recipes for intermittent fasting

Gilbert Stuart

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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 The Health Solution and Evaking who are now Following.

Who showed us the face of the American Revolution? Gilbert Stuart, portraitist of the Founding Fathers.  Born on December 3, 1755, in Saunderstown, Rhode Island, Stuart showed promise at an early age. His first commission was done when he was 12 years old. He was tutored by a Scottish painter, who took Gilbert to Scotland at the start of the American Revolution. Although his mentor died within a year, the artist began to cultivate the famous and powerful, painting many portraits in the UK, thanks to the help of artist Benjamin West. Upon his return to the USA after the war, Stuart had a studio in the new city of Washington, DC. EVERYBODY sat for him and he was very prolific. He had to be: as brilliant as he was with a paint brush, he was equally unskilled with a check book. His famous portrait of George Washington was in great demand. Stuart kept it until he died, endlessly making copies to sell to try to stay out of debt. Until his death at age 72, he had painted 1000 portraits: 6 presidents, bishops, First Ladies, Supreme Court Justices, children and wives of rich men. His portraits looked natural and made his subjects seem alive. People enjoyed sitting for him, since he was a lively conversationalist. Want to visit his grave? No such luck. So in debt was he when he died, that his family buried him in an unmarked grave, always intending to come back and give him a headstone. But 10 years later, they couldn’t find him, and he is lost in the Central Burying Ground of Boston Common.

Even in the late 1700s, people from the Azores, fishermen and whalers, were moving to Rhode Island. Our breakfast has the flavors of their Old Country that they brought here. All-American ‘succotash’ is from Rhode Island, just like Gilbert Stuart. The word is from the language of the Narragansett Indians who settled the land long before the colonizers arrived.

Azorean Omelette: 197 calories 10.4 g fat 0.9 g fiber 12.6 g protein 5.4 g carbs [4.2 g Complex] 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 kiwi fruit   optional: blackish Portuguese or Brazilian coffee [53 calories] or blackish tea [from the Gorreana Tea Plantation] or lemon in hot water

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.

‘Original’ Succotash: 270 calories 2.6 g fat 9 g fiber 18 g protein 50 g carbs [all Complex] 71 mg Calcium  PB GF  The Mystic Seaport Cookbook  contains many quaint and curious old recipes. What follows is my combination of two of them. It is ‘original’ because it gets us back to what succotash once was [a main dish, not a side] and because it is my own version.  HINT: This recipe makes 3 cups of succotash, which could be 3 servings. 

½ cup lima beans [Green Giant frozen Fordhook] ½ cup green/snap beans ½ cup corn kernels ¼ cup canned navy beans 2 oz corned beef [New England style is grey because it contains no nitrates] 1 slice cornmeal mush aka: polenta   sage + pepper + salt to taste [mind that the corned beef might be salty] 

Cook the vegetables until they are tender. Drain the cooking water and reserve ½ cup. Mash the navy beans and whisk into ¼ cup vegetable water. Put all vegetables and the meat into a pan along with the mashed beans. Add sage and pepper to taste and more vegetable broth if you wish. If it needs more salt, add it, too. In a non-stick pan, saute the corn mush on each side until it is warm. Plate the mush with one cup of succotash. It is very filling.

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

1.5 two-oz eggs + crab meat1.5 two-oz eggs + pear
soy sauce + bean sproutstomato + bacon + onion
mushrooms + scallion + applegreen bell pepper + mozzarella
ginger + hot saucefile powder + chili powder
Optional smoothieoptional smoothie
optional hot beverageoptional hot beverage

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

eggroll wrappers + soy sauce2 crepes + tomatoes
shrimp + oyster sauce + gingersliced deli ham
garlic + carrot + onion sliced deli Swiss cheese
cabbage + tomato + canola oilVache Qui Rit cheese
Sparkling waterSparkling water

Statue of David

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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 Malcolm Rae who is now Following.

David was one of the major characters of the Old Testament. He was the youngest son of Jesse; a shepherd lad. While he was still a youth, the invading Philistines looked as if they were going to defeat the Israelites. Their champion, the giant Goliath, challenged Israel’s champion to single combat. David volunteered to fight the giant. He was offered armor, but it was too big. Armed with only his slingshot, David faced his enemy and killed him with a single stone, then cut off his head. During the Renaissance, sculptors vied with each other to depict David. In 1440, Donatello showed his statue of David. It was the first bronze statue of the Renaissance. It depicts a boy who’s voice is still changing, standing with his foot on Goliath’s head. David looks thoughtful and, in a reference to Classical Greek art, he is nude. Thirty-five years later, Verrocchio produced a bronze on the same subject. This David is even younger and to avoid the criticism of prudes, he wears a tunic and a breastplate [that looks a bit like lingerie]. He has killed the enemy and stands with a hand on his hip and a cocky look as if to say, “I told you I could do it.” Here David represents the City of Florence, ready to defeat larger enemies. When most people think of a statue of David, they think of Michelangelo’s monumental work. In it, a larger-than-life nude man [not a young shepherd boy] casts a cool gaze at his distant opponent. The work, finished in 1504, is pure High Renaissance, designed to show that humans can achieve anything they put their minds to, through reason. In my opinion, the best of all of them is David by Gian Bernini. By 1623, the Renaissance gave way to the Baroque period of art, where motion and emotion replaced that measured calm of Michelangelo’s time. Here an older teenaged David gets ready to let-‘er-rip and you know Goliath is done for. Each statue tells the same story in its own way. Each is the triumph of their own time. Which one do you prefer?

