recipes for 5:2 Intermittent Fasting

Winslow Homer

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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.

Who was the pre-eminent painter of seascapes in the 1800s? Winslow Homer, of course. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts on February 24, 1836. His mother taught him the basics of watercolors, considered in those days to be an art for mere hobbyists. Apprenticed as a teenager to a lithographer, Homer learned the print-makers’ skills: drawing and color use. During the American Civil War, he was sent to the front lines to produce sketches that Harper’s Weekly would turn into illustrations for its news stories. His scenes of camp life were interesting to the folks at home, but the engraving of The Sharpshooter brought the fighting into peoples’ living rooms. That’s how it was done before Matthew Brady began to photograph the war. Several of the sketches were later turned into oil paintings, a medium which he had just learned. After the War, Homer devoted himself to painting scenes of peace and innocence. Pictures of children: Snap the Whip and Breezing Up and of country life: The Dinner Horn and The Blue Boat, gave way to depictions of people who are affected by the ocean, whether sailors [Eight Bells], fishermen [Fog Warning], their families [Dad’s Coming!] or victims of a cruel sea [The Gulf Stream]. One summer, Homer picked up his watercolors again, launching a new phase to his career which brought him a steady income. He became more drawn to small coastal communities, filled with working men and women instead of frivolous, richer city people. Even on a trip to Europe, he went to the seaside villages to sketch the common people. Back in the USA, he moved to his family’s Maine property, setting up his studio right on the shore. There he painted his brooding seascapes and settled into a prosperous living. He died at his studio in 1910, leaving 147 paintings as his legacy.

Since Homer painted seascapes, our breakfast is typical of coastal residents near his Prout’s Neck studio. For dinner, another meal of the common people of the coastal Atlantic.

Fish Cake Breakfast: 145 calories 2.5 g fat 2 g fiber 9.5 g protein 18.5 g carbs 42 mg Calcium PB GF Fish cakes have been a filling meal in North-Eastern North America centuries. In her 1832 cookbook, Lydia Maria Child promoted them for breakfast food. Great idea!  HINT: Prepare the fish-potato mixture the night before. This breakfast deserves a revival.

1 slice uncured American streaky bacon 6 Tbsp/rounded 1/3 cup Fish Cake mixture** 2 oz tomato slices ¼ oz fresh spinach 1 oz sliced strawberries or 2 Tbsp blueberries  Optional: 5 oz fruit smoothie or berry-yogurt smoothie  [88 calories] Optional: blackish coffee [53 calories] or blackish tea or mocha cafe au lait [65 calories]

Slice the tomato and sprinkle with salt. Plate spinach leaves and top with tomatoes and fruit. Cook the bacon and plate it. Pour most of the bacon fat from the pan and return the pan to a low heat. Using either a 1 Tbsp or 2 Tbsp measure, scoop out some of the fish cake mixture and put it in the pan. Flatten it slightly to form a disk and cook until browned and crisp on one side. Cook until crisp on the other side and plate.

** Fish Cake Mixture  makes 2 cups 1/3 cup green or white onion, chopped 1-2/3 cup mashed potatoes [no milk, no butter] ¼ tsp dry mustard lots of salt + pepper 1 two-oz egg 2 Tbsp milk 6 oz cooked fish [cod, haddock, salt cod, salmon or a mixture], flaked into small pieces Combine the onion, potatoes, egg, seasonings, and milk, stirring well. Stir in the fish, gently but thoroughly. Portion the mixture and cook in a sauce pan with some bacon grease.

Seafood Chowder:  275 calories 11 g fat 1 g fiber 15 g protein 16 g carb 117 mg Calcium GF Dear Husband found the recipe in Yankee magazine. He prepares this every year and we think it is wonderful. It freezes nicely and easily serves a group. The directions look long and involved but the results are worth it.

Makes 10 one-cup servings
4 strips thick-cut American streaky baconDice bacon. In a medium skillet cook it until crisp and brown. Remove bacon and put into a big bowl. 
1 medium yellow onion, finely diced ~1 cupPour off all but 1 Tbsp fat and add onions. Cook slowly over low heat, stirring, until translucent – 10 mins?. Set aside with bacon in the bowl.
1 pound baking potatoes, peeled + cut in ½” cubesIn another saucepan, cover potatoes with salted water and boil until almost tender, about 15 minutes. Drain and add potatoes to the bacon/onions. [Save water for baking]
2 pounds steamer clams in their shells 1 Qt waterPut clams in a large pot with water. Heat to boiling, cover, and cook until clams open, about 3 minutes. Take out clams leaving liquid in the pot. Strain liquid through a sieve lined with toweling to remove debris. Take clams from shells and cut into smaller pieces if necessary. Add to potatoes, onion, and bacon.
one 1½ pound lobsterPut strained broth back into empty pot and bring to a boil. Put lobster head-first into boiling broth. Cover and cook 20 minutes. Remove lobster and let cool. Crack shell, remove the meat. Cut into ½” chunks and add to potatoes.
1 pound scallops, trimmed 1 pound shrimp, peeled Heat broth until boiling. Add scallops, shrimp. Reduce heat to low. Simmer about 3 minutes, until scallops + shrimp are just cooked through.
1 quart whole milk 4 Tbsp butter 2 sprigs parsley
¼ tsp paprika salt + pepper to taste		Finely chop the parsley. Add all the previously cooked ingredients, along with the milk, butter, parsley and seasonings. Heat until steaming but not boiling. Take off heat.
Cover and cool. Let soup sit in the ‘fridge or on a cool back porch for 12-24 hours. This really enhances the flavors.
When ready to serve, heat to steaming hot but do not boil.
Freeze what is left over in serving-size containers.

