9. Sesame-Peanut Noodles

Losing 18 pounds in the past two months is a very satisfying achievement for me.  When I started all of this I promised myself I would buckle down and be more strict about my diet, but the funny thing is I haven't needed to be very strict.  I don't know how many diets I tried that involved strict eating routines.  Don't get me wrong, there are certain guidelines I'm following.  One is drinking more water and unsweetened green tea.  I don't gulp water down like its going out of style I just constantly have a cup of ice water at hand and drink from that, then refill it when it's done.  Then I try to get four cups of green tea in a day, which is supposed to be good for just about everything.  What this does for me is keeps my soda intake low.  Diet soda isn't all that bad to drink but it isn't quite the fat fighter that plain water and green tea are.  The only meal that I try to strictly adhere to is breakfast.  I just try to eat something as soon as I get up, which is usually two eggs either over easy or poached and whole wheat toast. 

The rest of the day depends on when I get hungry.  I loosely try to follow a three meal, three snack structure.  I try to keep the meals light, which usually come from the recipes I post here.  The snacks are also light, about 100 to 200 calorie snacks.  The one thing I try to do is not let myself get too hungry.  When I get too hungry I'm prone to cravings and binges.  I used to think that being hungry was good when dieting and just part of the process, actually no.  Everything I read about weight loss says that letting yourself get hungry is not a good thing.  I know it's anecdotal but I had a roommate that ate almost all day long and lost over a hundred pounds to get down to the ideal weight for his height and structure.  His trick of course was eating healthy food and plenty of exercise.  

Another thing I do is not to let the rules make me miserable.  I've always had a hard time adhering to rules and the more they were imposed upon me the more I resented them.  So I permit myself to cheat occasionally.  This may mean drinking the occasional soda or having  some sort of junk food.  However, I try not to over do it.  If I have a soda, it will be just one glass instead of the whole two liter or a six pack.  If I have pizza I'll try to have two or three slices rather than a whole large pizza.  If I have chips, I try to have a handful or two rather than the whole bag.  This is really the way I used to eat.  I try to keep it healthy but there are just certain things I won't turn down: steak (which isn't too bad if you don't eat much with it); sushi (which isn't really fattening); pizza (see above); and free booze.  Fortunately I don't come across these things too readily anyway so it's easy to only have them occasionally.  

Since I'm not much of a rules person this seems to work for me and the main thing that helps is, if I deviate a little I always try to return healthy eating.  I don't know how many times in the past I've cheated a little and then gave up the diet.  Well, if I'm really going to lose weight I have to change my eating habits for life and that means that when I do cheat I just gotta bounce back.  It sounds simple but it is more difficult in practice.

Sesame-Peanut Noodles
 I found this recipe in Ted Allen's cookbook The Food You Want to Eat.  It's healthy, light, and quite tasty.

INGREDIENTS

Here are the ingredients I used to make the recipe.

Kosher salt
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup toasted sesame oil
1/3 cup roasted peanuts
1/3 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon of mirin (Japanese cooking wine) or Sherry
2 medium garlic cloves
1/4 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes 
1 English cucumber peeled
1 pound soba noodles
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 green onions, green parts only, sliced 1/4 inch thick on an angle

Bring a large pot of salted water (1 teaspoon of salt per quart of water) to a boil.

Meanwhile, toast the sesame seeds in a dry skillet over medium heat.  Stir this frequently until the seeds turn golden brown, about five minutes.

In a food processor, combine peanut butter, sesame oil, peanuts, soy sauce, vinegar, sherry, garlic, and red pepper flakes.  Process to a puree, then stir in half the toasted sesame seeds.

I couldn't find mirin and I don't have sherry.  So I left that out of the mix, but I'm sure it wasn't a huge loss. 

Cut the peeled English cucumber in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds with spoon.  Slice the halves crosswise, about a 1/4 inch thick, set aside.  Frankly, I didn't find much of a difference in the flavor of an English cucumber and a regular-ass cucumber.

Here is another one of my kitchen helpers.  He's ten and his favorite job is tasting cucumbers.  It's good to see he likes something other than his usual diet of pb & j and boxed mac and cheese.

When the water comes to a boil, add the noodles and cook until tender, about 4 to 5 minutes.  Drain very well, shake the colander until it stops dripping and dump the noodles into a large bowl.  Add the peanut mixture, cilantro (I used dry cilantro rather than fresh.), and black pepper.  Toss to coat.  

Turn out on a large platter.  Arrange the cucumber around the edge of the platter.  Sprinkle the green onions on top, and sprinkle the remaining sesame seeds on last.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

It's not on a platter but I was the only one eating it when it was done so a single plate it is.

It's nutty goodness with noodles! 

My inspirational hero of the day is Ted Allen.  I first saw him as the food guy from Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.  His latest claim to fame is the show Chopped on Food Network.  However, my favorite show of his is Food Detectives, imagine Mythbusters but with food.  That's right you may notice a pattern with my heroes being linked to science.  I think science is the best thing humans got going for them.  And check it out!  He's wearing a CBGB apron that is totally awesome!