toss the cooked noodles into the pan and mix to warm them. Add , salt, pepper, and soy sauce. Toss to mix ingredients. If you think this sounds complicated and long, I did it in 25 minutes and that included peeling carrots and cleaning shrimp. Satisfying and good to eat.  NB: If you don’t like shrimp, substitute just under 2 oz sliced chicken breast.

Slow Days: Oatmeal Cookies

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People who are new to Fasting often pose the questions: “Can I really eat ‘anything I want’ on a Slow Day?” and “What should I eat on Slow Days?” To answer those questions, I have decided to add some blog posts to show some of the foods we eat on what the world calls NFDs [non-fast days] but which, in our house, we call ‘Slow Days.’ This feature will appear sporadically. 

Now for the answers. Can you really eat ANYTHING you want on a Slow Day?  Not really. If you eat too many calories every Slow Day, you will not lose weight. There are many questions asked on the FastDiet Forum which attest to that. Once in a while you can splurge, as long as it isn’t everyday. For what to eat on Slow Days, Dr. Mosley recommends a Mediterranean Diet. As for how we eat, an example follows.

Cookies and Milk — what a heavenly combination! My mother was an enthusiastic baker of cookies. Prior to their marriage, she had promised my father that ‘the cookie jar would always be full.’ A very sweet vow indeed. Dad’s favorite cookies usually involved molasses, so my mother baked an oatmeal cookie recipe with molasses in it. Dear Husband was given an oatmeal cookie recipe by his Good Sister Barbara with no molasses, which I thought was heresy, but I would bake them on and off. Recently, I decided to alter that recipe, and here is the result. Dear Husband requests it often. What are the ‘improvements’ that I made? More egg for texture; white whole wheat flour for more whole grain and fiber; less sugar; added chocolate chips and dried cranberries for fun.

4 dozen cookiesPreheat oven to 350F. Put silicon mats or parchment paper on cookie sheets.
¾ c. butter 1 cup brown sugar, unpacked
1/3 c white sugar		Cream together by hand or with an electric mixer.
2.5 oz egg [1.5 eggs]Stir in thoroughly.
2/3 c white whole wheat flour 1/3 c all-purpose flour
½ tsp baking soda 2 c. rolled oats		Stir into the mixture until well combined.
½ c chocolate chips ½ c walnuts
½ c dried cranberries		Stir in to form a stiff dough. Portion with a 1.5 tsp scoop or use a spoon to form 48 balls of dough on prepared sheets. Flatten each dough ball by pressing gently with your fingers.
Bake for around 7 minutes, until dough is no longer soft in center.
Cool on the baking sheets. Super warm. Good keeping cookie.

Is this a ‘diet cookie’, one that tastes like a pale imitation at best and like sawdust at worst? No, this is a really good cookie, suitable for spouses, children, and a mid-afternoon treat for yourself with a glass of milk.

Here is the recipe provided by Good Sister Barbara:

4 dozen cookiesPreheat oven to 350F. Put silicon mats or parchment paper on 2 cookie sheets.
¾ c. butter
1 c brown sugar
½ c white sugar
1 small egg
¼ c water
1 tsp vanilla		Cream/mix these all together.
1 c. flour
1 tsp salt
½ tsp baking soda		Sift together.
Add to the butter-egg mixture.
3 c rolled oatsMix oats with existing batter and combine thoroughly.
Use a 1.5 tsp scoop or a spoon to form 48 balls of dough on baking sheets. 
Bake 9-12 minutes.
Cool on racks.

Claudius Ptolemaeus

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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: a simple way to lose weight and be healthier.

When I taught my students about the development of our modern theories of the solar system, Ptolemy, aka: Claudius Ptolemaeus, emerged as the ‘bad guy.’ But to their geography teacher, he was a hero! Who was this man and what did he do to deserve this mixed reaction? He was born around 90 CE. A Roman citizen of Greek parents, he spent most of his adult life in the port city of Alexandria, Egypt. Ptolemy was an astronomer, mathematician, and geographer. As a researcher, he relied on secondary sources rather than doing his own observations. No points earned there. Even Aristotle, who predated Ptolemy by two centuries, did primary research. As a geographer, he asked ship captains about conditions in port cities and what they encountered on their voyages. Then he created a mariner’s chart of the Mediterranean Sea, showing wind and air currents. Very useful. He even marked the map with grid lines to aid location — precursors of latitude and longitude lines. In the Library of Alexandria, Ptolemy read the works of the ancient astronomers: Aristotle, Aristarchus, Hipparchus, and others. What he did not understand, he rejected. What he liked, he kept. Then he put it together in his master work: Syntaxis, 13 scrolls about the structure of the solar system and about the stars. Following Aristotle, on whom he lavished praise, Ptolemy put the Earth in the center of the universe, orbited by the Moon, Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. This is called the Ptolemaic System. He thought that the planets did not orbit the Earth is smooth circles, but rather did little loop-de-loops which he called ‘epicycles.’ It is true that to the careful observer planets seem to move like that, but it is because we view the planets from an Earth that is NOT in the center of the solar system. Ptolemy had ignored the work of Aristarchus who had correctly put the Sun in the center in 210 BCE. Syntaxis was well-regarded during the Roman era and copies were distributed widely. Then 850 years later, the Arab astronomers discovered it. They thought it was so wonderful that they named it Almagest [meaning ‘the greatest’]. The Arabs introduced it to Spain, and from there it was read in Europe. Since the Ptolemaic System jived nicely with prevailing Catholic theology, his ideas were eagerly embraced. This is why Copernicus, Kepler, and Galileo had such a difficult time getting people to believe their correct views of the Solar System. His lingering legacy of wrong ideas is what made him the ‘bad guy’ in the story of modern science. When wrong ideas persist, especially for 1500 years, it is a sad time for the truth.