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

whipped cream cheese1.5 two-oz eggs 
Finn Crisp crackerscrabmeat
herring marinated in white wineleek + sugar
cherries or strawberriessoy sauce + strawberries
Optional smoothieoptional smoothie
optional hot beverageoptional hot beverage

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

salami + white beans + red wine vinegarchicken breast + flour + olive oil
chicken breast + rosemary + sagechicken stock + garlic + anchovy fillet
mozzarella + radish + celerykalamata black olives + white wine
garlic + lettuce or wild greensfresh tomatoes + broccoli florets
Sparkling waterSparkling water

Who dunit? Who ate it? Chapter VII

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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 Lisa who is 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 widely different sources.

Two authors from the British Isles and their detectives are featured today. Breakfast is based on a very unhealthy snack food, often craved by Frank Phillips, a homicide detective in Northumbria. I took some liberties and made it a bit healthier. Dinner is a very healthy meal prepared by Enzo Macleod, a forensics specialist in Haute-Garonne. I took some liberties and used Camargue rice, from southern France, to add some complex carbs.

Frank Phillips, the older, plumper, rumpled, rougher side-kick of the young, slim, polished, elegant, handsome DCI Ryan loves to stop at the Pie Van to fuel up on Bacon Butties. Frank is a ‘Geordie‘ through and through, and not the sort of person to go on a diet. Despite his love of Butties, his devotion to his younger wife and their adopted daughter has him minding his heath. If he had this version throughout the series by L.J. Ross, Phillips might not have had to diet in middle-age.

Bacon Butty: 193 calories 4 g fat 6 g fiber 5 g protein 30 g carbs 62.4 mg Calcium This is such a widely popular sandwich in England and the Republic of Ireland that there are some 700 varieties. Some call it a ‘sarnie.’ If you add an egg, it becomes a ‘breggy.’ It seems to have originated in Ireland.

1 Arnold multi-grain Sandwich Thin, top and bottom 2 slices uncured American bacon, cut in half 2 oz applesauce 1 packet ketchup, for fast-food authenticity   Optional: blackish coffee [53 calories] or blackish tea or mocha cafe au lait [65 calories] or lemon in hot water 

Lightly toast the bun while the bacon cooks until crispy. Portion the applesauce, construct the sandwich, and serve with ketchup. ‘Fast Food’ for a Fast Day.

Enzo Macleod is a Scottish-Italian forensic expert transplanted to the University of Toulouse where he teaches. His private life is complicated, but on the job he is straightforward. On a dare, he determines to solve seven famous cold cases. Ordinarily he does his eating out of our sight, but in the final book of The Enzo Files, The Night Gate, by Peter May, we find Enzo preparing a simple dish of roasted fish for his [3rd] wife and his son.

Enzo’s Broiled Fish w/ Grapes: For a side dish, Enzo serves boiled potatoes, but you could substitute Camargue red rice.  with potatoes: 216 calories 1 g fat 2 g fiber 23.5 g protein 32 g carbs 53 mg Calcium –-OR- with Camargue rice: 279 calories 2 g fat 2.5 g fiber 24 g protein 45.4 g carbs 53 mg Calcium   PB GF   Enzo MacLeod, Peter May’s Scottish-expat forensic expert who lives in France, prepared this meal for a family dinner at home.

4 oz thin filets of white fish 2 Tbsp lime juice 2 tsp fresh ginger root, minced 4 oz white/green grapes 2 oz potatoes, either small ‘new’ potatoes OR cubed red potato OR 1 oz/2 Tbsp uncooked Camargue rice

Stir together the juice and ginger and pour into a shallow dish such as a glass pie plate. Lay the fish in the marinade and let sit 30-60 minutes, turning the fish half-way through. Start cooking the rice, if using. Put the rice in a cook-pan with three times its volume in boiling water. Simmer for 35 minutes, until water is absorbed. OR Boil the potatoes until tender, drain. Season them and keep warm. Put the grapes around the sides of the fish in the baking dish. Broil 5-6 minutes, until the fish is cooked and grapes start to blacken. Plate with the starch of your choice and consume with pleasure.

Zane Grey

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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 hamzeh5479 who is now Following.

Pearl is not usually a name for a male child, but that is what Josephine Alice Zane Grey named her son. It is said that she liked the ‘pearl grey’ color of Queen Victoria’s wedding gown. Small wonder that the boy preferred his middle name, Zane. The Zane family had been ‘pioneers’ in the American West in the 1800s — that’s when the ‘West’ meant the Ohio Territory. Young Pearl loved tales of his ancestors’ exploits in founding Zanesville, Ohio. The boy was supposed to become a dentist like his father and was sent to the University of Pennsylvania on a baseball scholarship. Reluctantly, Grey became a dentist. Part time, he became a semi-pro baseball player. Full time, he yearned to be a printed author. His father tried to bully him into abandoning writing, but Grey persevered. He moved to New York to set up a dental practice and to have access to publishers. His wife, Dolly Roth, supported him — using her inheritance to pay the bills and editing his work. A few hunting trips to Arizona gave Grey an enduring love of the Western landscape, people, and culture. Despite many publishers’ rejections, he penned The Heritage of the Desert in 1910, and it was a hit. Riders of the Purple Sage followed in 1912, and his career was launched. Of the 89 books he published, 56 were about the Old West. With wealth assured, Grey could pursue his other passion: fishing. [OK, his third passion was for women, which his wife tolerated.] He fished all around the world, fresh water and salt water. Being out in nature helped him to deal with his bouts of depression, he said. Five film versions were made of Riders of the Purple Sage and his work inspired the television series called Zane Grey Theater. Thanks to Pearl Zane Gray the entire literary and cinematic genre of ‘Westerns’ captured the public imagination — then and still today.

