Zoodle Me This...

Sep 10, 2012

I had weight loss surgery (WLS) nearly four months ago. So far I’ve lost 79 pounds. I weigh myself every Saturday and again on Sunday and take which ever number is the lowest as my weekly number. I know that sounds a little crazy but it’s just how I do it. Also, I only look at the first three numbers on the scale. I don’t care about the point something. I think this helps me mentally because when I do lose, the least I can lose is one pound instead of .1, .2, or .8 and never quite reaching that one pound, which can be quite frustrating. Granted, if I weigh in at 223.1 one week and 222.8 the next week, I count that as a one pound loss even though technically it’s only .3.  

Today I want to tell you about the best food discovery I’ve made. After WLS your surgeon and nutritionist put you on a high protein / low carb diet so pasta is out. My all time favorite thing to eat is a nice big plate of spaghetti with meat sauce on it. YUM! Since having WLS, this has been off limits. In my desperation to satisfy my craving for spaghetti I started searching the internet for alternatives. There just has to be a low carb pasta out there that nobody has discovered yet. I had sauce with meat by itself a few times and that was good but I missed the pasta. Some people think spaghetti squash is a good alternative but I never really found that it satisfied my cravings. Then I discovered “Zoodles.”  

Zoodles are zucchini cut into thin strips that closely resemble spaghetti noodles. I was skeptical at first but I thought what could it hurt to give it a try? I brought a zucchini home and carefully cut it into thin spaghetti like strips. The precision cutting took me about 30 minutes just to cut up one zucchini. I thought this better be good for all the work that has to go into this. After cutting it, I dropped the zoodles in boiling water for just a couple of minutes until they were limp, like spaghetti. I topped them with some meat sauce, a little parmesan, and then....AAAHHHHH!!!!!    

I had never heard of these things before and now I’m addicted. For lunch today I’m having zoodles mixed with some fat free cottage cheese and some spaghetti sauce. Truly, it’s like lasagna in a bowl for a mere 82 calories.  YUM!  

I didn’t like cutting the zoodles so I purchased what I call the zoodler from Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/World-Cuisine-A4982799-Tri-Blade-Vegetable/dp/B0007Y9WHQ). I can now cut an entire zucchini in less than 2 minutes. Also, I simply microwave the zoodles for 3-4 minutes to make quick time of the cooking process. After microwaving don’t forget to drain off any water. Think about it, I can now make zoodles in less time than it ever took me to make traditional spaghetti.      

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