For Ptolemy’s Roman citizenship, a breakfast grain very popular in that era. For his Greek parentage, a delightful salad who’s ingredients would have been recognizable in the second century CE.

Roman Porridge: 146 calories 1 g fat 4 g fiber 4 g protein 29.4 g carbs 14 mg Calcium NB: Food values given are for the plated foods only, and do not include the optional beverage.  PB  Farro is an ancient grain which was enjoyed by citizens of the Roman Empire for breakfast as a porridge. Here I have included a pear, which the Romans loved. TIP: Since Farro takes a while to cook, prepare the grain the night before. This meal is hearty, chewy, just sweet enough, and delicious.

½ c cooked farro** [do ahead] 1 oz pear, unpeeled, chopped 1 tsp honey   Optional: 5 oz fruit smoothie or berry-yogurt smoothie  [88 calories] Optional: blackish coffee  [53 calories] or blackish tea or mocha cafe au lait [65 calories] 

**Night before: Measure out 1 cup of farro and put it in a sieve/collandar. Rinse thoroughly under running water. Boil 1 quart of water with 1 tsp salt in a saucepan. Add the rinsed farro, return to the boil, turn down heat to medium-high and cook uncovered about 30 minutes. Farro should be soft but the water may not be all absorbed. Drain the cooked farro and save out the amount you need for today’s recipe. TIP: Serve remaining farro mixed with herbs/spices as a side dish on a Slow Day. It is delicious. Next morning: Warm the cooked farro. Stir in the honey until incorporated, then add the pear: stir it in or strew the fruit on top. This will keep a Roman on his/her feet for hours.

Greek Chicken Salad:  295 calories 13 g fat 5 g fiber 23.5 g protein 26.5 g carb 240 mg Calcium  PB GF  This recipe was long ago clipped from a magazine and stored in the recipe file. When I saw it anew, I recognized that if most of the olive oil were removed, it would make a smashing Fast meal. We like this one a lot.

1½ oz chicken, roasted and shredded 1½ c. shredded romaine or 3 oz salad greens ¼ c garbanzo or small white beans 2½ oz tomato chunks or 1 c cucumbers, cubed 3 black olives, pitted & sliced 1 oz feta cheese, crumbled 1½ tsp lemon juice ½ tsp olive oil ½ tsp each of mint, oregano, parsley

Prep the meat, greens, tomatoes, and olives as described. Measure the lemon juice, olive oil, and herbs into a salad bowl. Whisk together. Add the greens and toss to combine. Add the chicken, beans, tomato/cukes and toss gently. Top with the olives and feta.

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

pear2 two-oz eggs  + blueberries
pecansskimmed milk + sugar
2 %-fat cottage cheese white whole wheat flour
blueberries33-calorie chicken breakfast sausage
Optional smoothieoptional smoothie
optional hot beverageoptional hot beverage

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

raw shrimp + green cabbagebluefish
udon or soba noodlesreduced-fat mayonnaise
soy sauce + olive oil Dijon mustard
green onion + onion + carrotgreen beans
Sparkling waterSparkling water

Sap Season

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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: a simple way to lose weight and be healthier. Welcome to nycdesmond who is now Following.

Most people joke that Northern New England has only 2 weeks of Spring. Ha. Ha. Are they expecting the soft season of the deep South, filled with weeks of blossoms? Spring here begins in late February/early March when the Sugar Maple trees begin to wake up. The air is still cool but the sun is warm on your back. The sky is a brilliant blue and a light jacket is all you need. Present but silent all Winter, the Mourning Doves begin to sing, which tells us that the sap is running. Last Fall, the sap drained from the upper twigs and branches. Down into the roots it went, to be stored during the Winter. [That’s why the leaves turn colors and fall off: no sap to keep them alive.] When the days get longer in the late Winter and the sun sails higher in the sky, the sap begins to rise. When the night temperatures fall below freezing, the sap returns to the roots. The next day, it rises again. This is what we tap [literally] into by drilling holes in the bark [a 12″ diameter tree will have one tap, while a larger tree could have two or more], and hammering in a metal cone called a spile. A bucket is hung from the spile to catch the dripping sap. Such a sweet sound! The sap is collected, boiled down [we do it over a wood fire outside], filtered, and boiled some more until it turns to syrup. It takes 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup. After four to five weeks, the day and night temperatures equalize, the trees bloom, and the sap season is over. In late April, the daffodils flower; in May, the apple trees bloom; and in June, the lilacs. It takes more than flowering shrubs to make a Spring in northern New England.

