Eating well with creative recipes while following the Fast Diet

Victoria

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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 Nouveau Trip and gblake who are now Following.

When King George IV of England died in 1830, he left no living heirs. Second brother Frederick would have been king, but he had died. Third brother, William ruled until 1837, and his death without issue started the process all over again. Fourth brother Edward was up next, but he had been dead for 17 years. Thus it was that a teenager named Victoria, daughter of Edward, was awakened one morning and told that she was now Queen of England. Yikes. A bevy of advisors hovered around her as she learned the ropes and took control of her kingdom. After her marriage in 1840, her Prince-Consort Albert became the person she relied upon most and his death was devastating to her. During Victoria’s long reign, life in England changed in several ways: white became the color of choice for wedding dresses [because Victoria wore white]; railroads criss-crossed the land; free schools were set up for all children; laws were passed forbidding certain work for children; India became part of the Empire; all things Scottish became fashionable [when Victoria and Albert wore tartans and vacationed in Balmoral]; Victoria popularized the use of ether during two childbirths; electric street lights in London replaced gas; and she gave her name to an entire era, with its associations with over-decorating, imperialism, prudery, and a bit of stodginess. Until the present Queen, no one had ruled longer on the English throne.

During the Victorian Era, many changes occurred in the English diet. Breakfast as we know it was developed, leading to the ‘proper English’ menu, still ubiquitous today. Food stuffs and flavors came in from the far-flung Empire, especially curries from India, as in Kedgeree.

Improper English w/ egg:  127 calories 3 g fat 3 g fiber 10 g protein 16.6 g carbs 42.5 mg Calcium   NB: The food values given above are for the plated foods only, not the optional beverages. PB GF  The ‘proper English breakfast’ is a meal of generous proportions: several meats, eggs, mushrooms, toast, tomatoes, baked beans, plus whatever else the host cares to add. This is not a meal for a Fast Day. But wait! By taking the healthiest elements and scaling down the amounts, we can achieve all the flavor along with more balanced nutrition.

The Canadian bacon slice is folded, but it is a full-sized slice.

½ cup baked beans ½ hard-boiled egg 2½ oz tomato, sliced thickly + pinch grated Parmesan cheese 1 slice ‘Canadian’ bacon  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]

Warm the beans. Place the tomato and bacon in a broiler-safe dish. Sprinkle the tomato with salt and Parmesan cheese. Broil until warm and cooked. Peel, slice, and plate the egg half along with the other elements. Proper delicious, that is.

Kedgeree:  250 calories 6 g fat 2 g fiber 22 g protein 25.7 g carbs [5.7 g Complex] 101 mg Calcium  PB GF  This Anglo-Indian fusion dish is flavorful and quickly prepared.  HINT: The recipe serves two [2] people.

3 oz smoked haddock [aka: finnen haddie]
½ cup milk 
1 bay leaf
 ¼ cup chopped onion  		Put the smoked haddock, milk, bay leaf, and onion in a small pan with a lid. Simmer for 10 minutes. Strain the milk and save it. Remove the fish, skin it, and pull apart into large shreds.
2/3 cup cooked rice [White rice is OK but brown rice has more nutrition] 
1/5 tsp curry powder 
½ tsp turmeric		Add the rice and spices along with the shredded fish to the milk and put on low heat, covered.
5 oz asparagus cut into 1-½” piecesCook separately until just tender. Add to the rice/fish.
2 hardboiled eggsPeel + cut each into 8 pieces. Strew atop the plated meal.

Slow Days: Naan DIY

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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.

Today, I thought it would be fun to make a batch of naan, a bread of India. More than 2500 years ago, ‘chapati’ was the peoples’ bread: unleavened flatbread baked on a griddle. After yeast was introduced to India from Persia or Egypt, experimentation lead to making naan. Originally it was the food of royalty, savored for its light texture. One author says how difficult it is to make, and therefore limited to palace kitchens. When I found out how simple naan is to prepare, I just had to try them. Even thought the dough is made with yeast, it is much less involved than making a loaf of bread. The recipe is by Aarti Sequeira.

