menus for Fasting inspired by New England

The Yankee Gale

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

Kildare Capes, PEI monument

Since the 1700s, New England fishermen had plied their trade during the summer in the coastal waters off the Canadian Maritimes. Initially, cod was the prize. The catch would be cleaned and salted at sea, then taken back to the home port. After the American Revolution and War of 1812, American fishing fleets were given permission to fish Canadian waters, and vice versa. By mid-century, fleets of schooners would set out from Portland [Maine], as well as Boston and Gloucester [Massachusetts] to fish for mackerel and herring in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence north of Prince Edward Island. The fishing was good on October 3, 1851, and when the wind dropped the fleet was becalmed. That evening, gale force winds, Force 9 on the Beaufort Scale, whipped up the waters to huge combers. A few ships went to deeper water and weathered the storm, the rest were unmasted, sunk, and battered against the shore. For two days the gale raged, and when it was over, local residents found wreckage and dead fisherman on the beaches from East Point to Tignish. The dead were buried in local cemeteries, the survivors were nursed, and the wreckage was salvaged, in true coastal tradition. All told, around 80 ships and approximately 200 men were lost in the storm which was dubbed The Yankee Gale due to the toll it took on New Englanders. Having seen the sea in storm conditions on PEI’s North Shore, I shudder to imagine a 2-day storm of that magnitude. The memory lives on, in coastal New England and in Prince Edward Island. As Walter Scott wrote, “It’s no fish ye’re buying, it’s men’s lives.”

Our breakfast honors deep-sea fishermen from another sea-faring land, the Azores. The dinner is based on tuna, preferably caught one by one, rather than in nets, in the open ocean off the North Shore of PEI.

Azorean Omelette: 197 calories… 10.4 g fat… 1 g fiber… 12.6 g protein… 5.4 g carbs… 126 mg Calcium…  NB: Food values shown are for the Omelette and fruit only, and do not include the optional beverages. PB GF When we were on vacation in the Azores, these local ingredients made for a wonderful breakfast. When at home, just as fine.

++ 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.  ++++ 0.3 oz Azorean cheese OR Gouda ++++ 1 oz Pimenta da Queijo  ++++ 1 oz peach OR kiwi fruit ++++ optional: blackish coffee [Portuguese or Brazilian] [53 calories] or blackish tea [from the Gorreana Tea Plantation] ++

Grate/shred the cheese. Whisk the eggs with the pepper sauce and turn into a lightly-oiled nonstick pan. Sprinkle the eggs with the cheese and cook as you would an omelette. Plate with the fruit and serve one of those delicious beverages. Excellent.

Tuna with Grilled Vegetables: 244 calories… 7 g fat… 4 g fiber… 29 g protein… 14.6 g carbs… 32.5 mg Calcium…  PB GF The recipe comes from the Fast Diet Book and it is wonderful.

+++ 5 oz tuna steak ++++ 4 oz red bell peppers ++++ 5 oz zucchini++++ 2 oz cherry tomatoes ++++ 1 tsp olive oil ++++ splash of lemon juice ++

Cut the peppers into long strips. Same with the zucchini. Toss all the vegetables with the olive oil. Cook the tuna and vegetables on a grill pan or grill, 3 minutes on each side. Serve with the lemon juice. Delicious and quick.

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

Nest week, I will offer recipes for steel-cut oats
Vegetable Side-Dishespumpkin puree
maple syrup
nonfat milk + cinnamon
optional smoothie
optional hot beverage

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

salmon filet, 4 oz + asparagus
maple syrup
Dijon mustard
soy sauce + sriracha
Sparkling 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.

H. W. Longfellow

~ me ~ Leave a comment

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.

Between the dark and the daylight, When the night is beginning to lower, Comes a pause in the day’s occupation, Which is known as the Children’s Hour. The Children’s Hour, 1859

So wrote a contented Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, describing the joys of being the father of a growing family. He was happy, at last, following the death of his first wife after she miscarried; and his efforts to establish himself as a working poet following not-so-fulfilling years as a college professor. Success came with his poems written in the Romantic Style: Evangeline and Song of Hiawatha, which eulogize the American landscape and people. The mid-1800s were fertile ground for Longfellow’s poems, stories, and essays. But sadness called again, when his wife died of burns from a horrible household accident. Longfellow, in his grief, traveled West of Boston to Sudbury, Massachusetts to escape familiar scenes and people. There he formed the idea for his next famous collection, Tales of the Wayside Inn — a frame-story set in a country tavern where travelers swap yarns. Although widely-read and memorized 150 years ago, only a few of his poems are recognized today: Paul Revere’s Ride and the Wreck of the Hesperus are best-known. I still love his lyrical way with words, which can be stirring and comforting at the same time.