During the sap run, we like to make our coffee with maple sap instead of water. Sweetens it just enough that you don’t need sugar! Since we have many jars of syrup in the Root Cellar, we can use it a lot: pancakes, of course, but also in porridge and some dinners.

10-Grain Pudding: 175 calories 1 g fat 5.4 g fiber 7.5 g protein 35 g carbs [29 g Complex] 39 mg Calcium  NB: Food values given are for the plated foods only, and do not include the optional beverage. PB Here is delicious hot cereal for any day of the week. The applesauce and maple syrup give just the right sweetness.

¼ cup uncooked Bob’s Red Mill 10-Grain Cereal   1½ Tbsp cottage cheese 1 tsp maple syrup 1 Tbsp applesauce pinch of nutmeg + pinch of cinnamon   Optional: blackish coffee [53 calories] or blackish tea or mocha cafe au lait [65 calories]   Optional: 5 oz fruit smoothie or berry-yogurt smoothie [88 calories]

Put the cereal in ¾ cup of boiling water, turn down to a simmer and cook, covered, for 8 minutes. HINT: Do this the night before. Cool the cereal, then mix in the cottage cheese, maple syrup, applesauce and spices until well-combined. Put into a microwave-safe bowl and microwave it until hot through. Pour the beverages and you will have a warm, filling start to your day.

Maple-Glazed Salmon: 249 calories 8.4 g fat 2.4 g fiber 26.5 g protein 18 g carbs 54 mg Calcium PB GF What’s not to love about maple syrup on salmon?! Served with mounds of asparagus, it is early Springtime on a plate. 

4 oz salmon fillet, skin removed 1 Tbsp maple syrup ½ tsp Dijon mustard 1 tsp soy sauce 1 tsp yellow Sriracha 4 oz asparagus, trimmed and sliced

30-40 minutes before dinner: whisk together the syrup, soy, mustard, and Sriracha, and pour over the salmon on a small pie plate. Marinate, turning frequently, for 20 minutes. NB: Be sure to save the marinade when you remove the fish from it. Trim and slice asparagus and put in a pan with some water, but not enough to cover. Turn heat on under asparagus to bring it to a simmer. Heat a non-stick or cast-iron skillet and spray it with cooking spray. Put salmon in the pan and cook 4 minutes on one side. Turn and cook 4 minutes on the other side. Remove fish to serving plate. Pour marinade into the hot pan from the fish and take off heat. It will foam and bubble up quickly as it thickens. With a plastic scraper, ease the sauce onto the fish. Drain the asparagus and put it into the now empty skillet to get all the sauce from it. Mound the asparagus around the fish, sprinkle with salt.

Cesar Chavez

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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: a simple way to lose weight and be healthier.

Cesar Estrada Chavez was born on March 31 in 1927. He was raised in a Spanish-speaking household and his education was marginal — he attended 37 schools before leaving after 8th grade. What he learned early on was that people like him were not treated fairly. His father was cheated out of the house and land where they had lived in Arizona. For a few years, the family traveled between California and Arizona, eventually becoming migrant workers up and down the coast and interior of central California. Cesar worked to contribute to his parents’ welfare, but he saw that the entire migrant worker community needed to be lifted up. In 1962, he founded the United Farm Workers [UFW] to gain more rights for agricultural employees. As a union, there could be collective bargaining and collective power to force change. Chavez loved learning and read widely as an adult for he realized that through education poor children could better themselves. He adopted the non-violent methods of Ghandi and the Civil Rights Movement, fasting and leading marches, to gain rights, higher pay, and safer working conditions for his union’s members. March 31st is Cesar Chavez Day. Celebrate by realizing how much the labor of farm workers matters to your everyday life. Think about where your food comes from and how it is produced.

Our meals for Cesar Chavez’ birthday contain fruits and vegetables from California — but no grapes. In 1965, a strike was begun by grape pickers in Delano, California. Five years later, Chavez and the UFW won a union contract for the workers after a successful national boycott against the grape growers.

Tostada w/ Avocado: 133 calories 5 g fat 3.6 g fiber 3 g protein 16.6 g carbs 14 mg Calcium  NB: Food values given are for the plated foods only, and do not include the optional beverage.  PB GF  For a quick, easy breakfast, this one can’t be beat. Be sure to pair it with a protein-rich dinner.