Of course there must be some sort of ‘western’ food for Zane Grey’s birthday on January 31, so we will have eggs inspired by a ‘Western Sandwich.’ For dinner, a meal that the author would have relished: pan-fried trout.

Western Bake: 270 calories 5.4 g fat 4 g fiber 12.4 g protein 45 g carbs [43.7 g Complex Carbs] 199 mg Calcium  NB: The food values given above are for the egg bake and fruit only, not the optional beverages.  PB GF  My father taught me to love a good Western Sandwich. Thus it seemed natural to incorporate that flavor combination in a breakfast. And its a winner.

1 two-oz egg 1 oz green pepper 2 tsp ketchup 1 oz onions 2 oz pear  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]

Chop the pepper and onions and cook: either in the microwave or by poaching in water. Drain and combine with the ketchup. Whisk with the eggs, salt and pepper to taste. Spritz an oven-proof ramekin or other dish with non-stick spray. Pour in the egg mixture and bake at 350 F. for 12-15 minutes. Plate the fruit and pour the beverages. Yee-haaw, that’s a breakfast!

Trout with Hazelnuts: 267 calories 18 g fat 3 g fiber 21 g protein 6 g carbs 75 mg Calcium  PB GF From Savoie, France comes this recipe, via Anne Willem’s French Regional Cooking  Hannibal is supposed to have dined on local trout as he crossed the Alps with his elephants. Very easy to prepare [the trout, not the elephants] and absolutely delicious. 

3 oz trout 1 tsp butter ½ oz hazelnuts 2 oz French green beans [haricots]

Bone the fish and trim off the fins. Cut the fish in half to create two fillets. TIP: if serving one person, wrap one of the fillets in cling film, put it in a plastic bag and freeze it for another day. Chop the nuts so that there are some halves and the rest are in large pieces. Start cooking the beans. Heat a heavy saute pan and spray with non-stick spray. Put in the trout and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Slowly cook the trout on one side for about 3 minutes. Turn the fish over. Add the butter to the pan along with the nuts. Continue cooking everything slowly until the fish is done, roughly another 3 minutes. Drain and season the beans, plate them with the trout, and top the fish with the nuts in butter. Enjoy your culinary visit to the French Alps.

Edith Jones Wharton, writer

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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 Blunt Pathways who is now Following.

Edith Newbold Jones was born on January 24, 1862, with not just ‘a silver spoon in her mouth‘ but an entire set of spoons. You know the expression ‘keeping up with the Joneses’? Some say that Edith’s family literally were the Joneses that everyone wanted to emulate. Or not. Wealth permitted little Edith to travel often to Europe with her governess, soaking up languages while soaking in the milieu. Young Edith loved best to read and to write, two traits that were incompatible with society’s ideas of making a ‘suitable marriage.’ Finally, at age 23, she married Teddy Wharton, so wealthy that he never had to work or apply himself to much of anything. Including his marriage. Okay, neither of them was working hard at the relationship. Married for 28 years, the couple grew farther and farther apart, while Edith developed many [psychosomatic?] ailments and Teddy became increasingly mentally unstable [for real]. Edith began to write and to be published: poetry first, then short stories, then her breakthrough novel House of Mirth in 1905. Many novels followed, all treating the same themes: dysfunctional marriages; young women in high society trying to get married; high society and the nouveau-riche who tried to enter it; Americans traveling in Europe. Throughout, Wharton had a keen eye for the foibles of her class, which made her suspect. Eventually, she moved permanently to France. Her work with refugee children during World War I earned her accolades from the French government. Her novels earned her a Pulitzer Prize and a life-time income. She is one of my all-time favorite authors.

For Edith Wharton’s love of all things Italian, a frittata for breakfast. For her novel Summer, written in 1917, a meal with ‘summer’ in the name and in the ingredients. Curl up with a good book by Edith Jones Wharton today and transport yourself to the Guilded Age.

Spinach Frittata: 131 calories 7 g fat 2 g fiber 11 g protein 6.6 g carbs [5 g Complex] 127 mg Calcium  NB: The food values given above are for the egg bake and fruit only, not the optional beverages.  PB GF  Whether it is breakfast or dinner, Spinach Fritatta checks off all the boxes.

1 two-oz egg 1 Tbsp cottage cheese 3 Tbsp spinach, cooked, squeezed and chopped 1/8 oz/ 2 Tbsp chopped scallions, white or green parts ¼ oz Manchego OR Cheddar cheese, grated dash of grated nutmeg dash of granulated garlic 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]

Cook the spinach, drain it, and squeeze it in your hands to remove excess water.  [TIP: save the drained water for cooking vegetables or pasta] Chop the spinach and mix with scallions, both cheeses, nutmeg, and garlic. Lightly spray a baking dish with oil or non-stick spray. Pour the vegetable-cheese mixture into the dish and arrange so it is evenly distributed. Whisk the egg and pour over the mixture. Bake at 350F for 15 minutes. Plate with the berries and pour the beverages.

