Eating well with creative recipes while following the Fast Diet

Marie de Medici

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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 + Nutrition and Benyapoesy who are now following.

When Marie di Medici was born on April 26, 1575, she was destined for greatness. Her childhood saw the deaths of her mother, two siblings, and her father. She waited to marry, holding out for the best possible match — but who was defining ‘best’? She was betrothed at last to Henri, King of France, the 4th of that name. They were married in 1600, in Florence, her hometown, with an elaborate reception that was missing only one thing: the Groom. As monarch, he was not expected to go to Italy for less than a State Visit, and besides, this was his 2nd marriage. The couple finally met when a few days after Marie disembarked at Marseille, on her way to Paris. The King said she had a graceful way of walking, but what was really attractive was her wealth — she was the sole heir to the de Medici fortune. Marie had always enjoyed power and prestige, but what worked for her in Tuscany was not successful in France. She never learned to speak much French, her friends and advisors were all Italian. She was rather annoyed that the King had several mistresses [one of whom called Marie ‘the fat banker’] and very annoyed that she was named ‘consort’ rather than ‘queen.’ Somehow, the couple managed to produce several children. At last, in 1610, she was named Queen. The very next day, King Henri IV was stabbed to death by an assassin. Hmmmm…. Since their son and heir, Louis, was a child, Marie was named the Regent. She liked that — spending money, waging wars, honoring her favorites, and cultivating a young priest named Richelieu. She was so imperious that her 15-year-old son had had enough and took the throne as Louis XIII, ending her regency in 1617. But Marie was not through and continued to run the country. Louis had her removed to the countryside. In 1619 and 1620, she tried to stage a rebellion, but Richelieu sided with the king and Marie was exiled. She traipsed from capital to capital around Europe, visiting her children and plotting her return. But she died in Cologne [now in Germany] in 1642.

Marie liked to eat. Plump when she arrived in France, her girth increased throughout her life. You know the term ‘Rubenesque‘ to describe a very plump, curvy woman? Peter-Paul Rubens painted 24 scenes from the life of Marie di Medici, reveling in her plumpness. Under her influence, Italian foods were introduced into French Cuisine, along with cloth napkins, table cloths, and flower arrangements on the table. Our meals are classic tastes of Italian and French ingredients.

Ratatouille-Egg Galette: 151 calories 5.5 g fat 2 g fiber 9 g protein 14 g carbs 53 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 crepes  Here the eggplants of Italy marry with the galettes of France. A perfect blend of cuisines.

1 crepe or galette one 2-oz egg ¼ cup Mediterranean Vegetables   ½ oz fresh mushrooms  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]

Drain the vegetables of excess liquids, saving the liquids to cook the mushrooms. Combine the vegetables and mushrooms and heat them. Warm the crepe/galette and plate it. Poach or fry the egg. Spoon the vegetables over the crepe/galette and top it all with the egg. Pick it up with your hands or eat with a fork.

Mollusk Gratin: 283 calories 14.6 g fat 2 g fiber 31.6 g protein 17.5 g carbs 216 mg Calcium  PB GF -if using GF flour  When we steam mussels for a feast, there are often some left over. Removed from their shells, the meat can easily be frozen in the cooled cooking broth. A wonderful item for a quick future meal.

3 oz cooked mussels, removed from shells + 2 shucked oysters 4 Tbsp mussel broth [from cooking the mussels] 2 tsp flour [I use King Arthur white whole wheat] ½ oz Gruyere cheese, grated ½ tsp curry powder 3 oz green beans

Warm the mussel broth and whisk in the flour. Heat over low until thickened. Add curry powder and cheese. Whisk until cheese is melted and sauce is well combined. Add the mussels + oysters. Spritz a ramekin with non-stick spray and scrape the mussels and sauce into the ramekin. Bake at 350 degrees F. for 10 minutes while you cook the beans.

The real “OK Boomer”

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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.

At noon on April 22, 1889, the Oklahoma Land Rush began with the firing of a gun. That was the signal for the thousands of people — on horse-back, in wagons, whole families, or single people — to charge across the prairie in what is now Oklahoma to find a plot of land and claim it. The land was part of the enormous Louisianna Purchase of 1803, but had remained “undeveloped” and was considered “unassigned” and “unpopulated.” [No one asked the Plains Indians about that. Neighboring lands were already the home of Indigenous Peoples who had been deported there from Eastern States]. Ever since the end of the Civil War in 1864, people had clambered to be able to settle the Oklahoma land. Their noisy lobbying earned them the name ‘boomers.’ The Unassigned Lands had been divided into 160 acre parcels. Towns and rail lines had been sited and partially developed. The people who did that work, who were already inside the territory, along with cheaters who sneaked in early, were called ‘sooners.’ When the signal went off, the 50,000 people who had waited on the Kansas border streamed in. Among them were 23 young women from Illinois, mentioned in the article above. By the end of the day, 11,000 homesteads had been claimed. Towns sprang up overnight, since some boomers wanted house lots and shop locations. Land Rush or Land Grab? African-Americans were put at the back of the line for the Rush. Law suits went on for years as sooners were sued and removed from their property. In August of 2020, the US Supreme Court settled a suit that determined where the “Indians” had jurisdiction in certain locations, an outshoot of the Oklahoma Land Rush. The nickname of Oklahoma is The Sooner State — no longer a slur, the word now embodies the spirit of the state. The abbreviation is ‘OK’ and the state was settled by boomers, so I guess they all were OK Boomers, weren’t they?  