One 70-calorie yellow cornmeal tortilla 1 oz avocado, mashed 2 Tbsp chili non carne  optional: 1 oz pear or apple  Optional: 5 oz fruit smoothie or berry-yogurt smoothie  [88 calories] Optional: blackish coffee [53 calories] or blackish tea or mocha cafe au lait [65 calories]

Briefly warm the tortilla in a heavy skillet without any fat or oil. Warm the chili. Spread the tortilla with the mashed avocado, then top with chili.  Served with the fruit: 16 g calories 0 g fat 1 g fiber 0 g protein 4.4 g carbs 2.6 mg Calcium

Strawberry-Chicken Salad: 231 calories 8 g fat 5 g fiber 23 g protein 16 g carbs 110 mg Calcium  PB GF  Sometimes you go through the recipe drawer and look at all the clippings and photocopies, and wonder, “Where did these come from?” This is one of those recipes, but I think it might be from Eating Well. It is as delicious to eat as it is lovely to look at.

3 oz [¾ cup] cubed cooked chicken breast ½ cup sliced strawberries ¼ cup kiwi, peeled and sliced 1.5 cups fresh spinach 1 Tbsp slivered almonds, toasted 1.5 tsp poppy seed dressing*** OR a red wine vinegar dressing with poppy seeds + a pinch of dried mustard

***Poppy Seed Dressing – 2 tsp red wine vinegar 1 Tbsp olive oil pinch salt ½ tsp dried mustard 1 tsp poppy seeds Whisk together vigorously.

Toss 1½ tsp of dressing with the spinach. Toast the almonds in a heavy dry skillet on the stove-top until just starting to brown. Plate the greens and arrange the chicken and fruit on top. Sprinkle with the nuts. A real hit every time it is served.

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

Bob’s Red Mill 10-grain cereal farro
maple syruppear
applesaucehoney
nutmeg + cinnamon
Optional smoothieoptional smoothie
optional hot beverageoptional hot beverage

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

4-oz salmon fillet cooked chicken breast + mint + oregano
maple syrupsalad greens + garbanzo or small white beans
soy sauce + yellow srirachatomato or cucumber + black olives + parsley
asparagusfeta cheese + lemon juice + olive oil
Sparkling waterSparkling water

Saint Teresa of Avila

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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. Welcome to victorialing who is now Following.

Teresa  Sánchez de Cepeda y Ahumada was born into a wealthy family in Avila in the kingdom of Castile in what is in modern Spain. Her father was strictly Catholic, ruling the family with an iron hand. On the sly, her mother read romance novels, which he had forbidden. Little Teresa was so taken by stories of the early Christian martyrs, that she convinced her older brother to run away with her to the regions controlled by the Moors. Their plan was to ask the Moors to convert, thus ensuring that the Muslim soldiers would decapitate the children and send them straight to Heaven. An uncle nipped their plan in the bud. As a teenager, pretty Teresa loved flirting and reading her mother’s hidden books. To tame his wayward, worldly daughter, Senior Sanchez put his daughter in the Carmelite convent for an education. At age 16, one could choose to return to secular life and marry or to become a nun. Teresa feared that her wayward thoughts would lead her to sin, so she took the veil — besides, the convent was less strict than her father’s house. But life in the convent was not one of penance: many of the sisters were not devout and the visitors’ room was more like a society salon. Feeling that she was sinking into sin, Teresa set out to reform herself. She read the writings of mystics and mortified her flesh to such an extent that she became gravely ill. Through all that, she came to find that prayer was not a set of words to recite out loud, but a meditation process, a mental prayer. Her prayers lead her to states of ecstasy and levitation, when her sisters had to hold her down. Whereas some people thought that she was possessed by the devil, Teresa was encouraged by spiritual advisors to write down her methods and ideas about her relationship with God in three books which were suppressed until after her death. Teresa wanted to reform the Carmelites. After years of being accused of heresy for her ideas, mostly from the existing Carmelite chapters, she received the support of the Pope and the King of Spain. Teresa went all over, establishing 17 convents of a more strict group which came to be known as the ‘barefoot Carmelites.’ Despite being sure all her life that she was going straight to hell, she was made a saint only 44 years after her death. She is recognized for having brought some order and orthodoxy to a Catholic church reeling from the Protestant Reformation. The most famous representation of her in art is the Ecstasy of Saint Teresa, done 60 years after her death by Gian Bernini. The statue is based on one of her most famous religious visions.

Our meals are from Spain, just like Saint Teresa. The dinner has a connection to the Moors since Spain was under their influence. The breakfast might not be approved by the good saint, since it contains meat. But hey, it is delicious.

Pan Con Tomate y Jamon: 133 calories 4.5 g fat 4.7 g fiber 9 g protein 19 g carbs 40 mg Calcium  NB: The food values given above are for the egg bake and fruit only, not the optional beverages. PB GF — if using GF bread  PB The Tapas cuisine of Spain has many tasty treats. One of them is this open-faced sandwich which we will borrow for breakfast. It is also dandy for lunch on a Slow Day.