Summertime Pasta: 234 calories 10.6 g fat 6 g fiber 9 g protein 27.5 g carbs 126 mg Calcium  PB  This excellent recipe is from Fast Food My Way  by Jacques Pepin. It is indeed fast to prepare, and after a few alterations, it is fit for a Fast Day too. Excellent as it is, but if you want to add more protein, put in ¼ cup of shredded cooked chicken breast.  HINT: The recipe as written serves two [2] persons.

Sv 2 
3 oz diced tomatoes
¾ c diced zucchini
1 oz snow peas or sugar snaps
1 oz diced mushrooms ½ tsp salt & black pepper
3 Tbsp EVOO		Mix everything in a microwavable glass bowl.
2 oz whole wheat pasta shells
1 qt water & salt		20 minutes before serving, bring the water and salt to a boil. Add the pasta and cook about 7 minutes until al dente. Drain.
Microwave vegetables 2 mins or longer until they are lukewarm.
¼ c ParmesanCombine drained pasta with warm vegetables, then stir in the cheese.
Fresh basil + edible flowersPlate and top with basil and edible flowers if you have them.

Marlene Dietrich

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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.

Marlene Dietrich was born as Maria Magdelena Dietrich on 27 December, 1901. Her father died when she was 10, her step-father died in WWI. Initially, she trained as a musician, mastering violin and piano, but then she turned to the cabaret scene of Germany in the 1920s — think ‘Sally Bowles’ of Cabaret. She sang and danced, to the disapproval of her family, prompting her to change her name to Marlene — a mash-up of her first and middle names. A few minor film roles followed, with her big break in Der Blaue Engle in 1930, playing a cabaret singer [watch the trailer!]. Hollywood called, and although she was successful and famous, she was always cast as a sultry prostitute. Her persona was that of a femme fatale, often dressed in men’s clothing, and she was considered the sexiest woman of the 1930s. To break from her stereotypical casting, she showed her comedic chops in Destry Rides Again, 1939. During the 2nd World War, Dietrich was active for the Allied war effort, entertaining troupes [playing the musical saw] and volunteering at the Hollywood USO. She was decorated by both the US and France for her work. After the war, she turned to a singing career and performed at clubs worldwide. Breaking one of her famous legs caused her to be bed-bound in her Paris apartment for the last 13 years of her life. From there, she chatted with world leaders by phone, lobbying for her favorite causes. She was a woman of many parts.

Our meals are typically German. They are different from the norm and that catches your senses in an intriguing way — rather like Marlene Dietrich as an actress. Dietrich enjoyed house-wifely tasks and one might imagine that she cooked these meals.

Fruited Toast with Sausage:  225 calories 11.5 g fat 2.5 g 10.4 g protein 20 g carbs 39 mg Calcium  PB GF – if using GF bread  Another fine Frühstück [breakfast] from Germany. Delicious.

1 slice 70-calorie whole-grain bread [we like Dave’s ‘Good Seed‘ ] 1½ oz Bockwurst 2 Tbsp small-curd cottage cheese, reduced fat ¼ c mixed berries or sliced strawberries    Optional: blackish coffee [53 calories] or blackish tea or mocha cafe au lait [85 calories]   or lemon in hot water

If fruit is frozen, thaw in a sieve overnight. Slice sausage and braise or bake to cook thoroughly. Toast bread lightly and spread with cheese. Pile the fruit on the bread and plate with the hot sausage.

Senfeier (Eggs in Mustard Sauce): 323 calories 15.5 g fat 2 g fat 17 g protein 12 g carbs 158 mg Calcium   PB GF – if using GF flour in the sauce + GF bread or omitting   This recipe represents ‘comfort food’ in Germany: simply, homey, the sort of meal your Grossmutti would serve you for lunch or supper.  TIP: prepare the bechamel before-hand [handy to have in freezer] and boil the eggs the day before. Very easy to prepare, this is a meal for a busy day.  HINT: This recipe serves two [2] people. 

4 hard-boiled eggs ½ c Bechamel sauce, no cheese  1 Tbsp grainy mustard 2 fl oz/¼ c white wine ¾ c frozen, chopped spinach nutmeg 1 oz sour-dough rye bread [optional: omit to lose 35 calories]

Combine the bechamel, mustard and wine in a saute pan and warm them gently, stirring to combine. In a separate covered pan, warm the spinach with a little water and many pinches of nutmeg. Peel and halve the eggs and put them in the sauce, cut-side up. Cover and keep over low until eggs and sauce are warm. Warm the optional bread. Either plate the spinach along side of the eggs, or under the eggs, or combine the spinach with the sauce. Delicious any way you plate it, with or without the bread.

Juan Diego

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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.