1 tsp dry yeast
1 tsp sugar
3/4 c 110 F water 		In a large glass or 16-oz measuring cup, combine the yeast, sugar and water. Let stand until foamy, 5 to 10 minutes.
2 c white whole wheat flour**
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1/8 tsp baking powder		Sift the flour, salt, sugar and baking powder into a large, deep bowl. Whisk to blend. 
3 Tbsp plain yogurt
2 Tbsp vegetable oil		Once the yeast is frothy, pour the yogurt and the olive oil into the glass, and stir to combine.
****If you would like to make this gluten-free, you can substitute in 2 1/4 cups of gluten-free all-purpose flour mix for the regular flour, plus 1 1/4 tsp xanthum gum.
Ingredients for the first three steps of the recipe await mixing.
Pour the yogurt mixture into the dry ingredients and gently mix the ingredients together with a fork. When the dough is about to come together, use your hands to mix. It will feel as if there isn’t enough flour at first, but keep going until it transforms into a soft, slightly sticky, pliable dough. As soon as it comes together, stop kneading.
mixed with a fork
then mixed with the hands
ready to rise
Cover the dough with plastic wrap or a damp tea towel and let it sit in a warm, draft-free place for 2-4 hours.
Have two bowls near-by: one with flour in it, + one with water. The dough will be extremely soft and sticky — the way it should be! Divide dough into 8 or 10 or 12 equal portions and lightly roll each portion in the bowl of flour to prevent sticking to each other.
++if using gluten-free flour, pat the naans into shape with your hands and fingers.With a rolling pin++, roll out each dough ball on a lightly floured work surface into a tear-drop shape about 4-6“ in diameter and 1/4” thick. Lift up by one end and wiggle it — the dough’s own weight will make it stretch a bit. Repeat with remaining dough.
Have: Cast iron skillet
lid to fit the skillet		Warm the skillet over high heat until it’s nearly smoking. Dampen your hands in the bowl of water and pick up one of your naans. Patty-cake it from one hand to the other to dampen it slightly.
Gently lay each naan in the skillet + set timer for 1 minute. The dough should start to bubble. Flip the naan. It should be blistered + a little blackened, don’t worry – that’s typical! Cover the skillet with the lid and cook 30 seconds to 1 minute more. Repeat with remaining dough.

Here they are skillet-baked and ready to eat. You have seen the naan in some of my previous recipes, such as Indian Vegetables with Turkey and Naan. Create your own favorite way to eat this bread and imagine that you are an Indian Noble.

Blue Jeans

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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.

Levi Strauss had ‘gold fever,’ but not in the same way as others who headed to California in the 1800s. He set out from New York City by boat headed for the California Gold Rush equipped with bales of fabric. Why fabric? Levi had experience in the dry-goods trade and figured he could sell the fabric for tents. After crossing the Isthmuth of Panama and sailing up to San Francisco, Strauss saw a better use for his fabric. Miners didn’t need tents as much as they needed sturdy trousers. So Levi set up a dry-goods store and took to making trousers from the dark blue, rugged ‘cloth de Nimes,’ thus named because that weave came from France. Miners paid good money and Levi was doing well for himself. But the miners stuffed nuggets in the pockets and ripped the seams, so Strauss teamed up with Jacob Davis who put rivets at strategic parts of the trousers for reinforcement. That worked and ‘blue jeans’ made out of ‘denim’ were born with a patent on May 19, 1873. Strauss was not trying to make a fashion statement — he saw a problem and found a solution for it that earned him a tidy living. Today Levi’s 501 style is closest to the original model: button fly, rivets and all. Around 450 million pairs of Levi Strauss jeans are sold in the USA annually. There were indeed fortunes to be made in California!

For breakfast, the meal to order if you came into town with pockets stuffed with nuggets. For dinner, a nod to Old California, which was a Spanish possession and part of Mexico.

Hangtown Fry: 155 calories 9 g fat 0.6 g fiber 12.6 g protein 6 g carbs [4 g Complex] 62.6 mg Calcium  NB: Food values shown are for the ScrOmelette and fruit only, and do not include the optional beverages.  GF  Turns out, this meal has nothing to do with being hanged and everything to do with striking it rich.

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 shucked oysters, chopped ½ slice ‘American’ bacon, uncured if possible 1 1/2 oz grapes -OR- 1½ oz strawberries -OR- 3 cherries   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]

Dice the bacon and cook it in a hot pan until almost crisp. Add the oysters and cook a second or two longer. Whisk the eggs with salt, and pepper. Pour over the bacon/oysters in the pan and scramble or cook as an omelette. Plate with the fruit and serve with the beverages of choice.

Enchiladas Suizas:  293 calories 10 g fat 11 g fiber 31.6 g protein 43.4 g carbs 262 mg Calcium   PB GF Rick Bayless relates this recipe in his book Mexico One Plate At A Time. Delicious and easy to prepare. Avoid assembling too far in advance, lest it turn to mush.

2 six-inch corn tortillas [50 calories each] 2 oz [½ cup] shredded cooked chicken breast ½ cup enchilada sauce: see SPICY II 12 Sept 2018   ¼ cup grated Cheddar or Monterey jack dollop of plain, fat-free yogurt 1 oz broccoli florets + 1 oz cauliflower florets + ½ oz carrot

Heat oven to 350 F. On an ungreased heavy skillet, place the tortillas and cook them until they begin to brown on one side. Flip in the pan and continue until each tortilla is pliable and slightly fragrant. Remove to a cutting board or baking sheet. Stir the yogurt into the chicken. Distribute the chicken between the tortillas, then roll them up, and place each in an oven-proof dish, seam-side down. Spoon the sauce over and around and between the enchiladas. NB: you don’t have to use all of the sauce. Extra could be added to eggs or soup. Sprinkle with cheese and put into oven. Cook the vegetables, drain and dress with salt and a splash of red wine vinegar. So good!

