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. Welcome to a Fasting Lifestyle.

There is PI Day on March 14, celebrating the mathematical number 3.14 [and so on],  which is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. But now we are talking about PIE Day, to celebrate the eating of pie. Those of us in Northern New England do love our pie — any time of day. E. B. White once wrote:

“To foreigners, a Yankee is an American. To Americans, a Yankee is a Northerner. To Northerners, a Yankee is a New Englander. To New Englanders, a Yankee is a Vermonter**. And in Vermont, a Yankee is somebody who eats pie for breakfast.”  [**Here in New Hampshire, we take great exception to that!]

When our far-flung sons come home for a visit, we serve pie for breakfast, so they can reassert their Yankee-ness. But I digress. January 23 is National Pie Day. Why? Because a teacher from Colorado proclaimed that his birthday was “National Pie Day” in the 1970s. The American Pie Council [????!] has sponsored the celebration since 1986. You can look online for the ‘favorite dessert pie in the USA’, and you will get many different answers. The top 5 pies seem to be: Apple, Cherry, Pumpkin, Pecan, and Blueberry, in no particular order. For dinner, one could enjoy Chicken Pot Pie, Shepherd’s Pie, Spanokopeta — need I say more? Eat pie! You can even do it on a Fast Day!

A good wholesome fruit pie is a fine way to start the day, and a meat pie is splendid at dinner. Our breakfast of Flameusse is a pie with flavor but no fuss. The dinner is a classic, re-invented.

Blueberry Flameusse: 206 calories… 5.5 g fat… 1.5 g fiber… 14 g protein… 24.5 g carbs… 143.5 mg Calcium…  NB: the food values given are for the plated items only, and do not include the optional beverages. PB GF  Fruit + eggy batter = flameusse. This meal is very simple and very good. I urge you to try it since I am sure you will like it.  HINT: this serves 2 [two]

.++ 2 two-oz eggs ++++ 6 oz skimmed milk ++++ 1 oz [by weight] = 4 tsp white whole wheat flour ++++ 1.5 Tbsp sugar ++++ ½ cup blueberries, fresh or frozen ++++ 1 chicken breakfast sausage @ 33 calories each ++++ 1/2 of a clementine ++++Optional: blackish coffee [53 calories] or blackish tea or mocha cafe au lait [65 calories] 

Spritz 2 ramekins or an oven-proof dish with 1.5 cup capacity with non-stick spray. Distribute the blueberries over the bottom of the dish. Whisk eggs until foamy, then add flour and sugar, whisking until there are no lumps. Stir in the milk and pour the batter over the berries. Bake at 375 F. for 20 minutes. Serve with the sausage and a hot beveage for a delicious start to your day.

Steak & Mushroom Pie: 277 calories… 5 g fat… 7 g fiber… 27 g protein… 25.6 g carbs… 34 mg Calcium…  PB Two very compatible flavors together again, topped [not encased] in puff pastry. Similar to a meal enjoyed at The Sign of the Angel in Lacock, Wiltshire, England. A real treat. HINT: recipe serves 2 [TWO], photo shows one serving.

++ 4 oz grilled sirloin steak [leftover from a previous meal, perhaps] ++++ 1.5 cups mushrooms ++++ 1 Tbsp red wine ++++ ¼ cup creamed onions ++++ ½ tsp thyme ++++ salt & pepper to taste ++++ 1/6 sheet puff pastry [Pepperidge Farm brand, frozen sheets are easy to find and use] ++++ per person: 1/3 cup peas ++

Thaw the frozen puff pastry for 40 minutes on the counter. Rewrap and return one sheet to freezer. Remove one of the sheets, unroll it carefully, and cut the sheet into 6 squares. [TIP: stack the remaining 5 pieces with waxed paper or cling wrap between the layers. Pop into a zipper bag and freeze for later use.] Cut the steak into ½”-1” cubes. Combine the meat with the mushrooms, wine, onions, seasonings in an oven-proof dish just large enough to hold the meat mixture yet large enough to be topped with the puff pastry. Heat the meat mixture until it is warm. Lay the puff pastry on top, decoratively slitting the crust. Bake at 400 F. about 15 minutes, until the crust is well-browned. Cook the peas and imagine that you are in an English country restaurant.