How this Fast Diet Lifestyle works: Eat these meals tomorrow, for a calorie total of less than 600. On another day this week, eat the meals from a different post, another day of eating 600 calories or less. Eat sensibly the other days of the week. That’s it: a simple way to lose weight and be healthier.

When I was in 5th grade, I read The Good Master, by Kate Seredy — and I fell in love with her writing. The Hungarian Plain came alive to me as I was introduced to the cadence of farm life at the core of the book. From there, I followed The White Stag as the Huns and Magyars migrated into Europe. A Tree for Peter showed me social inequality and child poverty for the first time. The Chestry Oak lead me to adventure and sorrows in World War II. Katherine Seredy was born in Budapest, Hungary on November 10, 1899. Her two books about the Nagy family, The Good Master and The Singing Tree, were based on her summers in the country as a child. In 1922, equipped with a degree in art, she moved to the United States hoping to become an illustrator. In 1935, a customer at Seredy’s children’s book shop encouraged her to write a book about her childhood in Hungary. That customer was an editor at Viking Press, and Seredy’s career as an author-illustrator was launched. Aside from the lyrical illustrations [Oh! those beautiful horses!], what I love about her books is the way the immigrants and outcasts are portrayed as people who have much to contribute. [The racist portrayal of the Roma People in Hungary is the lamentable exception.] Other recurring themes include her hopefulness that good would overcome evil, her belief in the goodness of country life, faith, and her love of country. Seredy lived on a 100-acre farm in northern New York — perhaps the setting for her city-slickers-who-move-to-the-country book The Open Gate. I reread her books every year for a fresh infusion of the spirit of Kate Seredy. Have you ever read her work?

“Cousin Kate from Budapest” learned early on in The Good Master how much she loved sausages, so we will eat sausages at breakfast and dinner.

Sausage ScrOmelette: 147 calories 9 g fat 1.4 g fiber 13 g protein 4 g carbs 48 mg Calcium  NB: Food values shown are for the ScrOmelette and fruit only, and do not include the optional beverages.  PB GF  Sausage ‘n’ eggs are such a great combination. Enjoy often.

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 links [37-calories/link] chicken breakfast sausage, sliced very thinly 1½ tsp oregano and parsley, chopped 1/4 tsp grainy mustard 1 oz apple   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]

Heat a well-seasoned cast iron or non-stick pan and spritz it with oil or cooking spray. Add the sausage and stir to warm briefly . Whisk the eggs with the seasonings and pour over the sausage in the pan. Scramble to your favorite degree of doneness. Plate the fruit, prepare optional beverages.

Sausage Arrabbiata: 286 calories 9.4 g fat 8.5 g fiber 15 g protein 44 g carbs 75 mg Calcium  PB GF – if using GF pasta   In a riff on Shrimp Arrabbiata, our younger son created this sausage dish, made with his signature addition of New Mexico green chiles. HINT: This recipe is enough for two [2] diners. Prepare it all and freeze the other half.

Sv 2 for FAST day
3 oz whole-wheat pasta	Cook pasta until al dente. Drain, save ½ cup.
2 oz North-Country Polish Kielbasa [2 oz =130 calories]	Slice sausage and cook in dry pasta pot. When browned, remove and set aside.
3 cloves garlic	Mince garlic, add to pot, and stir until just brown and fragrant.
6 Roma tomatoes ½ cup pasta water + salt	Quarter the tomatoes. Add to garlic in pan along with pasta water and salt. Cook down until saucy.
2 Tbsp green New Mexico chiles ½ tsp cayenne	Add seasonings and cooked sausage. Stir until heated through.
1 Tbsp Parmesan/Romano cheese	Grate cheese. Add cheese and pasta to sauce, stir until heated.
Fresh basil 1½ oz green beans per person	Garnish with fresh basil leaves.Serve with cooked green beans.

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

1 two-oz egg	70-calorie whole grain bread
roast ham or 3%-fat ham from deli	smoked salmon + whipped cream cheese
mushrooms + Gruyere cheese	fresh cucumber or Swedish cucumber salad
raspberries	strawberries
Optional smoothie	optional smoothie
optional hot beverage	optional hot beverage

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

Thai fish sauce + lime juice + shallot + brown sugar	85% lean ground beef + broccoli or asparagus
dry roasted peanuts + shrimp + romaine lettuce	chicken breast meat + one 2-oz egg
pomelo or grapefruit + scallion	white whole wheat flour
unsweetened coconut + mint + Thai chili sauce	slice 70-calorie whole-grain bread
Sparkling water	Sparkling water