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

1 hard-boiled two-oz egg‘old fashioned’ rolled oats
baked beanscinnamon + nutmeg
tomato + Parmesan cheesecottage cheese + maple syrup
Canadian or back baconblueberries
Optional smoothieoptional smoothie
optional hot beverageoptional hot beverage

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

Finnen Haddie + hard-boiled eggroast lamb + one 2-oz egg + olive oil
asparagus + curry powdertomato + mashed potatoes + lamb gravy
asparagus + turmeric + milkmashed cauliflower + lettuce
brown rice + onion + bay leaflemon juice or cider vinegar
Sparkling waterSparkling water

That Wonderful Wizard

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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.

Which came first for you: reading the Wizard of Oz or seeing the 1939 movie? When I was three years old, my parents took me to my first movie: “The Wizard of Oz.” I loved it, though I was terrified of the green-faced Wicked Witch of the West! The movie was of course based on the book by L. Frank Baum, published on May 17, 1900. Lyman F. Baum was born in upstate New York in 1856. Tutored at home as a child, he dropped out of high school due to a heart problem. Baum kicked around in several different jobs — actor, salesman, newspaper man — and married a suffragette’s daughter in 1882. Frank [he hated the name Lyman] enjoyed telling stories to his four children and found his calling. In 1897 and 1899, he published best-selling children’s books: Mother Goose in Prose and Father Goose, His Book. Then came the big pay-off with an orphan girl from Kansas: on May 17, 1900 The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was published. Baum said the book “was written solely to pleasure children today. It aspires to being a modernized fairy tale, in which the wonderment and joy are retained and the heart-aches and nightmares are left out.” [The Flying Monkeys did not get that memo!!] It was a runaway best seller, the first in a series of Oz books. The book turned into movies and Broadway plays [one by Baum, then The Wiz and Wicked] and spawned a debate over whether or not the Wizard of Oz is a populist allegory. In some places, the books are banned due to the presence of witches, good and wicked alike. You can decide for yourself.

When Dorothy leaves her ruined farmhouse to go explore Munchkin Land, she fills her basket with food from the kitchen. Bread, apples, and cheese are fine foods for the road. Our breakfast is made of apples and cheese. Dinner shows what you can do with sandwich bread on a Fast Day.

Apple-Cheese Pancake Plate:  142 calories 4 g fat 2 g fiber 11 g protein 17.5 g carbs 31 mg Calcium  NB: Food values given are for the main meal only, and do not include the optional beverage.  PB GF – if using GF flour  The preparation is so simple – if the pancakes were already made. I cooked the batch the night before. Fine for a Fast Day breakfast or, on a Slow Day, serve with a bit of peanut butter.

2 Apple-Cheese pancakes ** 1 slice Canadian bacon [back bacon] 2 oz melon   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]

Cook the bacon, warm the pancakes, and plate with the melon. Perfect.

**Apple-Cheese Pancakes  makes 10 From Molly Katzen’s Moosewood Cookbook. ½ cottage cheese ½ c grated apple  1/3 cup white whole wheat flour 1½ tsp honey 1 ½ tsp almond meal 2 eggs, separated 2 tsp Parmesan lemon juice cinnamon Stir together everything except the egg whites. Whip the whites until they are stiff and fold them gently into the batter. Heat a griddle or heavy skillet a bit warmer than ‘medium’. Spray it with cooking spray. Meter out the batter using a 3-Tbsp scoop or something similar, and place batter on the hot griddle. Flatten out a bit. Be careful not to cook too fast, lest the inside not be cooked. When brown on the bottom, flip them over. Serve hot or let them cool to store. They reheat very nicely.

Chicken Salad Sandwich: 292 calories 7 g fat 7 g fiber 28 g protein 35 g carbs 145 mg Calcium   PB GF – if using GF bread  If you bought a chicken salad sandwich, it might ‘cost you’ 500 calories and 16 g fat. This sandwich is much less ‘expensive’ and tastes great.

2½ oz cooked chicken breast 2 Tbsp part-skim ricotta cheese 1 tsp yellow Sriracha, or more 2 tsp chopped onion 2 tsp chopped celery 2 tsp chopped cilantro leaves salt and pepper to taste 2 slices 70-calorie whole-grain bread with seeds [such as Dave’s Killer ‘Good Seed’] lettuce + 1 oz tomato slices ½ cup Swedish Cucumber Salad

Shred or chop the chicken. Mix with the ricotta and flavorings, including Sriracha. Add more Sriracha if the mixture needs to be moistened further. Toast the bread, if you like. Spread the chicken salad on one slice of bread, add the lettuce and tomato. Top with the other piece of bread and plate with the Cucumber Salad. A good ‘on-the-go’ meal.

