Vacation weight gain? Zucchini etc to the rescue

Today's take from our two zucchini plants, which have suddenly roared into high production. I grated most of a medium zucchini then nuked the "noodles" for a minute and a half.

PK and I returned last week from a month away. We biked. We hiked. We danced to the Rolling Stones. We ate too much, or at least I ate too much. We sat on our butts for nearly 5,000 miles of travel to the Midwest and back, via Canada. Great trip. But. Butt. 

I gained five pounds. PK doesn't seem any fatter. Still a skinny SOB. But me? The enlarged rolls around the middle are insidious, hideous, entirely ridicuilious. (re-dick-u-ill- e-us). And also bilious.

I've developed a self-defeating habit for one who is privileged to travel. I relax my low-carbish diet on vacations as I relax everything else. Sometimes that's OK,  such as when we're dependent upon others for sustenance or when the sustenance supplied is not commensurate with what my overfed body expects. Hence when we returned from Africa in 2013, I had lost a few pounds.

But on this trip we were self-medicated with food and well treated by all the hosts who went out of their way to please us. Great stuff! Sandwiches every day, potato salad, pasta salad, desserts! And now ..... overstuffed, as witness the pants that won't zip. 

After this morning's weigh-in and a scary look at my belly during down dog at yoga, I determined to rev up a carb-correction plan that includes substituting zucchini, cauliflower, green beans and other veggies for rice, pasta, potatoes, bread and other delicious items that make a person gain weight not just because they're caloric, but also because refined carbs produce blood sugar spikes that lead to appetite spikes that lead to driving spikes into the heart. (Spikes in heart—for desperate cases only.)

Zucchini is going bonkers in the garden and so.....

ZUCCHINI NOODLES

Two servings. Select a fresh medium or medium-large zucchini, preferably one in which seeds have not yet formed. Seeds make for weak noodles.

Grate into longish strands using a box grater or a food processor. 

Microwave in a covered glass bowl on high for a minute. Check after a minute to see if the noodles need another 30 seconds or so. They should be hot and limp, but not slimy or falling apart. You want them to hold together for whatever sauce you'll douse them with. They're great with a bit of crunch left.

The short story here: it is easy to make zucchini "noodles" using a box grater, or a food processor or a mandolin.

Microwaved zucchini noodles should be well drained before dressing with sauces. 

My virtuous lunch comprising reheated marinara meat sauce topped with zuke noodles, shredded Parmesan, and fresh basil.