Cuauhtlatoatzin or Talking Eagle, was born in 1474 in what is now Mexico City, Mexico. By the time he was 47 years old, the Spanish had conquered the Aztec Empire. The Spanish saw this as their ‘right’ because someone had to ‘punish’ the Aztecs for their heathen way of religion. [Besides, they wanted the Aztec gold.] Cuauhtlatoatzin was baptized, taking the name Juan Diego. [Some references say he was of high native status, others say he was of very low caste.] On December 9, 1531, while on his way to Mass, Juan Diego saw a vision on Tepeyac Hill, formerly a veneration site for the Aztec goddess Tonantzin: a pregnant indigenous woman, attended by an angel, spoke to him in his own dialect instructing him to tell the bishop to build a shrine on the site. Juan Diego went back and forth between the Lady and the bishop three times over three days before he was believed. To prove to the bishop that he was telling the truth, the Lady told Juan Diego to cut roses blooming on the hill-top to show the bishop. Those and an imprint of the Lady on Juan Diego’s cloak, a garment called a ’tilma,’ were enough to convince the doubting cleric. A shrine was built [rebuilt in 1660 and c. 1975] and Juan Diego retired to be its hermit/caretaker. The story of Juan Diego was written down 100 years later, casting modern doubt as to its veracity. The Spanish Church seized on the idea of an apparition to the natives, reinforcing their goal of converting them. The Lady in question is now called The Virgin of Guadalupe, and she is on the US Christmas Stamp for 2021.

Juan Diego was the first indigenous saint from Mexico, canonized in 1990. We honor him on his feast day with flavors associated with his native land. He might never have eaten salsa, but it is the most recognizable food in Mexican cuisine. Caesar Salad is also from Mexico, Tijuana to be exact, though I’d bet that most people don’t know that.

Salsa-Chicken ScrOmelette: 150 calories 8 g fat 1 g fiber 17 g protein 6 g carbs [5 g Complex] 62 mg Calcium  NB: Food values shown are for the ScrOmelette and fruit only, and do not include the optional beverages.  PB GF  The lively taste of salsa adds some lift to these scrambled eggs while the chicken and cheese add protein.

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 Tbsp low-fat cottage cheese, drained if very liquid 1.5 Tbsp tomato salsa, drained if very liquid ½ oz chicken, cooked and diced 1 oz mango cubes OR 2 oz strawberries  dash of cumin and/or pinch of crushed red pepper   Optional: blackish coffee [53 calories] or blackish tea or mocha cafe au lait [65 calories]  Optional: 3 oz fruit smoothie or berry-yogurt smoothie [44 calories]

Stir the cheese, salsa, chicken, and seasonings together. Heat a well-seasoned cast iron or non-stick pan and spritz it with oil or cooking spray. Whisk the eggs and pour into the pan. For a ‘filled omelette,’ cook the eggs flat in the pan, no scrambling, with the lid on. Meanwhile, heat the filling in a microwave for 1 minute, then stir, then heat further until warm. Spoon over half the eggs, then fold the eggs over the filling. Put the lid back on and let it all warm over low heat. –OR– Dollop eggs with filling and scramble the eggs to mix everything together. Cook to your liking. Prepare optional beverages. Plate the eggs along with the fruit and tuck in to a jolly meal.

Cesar Salad: 240 calories 9 g fat 4 g fiber 33 g protein 5.4 g carbs  106 mg Calcium  PB  GF Straight out of the Fast Diet book, with quantities changed a teensy bit. Large portion, good flavor.

2.5 slices Canadian bacon 3 oz chicken breast, left over from a roast 2.5 c chopped romaine or 2.5 c. mesclun 1 T grated Parmesan 3 oz tomatoes salad dressing: 1 tsp olive oil + 1 tsp lemon juice + Mexican oregano [Cesar Salad is of Mexican origin, not from Roman rulers]

Heat the bacon on a hot, ungreased griddle until it begins to brown. Remove and slice into strips. Cut chicken meat into strips or chunks, as you wish. Roughly chop or tear the romaine, if using. Whisk the oil and lemon juice in a salad bowl. Add the lettuce and toss to coat with the dressing. Plate the greens and sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese and oregano.  Arrange the meat on top of the greens. Isn’t that a beautiful plate of food!

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

1.5 two-oz eggsdried fig, 16 g or 0.65 oz  
smoked salmon hard-boiled egg
scallionbaby spinach
melon or strawberries chèvre cheese, the creamy type
Optional smoothieoptional smoothie
optional hot beverageoptional hot beverage

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

whole wheat ziti or penne pastaham, 3%-fat + side salad
Parmesan cheese5 cups whole-grain bread cubes + butter
Puttanesca saucefour 2-oz eggs + brown sugar
green beans 20-oz can crushed pineapple
Sparkling waterSparkling water

Saint Nicholas

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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 nicolaspamer who is now Following.

When children ask “How can Santa visit all the children in the world on December 24 to deliver presents?” the simple answer is that he doesn’t — many children receive their presents on December 6, the Feast of Saint Nicholas. In the Netherlands, Germany, Russia, Hungary, Aruba, Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Curaçao, northern and eastern France, Luxembourg, Romania, Slovenia, and Ukraine, Saint Nicholas visits towns, cities, schools, and houses on or before December 5th. Nicholas is dressed in the robes of a bishop and is often accompanied by some sort of imp [Pieter, the Krampus, Pere Fouettard] who threatens children if they have been naughty. The saint interviews children to see if they are minding their parents and doing their lessons. Gifts are discovered the next morning. Why does Nicholas bring gifts? He is the patron saint of children because his legend describes how he resurrected three murdered boys and made it possible for three teenage girls to marry when he tossed sacks of money down their chimney. Greece and Russia have Nicholas as their Patron Saint and churches around the world are named after him. When our sons were young, all of us would leave one of our boots on the lower end of the stairway to see what the Good Saint would leave in them. New hats and mittens for the coming winter were always appropriate, along with some chocolates. Dear Husband and I still leave out our boots, eager to see what Nicholas will bring us. Hope springs eternal.