Fatima

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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.

Fatima, Portugal was named for a Moorish princess. Her legend runs from kidnapping-turned-love-story in one version to kidnapping and coercion on the other hand. Neither is confirmed. What is true about Fatima, is that on May 13, 1917, three little children had a miraculous visitor. Lucia and her cousins Francisco and Jacinta were coming home from tending the sheep. They saw a luminous lady who said that she came from heaven to visit with the children. The little shepherds recognized her as the Virgin Mary and met her there once a month for 6 months. Lucia told her younger cousins not to speak of this, but Jacinta spilled the beans. Their parents did not believe them and punished them for fabricating a tale. Other children teased them and the local magistrate put them in jail for disturbing the peace. At the July visit with the Lady, the children were told ‘Three Secrets‘ which they were not to divulge immediately. Finally, on October 13, 1917, 70,000 people– the curious, the skeptics, the prayerful — gathered for the final visitation. Jacinta and Francisco died within three years from influenza and Lucia went on to be a nun. The two younger ones were canonized in 2017, and Lucia is on her way to sainthood.

The children of the Fatima miracle were taking care of the family’s sheep, a typical chore for small children in rural families with sheep or goats. Breakfast uses goat cheese, a bi-product of the family herd. Dinner honors the food of Portugal in a New World twist of flavors.

Chevre/Spinach ScrOmelette: 149 calories 9 g fat 1.4 g fiber 12 g protein 6 g carbs 116 mg Calcium  NB: Food values shown are for the ScrOmelette and fruit only, and do not include the optional beverages.  PB GF  Astonishing how delicious this is! 

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 Tbsp chevre cheese 3 Tbsp cooked spinach    pinch lemon dill seasonings + salt + pepper 2 oz apple OR applesauce, unsweetened   Optional: blackish coffee [53 calories] or blackish tea or mocha cafe au lait [65 calories] or lemon in hot water Optional: 3 oz fruit smoothie or berry-yogurt smoothie  [44 calories]

Strain and squeeze the spinach to get all the water out. Chop the spinach. Mix the spinach and chevre with the seasonings in a medium-sized bowl. Whisk the eggs into the spinach/chevre and keep whisking until it is all mixed. Cook as you would for scrambled eggs in a lightly-spritzed pan. Portion the applesauce [unless you did this the night before], prep the hot beverage, shake or blend the smoothie and enjoy a really flavorful breakfast.

Portugese Fish & Chips: 260 calories 6 g fat 4.7 g fiber 24 g protein 28 g carbs [27 g Complex] 60 mg Calcium   PB GF – if using GF flour  From our favorite dinner place in Souris, PEI, 21 Breakwater comes this house specialty from the chef’s native cuisine. The batter is so light that it lets the lime-infused fish shine through. The recipe takes little time to accomplish. I have described it in detail so you can be successful.

3 oz tilapia or hake 1 fl. oz lime juice or lemon juice 1 egg white + 1 egg yolk 2 Tbsp white whole wheat flour   3 oz sweet potato, peeled ½ tsp canola oil ½ tsp granulated garlic ¼ tsp paprika black pepper 2 oz asparagus

Marinate the fish in the lime juice with a pinch of salt and pepper for up to 30 minutes. Set the oven to 425 F. Peel the sweet potato and cut lengthwise into ¼” slices. Cut each slice into ¼” sticks. Put the oil in the non-stick pan that you will use to cook the fish. Add the potato sticks to the pan and toss about to coat with oil. Combine the granulated garlic, paprika, and pepper, and sprinkle on the potato sticks. Toss to distribute the seasonings. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil with the dull side up. Spray liberally with non-stick spray. HINT: You could do this 1-2 hours in advance. Distribute the potatoes on the pan so they do not touch. Put in oven for 10-12 minutes. Meanwhile, put the asparagus on to cook. Take the fish from the marinade and pat dry with paper towels. Dredge lightly with flour. Whip the egg white into soft peaks. Fold in the egg yolk and remaining flour from dredging the fish. Heat the non-stick pan and spray with non-stick spray. Remove the fries from the oven and turn them over. Return to oven for 10 minutes more. Dip the fish in the egg batter so that it is coated on all sides. Cook the fish on one side over medium heat for 6 minutes, then on the other side for 6 minutes or until fork tender. When fries are done, turn off oven, open the door, and leave the fries in there for up to 5 more minutes. Plate all that good food and live it up.

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

2 two-oz eggs + cottage cheese + apple1.5 two-oz eggs 
white whole wheat flour + almond meal2 oysters
honey + Parmesan cheese‘American’/streaky bacon
Canadian bacon + melonstrawberries or cherries
Optional smoothieoptional smoothie
optional hot beverageoptional hot beverage

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

chicken breast meat + part-skim ricottayellow-corn tortillas @ 65 calories each
onion + celery + cilantroCheddar cheese + chicken
2 slices 70-calorie bread + tomatoenchilada sauce
Swedish Cucumber Salad + yellow Srirachacarrot + broccoli + cauliflower
Sparkling waterSparkling water

Unified!