1 slice whole-grain bread [Dave’s Killer Thin-Sliced Bread is great]  2 cloves garlic, pressed  ½ cup diced tomato ¼ tsp olive oil salt + pepper, pinch sugar 1 slice/14 g dried ham, such as Serrano or Prosciutto   Optional: blackish coffee [53 calories] or blackish tea or mocha cafe au lait [65 calories] or lemon in hot water  Optional: 5-6 oz fruit smoothie or berry-yogurt smoothie [88 calories]

Lightly toast the bread and spread the pressed garlic on it. Dice the tomato and stir into it the oil and seasonings. Distribute the tomato mixture over the bread, then top it with the dried ham.

Barley Paella: 260 calories 3 g fat 8 g fiber 21 g protein 43.5 g carbs 88.4 mg Calcium PB Spain is known for its paella, that succulent dish made with rice and shellfish. The rice and saffron were brought into Spain by the invading Moors and Berbers, and they also introduced barley. This recipe is not a classic Paella Valenciana,  rather a Paella di Marisco. It tastes good and is even good for you. Son #1 was instrumental in the development of this recipe.  HINT: This serves two [2].

2 Servings
½ slice smoked uncured baconCut the bacon into strips cross-ways. Put into a large cast iron skillet over medium heat. 
½ c bell pepper, chopped
½ c onion, chopped 
1/3 c carrot, diced 
1 tsp paprika		Add the bell pepper, onion, and carrot, and cook slowly until soft and transluscent.
2 cloves garlic, chopped
 ¾ c tomato, diced 		Add the garlic and after 60 seconds, add tomatoes. Cook until tomatoes are softened.
¼ preserved lemon
2 pinches saffron 
1 cup seafood stock
 6 Tbsp quick barley, uncooked		Add preserved lemon, saffron, barley, and seafood stock. Partially cover and cook 15 minutes. Stir it sometimes.
3 oz mussels, shells or no shells 
3 oz shrimp, no shells 		Put mussels and shrimp on top, cover fully. Cook until barley is soft and the liquids are absorbed.
per person: 1.5 oz wide green beans [aka:Roma beans]In the last few minutes, cook the green beans and serve.

The Rus

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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: a simple way to lose weight and be healthier.

In the early 700s CE, young men in Scandinavia had limited opportunities for economic advancement. If they wished to marry, to own property, to have future prosperity, then they needed money. What to do? Many decided to go into “international commerce.” The hottest commodities were silver, furs, and slaves. These could be obtained by honest trade, but the greatest return for investment was through raiding [plundering], and the lands to the East were attractive. A young man could go ‘a-viking’ for two years and return home with a fortune. Thus a group of what could be called ‘Eastern Vikings’ sailed to the Eastern Baltic Sea and swarmed up the rivers. Local people called them the ‘Rus’ and the Rus became the rulers of the river banks from the Baltic to the Black Sea. The city of Kyiv, now in Ukraine, was their capital. Was Ukraine therefore a part of Russia? No. From 862 – 1242 CE, the Scandinavians who were called the Rus, were the rulers of the land now called Ukraine, which was then referred to as The Land of the Rus. It included modern Belarus and parts of Eastern Russia. Thus, Russia used to be part of Ukraine — not the other way around. The world order was again disrupted by the advance of the Mongols in 1242, ending the era of the Kievan Rus. An excellent book about the Vikings [Western and Eastern] is Children of Ash and Elm: A History of the Vikings by Neil S. Price.

Our breakfast and dinner feature grains of the Ukrainian ‘breadbasket.’ The porridge is favored by shepherding families and the dinner features mushrooms from the forest and eggs from the farm. Put a bouquet of sunflowers on the table. Slava Ukraini.

Banush: 203 calories 3 g fat 2.5 g fiber 7 g protein 35 g carbs 91.5 mg Calcium  PB GF This porrige is popular in Ukraine, Romainia, and Georgia: anywhere sheep are raised and feta cheese is made from their milk. Tradition says that only the shepherds [menfolk] are permitted to prepare it… Some of the ingredients in the original recipe are unavailable to most of us, so I substituted plain yogurt to get the sour flavor which is charactaristic. The pear could be swapped for apple, and if you wish, the fruit could be diced and added to the porrige as a garnish.

¼ c polenta/ yellow cornmeal/ yellow grits ½ c water ¼ c plain yogurt garnish: ¼ oz feta cheese, diced ½ slice bacon, cooked and crumbled 1 oz pear or apple   Optional: blackish coffee [53 calories] or blackish tea or mocha cafe au lait [65 calories] 

Heat the water to near boiling and stir in the polenta. Cook slowly while stirring. After the water has been absorbed by the polenta [about 15 minutes?], add the yogurt and continue to stir until the mixture is stiffer. Polenta should be cooked but the consistancy should not be too stiff. Pour into a bowl and top with the cheese and bacon. Serve with the pear.

