Zucchini Noodles with Basil and Tomatoes

Mar 16th

A friend of mine opened a spa/weight loss place here, as part of a franchise. It was in Bay Harbour, and was beautifully done, with serene rooms and wonderful services. As an Arizona Level Trophy Wife, I never visited her there. Well, that’s not true. I went once. It was before they opened for the day and we drank mimosas. 🙂

However, after a year she parted ways with her franchise company and left the building. She still owned all the equipment though, so she set up shop at her place. Open space in someones living room? Much more my level. So now, in an effort to lose weight, I am making use of her services.

The first time I went to her I had a thermal wrap. Which essentially is getting placed into a huge heated sleeping bag that completely encases all but your head. And when I say heated, I mean 180 degrees. I did good the first 25 minutes but then couldn’t hang for the last five. I stopped early.

So the following week we lowered the temp. But my friend used a different wrap directly on me this time. To me it was like being in a straight jacket inside a slightly larger straight jacket. I didn’t even last five minutes this time. I needed to have the bag unzipped and the body wrap removed. Then I was able to stay inside the thermal wrap. With it unzipped. Apparently I am a tad bit claustrophobic. Next time I will try leaving my arms out of the wrap, and see if that helps. Although my arms could use some thinning too. Otherwise I may need this tattoo. 🙂

chickenwingtat

Amazingly, I’m not just counting on spa treatments to make me thin. I am actually exercising (kind of) and dieting (like 80% of the time) as well. And zucchini noodles are my new obsession. Because I love spaghetti sauce and need it to remain part of my life, no matter what. Plus I found this really cool, totally easy to use, affordable kitchen toy on amazon that helps me make the zucchini noodles.

zucchinitoys

You can get this fun toy too, using the link below. And my usual disclosure – this is an affiliate link. So I can get rich of the like 10 cents I would earn if you buy. 🙂

The first time I made the noodles I couldn’t figure out why they were wide and thin, not at all spaghetti like. Then I actually read the directions and realized that it was two sided and I was using the wide thin side. Once I flipped it over I got my long noodles. I’ve used it twice more since then. In just under two weeks. Did I mention I’m obsessed?

zucchininoodles

Last night I made the noodles with chicken, tomatoes and basil. The chicken was already cooked, so the whole dish, from start to finish, took like 15 minutes. The noodles are sauteed, for like 7 minutes, and stay chewy, which is gives a nice texture. Toss in the rest of the ingredients, cook till heated, done. I also have one more cheat I use – frozen basil squares from Trader Joes.

frozenbasil

Have you seen these? They are awesome. So much better then dried, but easier to have on hand then always buying fresh.