low-cal sriracha peanut sesame noodles

I woke up this morning at three to feed Tyndale.

After nursing, burping, changing, nursing, then burping him again (all the while watching The Tonight Show–thank goodness for Jimmy Fallon) and rocking him back to sleep, I couldn’t go back to sleep. Annoying.

But fortunately, there’s no shortage of things to do around here, so I folded several loads of laundry while listening to old podcast espisodes of This American Life. (This one and this one are particularly good.) And thought about how nice it is to be up, awake, in a quiet, quiet house. To be sure, it’s a good time to think.

Yesterday, Amalia came home with a letter from her school saying she tested into the G.T. (gifted & talented) program. Of course I was ecstatic–there’s no doubt she’s a smarty-pants–but sad because one of our other kids tested but didn’t get in, and another child tested but we haven’t heard back yet. I also thought about yesterday’s post, & about all the hopes and dreams we have for our kids.

How we don’t want them to feel pain, or disappointment, but at the same time we do because otherwise they’ll grow up without a clue. Those life lessons that must be learned at some point are much harder in adulthood when the world is a much more unforgiving place. How, of course we want them to develop their talents, to learn discipline, to know the joy of mastering skills but at the same time we don’t want them to feel entitled and, we want them to be able to be kids too. And of course, how money is always in the background, or in the forefront, whichever.

I don’t know why I’m sharing this. I’m just in one of those introspective moods I guess.

Today I thought I’d share a recipe that has become one of my faves of late. It takes about 4 minutes to make. It’s a perfect meal for weight loss (which you know, I’m kinda in the middle of), or just when you want to eat something lighter.

This recipe is low calorie because I use shiritaki noodles instead of regular rice noodles. They’re gluten-free, vegan, and some brands are also soy-free. One serving is only 15-20 calories. I also use PB2 powder, which has 75% less calories per serving than regular peanut butter and tastes awesome, in my opinion.

I eat shiritaki noodles a few times a week when I’m in weight reduction mode. (I share two other of my fave ways to eat them in my Fit, Strong, Lean: The Diet ebook)

Have you never used shiritaki noodles?

They’re awesome.

There are many brands of shiritaki noodles.

Here are two I buy.

If you’ve never tried them, you might be wondering how they fare in comparison to say grain-based noodles. Of course they’re not exactly the same as wheat pasta noodles, but they do the job. It’s all about the sauce you use. I’ve found it’s best if the sauce has a little fat in it. And I like throwing some texture in as well. In this case, the coleslaw.

The nasoya brand is made from konjac flour, chickpea flour, & potato starch.

The house foods brand is made from tofu & yam flour.

One way I like to eat the noodles is with some siracha peanut dressing, lots of shredded coleslaw (you know, the prewashed, bagged kind).

Super easy, lots of fiber, protein, and under 250 calories.

Nice.

Looking for more low-cal recipes good for weight loss? Check out my Fit, Strong, Lean: The Diet 130 page ebook, now available at the bring joy shop.