Our meals for Saint Nicholas Day are from two countries that really make time for the saint: the Netherlands for breakfast, and Hungary for dinner. If December 6 is a Fast Day, you could postpone the Fast until the next day or eat these meals and still maintain the weight loss. Save the chocolates for a Slow Day.

Dutch Breakfast:  154 calories 7.4 g fat 2 g fiber 12 g protein 11 g carbs [8 g Complex] 106 mg Calcium   NB: The food values given above are for the plated foods only, not the optional beverages.  GF – if using GF bread  This meal is inspired by a breakfast I enjoyed in Amsterdam in 1969. It was memorable because it is so good. Dear Husband’s opinion? “This is one of my favorite Fast breakfasts.”

one 2-oz egg, hard-boiled or coddled  HINT: the hardboiled egg can be made days before ++ one “Holland Rusk”  [30 cal] OR ½ an Arnold Multi-grain Sandwich Thin [50 cal] OR ½ slice 70-cal multi-grain bread [35 cal] +++¼ oz Jarlsberg cheese +++½ oz ham, 3% fat from the deli +++2 oz melon or apple or pear OR a mixed fruit cup   ++Optional: blackish coffee [53 calories] or blackish tea or mocha cafe au lait [65 calories] +++  Optional: 3 oz fruit smoothie or berry-yogurt smoothie  [44 calories]

Warm the ham in a skillet, toast the bread, brew your beverage, slice the fruit, cube the cheese. Prepare optional beverages. Are you ready to savor?

Gulyas:  283 calories 9.5 g fat 3 g fiber 40 g protein 8 g carbs [7.6 g Complex] 42.6 mg Calcium  GF  This version of the Hungarian stew is from Craig Claiborne’s NYT International Cookbook . HINT: The recipe makes 8 one-cup servings, so make it once and freeze in serving sizes.

2 pounds beef chuck [shoulder], cut in 1” cubes +++ 1 Tbsp sweet Hungarian paprika +++ 1 tsp olive oil +++ 2 onions, chopped +++ 2 Tbsp tomato paste +++ 1 tsp salt +++ 1 tsp pepper +++ 1.5 cups beef stock +++  per serving: 1 oz green beans +++  optional: ¼ oz egg noodles which add 27 calories 1 g fiber 2 g simple carbs

Heat the oven to 300 F. Toss the beef chunks with the paprika, salt, and pepper. Heat the oil in a Dutch oven [large, heavy, covered pot] and brown the beef in batches. Move the beef around in the pan to prevent it from sticking. Add non-stick spray or a little water if necessary. Remove the beef to a plate. Add some water to the pan and saute the onions until they are transluscent. Return the beef to the pan and pour in 1.5 cups beef stock. Stir thoroughly, scraping brown bits off the bottom. Cover the pot and cook in the oven for 2-3 hours. Every hour, check the pot and stir, adding more water as needed. Taste for salt at the end. Divide into 8 portions, reserving the remainder for future meals. TIP: Freezes very well. Plate with the green beans and optional noodles. A real Winter treat.

Comet Halley

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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 Meleh Kikau who is now Following.

The presence of a comet in the sky was an occasion of fear and dread in the olden times. A comet was said to be the soul of the assassinated Caesar in 44 BCE. Another was said to foretell the defeat of the English at the hands of the Normans in 1066 CE. In 1705, English astronomer Edmond Halley [pronounced ‘haa-lee’ not ‘hay-lee’] turned his attention to comets. From researching historic sightings, he noticed that there was a comet seen every 76/75 years. Knowing Isaac Newton‘s work proving that planets orbit the sun, held in place by gravity, Halley proposed that comets were objects that were in an odd orbit around the sun — moving from far away in the solar system to much closer in, and then out again. If he were correct, that comet would be seen again in 1761. He nailed it, and people began to call it ‘Halley’s Comet.’ [To astronomers, it is called ‘Comet Halley.] Another event that coincided with Comet Halley was the birth of Samuel Clemens in 1835. He later said that since he ‘came in’ with the comet, he would ‘go out’ with it. And when Comet Halley returned in 1910, Clemens died of a heart attack.

Like many of his contemporaries, Mark Twain, aka Samuel Clemens, traveled extensively in Europe — sight-seeing, lecturing, taking-the-cure. After one long speaking tour, he longingly wrote a list of his favorite American foods. Two items on that list appear on our menu today — and fine foods they are indeed.

Hoe Cakes with 2 Toppings: 183 calories 5.6 g fat 5.4 g fiber 9.5 g protein 23 g carbs [17.4 g Complex] 44 mg Calcium  NB: Food values given are for the plated foods only, and do not include the optional beverage.  PB GF  This recipe harks back to Colonial Days in the American South. Everyone from enslaved people to President Washington ate hoe cakes.  HINT: This recipe makes 6 hoecakes – enough for 2 servings of 3 each.  Originally this would be made with white cornmeal, but the yellow has more nutrition. NB: Hoe cakes were never ‘cooked on a hoe’ by farm workers in the fields. Silly notion. Dear Husband enjoyed this very much and so will you.