A breakfast of sausage and eggs might have been just the thing to eat on that exciting day, so we will enjoy it too. I’m sure that none of the participants of the land rush would ever have imagined that someday there would be great modern cities on the prairie — cities famous for bar-be-que! But that’s how it is, and dinner focuses on that flavor in an up-dated meal.

Sausage Bake: 302 calories 10 g fat 1.4 g fiber 21.5 g protein 27 g carbs 289 mg Calcium  NB: The food values given above are for the egg bake and fruit only, not the optional beverages. PB GF Quick and yummy, can’t beat that.

1 two-oz egg 2 cooked chicken breakfast sausage @ 33 calories/link [I used Applegate sausages] 1 Tbsp cottage cheese + pinch marjoram + salt + pepper 1 oz unsweetened applesauce  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]

With the back of a spoon, mash the cottage cheese through a sieve to break up the lumps and make it smooth. Whisk the cheese with the egg and seasonings. Spritz a ramekin with oil or non-stick spray. Dice the sausage and put it into the ramekin. Pour the egg mixture on top and bake in the toaster oven at 350 degrees F. for 12-15 minutes, depending on how you like your eggs. Brew your optional beverage, shake and pour the optional smoothie, dish that lovely applesauce. Nice start to your day.

Chicken BBQ Sliders: 281 calories 4 g fat 5 g fiber 27 g protein 35 g carbs [25 g Complex] 166 mg Calcium Such a simple meal to prepare. Such a fun meal to eat.  HINT: This recipe makes 2 [two] servings. Invite a friend or save the rest for lunch another day.

3 whole wheat slider buns @ 90 calories each [we prefer Martin’s brand]  5 oz cooked chicken breast, sliced and shredded  2 Tbsp Corky’s BBQ Sauce  per serving: 1/2 cup coleslaw OR 2 oz cherry tomatoes + ¾ oz carrot sticks

Warm the chicken and the sauce together over low heat. Open the slider buns and toast them lightly on an ungreased heavy skillet. Spoon the filling into the slider buns and cut each one in half. One serving = 3 halves. Plate with the vegetables for an absurdly easy dinner.

ngredients for next week: Breakfast, single portion for Monday ………………………. single portion for Thursday:

1 two-oz egg1.5 two-oz eggs 
mushroomsgizzard from chicken or turkey
galette/crepegarlic + sage
Mediterranean Vegetablesunsweetened applesauce
Optional smoothieoptional smoothie
optional hot beverageoptional hot beverage

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

mussels, removed from shellscanola oil + watercress + celery
mussel broth + 2 oystersonion + garlic + good stock
Gruyere cheesepotato + sweet potato
curry powder + flour + green beanschèvre cheese optional: mozzarella + tomato
Sparkling waterSparkling water

Boston Marathon

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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 ketogenicexplained and Baha Health Club who are now Following.

The late 1800s brought a renewed interest in all things ‘Classical‘ — from architecture to art, from mythology to legend. Anyone [of course, that means white males, mostly wealthy] with a university degree in an English-speaking country had read of the triumph of the Athenians over a superior force, and how a messenger then ran 25 miles from the Plain of Marathon to Athens to deliver the news. When the Modern Olympics were begun in 1896, one of the premier events — not part of the original Ancient Olympic games — was a ‘marathon’ run of 25 miles. Boston worthies conceived the idea of a similar event to coincide with the Massachusetts holiday called Patriot’s Day. This juxtaposition was because both the ancient Athenians and the colonial Americans were fighting for freedom against foreign forces. A 24.5 mile course was established to end in downtown Boston, the race finish capping off days of games sponsored by the Boston Athletic Association. Fifteen men ran that first race. The idea was so popular, that the race has been run annually since then — except for 2020, for obvious reasons since the race had grown to include tens of thousands of racers and viewers. The course was lengthened to 26+ miles in 1924, to fit IAFF guidelines. In 1966, Bobbi Gibb ran as the first female participant, despite being told that she was not permitted as women were “not physiologically capable of running 26 miles.” The Marathon is usually held on the 3rd Monday in April, on or about the date of Paul Revere’s Ride on the eve of the American Revolution. The dreadful bombing at the finish line of the 2013 Marathon increased peoples’ resolve to continue the race into the future. Wars have not stopped the race, only the 2020/21 Pandemic has done that. This year, the race is scheduled for October.