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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 Virtue Cooking who is now Following.

A “Golden Spike” was driven into a railroad tie on May 10, 1869, at Promentary Point, Colorado to mark the completion of the transcontinental railroad in the USA. The goal of unifying the country’s East and West coasts had been realized — a significant achievement in a land where the South and North were still in an uneasy peace five years after the Civil War. It was a worthy effort but the consequences of the railroad were darker. Indigenous Peoples were removed to reservations; Chinese and Irish immigrants worked in slave-like servitude; Robber Barons made deals that would make or break the fortune of a town that did/didn’t get a rail link; bison were slaughtered for fun by hunters shooting from train cars; and due to railheads in Western locations, beef became ‘what’s for dinner.‘

In honor of the 20,000 Chinese who worked on the railroad, in dangerous conditions, a breakfast with the flavors of home. For dinner, a meal of bison, an animal which has made a comeback after habitat destruction and over-hunting nearly lead to its extinction. Today bison is farm-raised which makes it sustainable.

Foo Yung Bake:  130 calories 5 g fat 2.4 g fiber 10 g protein 12 g carbs [11 g complex] 57 mg Calcium   NB: The food values shown are for the egg bake and the fruit, not for the optional beverages.  PB  GF Straight out of China, a no-fuss bake.

One 2-oz egg 2 Tbsp crab meat 1 tsp soy sauce ¼ cup sprouts [I used broccoli sprouts — suit yourself] ¼ oz mushrooms pinch ground ginger + pinch granulated garlic 1 Tbsp scallion, sliced cross-wise One clementine OR 2 oz pear   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 mix the crab meat with the sprouts, scallion, and mushroom. Lightly oil or spritz an oven-proof dish. Distribute the crab mixture over the bottom of the dish. Whisk the egg with the soy sauce, ginger, and garlic powder, and pour over the sprouts and crab. Add salt and pepper if you wish. Bake at 350 F. for 12 minutes. Plate with the fruit and pour the optional beverages.

Bison Burger ‘Salisbury Steak’:  260 calories PB GF Rather than my telling you what to eat with your burger, I’ll give you options. Use any good veg from your ‘fridge, garden or freezer.

one 4-oz bison burger = 124 calories 2 g fat 0 g fiber 25 g protein 0 g carb ½ oz mushrooms = 8 calories 0 g fat 0.3 g fiber 0.2 g protein 2 g carb 1 tsp curried catsup = 8 calories 0.1 g fat 0 g fiber 0.1 protein 2 g carbs

Side vegetables: your choice to total up to 120 calories

2 oz cooked beets:  24 calories 0.2 g fat 1.6 g fiber 1 g protein 5.4 g carbs 5.4 mg Calcium

2 oz carrots:  23 calories 0.1 g fat 1.6 g fiber 0.6 g protein 5.4 g carbs 18.4 g Calcium

1/3 c. baked beans:  79 calories 0.3 g fat 3.4 g fiber 4 g protein 18 g carbs 29 mg Calcium

2 oz broccoli:  20 calories 0.2 g fat 1.4 g fiber 1.6 g protein 3.8 g carbs 26 mg Calcium

2 oz green beans:  18 calories 0.2 g fat 2 g fiber 1.0 g protein 4 g carbs 21 mg Calcium

2 oz peas:  44 calories 0.2 g fat 3.2 g fiber 8 g protein 8 g carbs 13.6 mg Calcium

Sprinkle a small, hot skillet with Kosher salt. Put the burger on the salt and turn down the heat to medium-low. Cook the bison burger on one side for about 3 minutes. Flip it and cook until done as well as you’d like.  Put on a plate to stay warm.  Topping: Add some water to the pan and stir/ cook the mushrooms until soft. Meanwhile prepare your vegetables. To serve, put the ketchup on the burger, top with mushrooms. Arrange those colorful sides on the plate and get ready for some good American eating.

Peasants

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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.

OLD JOKE: The agitated servant, singed and battered, runs pell-mell into the presence of the Lord of the Manor. “Sire,” he pants, “the peasants are revolting!” His master, looking bored and missing his meaning, lifts a perfumed handkerchief to his nose and sighs, “Of course they are.” People [read: the privileged classes] have been making disparaging comments about the ‘lower classes’ for so many centuries that we have a mental picture: loutish, stupid, unwashed. But what is a peasant, really? The word is from the latin, meaning ‘from a canton,’ thus: someone from the provinces far from the sophistication of the city. Called ‘serfs’ in Russia and medieval Europe; ‘contadino’ in Italy; ‘paysan’ in France; ‘subsistence farmers’ in the US, they have gotten a bad rap. Until the rise of Big Agra, peasants grew all the food that fed the world — in many places, they still do. Their lives were difficult but sometimes their close-to-the-land lifestyle had appeal: Marie Antoinette would retire to her ‘petit hameau’ on the grounds of Versaille to live a simpler life. Breugal painted peasants at work and play while the Limbourg Brothers often showed the turn of the seasons via the work of peasants.