Since David was a shepherd in Israel, our breakfast contains lamb and many flavors of the region. The dinner involves a stone, since that is how David killed Goliath.

Levantine Lamb Bake:  219 calories 14 g fat 1 g fiber 26 g protein 8 g carbs 108.6 mg Calcium   PB GF  Let’s take all the popular flavors of the Eastern Mediterranean and bake them with eggs. Great idea!! [If this sounds familiar, it is based on Lamb Gozleme, which was featured previously. If you had left-over filling (about 2 Tbsp) from that, you could use it.]

1 two-oz egg ¼ oz tomatoes, small dice 1/8 oz feta cheese, small dice 1 Kalamata olive, small dice 1/8 oz cooked lamb meat, small dice 1/8 oz spinach, chopped oregano + salt + pepper 2 oz peach or nectarine   Optional: blackish coffee [53 calories] or blackish tea or mocha cafe au lait [65 calories] or lemon in hot water 

Prepare all the vegetables, meat, and cheese, and combine them well in a small bowl with the seasonings. Spray an oven-safe dish with non-stick spray and turn the bowl contents into the dish. Whisk the egg and pour over the other ingredients. Bake at 350 F for 12-15 minutes. Plate with the fruit and pour the hot beverage. If I knew how, I’d say ‘delicious!’ in Greek, Turkish, Syrian, Palastinian, Hebrew, and Egyptian.

Stone Soup: 125 calories 1.4 g fat 4 g fiber 7.5 g protein 21 g carbs [21 g Complex] 55.6 mg Calcium   PB GF — if using GF bread or eliminating it.  A recipe based on the old French folktale about ‘making soup out of stones.’ And it tastes good, too. HINT: Makes 8 one-cup servings.

See the stone in the center, just under the bread?

½ pound stones, in large pieces – well scrubbed  2 quarts water 4 oz beef, diced 4 oz carrots, sliced 4 oz cabbage, sliced 4 oz parsnips, cubed 4 oz green beans, cut to 1” 4 oz red potato, diced 4 oz spinach, chopped 4 oz white beans lots of herbs + salt + pepper  to taste Optional: slice of artisinal rye bread  adds 100 calories

Put the stones in the water and bring to a simmer. Add the other ingredients and simmer until vegetables are tender. Taste for seasoning and adjust as needed. Serve with the bread if you wish.

Why to Start

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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.

Tomorrow is the 1st of the month which is a good day to start a good habit. Have your heard the news from health departments around the world? Recently, they have reported that being overweight is a contributing factor to deaths from COVID-19. Being obese doesn’t cause COVID, but it makes one more likely to be very ill or die from the disease. This is NOT fat-shaming. This is telling an unhappy truth. The National Institute of Health says so, as does the New England Journal of Medicine. The Lancet in the UK and the chief epidemiologist in France concur. If ever you needed a reason to lose weight, fear of COVID-19 could be it. You don’t need some bread-and-water crash died — you need a new style of eating. The Fast Diet is a lifestyle in which you change your diet two days a week. Surely you can do that, especially when your health is at risk. Yes, you can.

Try out these two simple meals: meat and bread for breakfast; bacon and eggs for dinner. Start the Fasting Lifestyle tomorrow. Need another reason? If all the days seem the same to you now, then you’ll find that the Fast Days punctuate the week and give you two days that are different from the others.

Czech Breakfast: 233 calories 5 g fat 3.8 g fiber 11.7 g protein 37 g carbs [18 g complex] 65.6 mg Calcium  NB: The food values are for the meal and fruit only and do not include the optional coffee. I’m told that the majority of citizens of the Czech Republic eat this for breakfast daily. Join them.

1 to 1.6 g sourdough rye bread 1 oz sliced ham, 3% fat ½ oz Hermelin cheese, or substitute Camembert 2 yellow plums, or other color of your choice   Optional: blackish coffee [53 calories] or blackish tea or mocha cafe au lait [65 calories]  NO Smoothie today unless you forgo the coffee.

Whether you pile everything on the bread and eat it that way, or sample each item separatly, this is a hearty way to start the day. For those of you who start your day with lunch, this is for you.

Asparagus Omelette:  270 calories 14.7 g fat 3.3 g fiber 18 g protein 10 g carbs 178 mg Calcium  PB GF  Susan Herrmann Loomis comes up with another super dinner omelette. HINT: This recipe serves two [2], but you could cut it if you wish, or double it to serve four [4]. 

4 two-oz eggs  ½ oz [3 Tbsp] Parmesan-Reggiano cheese Whisk the eggs, just to blend in the yolks. Grate the cheese and stir it in.
4 oz asparagus, tough stalk-ends snapped offCook until tender, about 7 minutes. Cut off the bud ends and slice the stalks thinly.
2 slices uncured bacon [30 cal per slice] cut into ½” pieces   Cook in a non-stick pan until ‘lightly golden’, 2-3 minutes.Drain off all but ½ Tbsp fat.
1 scallion [1 oz], thinly sliced
bud ends of asparagus		Saute in fat until transluscent and add the asparagus. Cook until hot. Add eggs without disturbing the other ingredients. Cook until the top is done to your liking. Fold and plate, garnished with bud tips.
1 cup Baby greens, sliced beets, 1/2 oz tomatoesToss with 1 tsp good vinaigrette.