Before a marathon, runners often ‘carbo-load,’ stoking up on bread and pasta meals. As non-participants, we will start our day with lots of protein. After the race, a fine dinner of local seafoods: fish and crabmeat.

B-O-S-T ScrOmelette: 161 calories 7.6 g fat 1.5 g fiber 11 g protein 9 g carbs [8 g Complex] 220 mg Calcium  NB: Food values shown are for the ScrOmelette and fruit only, and do not include the optional beverages.  PB GF The beans are for Boston’s nickname: beantown. The green onions are for the ‘Green Monster’ wall at Fenway Park. The shrimp are for the strong maritime tradition of the port. The tomatoes are for New Englanders’ fervent wish to raise just a few ripe tomatoes before the end of summer.

1 ½ two-oz eggs  HINT: If you are serving one person, crack three 2-oz eggs into a small bowl or glass measuring cup. Whip up those eggs and pour half of their volume into a jar with a lid and put it in the ‘fridge for next week.  1 Tbsp white beans, preferable small ‘navy’ beans 2 Tbsp green part of scallions sliced ¼ oz shrimp, preferably tiny Northern shrimp OR larger shrimp chopped 1 oz tomato, diced and drained in a sieve overnight 1½ oz nectarine slices  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]

Put the beans, onion, shrimp, and tomato in a warm non-stick pan spritzed with non-stick spray or olive oil. Cook until warmed. Whisk the eggs with salt and pepper and pour over the other ingredients in the pan. Scramble or cook as an omelette. Pour the beverages of your choice, plate the fruit, and plate the eggs. 

Crab–Stuffed Flounder:  249 calories 6 g fat 3.4 g fiber 35 g protein 9 g carbs 67 mg Calcium   PB GF – if using GF bread  This is one of our favorite meals. HINT: Serves 2 [two] but recipe could easily be cut in half.

½ cup crab meat  
2/3 ounce [1½ Tbsp] egg white 
3 Tbsp scallion, chopped  
2 tsp Dijon mustard 
1½ Tbsp fresh bread crumbs  made with 70-calorie whole-grain bread
1½ chopped parsley
salt, and pepper  		Combine the crab, egg, scallion, mustard, bread crumbs, parsley, salt, and pepper.
1 tsp butter 
¼ cup white wine		Melt the butter in an oven-proof dish and take off heat. Stir the wine into the butter.
11 oz flounder or sole fillets. This must be as 4 [four] fillets to serve 2.
2 tsp chives OR shallots, chopped 		Lay two fish fillets in the dish and top with the crab stuffing. Lay the other fish fillets on top of the stuffing and lightly press down. Spoon some of the butter/wine on top of the fish. Sprinkle with the chopped shallots.
Bake at 400 F for 10 minutes or until the fish is cooked and opaque. When serving the fish, pour the pan sauce over top.

per person: 3 oz green beans OR 1 cup lettuce dressed with ½ tsp olive oil + ½ tsp vinegar + salt Prepare the green side dish and plate the fish. A delightful meal.

Leonardo, artist

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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. 

Leonardo da Vinci was a polymath of the first order. He had enough endeavors for many people — too many to squeeze into one lifetime. First and foremost, he was a visual artist. Leonardo was born on April 15 1452, and at age 14, he was an apprentice in the studio of Andrea del Verrocchio, the premier place to train in 15th century Florence. In that time, there were three painting media available to an artist: oil on wood or canvas; tempera, an egg-based paint, on wood; or fresco, when water-based colors are painted onto wet plaster. As a painter, Leonardo was always experimenting: his restless intellect wanted to leap to his next project or new innovation. Many of his oil paintings, including the Mona Lisa, were never finished since he went on to a new assignment in mid-stream. He tried out new artistic techniques, perfecting the sfumato where shadow and light have no sharp borders, but rather the vague transition seen in a cloud of smoke. Leonardo seems to have preferred oil paint. When commissioned to paint frescos, such as the Last Supper in Milan, he decided to apply oil paint to the plaster instead of the water colors. The oil paint did not want to stick to the wall and it began to flake off within a few months. One of the great, well-known masterpieces of the world was a technical failure. Restored many times, we can never fully appreciate what it really looked like. The most famous work of all is La Gioconda, aka: the Mona Lisa. It is famous for its technique and for that ‘Smile.’ Much ink has been spilt trying to describe the smile and why she wears it. It is worth noting that she is not the only subject with that look — I think it should be called the “da Vinci Smile.” Look for it in paintings of John the Baptist, Leda, and the Virgin and Child with Saint Anne. Of course, Dan Brown had to create a thriller involving da Vinci’s work, especially the Virgin of the Rocks , the Last Supper, and the drawing of the Vitruvian Man. If all he did was to paint and draw, Da Vinci would be justly famous. But he was so much more.

After training in Florence, Leonardo worked for many years in Milan, then in Rome, and finally in France. For Leonardo’s life in Rome, our breakfast takes its flavors from the well-known puttanesca sauce. The dinner is perfectly French, in recognition of the fact that Da Vinci was working for the French king when he died.