“…Then read from the treasured volume the poem of thy choice And lend to the rhyme of the poet the beauty of thy voice. And the night shall be filled with music And the cares that infest the day Shall fold their tents, like the Arabs, And as silently steal away.” The Day is Done , 1844

Although born in Portland, Maine, Longfellow is most associated with the Boston area. Thus our breakfast references local foods. The dinner is one that might indeed have been served at the Wayside Inn. Read some Longfellow today.

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 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. 1-1/2 oz nectarine slices 1 Tbsp canned white beans, preferable small ‘navy’ beans 2 Tbsp green part of scallions, sliced 1 oz tomato, diced and drained in a sieve overnight 1/4 oz shrimp, preferably tiny Northern shrimp OR larger shrimp chopped Optional: blackish coffee [53 calories] or blackish tea or mocha cafe au lait 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 briefly 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. 

Red Flannel Hash: 249 calories 9.2 g fat 1.9 g fiber 12.6 g protein 17.8 g carbs [16 g Complex] 43 mg Calcium  PB GF  This is a venerable New England farm meal, with the recipe coming from Hayden Pearson’s  Country Flavors Cookbook .

1 cup cooked diced beets (1/3” dice), fresh or canned 1/3 cup diced potatoes (1/3” dice) ¼ cup diced onions 2 slices Canadian Bacon/back bacon, diced one 2-oz egg lots of salt and pepper to taste

Cook, peel, and dice the beets and set aside to cool. [HINT: do this the day before] Peel and dice the potatoes. Put into a pan of tap water and put the pan on the burner. Turn on the heat and let the pan sit, uncovered, for 10 minutes or until the water starts to boil around the edges. Take off the heat and leave potatoes to cool in the water. Then drain and set aside. Dice the onions and bacon. Spray a saute pan with non-stick spray and add the Canadian bacon. Cook it as crisp as you wish, or not so crisp. Remove the bacon and set aside. Add the onions with 2-3 Tbsp water, and cook until the onions are transluscent and the water is mostly gone. Now put the potatoes in the pan with the onions, add salt and pepper to taste. Stir until the potatoes are cooked. Add the beets and bacon to the pan and continue to cook until heated through. Meanwhile, fry the egg: sunnyside-up or over easy as you prefer. Plate the hash and top with the egg. Ah! Country dining.

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

1 two-oz egg2 two-oz eggs 
chivesmilk + flour
ham from a roast or the delisugar + clementine
pineappl10 sweet cherries
Optional smoothieoptional smoothie
optional hot beverageoptional hot beverage

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

salt cod + garlic + fennel seedhard-boiled eggs + onion
potato + cauliflowergarbanzo beans + garlic
olive oil + milk + fennel seedtomatoes in their juice + broccoli
tomato + cucumber + carrotsSwiss or Gruyere cheese
Sparkling waterSparkling water

First in the Nation

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How this Fast Diet Lifestyle works: Eat these meals tomorrow. On Monday, eat the meals that will be posted on Sunday.  Eat sensibly the other days of the week.  That’s it.  Simple way to lose weight and be healthier.                                                                                                     Welcome to OnlineHealthReview who is now Following.

New Hampshire, my home state, is proud of its “First In The Nation” status.  What that means is that we hold the first primary election of the presidential primary season in the USA. [For those of you overseas, the candidate who wins the most state primaries is usually the one who receives the nomination from his/her party to be the candidate to run for the presidency.  This is not parliamentary politics!] Today we celebrate other New Hampshire ‘firsts.’  On June 21, 1788, New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify the US Constitution, which made the Constitution the law of the land. Other states quickly fell in line, and our Federal Government was established.   Also, on June 21, in 1805, the Great Stone Face [later called the Old Man of the Mountain] in Franconia Notch was first seen by European-heritage people. This rock profile became the geologic symbol of New Hampshire and was a famous tourist site.  When the rock cliff collapsed in May, 2003, it was a sad day.  Our older son, in Michigan for Grad School, was approached by another student who said, “Sorry to hear about your Old Man.”  Our son wondered why the other lad knew something about his father that he didn’t know!  As for the Old Man, sic transit gloria mundi.