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

1 two-oz egg + bacon1.5 two-oz eggs 
tomato + onion + Cheddaruncured capicola ham
green sweet pepper oregano
creole seasoning + apple/pearapple
Optional smoothieoptional smoothie
optional hot beverageoptional hot beverage

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

water-canned tuna + celerybeef or chicken stock + egg
2% fat cottage cheese + oniongarlic + Swiss cheese
hot dog bun + corn on the cobpotatoes + parsnips + butter
4-bean saladrye bread +marjoram
Sparkling waterSparkling water

Saint Robert Flower of Knaresboro

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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.

A fun thing about delving into one’s genealogy is the discovery of some unusual characters in the family tree. One such find was St Robert of Knaresboro. A saint!! An eccentric hermit!! What fun. He was born in Yorkshire around 1160, the son of the Mayor of York. From an early age, Robert Flower knew he wanted a religious life, so he became a novice of the Cistercian Abby at Newminister while yet a child. He then decided that the life of a hermit was what he wanted. Robert was forced to move from place to place — he should be the Patron of Displaced Persons. Along the way, he gained a reputation as a holy person who gave good advice. He settled in Knaresboro, near York, in a cave that was chiseled from solid rock. People came to see him and to drink from his holy well — from King John to common pilgrims. Robert was never actually canonized as a saint, but the Trinitarian friars deemed him venerable and there are churches and stained glass windows dedicated to this kindly man who helped the poor and worked to free the prisoners. St Robert’s Cave is open to visitors.

September 24 is the day Saint Robert Flower died in 1208. You will ask why the breakfast planned for him relates to Tolkien‘s Hobbits. The first line of The Hobbit reads, “In a hole in the ground, there lived a Hobbit.” Saint Robert lived in a hole in the ground. In addition, September 22 is the birthday of the Hobbits Frodo and Bilbo Baggins. Furthermore, St Robert’s father’s first name was “Took,” used as a surname for a prominent Hobbit family. Continuing that theme, the dinner is a simple soup prepared from the leftovers of a famous meal from the Azores: Cozido, cooked in a pot in a hole in the ground. Saint Robert Flower would have enjoyed its simplicity.

Hobbiton Breakfast:  217 calories 6 g fat 3.4 g fiber 5.7 g protein 29.4 g carbs [11 g Complex] 60 mg Calcium   NB: These values are for the plated foods only, and do not include the optional beverages.  PB  A simple-to-prepare and delicious combination of textures and flavors. For Halflings and Big People alike.

1 full-size or 2 half-size [from 3 Tbsp Scone ‘Mix’.] Seedy Scones*** ½ oz Camembert cheese   3 oz apple Optional: blackish coffee [53 calories] or blackish tea or mocha cafe au lait [65 calories] 

***Seedy Scones: This makes 2 cups of ‘Mix’. 1 cup all-purpose flour 1 cup white whole wheat flour 3 Tbsp sugar 1 tsp baking soda 1.5 tsp cream of tartar 2 Tbsp unsalted butter buttermilk or sourmilk, as needed mixed seeds + a pinch of salt Combine the dry ingredients [except seeds] in a bowl. Cut in the butter until well incorporated. 

Prepare the Scone Mix. Take out 3 Tbsp [1.6 oz] of the mix and stir in just enough buttermilk or sour milk [1-1/2 Tbsp? 2 Tbsp?] to cause the dough to come together in a rough ball. TIP: store the remaining mix in the refrigerator in a glass jar with a lid. Ready to use when you wish. Knead briefly on a lightly floured surface. Pat out into one scone, or divide into 2 scones. Brush the surface with milk and scatter the seeds on top. Place in a buttered dish to bake  HINT: I did this the night before and left it on the counter to bake in the morning. Slice the apple and cheese. Bake the scone[s] at 400 F. for 7-10 minutes. Plate to please the eye. Serve with the beverage of your choice.

Cozido Soup: Cozido  is a specialty of the Azores island of Sao Miguel. Some of the dormant volcanoes still have warm magma and send out steam through vents and fissures. Local people lower cauldrons of meats and vegetables into steaming wells, then serve the cooked meal at restaurants or at home.. The serving for two at O Miroma in Furnas consists of vast quantities of beef, pork knuckles, blood sausage, carrots, potatoes, collards, cabbage, and turnips. Like a New England Boiled Dinner, but cooked in a volcanic vent! We took the remainders from our meal home. 

The next day, I put the bones, sausage, and juices in a pot with water and Piment da Queijo. While that simmered, I cut up the vegetables and meat into bite-sized pieces [discarding the blood sausage to which I have an aversion]. Combined, it provided a hearty, nourishing, and low-calorie soup for a Fast Day.

