Good morning! Up at 4AM today, thanks to jet lag. Already it’s been a productive morning and going to try to hammer out a post before I leave the house today (not because I have much to share but just to help me learn structure and consistency!)

For breakfast yesterday, I was supposed to try out peanut butter oatmeal, but I woke up craving eggs. So I had an open-faced egg sandwich with egg whites, garlic, onions, ketchup, and Sriracha:

After the gym, I went to “It’s a Grind Coffee House” in Irvine – my goal is to branch out and try out new places to study. This one was great. Maybe it was because it was the middle of the day so it wasn’t loud and crazy like most Starbucks can get. Or maybe because they added an extra shot of espresso for free. Or the comfy couch/chair that I was sitting in. Or the really good music choice. Or the 25% off my drink. <—– might have found myself a new work place on the first try!

I caught up on all my e-mails and everything that I’d put on hold while I was in NY. Got myself Google Reader to keep all my blogs and news organized. No wonder people love it so much. Why am I so late to the party on everything?

Had Subway for lunch – after reading a news article that said that Subway bread contains some chemical that’s been banned in several countries. I can’t resist.

Did some grocery shopping at Trader Joes and Wholesome Choice. Really wanted to buy this:

…but couldn’t justify buying something that was 11 grams of fat for 2 tbsp. So I’m going to attempt to recreate it with some feta cheese, greek yogurt, and garlic.

Normally, I feel like I can get most of what I need at Trader Joes. But today my most successful trip was Wholesome Choice. Why? Because I walked out with something I’ve been searching for for a few weeks:

This tofu pasta, introduced to me by my Bhabhi (sister-in law) is 40 calories per serving (0 WW points). I was stoked to try out Hungry Girl’s lo-cal Mac and Cheese recipe. The packaging even said “Hungry Girl approved” on the back. Wonder how many more people are buying this product now as a result…

Luckily, I was pre-warned by Bhabhi that there would be a really, god-awful stench when I first opened up the packaging and that it’d go away once I drained, rinsed, and dried the noodles. So, just a warning for all those who don’t have cool sister-in-laws to fill you in on the deets: These noodles SMELL. But it’ll go away. Don’t run out of the kitchen in fear. 

You have to rinse THOROUGHLY. That does not mean run the water over the noodles. It means get your hands wet and make sure those stinky noodles are clean. You can then either blot them dry with a paper towel. But they really need to be DRY. Not moist. So, if you need to blot them and then put them on a plate and microwave them for a minute until the moisture’s gone, that might be the quickest way to get the stinkers dry. Once they are dry, the smell sort of disappears. THANK GOD. You can unplug your nose.

Then, I cut up a Laughing Cow cheese wedge on top of the not-so-stinky noodles, added some garlic salt, and put it in the microwave for 1.5 minutes.

 

Added some Tapatio and ENJOYED my nice 75 calorie snack. Another warning: the texture of this “pasta” is unexpected. So once again, don’t throw your bowl at the wall and run out of the room. It takes some getting used to, but once you do, it’s wonderful! And really hits that Mac N Cheese craving for less than half the calories and fat.

 

In the future, I’ll probably use it as more of a base for an actual meal – add some chicken and veggies and maybe that texture won’t be as prominent.

 

Has anyone used tofu pasta before? Recipes to share?!