The adage “Eat breakfast like a king and dine like a peasant” is often given as a formula for a healthy diet. This implies eating fewer calories at night. In addition, ‘peasant’ foods were home-grown and/or foraged, low in animal protein, unprocessed and unadulterated. And in small portions. To eat like a peasant also means eating at a lower trophic level. Our breakfast of fruit and grains and our dinner of grains and beans fit the requirements of wholesome, inexpensive, simple food.

Fruited Porridge:  183 calories 1.4 g fat 9 g fiber 7 g protein 38 g carbs [38 g Complex] 36 mg Calcium  PB Here is a delicious way to get your superfoods in one meal. Berries and whole-grain cereal are unbeateble together and easy to prepare as well.

¼ cup Bob’s Red Mill 10-Grain Cereal ¾ cup water ¼ cup diced strawberries ¼ cup blueberries ¼ cup raspberries   Optional: a few tablespoonsful of milk   Optional: blackish coffee [53 calories] or blackish tea or mocha cafe au lait [85 calories]  or lemon in hot water

If the fruit is frozen, as mine was: place in a sieve over a small bowl the night before to thaw. Save the juice to add to a smoothie. Cook the cereal in the water for 8 minutes, stiring twice. Take off heat and add the fruit. Stir gently and serve with a little milk, if you wish.

Red Beans & Rice:  295 calories 1 g fat 13 g protein 57.5 g carb   PB GF  This is the old classic recipe for the ‘perfect protein’. Once we were afraid that we wouldn’t like it, since it sounds bland, but we do like it. Yeah, you’re right, the carbs are way out of control, but these complex carbs are really good for you. HINT: This is enough for 4 servings! Either have a gathering or cut the recipe or freeze for later.

1¾ cups brown rice, cooked ½ cup celery, chopped ½ cup sweet yellow or other color pepper, diced 1 cup onion, chopped 2 cloves garlic, minced ¾ cup crushed tomato oregano + black pepper 1¾ cups red beans, drained and rinsed ½ cup green beans or peas

Cook the rice. Saute the celery, pepper, and onions for 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 5 minutes more. Add the tomato sauce and seasonings. Stir in the red beans and heat through. When the rice is done, add 1 and 3/4 cups to the mixture.  HINT: if there is extra rice, it freezes well. Serve with the cooked green vegetable. 

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

1 two-oz egg + soy sauce1.5 two-oz eggs 
ginger + bean sproutsapple or unsweetened applesauce
crab meat + scallionscooked spinach
garlic powder +pear chèvre
Optional smoothieoptional smoothie
optional hot beverageoptional hot beverage

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

4-oz bison burger + mushroomstilapia fish + sweet potato
curried catsupegg + white whole wheat flour
choices from a variety of vegetablescanola oil + garlic powder
asparagus + paprika + lime juice
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Flora, Goddess of Flowers

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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 Health Specialist who is now Following.

The Romans were pantheistic. There was a diety for everything in the natural world and the political, since deceased emperors were made into gods. One of my favorites is Flora, the goddess of flowers and flowering plants. She was originally a goddess of the Sabine People, who introduced her to Roman culture. In the Greek legend, the nymph Chloris attracted the love of Zehpyrus, the Springtime wind. He married her and granted her dominion over all blooming things: plants, nubile teenagers, and pregnant women. In 238 BCE, a festival called Floralia was instituted in her honor. Today, towns and cities throughout southern France there are floral festivals in early May and it is traditional to give a nosegay of Lily of the Valley/Muguet du Bois to someone to express your love or wish good luck. I like the idea of celebrating the blooms of Spring, so early in May I honor Flora with food and flowers.

The famous Roman Cato the Elder, 234–149 BC, in his agriculture book tried to promote traditional practices of farming and eating. He describes the tradition of baking Libum to leave in the household shrine to the gods. It is made with honey, which Flora is said to have given to the world. There’s our breakfast. Dinner is a modern salad with all sorts of Springtime ingredients: eggs, asparagus, young greens, and flowers. Food for the gods.

Cato’s Breakfast:  235 calories 4 g fat 2 g fiber 13 g protein 47 g carbs 89 mg Calcium  NB: Food values given are for the plated foods only, and do not include the optional beverage.  PB  Cato, the Roman orator and senator, included Libum in his book de Agricultura. The other elements of the meal were popular foods in ancient Rome.