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

1.5 two-oz eggCamembert or Hermelin cheese
apple + heavy cream3%-fat ham
sugar + cinnamonsourdough rye bread
butter + peachplums, preferably yellow
Optional smoothieoptional smoothie
optional hot beverageoptional hot beverage

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

green peppers + cucumber + garliceggs + streaky American bacon
white wine vinegar + tarragon Parmesan-Reggiano cheese
olive oil + shrimp + onionasparagus + scallion
piment d’esplette + dry white wineside salad with beet + tomato
Sparkling waterSparkling water

Lascaux

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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.

17,000 years ago, in the caves of South-Western France, people were painting realistic representations of animals on the walls of caves. On 12 September, 1940, four boys searching for their lost dog, were the first to see the painting since a landslide had sealed it during pre-history. Named Lascaux, the cave was opened to the public in 1948. By 1963, the cave’s visitors had introduced, unintentionally, so much CO2 and so many mold spores that the paintings were covered over and the caves were closed. For the next 20 years, a remarkable copy of the most famous parts of the original cave was created. Archaeologists, geologists, and artists worked to create an exact duplicate [right down to similar materials and ‘brush-strokes’] of the original cave. Sealed, illuminated, and with climate controlled air circulating through, Lascaux II was opened in 1983. It is fabulous. When we visited in 1999, even though I knew it was a copy, the paintings in their setting took my breath away. Visitors are admitted in small groups and the guides are amazing: Dear Husband, who does not speak French, was able to understand the narration. Which was good, since I was too much in awe to translate. Absolutely amazing art: vivid and dramatic.

Thinking of cave art makes one think of the PaleoDiet. On the surface, this popular “next best thing” seems similar to the Fast Diet: protein and vegetables and fruit. The main difference is that the Paleo menu is limited to foods available 12,000 years ago and it is heavy on red meat. The Fast Diet is not so restrictive and thus is much more flexible and sustainable. Our foods today work for either diet plan and are delicious.

Swiss Chard Fritatta: 154 calories 8.4 g fat 1.3 g fiber 12 g protein 5.7g carbs [5 g Complex] 58 mg Calcium  PB GF  Susan Herrmann Loomis is a cookbook author whom I trust, so when I saw this, I had to try it. She serves it as an appetizer or entre; but by reducing the recipe, it makes a great breakfast.

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 oz Swiss or rainbow chard, coarsely chopped or sliced; stems removed sprinkles of garlic powder 1 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese pinch salt + pinch paprika 2 oz strawberries  Optional: blackish coffee [53 calories] or blackish tea or lemon in hot water Optional: 5-6 oz fruit smoothie or berry-yogurt smoothie [88 calories]

In a saucepan, simmer the chard in water and add some pinches of garlic powder. Cook, uncovered, about 15 minutes until the leaves are limp and the water has cooked away. [keep a good eye on it so it doesn’t stick or burn] HINT: I did this the night before. Find a small [8” diameter] heat-proof skillet which can be used both on top of the range and under the broiler. Spray it generously with non-stick spray and spread the cooked chard over the bottom. Whisk the eggs, then add the cheese, salt, and paprika. Whisk again and pour the eggs over the greens. Place on the stovetop over medium heat for 3-4 minutes while the eggs cook on the bottom but the top is still liquidy. Place under the broiler until set and slightly browned. Plate with the fruit. [Loomis wants you to invert it on the plate, but we preferred the puffy top to be on top] Delicious!!

Pork Salad: 144 calories 4 g fat 2.4 g fiber 17 g protein 7 g carbs [6.8 g Complex] 43 mg Calcium  PB GF When there is leftover meat from a roast, the easiest meal is to turn it into a salad with lots of yummy components.  NB: I sprinkled each serving with ¼ oz flax-seed corn chips [not Paleo, I know] which added 40 calories, only 2.5 g fat and 4 g carbs.

2 cups salad greens, cut as chiffonade if leaves are large 2.5-3 oz pork tenderloin, cooked, sliced 2.5-3 oz tomatoes, cut in bite-sized pieces 1 oz red bell pepper, cut in 1/2” dice 1 oz whole fresh cranberries, not dried 2 oz zucchini sticks 1 tsp Balsamic vinegar + ½ tsp olive oil + 1 tsp blue cheese herb mustard

Prepare all the vegetables as described. Whisk the dressing ingredients in a wide bowl and toss with the greens. Plate the greens and decorate the salad with the other components. That was fast!

Ingredients for next week: 

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

1 two-oz eggNext week I will offer several
meals involving Corn.
sourdough rye bread
choose a new favorite breakfast
from the Archives
3% fat ham + yellow plums

Hamelin or Camembert cheese

Optional smoothieoptional smoothie
optional hot beverageoptional hot beverage

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

2 pounds beef chuck/shoulder
Next week I will offer several
meals involving Corn.
sweet paprika + onion
choose a new favorite from the Archives
tomato paste + oil + green beans

beef stock [optional noodles]

Sparkling waterSparkling water

Saint Walburga

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How this Fast Diet Lifestyle works: Eat these meals tomorrow. On another day this week, eat the meals from a different post.  Eat sensibly the other days of the week.  That’s it.  Simple way to lose weight and be healthier.                                                                    Welcome to Raluca S. who is now Following.

