Movin' On Down Again

I lost 3 lbs last week! I told my leader (Bobbi) I guess the Ben & Jerry's plan is working. She said she wouldn't recommend that to any of her members. ;) I was really expecting a gain to show up, only as a delay from the B&J, but I guess I got lucky this time. I'm 1 pound away from where I was before the doc's started to change my meds and I went up a bit. Yay! Hubby asked me if oatmeal was better than cereal this morning. I wasn't quite sure what to tell him. It can be, depending on what type of oatmeal and cereal and oatmeal. I'll ask him more about it when he gets home tonight because he mentioned it right before he headed out the door. I did tell him I could make a batch and he could reheat it as he needed it in the morning. I just remembered I could also make him some baked oatmeal too. I gave him some of my WW materials to read also, maybe that'll help too.

I realized I posted the wrong Dan Dan Noodles recipe on Monday, so I'll post the correct one below, sorry about that.

I'm now taking an antibiotic, z-pack. I've pretty much had a headache almost everyday since my cold, and felt like I couldn't get a full breath. I've also been coughing (not majorly) since then too but I've not seen anymore colored stuff. I talked to the doctor. He had written the prescription for me when I went in to check on my toe to make sure it wasn't broken. The cold was just starting and he checked me out and wrote the prescription as a "just in case" so I wouldn't have to make an appointment later and most people he had seen ended up needing it. He told me that with my symptoms (it's been 3 weeks or so) to go ahead and take it because it sounded like it could be more than just a migraine. If it didn't get better then to come in. This would be my first sinus infection (if that's what it is) since I started with a neti pot, and that's been years.

Xie Laoban's Dan Dan Noodles
From "Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper" by Fuchsia Dunlop
Feeds two for supper, four for a street snack.
7-8 ounces dried Chinese flour-and-water noodles
For the meat topping:
1 Tablespoon peanut oil
3 Sichuanese dried chiles (if you can't find, substitute small red chiles of your choice), cut in half, seeds discarded
1/2 teaspoon whole Sichuan pepper
1 Tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons Tianjin preserved vegetable (available at Asian groceries), rinsed
1/4 pound ground beef
2 teaspoons light soy sauce (not to be confused with "lite")
For the sauce:
1/2 teaspoon Sichuan pepper, toasted and ground
2 Tablespoons sesame paste (tahini is a great substitute)
3 Tablespoons light soy sauce
2 teaspoons dark soy sauce (if you don't have, substitute light)
4 Tablespoons chili oil, plus sediment from jar, if possible

Heat peanut oil in a wok over moderate heat. When oil is hot but not smoking, add chiles and Sichuan pepper and stirfry briefly until oil is spicy and fragrant. Be careful not to burn spices. Add pickled vegetables and continue to stir fry until hot and fragrant. Add meat and soy sauce and cook meat until brown and crisp. Remove from heat.

Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook noodles according to instructions on the package.

In a small mixing bowl, combine all sauce ingredients. Either portion sauce among individual serving bowls or into one large bowl. Drain cooked noodles and combine with sauce, followed by meat mixture. With chopsticks, mix noodles so that sauce and meat are evenly distributed.