3 Tbsp yellow cornmeal – polenta meal would do  2.5 Tbsp hot water Combine by stirring well to make a mush. Let sit for 15 minutes
1 oz egg white
¼ tsp yeast		Stir into the warm cornmeal mush and let sit for 1 – 12 hours. This was 125 ml in volume
2 Tbsp cornmeal
2 Tbsp water ¼ tsp salt		Mix into the cornmeal mush. If you take some up on a fork, it will sit on top with a little batter dribbling through. If it is not like this, add more cornmeal or more water. This was ½ cup in volume.
Using 2 tbsp of batter per cake, drop onto a hot griddle sprayed with non-stick spray. This should make 6 cakes. Cook on both sides. Best if eaten while fresh.
¼ cup raspberries 1 tsp honey one 2-oz eggPut the fruit and honey in a small dish and microwave for 30 seconds. Fry the egg.
Optional: blackish coffee [53 calories] or tea or mocha cafe au lait [65 calories]Plate two of the Hoe Cakes with the egg and the other with the berry syrup. Pour your beverage of choice.

Mussel Feast:  279 calories 12.6 g fat 0.6 g fiber 34 g protein 11 g carbs 117 mg Calcium  PB GF  We love mussels and eat them fresh all summer long. Frozen mussels are available year ’round in many stores and they are good for use with a sauce. HINT: This preparation serves 2 [two].

1 # mussels in shells = 1 quart ½ cup water ¼ c white wine celery, onion, rosemary, thyme, garlic 3 cup salad greens 1/2 oz feta cheese 2 oz tomatoes, cubed 1.5 tsp olive oil + 1 tsp lemon juice

Rinse the mussel shells in case they are muddy. Discard any mussels which are open and do not close when rapped gently on the counter. In a large sauce pan [provide room for an increase in volume as the mussel shells open] bring the water to a boil with the wine and flavorings. Add the mussels, put on the lid and cook the mussels for 10 minutes. With a long-handled spoon, stir so that the mussels from the bottom are now on top. Continue to cook for another few minutes, until all mussels are open. Discard any which refuse to. Strain out the mussels and place in the serving bowl. Pour the broth over all. In a salad bowl, place the oil and lemon juice. Whisk to form a dressing. Toss with the greens and plate with the feta topping. After you eat the mussels, drink the flavorful broth. Tastes like Summer to me. 

Georgia O’Keeffe

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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 fitness diet and ketoofficialdiet who are now Following.

Though ‘Ghost Ranch‘ sounds like the setting of a Nancy Drew story, it is the real life location of the studio of one of America’s most noted artists. Georgia Totto O’Keeffe was born in Wisconsin on November 15, 1887. From high school, she knew that art was her calling, which lead to studies in Chicago and New York. The work of Arthur Wesley Dow had a huge impact on O’Keeffe: she began to view art abstractly as a way to show her personality and feelings. Her sketches caught the eye of Alfred Stieglitz who set up O’Keeffe’s first exhibition and who later became her husband. From 1929, she traveled often to New Mexico, captivated by the stark, sun-washed landscape. Twenty years later, she purchased 12 acres of land at Ghost Ranch, a sprawling dude ranch, for her Summer studio. Looking out the windows there is like looking at one of her framed paintings. For year-round use, she settled at a 200-year-old adobe hacienda at Abiquiú after her husband died. O’Keeffe would pursue a particular theme and then move on to another: flowers, skyscrapers, skulls, desert landscapes, and clouds all spoke to her creative mind. Every time we see a dead tree silhouetted against a blue sky, we say to each other, “Ah. Georgia O’Keeffe.” She had an iconic vision and the appeal of her distinctive art has long outlived her death at age 98. O’Keeffe is called ‘the Mother of American Modernism.’ Use her eyes to see nature in a new way.

Our flavors today rely heavily on chilis, the taste of New Mexico. Terrific with eggs and great in tacos, some people can’t get enough of it. In the Fall, towns all over the state are heady with the smell of green chilis roasting in rotating cylinders on sidewalks outside shops. The rest of us will have to get them in little cans or jars online. Dried chilis, as powder or flakes, flavor everything too, from pizza to tacos. Eating chilis is beneficial to your health.

Green Chile-Egg Galette: 147 calories 6 g fat 2 g fiber 9 g protein 24.6 g carbs [12 g Complex] 36.4 mg Calcium  NB: The food values given above are for the egg bake and fruit only, not the optional beverages. PB  The bite of the green chiles, the nutty taste of the galette, the rich taste of egg: what a remarkable flavor combination. Eat with a fork or pick it up in your hand.

1 buckwheat galette/crepe one 2-oz egg 2 Tbsp roasted green chiles, canned   1 oz pears   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]

Whisk the egg with the chiles and pour into a 6” cast iron pan or small saute pan spritzed with non-stick spray. [If serving two, pour egg mixture into a 4×6” oven-proof dish spritzed with non-stick spray. Bake at 350 F. for 12 minutes and cut the baked egg in half] Cook the egg by gently lifting the edges to allow un-cooked egg to flow underneath. Meanwhile, gently heat the crepe: wrap in a tea-towel and put in the microwave for 1 minute  OR put in an un-greased saute pan over low heat for 1 minute, then turn over for another 30 seconds. Plate the crepe with the fruit, put the egg on top of it, then fold over. Pour the beverages and put some zip in your morning.