Saintliness seems to run in families.  This was certainly the case for Saint Walburga. She was born in Devon [now part of England] in 710 CE, to a well-to-do Saxon family.  Her father was St Richard and her mother was Winna, sister of St Boniface [born Winfrid].  Walburga’s brothers were St Willibald and St Winnibald.  [I could not make this up if I tried.]  What does a family of saints talk about at dinner?  Prayer, I suppose. And Fasting, no doubt, since Walburga was known for it.  In her day, Walburga ran several religious houses and some credit her with being the first female author of England and Germany since she wrote a biography of her brother.  After she died on February 25, 779, her tomb seemed to exude a liquid which is said to have healing properties.  Somehow the good saint’s story became tied in with witches and their revels on the eve of May 1st.  Called ‘Walpurgis Night,‘ it is celebrated in Scandinavia and is likened to a little Hallowe’en in the mountains of southern Germany.                                                                                                           In honor of the origins of Walburga, we’ll breakfast in the English countryside.  For her gift of the healing oil, dinner will be the good-for-what-ails-you chicken soup, long touted by grandmothers as a universal panacea.

Cottage Breakfast:   157 calories   7.5 g fat   1.2 g fiber   8.3 g protein   14.8 g carbs 38 mg Calcium   PB  I wanted a breakfast that evoked a cottage in the English country-side, so here it is. The pan muffins are very good.Cottage Bfast A

1 pan muffin [see …Not By Bread…posted 7-Feb-2018]                                                                1 oz applesauce                                                                                                                                   one 2-oz egg                                                                                                                                      5-6 oz fruit smoothie [79 calories] or green smoothie or natural apple cider                                   blackish coffee [53 calories], blackish tea, or lemon in hot water

HINT: I prepared 8 pan muffins from the 10-grain mufffin batter, cooked them, and froze them. I made the remaining batter into muffins to eat on Slow Days. Take one pan muffin from the freezer the night before and let it thaw. Cook the egg to your taste and warm the pan muffin. Dish the applesauce, brew the hot beverage, pour the smoothie. What a sweet and easy meal.

‘Therapeutic’ Chicken Soup:   278 calories   3.4 g fat   5 g fiber   18.5 g protein   36 g carbs [26 g Complex Carbs]   78 mg Calcium   PB  GF — if using GF noodles The recipe is from It’s All American Food  by David Rosengarten. Simple, filling, and Granma says it is good for you. NB: One serving = 2 cups of soup! Eat less if you need to.Therapeutic Chicken Soup

1-1/2 cups excellent chicken broth, homemade or purchased                                                          2 oz [½ cup] parsnips, diced                                                                                                             1 oz [¼ cup] carrots, in coins                                                                                                                         ¼ cup celery, sliced                                                                                                                            2 oz cooked chicken breast, cut in 1/2” cubes                                                                                1/2 oz Pennsylvania Dutch Noodles                                                                                                 3 Tbsp parsley

Prepare the vegetables. Cook the noodles in salted water until just underdone. Drain them and plunge into cold water. Drain again and hold at room temperature until needed.  Heat the stock to a simmer and add 3-4 Tbsp water, which will boil away as you cook. I added the parsnips first and cooked for about 5 minutes, then added the carrots. After another 5 minutes, I put the celery in the soup. Cook until all the vegetables are tender, then adjust the seasoning of the broth. Add the pasta and chicken. It will need extra flavor now since the pasta will have used it up. Add the parsley and cook about 5 minutes longer.

Francisco Xavier

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

Francisco Xavier was a well-traveled man! Born in 1506 in the Navarre Region, now part of Spain, he went to Paris to study theology at the Sorbonne.  There he met Ignatius of Loyola and Pierre Favre. In 1534, they formed the Society of Jesus, aka: the Jesuits.  Their burning desire was to take their message of religion to the world.  Hearing that the Portuguese king wanted missionaries for his outposts, Xavier volunteered. Traveling by sea around the tip of Africa, he preached and taught in Goa, in Malacca, in the Maluku Islands, and in Japan. His next stop was to be China, but a fever killed him on December 3, 1552.                                                                                                                                                               Our meals today will follow in St Francis’ goals and journey. Since he died on an island off the coast of China, our breakfast is the Chinese-inspired Fu Yung Bake.  For his pan-Asian agenda, there is the All-Asian meal of Dim Sum, with its contributions from India, Thailand, and China.

Fu Yung Bake:  294 calories  5.7 g fat  2.9 g fiber  18 g protein  41 g carbs [25 g complex]  349 mg Calcium  PB  Straight out of China, a no-fuss bake.Fu Yung Bake

One 2-oz egg                                                                                                                                                              2 Tbsp crab meat                                                                                                                                                   1 tsp soy sauce                                                                                                                                                             3 Tbsp sprouts [I used broccoli sprouts, but suit yourself]                                                                        2 tsp semolina flour                                                                                                                                                  pinch ground ginger + pinch granulated garlic                                                                                            1 Tbsp scallion, sliced across for garnish                                                                                                          1 clementine                                                                                                                                                         blackish coffee, blackish tea, or lemon in hot water                                                                                           5-6 oz smoothie or natural apple cider

Mix the crab meat with the soy sauce. Combine the semolina with the ginger and garlic powder. Lightly oil or spritz an oven-proof dish. Distribute the crab over the bottom of the dish, then sprinkle the sprouts over top. Whisk the egg with the seasoned semolina and pour over the sprouts and crab. Add salt and pepper if you wish. Bake at 350° F. for 12 minutes. Plate and top with the scallion. Enjoy with the clementine and pour the beverages.

