My love, Pad Thai.

After weigh in's on Tuesdays, I'll add a couple yummy asian foods to my meals during the week.  Then two or so days before Tuesday weigh in's, I try to keep my sodium levels low, bc in my mind, I feel better and get better results.  Honestly, I'm starting to learn that the key to long term success is moderation.  Depriving my body only makes me want to eat the foods I love, that may be bad for me even more.  There are certain foods I love that i will never give up, so in order for me to keep those foods in my life, I have to indulge/pigout/binge less and find healthier versions.  It's worth it.  I love you pad thai, steamed rice rolls, pho, steamed buns, laab, spring rolls, spicy curry bamboo noodles and white rice.

I think I found the best natural, "healthy" pad thai from a blogger called Sophistimom.  Most home made pad thai recipes call for soy sauce/oyster sauce and fish sauce, I know, whoa on the sodium!  But Sophistimom's recipe finds a good balance. 

Here's the recipe for the sauce:
tamarind sauce (can be doubled or tripled, and then frozen)
1 2 inch piece of tamarind fruit with seeds (or 2 tablespoons of tamarind paste plus 2 tablespoons water)
2 tablespoons agave nectar (or 3 tablespoons sugar)
3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
3 tablespoons fish sauce
1/2 teaspoon chili sauce, or a pinch cayenne pepper

- How simple and yummy right?  I have all the ingredients except tamarind fruit.    I'm going to make this one weekend!

Work was so busy today I only ate 5P+ all day until 6:30pm!  I know, this isn't smart or healthy.  Not spreading the food you eat throughout the day and starving yourself for long periods slooooooows your metabolism.  So I went to whole foods hungry (not good either) and instead of making home made pad thai sauce tonight, I bought it in a box and I have absolutey, NO regrets about it.  I looooove this brand.

I love it because there is only 220mg of sodium in one serving!

I also love all the ingredients because I can pronounce them and they don't end in 'ose.

I know, it doesn't make sense.  There's fish sauce in the ingredients and it's still only 220mg Na+?!?!  I'm just going to believe it.  Maybe it's homemade and not sold in bottles!?  I don't eat this every week, so I'm okay with it.  I like all the flavors, especially this one.  The Peanut and Pineapple pad thai sauces give you more for less servings. Each box serves 2 while the Original version serves 3 (I think).  The flavors are so good, you don't even need to add extra fish sauce at the end.  Just add some pepper flakes, siracha and cilantro and you're good to go, seriously.  There's another brand that I love even more but it's sold at safeway and I forgot the name, i'll find it and post it later.  The Thai Pavillion box even has a standard recipe on the back that includes lots of veggies.  I added 1 cup (1/2 cup is one serving) of asparagus to the pad thai and it totally kept me from pigging out and eating the second serving.  Besides asparagus, it suggested cauliflower, carrorts and green beans.  I would have never thought to add any of these...well, it's not that i didn't know to add these veggies, it's that I wouldn't have wanted to add them.  OMG, this is the first time i've ever saved the second serving for tomorrow's lunch, seriously first. time. ever.  Adding veggies is the way to go, man.

Look at all this, two wonderful tasty servings.  Totally worth the points.

Served on a salad plate

- 3 oz leftover lean ground chicken thigh, cooked (you can use tofu or add extra veggies to the dish).  3P+
- 1 cup cooked asparagus, cut into thirds 0P+
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro 0P+
- 1 tsp siracha sauce (added after food had been plated) 0P+
- Pho noodles and sauce that came in the box.  2 servings per box, 8P+ per serving.
- 1 tsp olive oil, 1P+.  Do NOT add this next time, spray pan once or twice with cooking spray.  You don't need it, the sauce is flavor packed. 

Total Pts: 10P+ for one serving.

I have to confess something, besides the pad thai, I also ate a super high Na+ (1475mg) packaged pho bowl!  I love this brand but it didn't hit the spot like the pad thai did...I was eating with my stomach again!  I shouldn't have gone to whole foods hungry!!  Oh well, Tomorrow is a new day, i'm over it.  8P+.