Puttanesca ScrOmelette: 146 calories 8 g fat 1 g fiber 10 g protein 7.5 g carbs 52 mg Calcium  NB: Food values shown are for the ScrOmelette and fruit only, and do not include the optional beverages.  PB GF “Puttanesca” might not actually mean ‘street-walker’… Leonardo didn’t have much time for them, but he might have met these flavors while he worked in Rome. This breakfast is based on the flavors of the iconic Roman pasta dish. When you make a dinner with that sauce, save some out to season these breakfast eggs.

1½ two-ounce 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   1.5 Tbsp puttanesca sauce + ½ clementine OR 1 oz blueberries  Optional: blackish coffee [53 calories] or blackish tea or mocha cafe au lait [65 calories] or lemon in hot water  Optional: 5 oz fruit smoothie or berry-yogurt smoothie  [88 calories]

Whisk the sauce into the eggs and scramble or cook as an omelette. Enjoy with the hot beverage, smoothie, and blueberries.

Mackerel with Gooseberry Glaze:  276 calories 16 g fat 1 g fat 22 g protein 7 g carbs 27 mg Calcium  PB GF  This popular dish from Normandy usually features fresh gooseberries. Here in the USA, those are less common so we make a glaze of gooseberry jelly. The zucchini picks up the color of green gooseberries.

3 oz mackerel, frozen or fresh fillets + 2 tsp gooseberry jelly or jam + 4 oz zucchini ribbons

Thaw the fish if frozen. Heat the oven to 350 F. Put fish on a baking tray and brush with melted jelly on both sides. Using a potato peeler, carve long, thin slices from the length of the zucchini until you have 3 oz. Toss the ribbons with salt and pepper. Place the ribbons on the baking tray in a heap [if they are in a thin layer, they will over-cook]. Bake for the tray with the fish and zucchini for 5 minutes. Rearrange the zucchini so that the bottom layer is now on top. Bake 5 minutes more, or until the fish is cooked. Plate the fish with the zucchini ribbons. Sheet-pan dinners are so trendy now.

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

1.5 two-oz eggs + canned white beans1.5 two-oz eggs 
green onions2 chicken breakfast sausages @ 33 calories each
shrimp + tomatoapplesauce, unsweetened + marjoram
nectarine or peach cottage cheese, reduced fat
Optional smoothieoptional smoothie
optional hot beverageoptional hot beverage

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

crab meat + scallion + Dijon mustardMartin’s whole wheat potato slider rolls or similar
egg white + whole-grain fresh bread crumbschicken breast slices
4 flounder or sole filets + butter + shallotsCorky’s BBQ Sauce
white wine + side salad or green beanscarrot sticks + cherry tomatoes
Sparkling waterSparkling water

Ramadan ’21

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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 Serumbach and theunsandsorina who are now Following.

Ramadan, like Easter and Passover and Paris, is a ‘moveable feast.’ This means that it is not a fixed date on the calendar, but that it moves around from year to year. The annual one-month holy festival of the Muslim Faith follows the lunar calendar [which has 13 months in a year rather than 12], and is held 11 days earlier than the festival the year before. It is a month of family, feasts, charitable acts, prayer, and fasting. The Fasting means neither eating nor drinking from sunrise to sunset, every day for one lunar month. A morning meal before dawn, suhoor, is all you get until the evening meal, iftar, after dusk fades from the sky. The concept of 16:8 Intermittant Fasting is catching on, and this is the same thing, but the dial moves to 12:12 — and some of that is sleeping. The reason for the Festival? It marks the revelation of the Holy Quran to the Prophet Mohammed in the year 610 CE.

Our meals today are typical of the flavors of the West-Asian Islamic region, and can be prepared with halal ingredients.

Arabian Eggs: 153 calories 7.4 g fat 2 g fiber 10 g protein 12.5 g carbs [11 g Complex] 58 mg Calcium  NB: Food values shown are for the eggs and fruit only, and do not include the optional beverages. PB GF  Hawayij spice is widely-used in the cuisine of Saudi Arabia. And it clearly shows trade links to countries further East. Coffee [Coffea arabica is a native plant] and dates round out the flavors of the country. The sweet dates are a wonderful counter-point to the spicy eggs.

1½ two-oz eggs HINT: If you are serving one person, crack three 2-oz eggs into a small bowl or glass measuring cup. Whip up those eggs and pour half of their volume into a jar with a lid to store in the ‘fridge for next week.  1 to 1.5 tsp Hawayij spice  2 deglet noor dates    Optional: blackish Arabian coffee [53 calories] or blackish tea or lemon in hot water  Optional: 5-6 oz fruit smoothie or berry-yogurt smoothie [88 calories]

Whisk the eggs with the spice mixture and pour into a heated skillet sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Turn down the heat. Leave the eggs undisturbed until puffy and the top is set. Remove from skillet, and serve folded or flat. Pour the beverages, plate the dates, and enjoy the fruit/spice combination.