Dim Sum: 302 calories   5.6 g fat   1.1 g fiber   32 g protein   30 g carbs   28.5 mg Calcium   I like to think of Dim Sum as the Asian version of Tapas or Meze: tastes of several different delicious foods. With prepared parts in the freezer, this meal is easy to assemble.Dim Sum Plate

2 oz raw chicken cubes                                                                                                                                           1 tsp prepared Satay Sauce                                                                                                                                 ½ tsp creamy peanut butter                                                                                                                                    2 Momos [see Deli & Delhi, 25 Feb- 2018]                                                                                                                     2 Wontons [see Go West 18 Feb- 2018]                                                                                                               2 tsp chicken stock                                                                                                                                                  1 oz Chinese BBQ Pork for steamed buns [46 calories/oz]                                                                             2 oz tomato

Thaw the chicken. Cream the Satay Sauce with the peanut butter and mix with the chicken meat. Let sit several hours. Thaw the momos, the wontons, and the pork. Combine the stock with 2 tsp water and put the wontons in the broth. Put over heat until the wontons are hot through. Remove them and continue to heat the stock until reduced back to 2 tsp. [Using ceramic soup spoons, I put 1 tsp of stock in each spoon and topped it with a warm wonton.] Thread the chicken onto a skewer and broil for 10-15 minutes, turning to cook the other side. Place the momos in a steamer for about 15 minutes, until they are cooked through and the wrappers are translucent. Heat the pork in the microwave for about 1 minute. Slice the tomato and plate the Dim Sum components in the manner of your choosing.

St Cecilia

~ 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.

There are many famous saints, and Cecilia is one of them. Why? According to the Golden Legend, she was a patrican Roman who was determined to remain chaste as a commitment to Christianity. On the night of her parent-induced wedding, she told her groom, Valerian, that if he touched her he would be killed by her guardian angel. So he converted to Christianity and they lived as brother and sister. She died a martyr, as did Valerian. But the story has holes. Cecilia or Cecily lived in the 1st century or the 2nd century; in Rome or in Sicily. She is not mentioned in the early lists of martyrs and does not come on the radar until the late 5th century when Pope Gelasius wrote her name into his Book of Sacraments. In 1599, her body was found in the catacombs [no inscriptions or other identification], and as proof of her saintliness, it was not decayed. Did Cecilia exist? Probably not, according to Franciscanmedia. Even Catholic Online suggest that her Romeo and Juliet story of Platonic Love was written to counter then-popular sensual love stories writtten in Greek. At any rate, Cecilia was associated with music and inspired a flowering of tunes written specifically for church services. Cecilia is remembered more today for the music festivals and works of art she inspired, rather than for her faith.  She has been depicted in music by Handel, in art by Raphael, in poetry by Dryden, and in a choral piece with words by W.H. Auden with music by Benjamin Britten.                                                                                                            

Because both ‘sweet cecily‘ and ‘valerian‘ are the names of herbs, our meals today will feature chives, thyme, oregano, and rosemary in a symphony of flavors.

Parmesan-Chive Scramble w: kiwi

Chive-Parmesan Scramble:    300 calories  10 g fat   2 g fiber   19.5 g protein  27.6 g carbs [10 g Complex]  390 mg Calcium   PB GF   This is the Scramble version of my Dear Husband’s ‘Bake’ of the same ingredients. Still wonderful!

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                                                                                                                                                   3 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese                                                                                                                        3 Tbsp minced fresh chives                                                                                                                                   1 oz kiwi fruit                                                                                                                                                              5-6 oz fruit smoothie, green smoothie, or natural apple cider                                                          blackish coffee or tea or lemon in hot water

Whisk together the chives, cheese, and eggs. Turn into a hot pan spritzed with oil or non-stick spray. Scramble to perfection and plate with the fruit. Pour your choice of beverages and dig into a bright breakfast, even on a grey day.

Chicken Parmesan w: salad

Chicken Parmesan:  238 calories  2.6 g fat  4.7 g fiber  31 g protein  11.4 g carbs   242.5 mg Calcium   PG GF – if using GF bread  At last! The restaurant classic made suitable for Fasters. And it is delicious.

3-½ oz raw chicken breast meat, boneless, skinless                                                                                                 1 Tbsp Parmesan cheese, grated                                                                                                                           1 tsp dried oregano +  1 tsp dried thyme                                                                                                                                 ¼ oz whole-grain breadcrumbs, fresh not dried                                                                                           1 Tbsp milk                                                                                                                                                                  ¼ cup marinara sauce, homemade [ SAUCY, 6 December, 2017] or jarred   rosemary                                                                                                                                         ¾ oz mozzarella, grated                                                                                                                                            2 Tbsp low-fat cottage cheese                                                                                                                                   1 cup baby greens + ½ oz grated carrots ½ tsp olive oil + ½ tsp red wine vinegar

Heat the toaster oven to 350°F. Spritz an oven-proof pan with non-stick spray or olive oil. Pour the milk onto a small plate. On another plate combine the Parmesan and bread crumbs with salt and pepper. Cream the mozzarella and cottage cheeses together until well-combined. Dip the chicken in the milk on both sides. Dredge the chicken in the crumb/cheese/herb mixture to coat it completely. Place on the oven-proof pan and spray with olive oil. Bake the chicken about 10 minutes, until golden. Top the chicken with the marinara sauce, then mound the cheese over it. Broil for 5 minutes until the cheese is melty and starting to brown. Prepare the salad ingredients and toss with dressing. 