Fish Tacos: 266 calories 2.6 g fat 3.6 g fiber 23 g protein 37 g carbs  118 mg Calcium  PB The food truck staple is now available for a Fast Day. Add more spices to suit your taste. HINT: next time you grill or broil fish, cook an extra 3 oz for this recipe. Wrap it and label it and store in freezer until needed. 

two 6” corn tortillas, 65 calories each 3 oz cooked fish  ½ cup tomato, cubed ½ cup cabbage, chopped 1 oz red onion, sliced 1 Tbsp lime juice or salsa verde pinch chili powder pinch cumin 1½ Tbsp plain yogurt

Prepare a vegetable slaw by combining the cabbage, tomato, and onion in a bowl with the lime juice and spices. Heat a large griddle or cast iron pan and put the tortillas in it until they are warm, pliable, and beginning to brown. Remove to your plate. Spread the tortillas with the yogurt. Divide the fish between the tortillas and add a splash of lime juice or salsa verde. Top with the vegetable slaw. If there is too much slaw to fit into the tortillas, serve it on the side. 

Coleridge

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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.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge was raised as a lonely, bookish child in Devon, born in 1772. His pleasant years of companionship with his mother ended abruptly at age nine when his father died and his mother sent him as a ‘charity-boy’ to an orphanage-school for clergymen’s sons. Cambridge followed, along with recognition of his intellect, his gift for language, and increasing debts. Coleridge threw himself into many schemes: a self-written literary journal [twice], needy friendships, and a plan for a utopian commune in Pennsylvania where the men would work 3 hours each day on farming and providing, then retire for reading and educating their children. This was to be a photo-communistic Pantisocracy, but it never came to pass. It is part of the new Romantic ideas which Coleridge came to symbolize and to manifest in his poems. His Frost at Midnight, where scenes of the past, present, and future merge in a frosted window pane, shows Coleridge’s imagination, gifted word-smithing, and mysticism. Throughout his life, marriage, friendships, plans all fell apart, but his poetry continued and later he became one of the foremost literary critics of his age. For me, its the poetry. Kubla Kahn entranced and excited my sister and me as children. The Gustave Dore illustrations of the Rime of the Ancient Mariner are nightmarish and fabulous, just like the poem. Coleridge cannot be dismissed as an opium-addled crazy guy. He was a genius of word and imagery.

For breakfast, some country flavors reminiscent of Coleridge’s childhood. In the late 1700s, the East India Company in India started selling opium to China. In the mid-1800s, the British forced the Chinese to end their ban on the import/export of opium, to adjust a trade imbalance with China. When you read some of Coleridge’s work, you know he was ‘on something’ — and that something was opium. So a dinner influenced by China is appropriate.

Mushroom ScrOmelette: 142 calories 5 g fat 1 g fiber 9.6 g protein 8 g carb [6 g Complex] 64 mg Calcium  NB: Food values shown are for the ScrOmelette and fruit only, and do not include the optional beverages.  PB GF  Nothing says ‘Autumn’ like mushrooms, apples, and fresh 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 mushrooms 1 tsp grated Parmesan cheese 2 pinches rosemary 1½ 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]

Chop or slice the mushrooms and saute with a little water in a skillet. Remove and set aside. Now whisk the eggs with seasonings to taste. Pour into a heated skillet sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Cook, tipping the pan and lifting the cooked eggs until the bottom is set but the top is still moist. Top with the mushrooms and cheese, fold and plate. Serve with fruit, plus your beverage and smoothie. You are off to a good start.

Beef Egg Rolls:  per roll:  136 calories 4.6 g fat 1 g fiber 9.4 g protein 17.5 g carb 23 mg Calcium   PB Egg Rolls are fun to prepare at home, so there is no need to order take-out. HINT: This recipe makes 5 egg rolls. Two make a good serving, so this recipe serves 2 with one left over. 

2 oz lean beef steak, sliced in strips 1 Tbsp soy sauce ½ Tbsp oyster sauce 1 tsp. cornstarch 1 clove garlic 1 tsp ginger 1 cup cabbage, shredded ½ cup carrot, sliced ¼” thick 1 scallion, sliced ½ cup sliced onion 5 egg roll wrappers 1 tsp oil ¾ cup broccoli  Sriracha sauce + soy sauce

Combine the beef, oyster sauce, cornstarch, garlic and ginger in a small bowl. In a heavy-bottomed pan or wok, stir-fry the carrot, onion, and cabbage in ¼ cup water for 3 minutes. Add the beef with the marinade and cook until beef is done. Run the whole thing through a food processor to chop it coarsely. Following the directions on the wrapper package, fill and roll the egg-rolls. [if you end up with filling left-over, fill another wrapper and save for a lunch OR, if it is about ¼ cup, save it to make a ScrOmelette next week.] Turn the oven on to 400 F. Warm the oil in a clean, flat-bottomed, oven-proof pan. Put the egg rolls and broccoli in the pan and roll them to coat with oil. Cook gently over warm heat until warm and starting to brown. Put the pan in the hot oven and bake until the rolls are crispy. You may want to turn the rolls once while baking. Combine the Sriracha and soy sauce to use for dipping.

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

2 two-oz egg + apples1.5 two-oz eggs 
whole wheat flour + saltcrushed tomatoes
skimmed milk + butterhorseradish + Kraft Cheddar spread
1 egg whiteclementine or apple
Optional smoothieoptional smoothie
optional hot beverageoptional hot beverage

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

3 oz fish, any type + 1 small eggolive oil + nutmeg + cucumber
cream + shallot + spinachplain non-fat yogurt + white vinegar
nutmeg + canned white beans6 felafel patties
Swiss chard + garlic powdermint or dill weed + raw spinach
Sparkling waterSparkling water