Quick, easy, and just a bit smelly.

On Sunday afternoon, I planned and bought for another week of yummy meals (I remembered my wallet this time, thank you). On Sunday night, I realized the hubby's back to school this week and has pretty much all night classes, which makes things a bit more tricky...my domestic side likes eating together, what can I say?

On Monday, he wasn't due home til 7:30, which gave me enough time to roast a chicken. Which I found incredibly impressive. Hello, who roasts poultry on a weekday? Or a non-holiday, for that matter? Per a suggestion by the lovely Squirreligirl, I stuffed a ton of spices (thyme, sage, garlic, rosemary, pepper, etc.) and basil leaves under the skin, sprinkled it all with salt & pepper, and roasted it for about an hour twenty. Side of mashed sweet potatoes and I was in comfort food heaven.

Last night, however, I didn't have nearly enough as much time. I had a rough evening at the salon (just terrible to be next door to a wine bar that lets you take it to go), followed by yoga-so by the time I started cooking, it was too late for anything elaborate. Plus, he had class til 9:30, which meant I was eating alone. Perfect excuse to experiment with the bag of tofu shirataki noodles I've been dying to try.

Before you make a face, realize that it's 40 calories for a good sized amount of pasta-one that would be worth 150-200 calories normally. I wouldn't recommend it for Italian dishes, per se, but for Asian food, it worked great. You really don't taste them...but they do have a bit of a slippery texture. Just rinse it well...it smells kinda rank when you first open the package.

I'm guessing I'm not selling this to many of you. But seriously, it's worth a shot.

I used them in a pad thai, tossing a couple cloves of minced garlic, a minced shallot, a handful of shredded carrots, grilled tofu, drained noodles, with (cheater alert) pad thai sauce (Thai Kitchen brand) and a dash of fish sauce. Sprinkled chopped peanuts, cilantro, green onion and a ton of bean sprouts...and finished with sriracha and lime juice. So fast. And super easy, I hardly even had to chop. And the husband said the house smelled fantastic when he got home. Which made me feel bad for picking out all the noodles and sticking him just with tofu as leftovers. Oops.

As for the rest of the week, I'm looking at steak and roasted brussel sprouts, pearl onions and prosciutto tonight, Stuffed chicken with creamy polenta and zucchini on Thursday...how much do I love Cooking Light recipes? This stuff all sounds like total fat kid food, and it so isn't.

Though even if it was, I've got zero excuse not to go to the gym now that I can make dinner a bit later. Except when I pack my gym bag and forget a t shirt...which means the gym starts tomorrow. I'm always amazed at my ability to procrastinate, even when it's not my intention. Just one more thing to thank my mother for.