For today’s meals, we feature two recipes from one of New Hampshire’s premier chefs, Hayden Pearson from Greenfield, NH.  He was an executive chef in New York and had a well-read column in the Boston Herald.  We love his cookbook, full of local recipes and musings on rural life. Both the breakfast and the dinner are based on his recipes.

Rhubarb Pudding:  273 calories    g fat   g fiber    g protein    g carbs    mg Calcium PB GF – if using GF flour  Hayden Pearson has a wonderful dessert called “Blanche’s Super Rhubarb Pudding” in his iconic Country Flavor Cook Book. This is a scaled-down version that is fit for breakfast: slightly tangy, lightly sweet.Rhubarb Pudding

6 Tbsp cooked, mashed rhubarb                                                                                                                          1 two-oz egg + 1 egg white                                                                                                                                          1-1/2 Tbsp sugar                                                                                                                                                         1 Tbsp flour + 1 Tbsp cooked oatmeal OR 2 Tbsp flour OR 2 Tbsp white whole wheat flour                                                                                                                                                  2 Tbsp milk                                                                                                                                                                ½ tsp baking powder                                                                                                                                                          1 slice Canadian Bacon [½ oz back bacon]                                                                                            blackish coffee or blackish tea or lemon in hot water                                                                                5-6 oz fruit smoothie, green smoothie or natural apple cider

Cut up 1 cup rhubarb and stew it in a little water. Drain thoroughly and mash. Measure what you need and save the remainder for another use [add it to a fruit smoothie]. Whisk the egg and white, then add all the other ingredients [but not the bacon!] Spoon into a baking dish which has been sprayed with non-stick spray. HINT: I did all this the night before. A real time-saver.  Bake at 350° F. until the batter is firm to the touch, about 15 minutes. While the pudding bakes, cook the bacon and prepare the beverages. Delicious.

Red Flannel Hash: 249 calories   9.2 g fat   1.9 g fiber  12.6 g protein   17.8 g carbs [16 g Complex]  43 mg Calcium   PB GF    This is a venerable New England farm meal, with the recipe coming from Hayden Pearson’s Country Flavors Cookbook.Red Flannel Hash

1 cup cooked diced beets (1/3” dice)                                                                                                                                              1/3 cup diced potatoes (1/3” dice)                                                                                                                       ¼ cup diced onions                                                                                                                                                 2 slices Canadian Bacon/back bacon, diced                                                                                                  one 2-oz egg

Cook, peel, and dice the beets and set aside to cool. [HINT: do this the day before]  Peel and dice the potatoes. Put into a pan of tap water and put the pan on the burner. Turn on the heat and let the pan sit, uncovered, for 10 minutes or until the water starts to boil around the edges. Take off the heat and leave potatoes to cool in the water. Then drain and set aside. Dice the onions and bacon. Spray a saute pan with non-stick spray and add the Canadian bacon. Cook it as crisp as you wish, or not so crisp. Remove the bacon and set aside. Add the onions with 2-3 Tbsp water, and cook until the onions are transluscent and the water is mostly gone. Now put the potatoes in the pan with the onions, add salt and pepper to taste. Stir until the potatoes are cooked. Add the beets and bacon to the pan and continue to cook until heated through. Meanwhile, fry the egg: sunnyside-up or over easy as you prefer. Plate the hash and top with the egg. Ahh, good country dining.

Ingredients for next week: breakfast, single portion

Next week, I will offer breakfasts 1.5 two-oz eggs
 for Fasters who don’t like eggs.  broccoli  + tomato
 black olive
 choose one!  cottage cheese  + Parmesan cheese
 strawberries
Whatever you need for your smoothie Whatever you need for your hot beverage
Whatever you need for your hot beverage Whatever you need for your smoothie

Dinner, single portion:

 Next week, I will offer breakfasts for 65-calorie corn tortillas
 Fasters who don’t like eggs.  cheddar cheese     +  chicken breast
 enchilada sauce [1 cup = 75 calories]
 Choose a dinner from the archives  carrot
 broccoli
 cauliflower
Sparkling water Sparkling water