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. Join me in the Fasting Lifestyle.

[You will be glad to know that this blog post is not about an over-reaching government agency. It is about frozen water.] In 100 BCE, the Chinese figured that if they cut ice from frozen rivers in the winter, they could use it to preserve food. Wealthy Romans were said to have snow delivered to make frozen desserts. The idea of maybe using winter’s ice for summer’s use really took off when Frederic Tudor [born 1783] entered the scene. Tudor’s family was rich, having made their money in the law. Frederic was interested in business from an early age, and opted out of going to Harvard to pursue commerce. His family had a large pond at their home in Saugus, Massachusetts, USA, where they would cut ice in the winter to store in an underground ‘ice house’. This system provided cooling for foods, as well as ice for beverages and ice cream into early summer. One of Frederic’s brothers joked one day about how people in hot climes would probably love to have ice in their drinks on a warm day — and that was all Frederic needed. In 1806, he cut and stored lots of ice [free] and packed it in sawdust [free], and bought a boat [expensive]. Then he sailed his ice to Havana, Cuba and waited to get rich. New Englanders thought that this was an hilariously foolish idea. The flaws in the plan soon appeared: much of the ice melted on the one month voyage south, and the Cubanos didn’t want ice because they didn’t know what to do with it. Those who did buy it were very annoyed that it melted soon afterwards. Bit by bit, Tudor built a market for his ice, and by 1810 he was making a profit. However, his debts were such that during 1812-1813, he was in debtor’s prison. In 1825, Tudor met Nathanial Wyeth, an ice harvester with an inventive genius. Wyeth devised a horse-drawn ‘plow’ that would score the ice into evenly-sized pieces. This permitted the product to be stacked more efficiently, minimizing melting. In the port cities to which the ice was shipped, Tudor built insulated ‘ice houses’ to store his product before sale. Hot weather cities in the USA and throughout the Caribbean were steady customers, proving Tudor’s business plan. By 1833, Tudor was dubbed the “Ice King” and his singular product was delivered as far away as India, where he had ice houses in three cities. In the 1840s, Queen Victoria bought ice from Frederic Tudor of Massachusetts. The invention of methods to make ice artificially in 1851, was the death knell of the world-wide ice trade. Tudor died in 1864. Could he have sold ice cubes to Eskimos? Probably not, but he was willing to pursue his idea and it paid off, changing forever how we store food and how we eat. Think about him when you walk through the frozen food section of the supermarket. [if you Google ‘ice in Havana’, guess what you’ll get — the other ICE.]

One of the first places where Tudor tried to sell ice was in Cuba. Our breakfast’s inspiration was a Cuban-inspired sandwich that was an instant hit when it was invented in America. After a cold day of protesting or ice-skating, nothing warms like a hot bowl of soup. The baked beans, of course, are native to the Boston area.

Cubano Bake: 167 calories… 7.6 g fat… 0.5 g fiber… 11.4 g protein…  6.6 g carbs… 90 mg Calcium…  NB: The food values given above are for the egg bake and fruit only, not the optional beverages. PB GF  The famous Miami sandwich flavors combine with eggs to make a yummy breakfast. 

++ 1 two-oz egg ++++ ¼ oz ham ++++ 1/3 oz Swiss cheese ++++ ¼ oz pork ++++ ¼ tsp mayonnaise ++++ ¼ tsp mustard ++++ 1 Tbsp chopped pickle ++++ 3 oz melon++++ Optional: blackish coffee [53 calories] or blackish tea or mocha cafe au lait [65 calories]++++ Optional: 5-6 oz fruit smoothie or berry-yogurt smoothie [88 calories] 

Chop the ham, cheese, and pork. Combine them with the chopped pickle and put into an oven-safe dish which has been spritzed with non-stick spray. Whisk the egg with the mayo and mustard, salt and pepper. Pour over the other items in the dish and bake at 350F for 12-15 minutes. Plate with the melon.

Baked Bean Soup: 285 calories… 3.5 g fat… 8 g fiber… 11.4 g protein… 32 g carbs … 83.4 mg Calcium … PB GF This new England classic is from Fannie Farmer’s cookbook and it sure hits the spot. Super easy to prepare. OK, the carb count is high, but look how low the fat is! And baked beans are good for you!  HINT: Serves 2 [two].

++ 1 cup baked beans, canned ++++ 1/8” slice onion, chopped ++++ 1 stalk celery, chopped ++++ ¾ cup canned or stewed tomatoes ++++ 1½ cup brown stock/beef stock++++ 2 dashes hot sauce ++++ salt & pepper ++++ optional garnish: ½ hard boiled egg, chopped 

Simmer beans, onion, celery, and tomatoes in a covered pan 30 mins, until celery is soft. Add stock, hot sauce, salt, and pepper and heat through. Run it all through the blender or food processor. Garnish with chopped egg. Fast, easy, inexpensive, good.