225 g/1 cup light ricotta cheese
113 g/1 cup white whole wheat flour
1 oz = ½ egg
2 Tbsp honey		Combine these ingredients to a Play-Doh consistency.
0.2 oz pine nuts, about 45 pinonsForm dough into 11 balls, each made with 2 Tbsp dough [33-g]. Top each ball with 4-5 pine nuts.
11 bay leaves TIP: you can do all this the night before and bake in the morning.Lightly spritz a baking pan with non-stick spray and lay the bay leaves on it. Place one dough ball on each leaf.
Warm honeyBake at 350 F for 20 minutes. While still warm, brush with honey.

2 Libum [33-grams of dough each] 2 oz pear 1 deglet noor date 1 oz chicken breast meat  Optional: blackish coffee [53 calories] or blackish tea or mocha cafe au lait [65 calories] or lemon in hot water  

Bake the Libum and plate with the other ingredients. Although Cato probably would have served wine with breakfast, that would not be a good option.

Springtime Shrimp Salad: 192 calories 7 g fat 3.6 g fiber 17 g protein 17 g carbs 114 mg Calcium   PB GF  In Spring, the clementines are decreasing in the markets and the asparagus is increasing. A salad with shrimp is delightfully delicious.

2 cups mesclun OR baby greens 2.5 oz small shrimp 8-9 sections clementine 1¾ oz asparagus edible flowers for garnish ¾ oz mango ½ hard-boiled egg 2 tsp Spicy Aioli Dressing 

Prepare all the ingredients, cutting or cooking as necessary. Combine the Dressing and measure 2 tsp into a large bowl. Toss the salad greens with the dressing and a pinch of salt. Turn onto the serving plate and arrange the other ingredients atop the greens. Enjoy the colors and flavors of Spring.

Slow Days: Vegetable Quiche

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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.

Mention ‘quiche’ and many thoughts are conjured: Quiche Lorraine; quiche on every restaurant menu for lunch; “Real Men Don’t Eat Quiche;” thick slabs of it; thin tarts of it; hors d’oeuvres; the best of quiche and the worst of quiche. My mother and her friend took a local French Cooking course in the 1960s, and came home to bake Quiche Lorraine. I thought it was rather boring. In the 1980s, Dear Husband and I frequented Peter Christian’s Tavern where we were served a wonderful, cheese-filled quiche. That recipe became one of our family-filling meals for a meatless night.

Although quiche is a French word, the dish comes from the former independent Duchy of Lorraine, a land that became a shuttlecock in a global badminton game between France and Germany, until it became French for good after WW2. The quiche of that country was originally bread dough in a pie plate, covered with a custard of milk/cream, egg, and a bit of bacon. After some evolution, pie crust lined the plate and cheese along with vegetables were added. Quiche was first popular in England after WW2, then in the USA in the 1950s, reaching its peak in the 1970s. Now it is making a comeback, and I invite you to put it on your menu: for the family, for friends — should you ever dine with friends again.

Our Vegetable Quiche is a combo of recipes from Peter Christian’s Recipes and the Town Farm Restaurant Cookbook [Bar Harbor, Maine]. We served it recently and fell in love with it all over again.

A pie crust, some onion, broccoli, and zucchini… Dill Havarti, Cheddar, Swiss Gruyere… eggs, milk. Very elemental ingredients.

That’s a 9-inch quiche/tart/flan pan.

Prepare a pie crust and fit it into a pie plate or tart pan. Sprinkle 2 Tbsp chopped onion over the pie crust. Measure 4 cups of chopped vegetables and steam them until they are just tender. Drain the vegetables and permit them to ‘out-gas’ for a bit while you grate the cheese. Use 2 cups Gruyere, 1 cup Cheddar, and 1 cup dill Havarti. Distribute the vegetables over the onions, then top with cheese. Set the oven at 400 F. Whisk 3 eggs with one cup of milk, salt, pepper, and herbs in abundance. Carefully pour the egg-milk over the contents of the quiche pan — it will be very full. Bake at 400F for 15 minutes, then lower the heat to 350F and bake for 20-30 minutes longer.

Out of the oven and on to the table.

The quiche should sit for 15-20 minutes before serving.

Served with a good green salad and airy home-made rolls — can’t be beat. Serves 6 easily.

St. Hugues de Cluny

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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.

In the 4th century CE, a small community of monks came together in southern Burgundy, [now in France]. Their little wooden church served them well and the monastery grew. In the early 900s, land was given to the monks and they established the Abbey of Cluny, under the Rule of St Benedict. But bigger was better, and another church was begun within the same century. Enter Hugues de Semur, born into a noble family from northern Burgundy in 1024, he was often called “Hugues the Holy.” [Somehow Hugues and I are related: he is not an ancestor, but I am descended from the same family.] At age 14 he became a monk, by age 25 he was Abbot of Cluny. Under his leadership, Cluny became the spiritual center of the Christian Church in Western Europe. Hugues was a skilled diplomat, known for his wisdom and persuasiveness. As a church leader, he was admired and emulated: 2000 monasteries were founded all over Europe all following the Cluniac style. At last, he became a builder. The third church at Cluny was begun under Hugues, and when it was finished in 1130, it was the largest church in Europe. It was built in the Romanesque style and to stand in the ruins today is to be astonished that a church that size could have been built then. Hugues was the advisor of popes and emperors, but he walked the talk of being a monk who did the daily work of the Order. His church was unfinished when he died in 1109. Eventually Cluny fell into disrepair: spiritually and physically. The Cistercians became the dominant group and Cluny Abbey was disbanded. Hugues was such a rare and special leader that he was made a saint only 11 years after his death and his reputation, if not his physical church, have lived on.