Ingredients for next week:

Breakfast, single portion

1 two-oz egg1.5 two-oz eggs
chorizo sausagelow-fat ricotta
chèvre      +   pearherbs, dried or fresh
Dijon mustard + Herbes de Provinceapplesauce
optional smoothieoptional smoothie
optional hot beverageoptional hot beverage

Dinner, single portion:

tilapia + white whole wheat flourfirm-fleshed fish [swordfish/tuna]
sweet potato  + canola oileggplant  +  red/yellow bell pepper
granulated garlic   + asparaguscherry tomatoes  +  salad fixings
paprika  +  lime juice + egg corn kernels  + butter
Sparkling waterSparkling water

Mushrooms

~ me ~ Leave a comment

How this Fast Diet Lifestyle works: Eat these meals tomorrow, for an all-day total of 600 calories or less. On Thursday, eat meals that total of 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 SistaSoul who is now Following.

Mushrooms are wonderful. From the standpoint of a naturalist, the life-history and growth-habits are fascinating.  As a forager, I enjoy the thrill of the hunt.

Wild Mushroom assortment
Chanterelles, Meadow Mushrooms, and Fairy Ring Champignons await cooking

As a locavore, how can one resist the foods that grow within a few miles of home?  As a cook, I love their flavor and the way they go well with so many other ingredients.  As a Faster, I can appreciate how a few mushrooms in a dish will elevate the flavor without raising the calorie count.  When it comes to foraging, you must learn from a reliable source — in person. You cross-reference before you pick: where it grows [under spruce trees? on the grass?]; the recognizable traits [color of gills, ring or no ring, texture of stem]; what it is growing on [wood? soil? other?] to be sure of your identification. No one has ever sickened from eating mushrooms at our house. September and October are the best — Fall Chanterelles, Horse Mushrooms, Meadow Mushrooms, Fairy Ring Champignons, the occasional Field Bluwit.  Some are huge!

LArge Mushrooms
These are Horse Mushrooms, Agaricus arvensis.

Some are tiny!  And for the rest of the year, our meals are delicious with the mushrooms we froze in season. Hope you will enjoy mushrooms in our baked eggs for breakfast and in our Vindaloo dinner.  In the latter, if you wish to make the dish vegetarian, just eliminate the pork and keep the mushrooms.

O-M-G Bake:  282 calories   7.7 g fat   2.8 g fiber   14 g protein   38 g carbs  271 mg Calcium NB: Food values are for plated items only, not optional beverages.  PB GF  Think: Oh My Goodness!  Or: Olive-Mushroom-Gouda.  What Flavor!

O-M-C Bake w: applesauce

1 two-oz egg                        black olive, oil cured                                                                                                                                                               1                    ½ oz raw mushroom, chopped, poached in enough simmering water to cover for 20 sec.                                                                                                                                      ¼ oz Gouda cheese, grated                                 2 oz applesauce                                                                                                                                                nearly black coffee or tea or lemon in hot water                 6 oz fruit smoothie or natural apple cider

First set the toaster oven to 350°F. My Dear Husband is the one who prepares the breakfasts. He says to start the coffee next and then to prepare the smoothie. Spritz a ramekin with oil or non-stick spray.  Pit and chop the olive. Put the olive and mushroom in the ramekin. Whisk the egg with the cheese and pour into the ramekin. Bake in the toaster oven at 350 degrees F. for 12-15 minutes, depending on how you like your eggs. Dish up the applesauce and pour the beverages. Delicious.

Pork & Mushroom Vindaloo: 250 calories  7 g fat   5 g fiber  21 g protein   15 g Carbs   52.5 mg Calcium   PB GF   This unique curry dish comes from southern India. If you can’t find packaged Vindaloo Seasoning, you can prepare your own. HINT: this recipe serves 2 [two].

Mushroom-Pork Vindaloo

1.5 Tbsp Vindaloo seasoning, feel free to use more                                                                                                                       2 cloves garlic             ½ tsp fresh ground ginger            2 tsp canola oil                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               ¾ cup onions [2.5 oz]                    3 Tbsp cider vinegar               ½ tsp sugar                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               5 oz pork tenderloin or turkey breast [1.25 cups cubed]                7 oz mushrooms [200 g]                                                                                                                                            3 oz broccoli florets, steamed                     ½ cup cooked brown rice

Press the garlic and stir into the vindaloo powder. Combine with the vinegar. Marinate the meat in that mixture for 30-60 minutes. Saute the onions in the oil until beginning to brown. Add the ginger, then add the sugar right away. Pour in the meat with the marinade and stir-fry until the meat is almost cooked. Add the mushrooms and cook over low heat until the sauce is thick. Plate with the rice and top with the broccoli.