Lamb With Mediterranean Vegetables: 295 calories 14 g fat 9 g fiber 22 g protein 40.5 g carbs 205.6 mg Calcium  PB GF  Here’s a fine meal, full of complex carbohydrates and good flavor. 

1 oz ground lamb 1 cup Mediterranean Vegetables  ¼ cup cooked brown rice ½ oz Gruyere cheese, grated

Cook the ground lamb, keeping it in biggish chunks rather than tiny flecks. Pour into a sieve to drain any fat and rinse in hot water. Season the meat well with salt, pepper, and rosemary. Heat the Mediterranean Vegetables TIP: so much easier if they were waiting for you in the freezer. Preparing food ahead is such a good idea. Mix the lamb with the vegetables. Plate the rice, then pour the Lamb/Veg on top. Serve topped with grated cheese.

Slow Days: Penne with Tuna and Tomatoes

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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.

On Wednesday, which is a Slow Day in our house, we invariably dine on a pasta meal. There are so many fine ways to top a plate of pasta that it can be a while until a particular meal is repeated. What follows is a recipe from Diary of a Tuscan Chef by Cesar Casella & Eileen Daspin. The chef calls it “Garganelli con Tonno Fresco,” but we call it Penne with Tuna & Tomatoes. This is so special and so easy to prepare that we schedule it when we want a lot of impact even when there is little time.

My job is to prepare the mise en place and to cook the pasta.

Here we see fresh tuna cut into 1/2 inch cubes, along with garlic chopped with fresh oregano, and 2 cups of halved cherry tomatoes. Cook the pasta of choice in salted water. Meanwhile, saute the garlic and oregano in olive oil until the garlic begins to color. Add the tuna and a pinch of crushed red pepper, and cook, stirring, for 3-4 minutes until the fish is done to your liking. Remove the tuna from the pan to a plate or bowl. Drain the pasta, saving some cooking water. Deglaze the saute pan with about 1/3 cup white wine, and let it cook down while you scrape brown bits off the bottom of the pan. Add the pasta water and the tomatoes to the pan and cook for 2 minutes. Toss in the pasta, some chopped parsley, the cooked tuna, and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. That took less than 15 minutes.

Dear Husband cooks the meal and chooses the wine.

Plate with crusty bread and a crisp salad of many different greens. Easy and delicious — especially when Dear Husband does all the cooking.

Tomorrow marks the 8th anniversary of our Fasting Lifestyle. Our weight is still down where we want it to be, our health is good. And we continue to eat pasta on Wednesdays — what a life!

Grab Bag

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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.

A ‘grab bag’ is a sack that contains small items of unknown identity. As a prize, one is offered the chance to reach in the bag and grab any one of the items. Teachers might do this to provide a reward for a classroom competition. Parents might offer a grab bag at a child’s birthday party. At any rate, you reach in and never know what you might get. Today’s menus are sort of a grab bag — two random recipes that haven’t been posted for a few years. AND they are winners — a real prize! Usually, the recipes have something in common, something that unites them. These are both from Asia, but the other link is that they are good to eat. Who needs more than that?

Kashmiri ScrOmelette: 157 calories 8.5 g fat 1 g fiber 14.5 g protein 5 g carbs [3.5 g Complex] 58 mg Calcium  NB: Food values shown are for the ScrOmelette and fruit only, and do not include the optional beverages.  PB GF  The sauce ‘Rogan Josh’ was available in jars on the supermarket shelf, so I incorporated it into these very tasty eggs.

1 ½ 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.  1/3 oz cooked chicken, diced 1 Tbsp [15 ml] Rogan Josh sauce [Taste of India brand] 1 oz strawberries  Optional: blackish coffee [53 calories] or blackish tea or mocha cafe au lait [65 calories] or lemon in hot water  Optional: 5 oz fruit smoothie or berry-yogurt smoothie  [88 calories]

Whisk together the eggs, sauce and chicken. Pour into a hot non-stick or well-seasoned saute pan which has been spritzed with non-stick spray or oil. Scramble or cook as an omelette. Plate with the berries, pour the optional beverages, and set your aspirations for the day as high as the Himalayas.

Pork & Green Bean Stirfry: 176 calories 3 g fat 5.4 g fiber 20.5 g protein 18 g carbs [10 g Complex] 63 mg Calcium  NB: The food values given do not include the optional serving of rice**  PB GF  This stirfry has a lot of prep work, but the result is rich in the wonderful flavors of East Asia. The recipe does not include rice, but if you read on, you’ll see amounts of rice to serve. HINT: This recipe makes enough to serve 2 [two] people. Food values above are for ONE serving.