Ukranian Omelette Dinner: 276 calories 8.6 g fat 6.5 g fiber 23.4 g protein 28.4 g carbs 121 mg Calcium  PB  This dinner is based on a popular breakfast of Ukraine. With the addition of a vegetable and cooked wheat berries [Ukraine produces 4% of the world’s wheat], this makes for a fine and filling dinner.

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 and put it in the ‘fridge for another use. 1/4 cup cottage cheese, reduced fat 2 Tbsp sliced mushrooms, chopped 2 Tbsp chives/scallions, minced 4 oz asparagus 1 oz wheat berries

8 hours before: Rinse the wheat berries and soak in water to cover.  40 minutes before: Cook the wheat berries in boiling salted water until tender but not mushy. 15 minutes before: Put the asparagus on to cook. Warm the mushrooms in a small saute pan, add the cottage cheese then stir in the chives/scallions. Heat briefly, cover and take off heat. Spritz a non-stick pan with non-stick spray. Whisk the eggs and pour into the pan. Tip the pan and lift the edge of the cooking eggs to permit uncooked egg to run underneath. When the bottom of the eggs is cooked and the top is mostly set, spoon the cheese-mushroon-chive mixture across the lower third of the eggs. Starting closest to you, roll the eggs around the cheese filling and continue until you run out of egg. Plate with the wheat berries and asparagus.

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

tomato + olive oil70-calorie yellow cornmeal tortilla
garlic + sugaravocado
dried ham, ex: Serranochili non carne
1 slice whole-grain bread, 70-caloriespear or apple
Optional smoothieoptional smoothie
optional hot beverageoptional hot beverage

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

quick barley + mussels + shrimp + green beanscooked chicken breast + kiwi fruit
garlic + onion + tomatoes + carrotred wine vinegar + strawberries
bacon + bell pepper + seafood stockdry mustard + fresh spinach
preserved lemon + paprika + saffronslivered almonds + poppy seed
Sparkling waterSparkling water

J. S. Bach

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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: a simple way to lose weight and be healthier. Welcome to green smoothie diet who is now Following.

Johann Sebastian Bach is probably my favorite composer. When I was a child, my mother always had the classical music station WQXR on the radio, and she would name the composers as the music played. In college choir, we sang Bach pieces a few times over my four years of singing. Wonderful, soaring music. In art class, I came to appreciate the Baroque period without making the connection to Baroque influences in music. Baroque art is filled with drama, light and shadow, and evokes emotion in the viewer. Now I can hear that Bach’s music is the same: rich and ornate, the listener cannot fail to be moved. JS Bach was born on March 21, 1685. His father taught him to play the violin and harpsichord, and the boy sang in the church choir. Orphaned at age 10, Bach was taken in by his older brother who was also a musician. His brother taught him musical composition and to play the organ. At age 15, JS was on the move, something he would do frequently over his career. For the next 23 years, he went from town to town, working as church organist here, as the court musician there, always moving on due to religious politics or disputes about wages. JS was not a difficult man. He was devoted to his music and his growing family, and expected to be treated fairly. All along the way, Bach honed his skills and became more inventive in his music. He perfec-ted the ‘fugue‘ and he promoted musical improvisation. The father of 4 musicians, Johann Sebastian Bach is considered to be one of the greatest composers of all time. Three of his works were included on the ‘Golden Record’ on which NASA recorded music and other ‘sounds of Earth’ to send into space on the Voyager I in 1977. Music for the ages. 

Bach was born in Thuringia, a region of Germany which prides itself on its sausages. So sausage it will be, as part of breakfast, as part of dinner. Celebrate his birthday tomorrow by listening to his music.

Sausage-Apple ScrOmelette: 152 calories– 10 g fat– 0.5 g fiber– 12.8 g protein –3.5 g carbs– 43.2 mg Calcium  NB: Food values shown are for the ScrOmelette and fruit only, and do not include the optional beverages. PB GF  A hearty breakfast to start your day right.

++ 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 and put it in the ‘fridge for next week. ++++ 1 link chicken breakfast sausage = 35 calories ++++ ¾ oz apple sage leaves, fresh or dried ++++  Optional: blackish coffee [53 calories] or blackish tea or mocha cafe au lait [65 calories]++++   Optional: 5 oz fruit smoothie or berry-yogurt smoothie  [88 calories] ++

Dice the sausage and apple. Heat a well-seasoned cast iron or non-stick pan and spritz it with oil or cooking spray. Add the sausage/apple and stir to warm them and cook them a bit. Whisk the eggs with the sage, salt and pepper to taste. Pour over the sausage/apple in the pan. Scramble to your favorite degree of doneness. Partake of your beverages of choice.

Sauerkraut and Sausage: 255 calories –5.5 g fat –12.6 g fiber– 21.5 g protein– 33.5 g carbs –196.4 mg Calcium  GF PB  This is the sort of food that fueled Bach, Goethe, and Luther. Check the calories and you will see that this is not a fattening meal.