Monks of that time were not fed much — that was to suppress their libidos. They ate plainly. For the Feast of St Hugues on April 29, a meal that would have been a feast for his monks: gizzards and eggs for breakfast. For dinner at an abbey, soup was often on the menu, served with rye bread crackers.

Gizzard ScrOmelette:  139 calories 10.4 g fat 1.4 g fiber 12 g protein 5 g carbs [4 g Complex] 51 mg Calcium  NB: Food values shown are for the ScrOmelette and fruit only, and do not include the optional beverages. GF Yes, really: gizzards. High in protein, low in fat. You could try this with the gizzard that is in the giblet package at Thanksgiving time or ask at the meat counter.

Three 2-oz eggs of which you will use 1 ½ 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.  ½ oz gizzards, cleaned and simmered in seasoned stock for 1½ hours [HINT: cook up a bunch of gizzards at the same time for future use]  1 clove garlic, minced sage + salt + pepper 1 oz applesauce  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]

Spritz a non-stick pan with olive oil or non-stick spray. Slice the gizzards and cook them with the garlic and sage until warm. Whisk the eggs with salt & pepper to taste and scramble in the pan with the gizzards. Plate the applesauce and pour the beverages. Real farm food.

Watercress Soup: 157 calories 5.4 g fat 3 g fiber 8.4 g protein 22 g carbs [19 g Complex] 63.5 mg Calcium  PB GF Jacques Pepin’s Good Life Cooking  is the source of this recipe and the stream that flows to the beach is the source of our watercress. So low in calories, you might want to add some Finn Crisp crackers for filling fiber or the Caprese Salad for more protein or a hard-boiled egg. HINT: This recipe makes 5 cups of soup which serves 4-5 people.  

Served with chevre cheese and Caprese salad

2 tsp canola oil 4 oz [weight, not volume] watercress leaves and tender stems 1 cup celery, coarsely chopped 2 cups onion, coarsely diced 2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed 2½ cups good stock – vegetable/chicken/beef ¾ tsp salt 10 oz [weight, not volume] potatoes, peeled, cut in 2” chunks 2 oz [weight, not volume] sweet potato, peeled and cut in chunks  Optional: 1 Tbsp chevre cheese – 40 calories 3 g fat 0 g fiber 2.5 g protein 0.5 g carbs 10 mg Calcium   Optional: Caprese Salad – 46 calories 2 g fat 0.6 g fiber 4 g protein 2.6 g carbs 115.6 mg Calcium  PB GF  ½ oz mozzerella cheese, thinly sliced 2 oz tomato, thinly sliced and sprinkled with salt fresh basil leaves There should be equal numbers of cheese slices as tomato. Arrange the cheese, tomato, and basil as overlapping tiles on the plate.   Optional: hard-boiled egg  70 calories  5 g fat 0 g fiber 6 g protein 0.4 g carbs 28 mg Calcium  PB GF   Cut the egg lengthwise in quarters and nestle into the plated soup.  Optional: 2 Finn Crisp crackers – 40 calories 0 g fat 3 g fiber 1 g protein 10 g carbs [10 g Complex] 0 mg Calcium PB GF

Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Add the cress, celery, onion, and garlic, and saute for 2 minutes. Put the stock, salt and potatoes into the pan and bring to a boil. [NB: my stock was very dark, which changed the color of the soup to a darker shade of green] Turn down the heat, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes. Cool slightly then puree in blender/food processor or with immersion wand. If not thoroughly pureed, run through a sieve. Heat the soup before serving. In the bowl, put the chevre in the center, let it soften a bit, then swirl it into the soup. Serve the salad on the side. 

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

2 Libum, recipe provided*  Bob’s Red Mill 10-Grain Cereal + blueberries
egg + honey + deglet noor dateStrawberries + raspberries
pine nuts + pear + chicken breastoptional milk
*white whole wheat flour, ricotta cheese
bay leavesoptional smoothie
optional hot beverageoptional hot beverage

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

baby greens/mesclun + clementine +asparagusbrown rice + canned red beans
small shrimp + mango + hard-boiled eggbell pepper, yellow or orange + celery
mayonnaise/plain yogurt + Srirachaonion + garlic
garlic powder + lemon juiceoregano + green beans or peas
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