First, make a mise en place .  Seriously — do it.
5 oz pork tenderloin
1½ tsp dark soy sauce 
½ tsp honey 
½ tsp minced garlic
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes		Slice pork into matchstick pieces. Place in a bowl with these ingredients and stir to combine.
4 tsp dark soy sauce  
½ tsp honey
1 tsp peanut butter.		Combine in a micro-wave-safe cup and briefly warm in micro-wave to soften the honey and peanut butter.
6 oz green beans, cut in 1.5” pieces
½ c matchstick carrots 		Put beans in a small pan of boiling, salted water and cook 3 minutes. Add the carrots and cook 1 minute. Drain, saving water and vegetables.
1 tsp canola oil  Heat a wok or cast iron skillet over high, then add oil. Add pork mixture and stir-fry 1 minute.
Remove cooked pork to a clean bowl and stir in the soy-honey-peanut mix. 
2 Tbsp bean-carrot water
2 oz red bell pepper, cut in strips
more bean-carrot water, as needed		Put carrot-cooking water in the dish that had the soy-honey-peanut mixture. Swirl around to get those flavors into the water. Pour flavored water into the wok and add the bell peppers. Stir-fry 1 minute – add more water to keep it sizzling. 
½ tsp garlic 
1.5 tsp minced fresh ginger		Add beans, carrots, ginger, + garlic to peppers in the wok and stir-fry 1 minute.
Return pork to the wok and stir-fry until heated, ~1 minute. 
sliced scallion 
Sriracha
optional rice**		Plate with optional rice, and top with scallion and extra Sriracha

**If using ¼ cup medium-grain white rice as a garnish, then add these food values: 50 calories 0 g fat 0.3 g fiber 1 g protein 11 g carbs [these are all simple carbs] 0 mg Calcium

**If serving with ¼ cup medium-grain brown rice, then add these food values: 54 calories 0.4 g fat 1 g fiber 1 g protein 11 g carbs [these are all Complex carbs] 5 mg Calcium

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

1.5 two-oz eggs1.5 two-oz eggs 
Hawayij spiceputtanesca sauce
deglet noor datesblueberries
Optional smoothieoptional smoothie
optional hot beverageoptional hot beverage

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

ground lambmackerel filets, fresh or frozen
brown rice gooseberry jam or jelly
Gruyere cheesezucchini
Mediterranean vegetables
Sparkling waterSparkling water

Easter Eggs

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How this Fast Diet Lifestyle works: Eat these meals tomorrow, for a calorie total of less than 600. Later 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 weightlosscal and beatmybellyfatnow who are now Following.

Easter has been associated with eggs since forever. The chick hatching from the seemingly lifeless egg is the classic simile for the resurrection at Easter. Eggs speak of Springtime and the very name ‘Easter’ comes from ‘Eostre’, a goddess of Spring to the ancient people of England. But why hard-boiled eggs, you ask. During Lent, when people refrained from eating eggs, the hens continued to lay. The solution to all those surplus eggs was to boil them — this helps them to keep longer and results in heaps of eggs by Easter. Thus the tradition of decorating eggs and giving them to friends and family. How did rabbits become the deliverers of eggs? The German tradition of the March Hare [as in “mad as a March hare” cf. Alice in Wonderland], being a fertility symbol, is linked to eggs, another fertility symbol. Among the Germans, the hare brought treats to children at Easter. In the US, the hare became a tame domestic rabbit and the Easter Bunny was born. These days, an ‘Easter Egg’ is a hidden reference in a TV show or movie, put there by the director as an inside joke.

So what do you do with all those hard-boiled eggs**???? Today’s recipes show you some ways to use them for breakfast or for dinner. There are many more recipes for Fast Days that use hard-boiled eggs. Have fun hunting through the Archives for them!

**Best way to prepare ‘hard-boiled’ eggs: For easiest peeling, use eggs that are a bit old. Test eggs in a cup of water: if one end floats upward, that’s a good egg for boiling. In a pan large enough to contain your eggs in one layer, add one inch of water. Cover and bring the water to a boil. When it boils, gently place the eggs in the water and cover the pan again. Set the timer for 12 minutes, then remove the eggs to a plate to cool. Ta-da! Once in a while, one breaks. Oh, well.

Egg-Salad Toast: 167 calories 8 g fat 4.5 g fiber 12 g protein 22 g carbs 101 mg Calcium  PB  Toast ‘n’ Egg for breakfast takes a new twist. If you must grab-and-go, this is a good choice. 

1 slice whole-grain bread [70 calories, 3 g fiber] 1 hardboiled 2-oz egg yellow Siracha, ad lib 1 Tbsp reduced-fat ricotta 1 oz sliced tomato OR halved cherry tomatoes 2 oz strawberries  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]

Slice the tomato and salt it to develop flavor. Shell the egg and mash it with a fork on a plate. Squirt some Srarcha on it, add the ricotta, and continue to mash and squirt until you get the consistancy you like. Add salt and pepper and herbs to taste. Lightly toast the bread and spread with the egg salad. Top with the tomato and plate with the fruit. Wholesome and hearty.

