These noodles are jedi food

One of my first jobs was at Wal-Mart as a cashier. I worked the overnight shift sometimes, and that was when the best people came in. Rednecks, medieval damsels, oldsters with breathing apparatus, vampires, drag queens, gangstas, sci-fi nerds in jedi robes, bearded ladies, hoochie mamas, the list goes on.
When I first found out I would be working as a cashier and would not have a manly job, I was a little disappointed. That was OK, I would see what ringing people up was all about. What I found out was that you can tell a lot about people by what is on the conveyor belt.
For example, I noticed that when buying "personal items", some people put them on the belt first and then built a pyramid on top of them with all the other stuff they were getting. When I would see a pile on the conveyor, I tried to guess what was at the bottom of the stack. Usually condoms.
Some More observations:
Dudes buy makeup a lot more than one might think.
Uptight ladies tend to buy douche in bulk quantities.
Bearded ladies love keebler cookies.
Also, I learned that I could not keep a straight face if someone was buying just an enema. But if they bought something else at the same time I was less likely to laugh in their face. Did I mention I was only 17 or 18 years old at the time? That's irrelevant because I am still writing about it, so I obviously think it is still funny.

A friend works at Whole Foods. She gets to see what people buy as well, and that is how I found out about Shirataki noodles. She mentioned that all the elite athletes are buying them.
These noodles are high in fiber, low in carbohydrates, and also contain protein. They are made from tofu and konjac flour. Konjac is indigenous to eastern Asia and is also known as the elephant yam, although it is not related to the sweet potatoes that we know and love to eat.
They come in two varieties that I know of: spaghetti and fettucine. They are kept in the refrigerated section and come in a bag full of water with a splash of calcium hydroxide (lime the mineral) to extend the shelf life.
When you use them you need to either boil them for a few minutes, microwave them, or run them under hot water for a while to get rid of the fishy smell that you will notice when you stick your nose close for a whiff.
I tried mine last week with red sauce and some grilled chicken tenderloins. I will tell you I have had better pasta in my life. The texture is a little rubbery, although not as bad as if I had eaten the tentacles of a squid in place of noodles. So, not terrible.
This is how shirataki noodles compare to regular pasta:

Regular pasta has 152 calories per 4 oz. serving - almost all those calories come from carbohydrates.

Shiratake has 20 calories per 4 oz. serving - 12 calories from carbs.

Discuss.

Since the noddles were a little weird for straight-up Italian food, I have some ideas about how I will prepare my shiritake noodles:

Go half and half with 100% whole wheat pasta

Toss into a stir fry

Substitute for rice in a thai dish like red curry

asian soup with a miso-based broth.

1 tsp miso
2 cups broth
1 tablespoon rice wine.

Add shiritaki noodles
Add tofu, lean pork, shrimp or chicken.
Add mushrooms  2 minutes before it is done and spinach the last 30 seconds. Serve.

www.shiratakinoodles.net