Alice

~ 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.

Alice in Wonderland? Alice Cooper? No, Alice Margaret Ziegler who was born on November 15.  Were she still with us, she would celebrate her 99th birthday tomorrow. My mother would not have wanted to see her 99th year.  When she was a young woman, she couldn’t imagine wanting to be 40!  Born, raised, and educated in Pennsylvania, she moved to Maryland, Texas, and Connecticut as my father changed jobs. “Whither thou goest” was high on her list of wifely priorities. She loved gardening, herbs, reading the classics, crossword puzzles, English history, Mozart, dancing, poetry, ice cream, hot dogs, and my father. I see her in a look in my sister’s eye.  We often quote her aphorisms. She is still with us.  Since she was a devoted Anglophile, she would approve of Kippered Eggs for breakfast. And for dinner, the meal I used to prepare for her birthday: Chicken and Dumplings.  Here’s to wonderful memories of my wonderful mother.

Kippered Eggs w: cherries

Kippered Eggs:  294 calories  9.4 g fat  2.7 g fiber  18 g protein  34 g carbs [31 g Complex] 217 mg Calcium  PB GF  Kippers are traditionally served with eggs, but why not have them in eggs? We did and it is terrific!

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                                                                               0.4 oz kippered [smoked, salted, dried] herring                                                                                          ¼ tsp dried mustard                                                                                                                                                    1 tsp lemon or lime juice                                                                                                                                              4 sweet cherries                                                                                                                                                          5-6 oz green smoothie or fruit smoothie or natural apple cider                                                         blackish tea or blackish coffee or hot water with lemon

The night before: Soak the kipper fillet in warm tap water for 30 minutes. Mince the fish. In a small bowl, combine the juice and mustard, then mix in the fish. Leave it until morning. Next morning: Put the fish with its flavorings into a lightly-spritzed hot non-stick or cast iron pan and warm them. Whisk the eggs and pour over the fish. Let the eggs cook without disturbing them, then fold and plate with the cherries. The beverages are a nice counterpoint to the savory richness of the eggs and herring.

Chicken & Dumpling w: peas

Chicken & Dumplings: 293 calories 6.8 g fat 4.6 g fiber 37.8 g protein 30 g carbs 67 mg Calcium PB  This was a real hit in my parents’ Central Pennsylvania home and it is still a favorite with us. Be aware that it is best made over 2 days, but it basically cooks by itself with a few busy bouts by you. Worth the time and effort. AND this recipe serves 4 [four] people, so have a party serving this great make-ahead meal. If you serve one or two, make the whole thing anyhow, package and freeze the remainder.

3 pound whole chicken, preferably a fowl for greater flavor, although you will get more meat from a fryer                   ½ cup onion, chopped                                                                                                                                          1/3 cup carrots cut as coins                                                                                                                                  ½ cup celery, chopped                                                                                                                                                   bay leaf  + 3 peppercorns                                                                                                                                                           1.5 tsp Worcestershire sauce                                                                                                                                     2 Tbsp white whole wheat flour                                                                                                                              4 dumplings [see ..Not by Bread.. II-7-’18]                                                                                                            per person:   ¼ cup green peas 

Cut up a 3 pound chicken into leg quarters, breast quarters, back, wings. In a large pot, brown the chicken in a little oil on all sides. Add the vegetables, bay leaf and pepper and water to cover. Simmer on the cooktop for 45 minutes. Add 2 tsp salt, cover, and simmer for another 45 minutes. Strain off the stock and let the fat rise to the surface to cool. Discard the fat. Reserve the vegetables. Cool the chicken and remove the skin. Pull off the meat in chunks: you will use 17 oz meat by volume.   You could stop here.  HINT: save any remaining stock and chicken for excellent soup.  You could stop here.

Measure ¼ cup of stock and whisk in the 2 Tbsp whole wheat flour to form a paste. Meausre 1.5 cups stock and pour into a stovetop-safe serving dish along with the Worcestershire sauce. Add the flour water paste and stir to incorporate. Put the vegetables and chicken meat into the dish and adjust seasonings to taste. You could stop here. When ready to serve, prepare the dough for the dumplings. Heat the chicken mixture and place 4 dollops of dumpling dough on the warm chicken. Let it all bubble gently for 15-20 minutes, then cover the dish and continue to cook for another 15-20 minutes. Steam the peas and pour over the top of the dish before bringing to the table. Serve this simple classic proudly.

Ingredients for next week:

Breakfast, single portion

1 two-oz egg1.5 two-oz eggs
oil cured black oliveParmesan cheese
Gouda cheesechive  +  kiwi fruit
mushrooms   +  applesaucericotta cheese, reduced fat
optional smoothieoptional smoothie
optional hot beverageoptional hot beverage

Dinner, single portion:

Vindaloo seasoning  + garlicchicken breast   +  Parmesan cheese
mushrooms   + pork  +  gingerfresh bread crumbs  + cottage cheese
canola oil  + onion  +  cider
vinegar		mozzarella  + salad greens + carrot
broccoli   +  brown rice   + sugarmarinara sauce [see Saucy, 6 Dec-’17]
Sparkling waterSparkling water