Egg Curry: 299 calories 12.6 g fat 2 g fiber 18.4 g protein 27 g carbs 205.6 mg Calcium  PG GF  This Indian curry is delicious and so simple to prepare. Need I say more? The recipe is from Jacquline Herault’s Oriental Cooking the Fast Wok Way. HINT: This recipe serves two [2].

1 tsp oil
½ c onion, chopped [2.25 oz]
1 ½ coins of fresh ginger, minced		Heat wok over medium heat. Add oil and count to 30.Add vegetables and stir-fry 3 minutes until onions are golden. Turn heat to low.
1 Tbsp minced parsley
½ tsp turmeric
1 tsp curry
¼ tsp garam masala		Add ingredients off heat, then simmer uncovered 2 minutes. Stir occasionally.
1½ Roma/plum tomatoes, quarteredAdd tomatoes and some water, and simmer 8 minutes.
4 fl oz / ½ c plain yogurt
1 oz weight = ¼ c mushrooms, chopped		Add, mix well, and simmer 10 minutes or less as sauce thickens.
2 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and slicedAdd, simmer 3 minutes
1 Tbsp lemon juice
¼ cup cooked brown rice, per person		Add and stir to combine. Plate.
2 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and halvedNestle on top of the curry mixture.

Fool Me Once…

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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. 

“Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.” This 360-year-old saying is about being fooled or tricked in a business transaction, rather than a harmless prank. One who tries to cheat another for money deserves shame indeed. But if the one who is tricked does not learn to be more wary from the encounter, then shame on him/her/they for being such a fool. There’s a lot of that going around these days: telemarketers on the phone, products offered on late-night television, pop-up ads on the internet, misinformation abounds and people get duped. Check your facts, people! Tomorrow will be April Fool’s Day, when the emphasis is on fooling people, but in a kindly, jesting way.

I’m not fooling you to say that the breakfast recipe is unusual in flavor and pretty to behold. I had fun creating it and indeed fooled Dear Husband. To prepare breakfast, he took the filled ramekins out of the ‘fridge and popped them in the oven, thinking they were both eggs to be baked. Ha! Because tomorrow is Maundy Thursday, the dinner takes on a more somber note: a meatless, hearty ‘peasant’ soup [that’s not a slam of ‘peasants’ since their food is often flavorful and healthy].

Trompe l’Oeil: 135 calories 6 g fat 2 g fiber 10.5 g protein 9.6 g carbs 128 mg Calcium  NB: The food values given above are for the egg bake and fruit only, not the optional beverages.  PB GF   Here is a meal to fool the eye and tickle the palate with its combination of the cold soup and the hot egg. The soup, which is good as a lunch in larger portions, comes from cuisine actuelle.fr

½ cup Cucumber Soup*** + 0.9 oz ball of cantaloup melon + one 2-oz egg + 1 tsp grated Parmesan + 1 Tbsp whole milk

Spritz an oven-safe ramekin with non-stick spray and break the egg into it. Sprinkle the Parmesan around the yolk. Spoon the milk around the yolk. Add salt and pepper. Bake at 350F for 12-15 minutes. Meanwhile, scrape the soup into a similar ramekin. Nestle the melon ball in the soup. Plate them side by side and smile.

***Cucumber Soup  makes 3 cups, easy to cut in half

two 8” cucumbers [total mass = 21 oz Slice off both tips of the cucumber and remove half of the green peel. Cut in half and scoop out the seeds. Dice the cucumber.
A bunch of mintRemove leaves from stems and chop the leaves coarsely.
Piment d’esplette [or paprika or Aleppo pepper] to taste
salt & pepper to taste		Put the cucumber, mint, and seasonings in a food processor. Run the machine until the cucumber is very finely chopped.
200 grams/ 7 oz Fromage Blanc or plain Greek yogurtAdd cheese/yogurt and run the processor long enough to combine. Adjust seasonings.
1 Tbsp-sized cantaloup balls Place in a ramekin, garnished with one melon ball per serving

Czech Garlic Soup Česneková polévka: 194 calories 5 g fat 4 g fiber 9 g protein 27 g carbs [18 g Complex] 84 mg Calcium PB GF – if using GF rye bread What could be better on a chilly night than a cozy bowl of soup? This is a classic from czechcookbook, but feel free to make it your own. The calorie count is so low that you could add other vegetables or low-fat meat.  HINT: This recipe makes 8 cups of soup. One serving = 1 cup

1 Tbsp unsalted butter OR bacon fat    
7 cloves garlic 		Chop garlic and saute in butter/fat in a stock pot.
7 cups water OR Chicken OR Beef Broth
1½ tsp salt
3 cups cubed potatoes 
3 cups cubed parsnips		Peel potatoes and parsnips and cut in cubes. Add to broth and salt in the stock pot. Simmer for 20 minutes, until vegetables are just under-done. Remove ½ cup soup stock and cool.
1 egg
1 tsp marjoram		Whisk the egg, then whisk it into the reserved ½ cup of soup stock. Return to the stockpot, stirring, and add marjoram. Taste for seasoning. Let sit 8-24 hours.
Per person: ¼ oz rye/whole wheat bread, cubed
Per person: ¼ oz Swiss cheese
Per person: side salad 		Portion the soup for dinner and freeze the rest. Toast the cubes of bread. Grate the cheese over them while hot. Use to garnish the reheated soup at serving time.