++ 1½ cups sauerkraut, canned or bagged or fresh ++++ 2 tsp caraway seed ++++ 2 oz/1/4 cup applesauce, unsweetened ++++ ½ cup onions, chopped coarsely ++++ 1 chicken sausage with apple [OR other 110 calorie sausage] left whole or sliced into ½” chunks ++++ 1½ cups raw collard greens OR Kale OR Chard, chopped or sliced cross-wise in ¼” strips [chiffonade] ++++ salt + garlic powder ++++ pepper to taste ++

Thaw the sausage if it is frozen. Combine the sauerkraut, caraway seed, applesauce, and onions in a saucepan large enough to hold the sausage [if leaving whole]. Cook slowly, uncovered until half of the liquid is gone. Add the sausage, cover, and continue to cook until everything is hot. Meanwhile, put the collards into ½ cup water with seasonings, and cook covered until the greens are tender, about 10 minutes.

Slow Days: Lord of the Rings Festival

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People who are new to Fasting often pose the questions: “Can I really eat ‘anything I want’ on a Slow Day?” and “What should I eat on Slow Days?” To answer those questions, I have decided to add some blog posts to show some of the foods we eat on what the world calls NFDs [non-fast days] but which, in our house, we call ‘Slow Days.’ This feature will appear sporadically. 

Early in our courtship, Dear Husband revealed that he was a fan of Tolkien‘s Lord of the Rings books. So was I – big time!! After we read the books aloud to our sons — one was 5, the other 3 — they were hooked as well. We began to celebrate March 25, the date of the Destruction of the One Ring, with special meals. For a book about Hobbits, those famous trencher-folk, there are surprisingly few actual foods mentioned in the four books [the Hobbit, The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King]. After combing through the pages, I came up with two breakfasts and two dinners. Of course the most memorable dinner is the ‘coney stew’ that Samwise cooks for Frodo in Ithilien, so we that was the first one we prepared. Now there are several meals from which to choose, and you can sample them too.

Bombadil’s Breakfast: When Tom Bombadil served his guests breakfast in FotR, 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.

2/3 oz Camembert cheese ½ cup watercress leaves or microgreens ½ cup plain yogurt + 1 tsp honey 2 oz Golden Berries edible flowers [violets, chives, nastursium, or others] 

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

Hobbiton Breakfast: In the Peter Jackson movies, characters mostly eat apples and cheese [that’s because the actor can still say lines clearly while chewing them]. Seedy Scones are in Bilbo’s larder in Hobbit, so they are on our breakfast plate. 

Seedy Scones*** apple slices Camembert cheese  

***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 soured milk, 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. Stir in just enough buttermilk/soured milk 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. Shape into 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.

Marish Mushroom Casserole: Farmer Maggot and his wife shelter the Hobbits at their farm in the Marish region as Frodo and friends try to escape the Black Riders and the Shire. Knowing how much Frodo loves mushrooms, Mrs. Maggot bakes a casserole for him. If you are a mushroom lover, like Frodo, this meal will make you happy.  HINT: This recipe is enough to serve two [2] diners.

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, slicedChop mushrooms, slice the garlic and scallion. Cook in the bacon until softend and most of the liquid has evaporated. Take off heat.
2 T Worcesterhire 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, an stir.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 out the top of the mixture. Pour the batter on top.
Bake at 425 until batter is cooked.
½ tsp prepared mustard 
1½ oz green beans		Serve with green beans and mustard.

Samwise’s Rabbit Stew: A foraged meal [wild carrots and herbs would have been abundant], originally cooked over a campfire in Ithilien, can be 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. The potatoes were not part of Samwise’s stew, but he wished that they could be. This stew is the center-piece of our celebration.

In the center of the photo, dried fruits and Mallorn leaf-wrapped lembas. In the rear, dishes of Marish Mushroom Casserole.

4 oz boneless rabbit meat, cut into bite-sized pieces 2 oz carrots, sliced or cubed 2 oz po-ta-toes, cubed bay leaf + thyme + sage + lavender buds dried apricots + dried pear dried apple + dried cherry

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

Lembas: The ‘way bread of the Elves’ is described as being made of honey and nuts so that it will keep well as food for traveling. To me, that sounds like the German cookie “Lebkuchen” which I prepare every Christmas. Undecorated and wrapped in ‘Mallorn Leaves,’ Lembas is always on the LotR table. I will leave you to find your own recipe.

March 25 is a week away, which gives you LotR fans plenty of time to plan your own celebration. Have fun!

Saint Patrick

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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.