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

1 two-oz hard-boiled egg1.5 two-oz eggs 
ricotta cheese + Sirachacooked chicken meat
70-calorie whole-grain breadRogan Josh sauce
tomato + strawberriesstrawberries
Optional smoothieoptional smoothie
optional hot beverageoptional hot beverage

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

onion + fresh ginger + parsley + turmericpork tenderloin + fresh ginger + garlic
Indian curry powder + garam masala + plum tomatoesred+ green bell peppers + carrot
mushrooms + plain yogurt + lemon juicepeanut butter + dark soy sauce
2-4 hard-boiled eggs + brown rice Sriracha + crushed red pepper + honey
Sparkling waterSparkling water

Who Dunit, Who Ate It? Chapter 5

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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 Siddharth menon and LeoAbreu who are now Following.

Dear Husband and I love to read ‘whodunits.’ Crime literature in English harks back to Edgar Allen Poe’s Murders on Rue Morgue in 1841. As the genre took off, a sub-genre developed: culinary crime. These books are read as much for the procedural as for the vicarious thrills of the meals that are described along the way. There are many authors who tantalize our tastebuds while they challenge our little grey cells and today, I will feature foods from two different sources.

Jules Maigret is a Parisian police detective created by Georges Simenon. In the book Maigret’s First Case, he is on a stake-out, watching a suspect’s apartment. Conveniently, the cafe ‘Vieux Calvados’ is directly across the street, so Maigret and his partner can eat and sleep there while keeping watch. The landlord serves them a curious breakfast: sausages cooked in wine with garlic. Somehow, that sounds off the mark for a Fast Day, so here is a substitute. The sausage is there but the empty calories of the wine are replaced by grapes, roasted to develop their flavor.

Roasted Grapes & Sausage: 212 calories 8 g fat 2 g fiber 5.4 g protein 4 g carbs 14 mg Calcium  NB: Food values given are for the plated foods only, and do not include the optional beverage. PB GF  Unusual flavors at breakfast. Delicious flavors at breakfast. HINT: This serves two [2].

Here is a serving for one person, before the cheese is added.
½ c onion, sliced
½ tsp oil
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper		Heat oven to 450 degrees. Toss everything together + spread in an even layer on a rimmed baking pan or cast iron pan . Roast 8 mins, until onions turn translucent and thinnest pieces are pale gold at the edges.
10 oz grapes
½ tsp fennel seed
2 oz sausage, 85 calories/oz		Add grapes, fennel seed, and sliced sausage to pan with onions, and toss well. Spread in an even layer and spray with cooking spray or oil.
Roast for 10 minutes. Sausage slices will be browned on the bottom and grapes will be wrinkled but still plump.
Parsley + chives
0.05 oz Parm, shaved		Place grapes, sausage, and onions on plates. Top with chives + Parmesan.
1 tsp rice vinegarAdd vinegar to baking sheet and scrape up any browned bits. Drizzle pan juices over plated food, taste. Sprinkle more salt or vinegar on top, if desired.

Hugo Marston, former FBI profiler, is now head of security at the US Embassy in Paris. He is well-placed to be involved in solving all sorts of mysteries that author Mark Pryor can devise. Hugo enjoys Paris and the food scene, although he himself is no Foodie. In the French Widow, Marston, unable to see his way through a case, goes out to dinner with friends. Another table is served Bleu Cheese and Garlic Pizza, so Hugo orders it. He also eaves-drops on fellow diners and gets an insight into the case. Funny how much can get solved over dinner!

Bleu Cheese & Garlic Pizza:  280 calories 8.6 g fat 5 g fiber 10 g protein 29.5 g carbs 203 mg Calcium  PB When Hugo Marston ate this, I just had to try it. It is good! The is recipe loosely based on one from simplyplayfulfare.com

1 fajita shell [be sure it has no more than 150 calories] 1 Tbsp plain, fat-free yogurt 1 oz frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed out to remove excess moisture 3 or 4 cloves roasted garlic 3 Tbsp [½ oz] bleu cheese crumbles 1 oz finely diced tomato, drained to remove excess moisture 1 Tbsp Parmesan cheese, grated

Heat the oven to 400 F and roast the garlic cloves, wrapped in foil. Put the fajita shell on an ungreased baking sheet. Smear the yogurt evenly over the fajita then sprinkle the spinach evenly on top. Break off pieces of garlic and distribute them around, then put on the bleu cheese and tomato. Dust evenly with the Parmesan. Bake for 5-10 minutes, until the cheese starts to melt.