Saint Patrick, as we all know, is from Ireland, wears green, eats corned beef and cabbage, is attended by leprechauns, and you must kiss him because he is Irish. No, no, no — that isn’t true— although popular American culture makes it seem that way. His real name might have been Maewyn Succat, but later he took the name Padrick. Padrick was not born in Ireland. England, actually. He was kidnapped as an adolescent and enslaved in Ireland. At age 20, he escaped and returned to his family home. After a seeing a vision, Patrick became a priest, then a bishop. In 433 CE, Patrick went back to Ireland to preach the Good Word. He used the shamrock to illustrate how there can be three parts of the Christian God: Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Over 40 years, Padrick converted thousands of Irish citizens and became beloved. He died on March 17. The ‘wearing o’ the green’ became a symbol of Irish Catholic resistance to British Protestant colonial rule, since their color was orange. People in Ireland don’t eat corned beef — that is an American invention. Belief in leprechauns was part of the pagan religion that he preached against, so no Little People, no pots of gold. Your conscience will be your guide as to whom to kiss on March 17.

To be an American celebrating March 17, corned beef and cabbage is de rigueur. We’ll have that at breakfast. For dinner, a more traditional Irish meal involving lamb. During his youth in Ireland, Patrick was a shepherd, so this seems appropriate.

Corned Beef & Cabbage Bake: 143 calories 6.4 g fat 4 g fiber 11.5 g protein 9.5 g carbs [8.6 g Complex] 95.6 mg Calcium  NB: The food values given above are for the egg bake and fruit only, not the optional beverages. PB GF  Since this flavor combination works well at dinner, we shall have it for breakfast, too. It is delicious! Irish Breakfast Tea would be a perfect accompaniment.

one 2-oz egg ½ oz corned beef, cooked ½ cup cabbage, shredded ½ wedge Laughing Cow cheese ½ cup raspberries  Optional: blackish coffee [53 calories] or blackish Irish Breakfast tea or mocha cafe au lait [65 calories] or lemon in hot water Optional: 5 oz fruit smoothie or berry-yogurt smoothie [88 calories]

Simmer the cabbage in water to cover, cooking until it is limp. Drain well. While cabbage is still hot, stir the cheese and stir to melt. Dice the beef and stir into the cabbage. Pile into an oil-spritzed oven-proof dish and bake at 350F for 12-15 minutes. Plate with the fruit.

Lamb Stew with Glazed Vegetables: 317 calories 8 g fat 6 g fiber 24 g protein 31 g carbs 62 mg Calcium The recipe is from Salute to Healthy Cooking, so you know it is good. We have enjoyed this often. If you double the recipe, then you’ll have some to freeze for another meal. Yes, the calorie count is a bit high, but it is worth it.  One serving = ¾ cup  HINT: This recipe serves two [2].

Lamb Stew for twoNeed: saute pan + Dutch oven with lid + non-stick pan + oven
½ # lamb shoulder, boneless, cooking spray
salt + pepper		Cut lamb in 1″ cubes. Sear cubes on all sides in a heavy pan which has been sprayed with non-stick spray or oil. Cook meat in batches so the pan doesn’t cool down. Put cooked meat in a Dutch oven and season it.
½ cup onions, choppedPut onions in the cooking pan and saute  with enough water to make them sizzle until they are transparent.
1 oz dry red wineAdd wine to deglaze the pan, stirring brown bits up from the bottom.
Heat the oven to 350 F. 
¾ tsp white whole wheat flour water
½ Tbsp tomato paste 		Sprinkle deglazed pan with flour and stir to mix. Put in Dutch oven. Add enough cold water to go to the top of the lamb but not cover it. Stir in tomato paste.
1 tsp thyme 
1 bay leaf		Add herbs. Heat to a simmer on cook top over medium heat. Cover casserole and put in the oven. Bake 1 hour, check once in a while to make sure the stew is not boiling.
¾ cup carrots, cut in 2” batons Add carrots, cover pan, bake 15 minutes.
½ cup cubed potatoes Add potatoes, cover pan, bake 45 minutes. Remove bay leaf. 
6 pearl onions 1 c/5 oz turnips, in 2” batons
water
½ tsp sugar  + 1 tsp butter** 		Put vegetables in a small non-stick pan with sugar and butter**. Add enough water to go half-way up the onions. Simmer 10 minutes, uncovered, shaking pan occasionally.
Salt + pepperAdd salt and pepper. Take off heat and cover until vegetables are cooked. 
Plate stew with the glazed vegetables.
** If you were to cook the onions and turnips without the butter and sugar, you would reduce the calories to 297 and the fat to 6.5 g.

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

1.5 two-oz eggspolenta — uncooked
chicken breakfast sausage @ 35 calories/linkwhole milk + yogurt
apple uncured bacon
sagefeta cheese
Optional smoothieoptional smoothie
optional hot beverageoptional hot beverage

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

sauerkraut + caraway seeds1.5 two-oz eggs  + cottage cheese
collards/kale/chard + garlic powdermushrooms + chives/scallion
applesauce, unsweetened + onionasparagus
chicken dinner sausage @ 110 calorieswheat berries
Sparkling waterSparkling water